A little bit about The Gift of Gab, and Me…

Little did I know when I started the journey of writing The Gift of Gab that the need for helping children learn through play and human interaction would reach a crescendo in the year 2020. The historic events that have affected us all have brought with them a growing set of questions about how we interact with our children, educate them, keep them safe, ensure their growth, and, preserve their innocence. Wow! That is a lot to ask of my little book!

How can The Gift of Gab can help? The Gift of Gab is designed to give parents, grandparents, teachers, speech professionals, psychologists, pediatricians…anyone who talks to children, an easy to access reference to games, activities, and skills to build on the natural interactions we experience within our families and friendships. The games and activities included in this book are designed to optimize the time we spend with our children, to help them develop the communication and social skills that will last a lifetime. Oh, and need I remind anyone? Play is Fun!

Play is also important. Play is how everyone of us began to understand the world we live in, and our place in that world. Play is the way children learn to answer some particularly important questions, including: Who am I? Who is that person over there? How do I get their attention? How do I get what I want? This process starts at birth, with the very first interactions between parent and child. The language that surrounds a child provides him with the basis for complex thought. The ability to use repetition, imitation, rhythm, and musicality to retain information are all learned linguistic skills. Puzzles encourage the language-based ability to analyze a situation, ask questions, formulate answers, and think abstractly about possible outcomes. All these skills are taught and reinforced through game play.

The Gift of Gab provides you with over 65 games and activities to get you started. The games were selected to be easily incorporated into a family’s daily routines, using easily obtained materials that are commonly found in almost every home. You will find all of these game cards on this Gift of Gab website, organized by category and illustration. The Gift of Gab book also provides a link to the Simon and Schuster website where you can download and print cards for game play. I want you to have immediate and easy access to every game and activity. No trips to the store should be necessary. You can start to have fun with your children, learning together from the very first day.

I have always had an interest in language, children, and the miracle of human development. After earning a Master of Science degree in Human Communication Disorders from Arizona State University I spent over 35 years as a speech pathologist in a large elementary school district, in a major western state. The students I worked with were enrolled in Special Needs Pre-School Classes, General Education Classes, Special Education Classes, Gifted Students Classes …in other words, the whole spectrum of young humanity came through my door. Over the years I expanded my appreciation of the value of play in helping children accomplish their therapeutic goals. It was as much fun for me as it was for them. I was happy to see “my kids” teach these games to their friends on the playground at recess. Fun shared is fun forever. It is my hope that even years later they are enjoying game play with their own children.

Please share and enjoy The Gift of Gab with your family and friends.