What is a Core Communication Board?

I absolutely love core communication boards because they are a great way to provide visual supports for children as they learn language. A core communication board is a visual representation of language with a set of words and pictures organized in a grid. It is organized in a very specific way that will support building language at the level your child is. The board contains "core" vocabulary words, which are the basic and frequently used words that make up a large portion of our everyday speech. Examples include "I", "want", "more", "help". "Fringe" vocabulary, or vocabulary specific to a particular activity can be added as well. For an art activity, this might include words such as "glue", "crayons", "paint", "red", "blue".

Tips for using a coreboard:

1. Have your communication board available as often as possible

   Children will need to see and hear models of you using the board before they will use it. I tell parents and professionals to have multiple copies of their communication board around the house or classroom so there is always one within reach. The more you use it, the more times your child will be exposed to the vocabulary words, phrases or sentences you are using. You will be able to continue to introduce new vocabulary words and repeat words you have already introduced.

2. Choose a word to target.

   "Go" is a word I have use because there are so many ways to use that single word. When playing with cars or trains, we can talk about making them "go". If we have a race track, we can say "ready, set, go" and let the car spiral down the race track. We can say "go" to turn on a favorite tv show or "go" when it is time to go outside and play. "Eat" is another great word to use as children do that everyday. Take a favorite food they are motivated by, such as fish crackers or fruit snack or blueberries. Point to the word "eat" and then give them one of their favorite foods. After each bite, model "eat" and give them another bite.

3. Pause

   After you provide models several times, pause and see what your child will do. A lot of times kids will look at you expectantly or reach for the food item or toy. This is where you can provide them another model and say "it looks like you want more _____" and point to the word again.

   
   

I always encourage parents and teachers not to give up if a child doesn't point to a picture after a few models. In fact, it could take weeks or even months! Just be consistent and keep providing models. Even if they are not using the core board expressively initially, they are receiving valuable receptive input!