Abbey Massar MSc. R-SLP

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Calgary, AB
Abbey Massar MSc. R-SLP

Neurodiversity affirming & NLA trained SLP in Calgary, AB helping young children express themselves.

11/14/2025

✨ Phonemic Awareness ✨

Phonemic awareness is a key sub-skill of phonological awareness and focuses on hearing and working with the individual sounds in words. When children learn that words are made up of separate sounds, they can begin to blend, segment, and manipulate them, all essential steps for early reading.

Here’s how kids build these skills:
🔹 Phoneme Isolation: Breaking a word into its sounds (cat → /k/ /a/ /t/) and recognizing where each sound occurs.

🔹 Initial Sound Awareness: Identifying words that start with the same sound (Which word starts with /k/? Cat or dog?).

🔹 Phoneme Blending: Putting sounds together to make a word ( /d/ … /aw/ … /g/ = dog ).

These playful listening skills help children decode words more easily and build strong, confident readers. 💛📚

11/10/2025

🟠 Syllable Segmenting & Blending

Syllables are the “beats” we hear in words, and learning to break them apart and put them back together is an important early reading skill! 👏✨

What it is:
Segmenting = tapping out the beats in a word.
Blending = putting the beats together to say the full word.

Why it’s important:
Kids begin to notice how words are built, hear patterns, and recognize long vs. short words, all skills that support future reading and spelling. 📖🌟

Activities to try:
🔹 Clap or tap along to songs like Ickity Bickity Bumblebee.
🔹 Go on a syllable hunt around your home, how many “beat words” can you find?
🔹 Explore compound words like bookshelf or toothbrush and invent fun, silly new ones together.

Playful practice builds powerful readers! 🧡

11/05/2025

🎵 Let’s talk about rhyming!

Rhyming is one of the earliest and most important phonological awareness skills, it helps children listen for and recognize words that sound the same at the end (like cat and bat).

Why it matters: when kids learn to read, they start to see that letter patterns make predictable sounds. Knowing one word helps them decode others with the same ending, a big step toward confident reading! 📚✨

Try it at home:
🎶 Sing nursery rhymes
📖 Read rhyming books
😄 Make up silly rhyming names or nonsense words!

11/03/2025

Phonological awareness is all about listening to language! 👂✨

It’s the ability to hear, segment, and manipulate the sounds, syllables, and words we speak, no print or letters involved! These early sound skills are the building blocks of reading and one of the strongest predictors of long-term literacy success.

If you have a reluctant reader, start here!

Strengthening sound awareness helps children tune in to the rhythm and structure of language, setting the stage for confident reading later on.

Over the next few posts, I’ll be breaking down early phonological awareness skills and sharing simple, fun activities you can try at home or in therapy 🎲📚

10/29/2025

👻✨ Halloween is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming for many kids.

As an SLP, I want to remind you that 👉 all communication is valid on Halloween night (and every day!).

💬 Some children will say “trick or treat” clearly, while others may communicate with gestures, facial expressions, or a communication device. Every way counts.

🎭 Flexibility is key, maybe your child doesn’t want to wear a costume, only wants to visit familiar houses, or prefers handing out candy. That’s okay!

💜 The best tip: Meet kids where they’re at. Participation can look different for everyone, and that’s what makes it special.

10/28/2025

October is AAC Awareness Month! 📚💬

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) includes tools and strategies that support individuals with complex communication needs.

From picture boards to speech-generating devices, AAC helps people express themselves, connect with others, and fully participate in their communities.

Let’s raise awareness and promote communication access for all! 🌎✨

10/27/2025

✨🐾 It’s my day, obviously. 🐾✨
National Black Cat Day — a full 24 hours to celebrate me, Xena. Queen of sass, ruler of the couch, bringer of comfort (and occasional chaos).

My hobbies include:
🖤 Striking dramatic poses for the peasants (you call them “photos,” I call them “art”).
🖤 Grace everyone with my presence when I feel like it.
🖤 Staring into the void like I’m plotting something — because I am.
🖤 Shedding just enough glitter-black fur to remind you who truly owns this house.

Basically, I’m perfection wrapped in black velvet. 😽

10/22/2025

🎃📚 Pumpkin Book Fun at Home!
Try reading Pete the Cat 5 Little Pumpkins 🐱✨ with your child.
💡 Tip: Act it out with small pumpkin decorations and a “gate” (like a chair or table).
🎶 You can even sing the song version together!
This playful activity helps your child practice sequencing, story retell, vocabulary, and grammar, all while having seasonal fun. 🍂🧡

10/20/2025

🎃✨ Pumpkin Painting = Language Building Fun! ✨🎃
Pumpkin season isn’t just about creativity, it’s also the perfect chance to boost your child’s language and communication skills. 🗣️💡

🖌️ Use simple words and phrases while painting
🎨 Offer choices (“red or blue?”)
👋 Add gestures + repetition
🙌 Celebrate all forms of communication words, sounds, pointing, or signing!
The best part? Your child learns while having FUN. 🧡
Would you try pumpkin painting with your child this fall? 🍂 Comment below! 👇

10/15/2025

🦃💬 “Turkey Trouble” isn’t just a funny Thanksgiving read, it’s a speech + language goldmine:

🔤 Target Speech Sounds
Repetitive words like turkey, trouble, tail, and farm make it easy to practice /t/, /r/, and /l/ sounds in a playful way.

📖 Story Retell & Sequencing
Turkey tries on different disguises, perfect for practicing “first, next, then, last” while boosting narrative skills.

🗣️ Expanding Vocabulary
Disguises introduce descriptive words (cow, pig, horse, etc.), giving plenty of chances to build animal and clothing vocab.

💬 Comprehension & WH-Questions
Who is Turkey hiding from? Why is he in trouble? Kids get to answer fun, motivating WH-questions as the story unfolds.

😂 Engagement Factor
The silly disguises keep kids laughing. When kids are engaged, they talk more, and that’s exactly what we want in speech!

10/13/2025

🍂🦃 This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the power of communication—the words, gestures, and connections that bring us closer together every day. 💬✨ Supporting children and families as they find their voices is something I never take for granted.

Wishing you a holiday filled with meaningful conversations, laughter, and love. ❤️

10/08/2025

🍂📚 The Leaf Thief is a wonderful fall read that also supports early language skills! Here’s how:

Vocabulary Growth: Children are introduced to seasonal and nature-based words (leaf, autumn, squirrel, tree). Connecting vocabulary to real-life experiences helps them retain and use these words in everyday conversations.

Repetitive Phrases: The story’s repeated structure gives children chances to anticipate, join in, and practice language patterns. This supports recall, confidence, and fluency.

Story Retelling & Sequencing: With a clear beginning, middle, and end, this book makes it easy for children to practice retelling. It’s also a great way to model sequencing words like first, then, next, finally.

Question Practice: The storyline naturally prompts “wh” questions (Who took the leaf? What happened next?), which encourage children to build comprehension, expand sentence structure, and express their ideas.

Perspective Taking: Children can compare what they know about autumn (that leaves fall naturally) with what the squirrel thinks. This invites critical thinking and helps them understand different viewpoints.

✨ A funny, engaging story that brings both laughter and learning, perfect for fall story time! 🍁

Address

Calgary, AB

Telephone

+15879981388

Website

https://www.abbeymassar.com/

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