Hilltown Families 
The activities we do when on vacation can be used to support vocabulary and language skills. When used together with your kids, apps can also be useful tools to stimulate communication...
Helping Our Kids Explain One of the classic cliches of the parent-child relationship is the question and answer, “What did you do today?” “Nothing.” Over the years, I have had so...
In libraries all across America, therapy dogs are brought into libraries to provide children with a stress-free reading experience that helps them immeasurably. Often times western MA libraries host these programs,...
This month in "Time to Talk: Supporting Children's Language Skills," Hilltown Families Contributing Writer and speech-language pathologist, Kathy Puckett, addresses stuttering. This useful post include tips, resources and videos for...
Our behaviors are stitched together by a series of reactions...how we respond to things, how we process and then how we move on to another reaction. For children it is important...
Overreacting is often a damning thing to left at your door. It's very rarely acceptable behavior to overreact to a problem. It hinders reason, problem solving and communications. This month in...
As a speech-language pathologist, Hilltown Families contributing writer, Kathy Puckett, is a big believer is building a culture of reading for children at home! With the new year upon us with...
We're all fighting the same battle: the clock. So much to get done. Always. Even kids are facing it through things such as a challenging curriculum at kindergarten level, which chews...
Conversations with kids can be a mazy roller coaster of a ride. Sometimes the lack of perspective taking can turn the conversation very one-sided and block any real chance of a...
Creating an environment for your kid's speech development is key to their growth. Parents naturally want to help their child and therefore can sometimes assist a child too much in, for...
Children can experience a myraid feelings, often dealing with several emotions at once. Traditionally, there have been a paucity of outlets available for children to articulate their feelings and learn the...
Summertime requires a lot of organization. Some kids flourish with the structure of schedules, while others enjoy that bit of looseness in planning in order for some creativity to bud and...
Being a newcomer to the world requires a lot of guidance, development and mentorship. In this month's column, "Time to Talk: Supporting Children's Language Skills," Kathy looks and how she...
How to build sustainable summer plans? Having buy-in at the summer planning phase from your children leads to a smoother and more enriching experience for everyone. By letting your children into...
"We don't learn in a straight ascending line," writes Kathy this month in her column, "Time to Talk: Supporting Children's Language Skills." As the end of the school year looms on...
When kids stay active in the winter they are excited to talk about their many fun experiences. This month in "Time to Talk: Supporting Children's Language Skills," Kathy shares the...
"Memory effects every aspect of our learning," writes Kathy this month in "Time to Talk: Supporting Children's Language Skills." "When working with children with memory difficulties, I tend to think...
Singing together with family, neighbors and friends is one way of enhancing children's language learning. Christmas carols are an obvious choice today of what to sing today! Check out what...
Some children are fine with the upheaval that happens during holiday celebrations, but if your child tends to be a bit more sensitive, make sure you plan more than the meal....
How to prompt your kids towards independence... This month in "Time to Talk," Kathy shares insight on ways to help developing kids grow towards independence...
If students are taught HOW to learn, might they do better in school? This month in "Time to Talk," Hilltown Families Contributing Writer, Kathy Puckett writes about teaching kids HOW to...
Did you know that American agricultural fairs originated in Western MA over 200 years ago, and that one of the main objectives of American agricultural fairs is to educate? This...
This month in "Time to Talk," Kathy shares strategies for encouraging independent play in summer months...
The Bridge to Summer None of us are great with change. The beginning of summer is a transition time for our kids and it helps to acknowledge that moving from the...
Writing Skills: Putting Language Down on Paper I’m not an expert on writing skills, but I often find myself working with children who have difficulty getting ideas on paper. I start...
Apps that Increase Children’s Vocabulary I once had a teen client who had the most amazing ideas and insights. He was one of those kids who really cared about people and...
Narratives: What did you do today? Have you ever tried to find out about your children’s daily experiences? Well, of course, teenagers rarely want to share their day with an adult,...