Claire Davis Speech Pathology

29/10/2025

Playing with dolls is a powerful tool for boosting children’s language and imagination, helping them learn and grow through creative storytelling

28/10/2025

How do you feel about sticks and stick play? Some common things we hear around sticks are...
"Put that stick down!'
"You'll poke someone's eye out!"
"They just use them as weapons."
What if, instead as a 'weapon' we think about sticks as loose parts... full of potential!

27/10/2025

🌼 Term 4 Update 🌼

I’ll be continuing to work Saturday and Sunday mornings this term, offering home visits and appointments at the park, library, or even a café in Orange for parent meetings.

Now that the weather is warming up, I’m especially looking forward to park visits! 🌳

Parks are such a wonderful setting for little language learners. There is plenty of space to move, explore, and learn through play. They’re also perfect for busy children who thrive when learning involves movement and real-life experiences.

25/09/2025

Val is doing a research study as part of her PhD exploring what helps keep children feeling safe and engaged in feeding therapy.

Can you help her with her research?

25/09/2025

Hi, I’m Claire Davis👋

I’m a speech pathologist, sourdough baker, animal lover, wife, and mum to two beautiful girls.

Life at our place is full of chatter, park adventures, messy-play, and plenty of laughter (with the delicious smell of homemade sourdough often filling the kitchen). 🍞

When I’m not supporting children to grow their communication skills, you’ll often find me enjoying time with my family, in my kitchen, riding my scooter, at the park, or happily cleaning and organising a space in my home because for me, a tidy home is a calm mind.

I believe learning happens best when it’s joyful, engaging, and full of little wins that children and families can celebrate together.

21/09/2025

✨ A very special milestone to share! ✨

Over the weekend, one of my clients celebrated his last speech session 🎉

He has worked so hard and achieved all of his speech pathology goals, now thriving in his communication skills. 💬👏

To top it off, he surprised me with a beautiful handwritten thank you card 📝

Moments like this remind me why I love what I do🌟

19/09/2025

✨ Today was such a special morning at playgroup! ✨

Farmer and Author, Jess came to visit and not only shared her beautiful books with the children, but also helped them start their very own barley crop in a cup 🌱📚

What an incredible way to connect stories with hands-on learning.

From a speech pathology perspective, experiences like this are golden ✨

👂Listening to stories grows children’s vocabulary and comprehension

📖 Meeting an author makes books feel exciting and meaningful

🌾 Talking about planting, growing, and watching crops develop gives endless opportunities for rich conversations

Moments like these are so valuable for our community. We love Rugamuffins and feel so lucky to be part of such an amazing playgroup

Sharing books with little minds is such a powerful way to nurture early literacy development.
Sparking curiosity, imagination, and a love of reading from the very beginning.

My daughters were absolutely thrilled to meet a real author!

Mr Johnson’s Farm Welcome to Mr Johnson’s Farm Get ready to meet Mr Johnson, a farmer from New South Wales in Australia. Ever wondered what a windmill is used for? Or where your food comes from? Experience the country as you spend a day exploring everyday life on the farm. Come with Jessica Hisl...

19/09/2025

Confession time 🤫

When I arrive for a home visit, I’m not doing a white-glove inspection.

I’m not secretly judging your laundry pile 🧺.

I’m not timing how long it takes a fluff tumbleweed to roll across the floor 🌬️

Why? Because my only mission is to connect with your child 👧🏻 👦🏽

All I need is:
🪑 a chair and table,
🛋️ a cozy corner of the couch, or
🟨 just a spot on the floor where we can get comfy and play.

My eyes are laser-focused on your little one’s amazing mouth 👄 and all the wonderful sounds and words it can make.

Leave the cleaning for another day.

Believe me, I’ve seen it all. Your house isn’t messy!

18/09/2025

🛒 Grocery Shopping with Kids: A Different Way to Look at It 🛒

This afternoon I took my two little helpers (3 and 2 years old) to Woolworths.

Like many parents, I often think of shopping with kids as a stressful task. The wriggly bodies in the trolley, the snack requests, the “Can we get this?”

But today it sparked a thought: what if we looked at the grocery shop differently?

Instead of focusing on the hard parts, we can turn it into a chance for learning, fun and connection.

✅ My girls helped pick out fruit and veggies.
✅ They counted pears into the bag.
✅ They chose the colour of capsicum for their snack plate.
✅ They even remembered items we needed which is a great way to exercise working memory (the skill we use to hold information in our mind and act on it). Research shows strong working memory skills are linked to better problem solving, reading and maths later in school. 📚🧠

Children want to be involved, and everyday errands are a great place to build independence, language, memory and confidence. Sure, it takes a little longer (and yes, sometimes a lot messier 🙈), but it makes the “must-do” chore so much more meaningful.

Next time you’re at the shops, try giving your child a “job.” Whether it’s remembering “we need millk and bananas,” finding the milk, carrying a basket, or choosing between two items.

You might be surprised at how much easier (and more fun!) the whole trip feels. 💡

18/09/2025

We love story times at the library 📚

What a great session to attend on Thursday afternoons

SENSORY STORYTIME BEGINS AT ORANGE CITY LIBRARY:

Join us for a sensory storytime at Orange Library on Thursday afternoons at 2pm. We sing songs, move our bodies, share stories and play together.

We begin with a short exploration time at the start of the session to allow families time to settle in. A structured (but relaxed) program follows for about half an hour, including lots of songs, a book to share and an interactive story.

Children and babies of all ages are welcome to attend this inclusive storytime. There are no age restrictions.

Please come as you are. A 'Calm Corner' is available for anyone needing space to reset and regulate. Please feel free to approach our friendly staff to discuss other ways we may be able to offer support.

02/03/2025

Open-ended questions are a powerful tool for fostering meaningful conversation between parents and children, as they encourage the child to reflect, elaborate, and share more than just a simple 'yes' or 'no' response.

Instead of the common question, "What did you do today?" which often leads to short answers, open-ended questions invite the child to express their thoughts and feelings more fully. These types of questions promote deeper engagement and understanding, creating opportunities for connection.

Here are some questions to add to your conversations with your child:

☀️What was the best part of your day at school today?

☀️ Can you tell me something new you learned today?

☀️ Was there anything that surprised you at school today?

☀️ What was something fun you did with your friends today?

☀️ What made you laugh today?

☀️ How did you feel about your lessons today?

☀️ Anything that made you excited or curious?

☀️ Did you have any challenges today? How did you handle them?

☀️ What was something you really enjoyed doing in class today?

☀️What did you try that new or different today at school?

☀️ How did you help someone or how did someone help you today?

In a therapy session, a parent shared that she refrains from bombarding her child with questions during the car ride home from school. Instead, she allows her child to have a 'reset' moment, giving them space to process the day. After some food or rest, the child is typically more open to engaging in conversation. This approach helps to prevent overwhelming the child and allows the conversation to flow naturally when they’re ready.

How amazing is this!

14/02/2025

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️ 🌹

Today, we’re celebrating love in all its forms—especially the love of communication! Whether it’s a child’s first words, a confident “I love you,” or the joy of self-expression, every milestone is worth celebrating.

To make this day extra special, here’s a fun Valentine’s activity to boost speech sound skills and vocabulary for preschoolers:

💌 “Valentine’s Word List” 💌

1️⃣ Draw a big heart on a peice of paler

2️⃣ Inside the heart, help your child think of words related to love and Valentine’s Day (e.g., “heart,” “hug,” “happy,” “red,” “friend”).

3️⃣ Say each word together, emphasising clear speech sounds.

4️⃣ For an extra challenge, try putting the words into a short sentence, or use a thesaurus to generate more complex words:
🌹happy ➡️ joyful, glad, content, delightful
🌹love ➡️ affection, adoration, fondness

This activity builds vocabulary, strengthens speech sounds, and encourages meaningful conversations. Plus, it’s a great way to spread love and appreciation