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Mouth Time/Sound Spot Training Institute

Become certified in The River School’s unique Mouth Time & Sound Spot Language Arts Program.

Join the faculty of The River School for an intensive two-day training institute on our innovative language arts curriculum. The pedagogy of the Mouth Time/Sound Spot program, as well as practical applications and hands-on training will be provided.  

For additional information, please contact: mtss@riverschool.net 

Mouth Time

Mouth Time is a part of The River School Language Arts Program that is used with children from the age of 18 months to approximately 4-5 years of age. Developmentally, very young children are not ready to comprehend English graphemes. The arbitrary symbols that comprise the English alphabet are too abstract for very young children to interpret as speech sounds. Mouth Time takes a variety of these abstract graphemes and turns them into concrete mouth shapes (e.g., a flat line representing that your lips are closed when producing the “mm” sound). These mouth shapes (e.g., a flat line or square lips) are paired with easy to understand language such as “Put your lips together.” When children see these concrete symbols, they begin to learn that they have meaning and represent certain sounds. Unlike graphemes, the Mouth Time symbols represent placement of articulators; therefore, children are able to decode easily by matching the symbol with the placement of their lips, tongue and teeth. Using these easy-to-understand mouth shapes allows young children to establish sound-symbol correspondence, which is a critical foundational skill in learning to read.

Mouth Time is a part of every school day, lasting anywhere from 10-25 minutes depending on the age of the children. Each day, the five parameters of Mouth Time are addressed.  For example, during any one Mouth Time session, oral motor, auditory processing, speech production, vocabulary and concepts, and phonological awareness skills are targeted.  Often, one activity addresses more than one parameter.

Sound Spot  

Sound Spot is the leap to English letters that children make once they have participated in the Mouth Time program. When children are developmentally ready to process English graphemes, the concrete Mouth Time symbols are used as a bridge.  This usually occurs when the children are between 4 and 5 years old.  For example, at this time, the concrete symbols (e.g., a flat line) are paired with the grapheme (letter) it represents (/m/).

Children who have participated in the Mouth Time program have a strong foundation of sound-symbol association. A systematic approach is used to teach children to make letter-sound correspondences, blend sounds, practice reading words, and identify word families. In order to become fluent readers, children must employ strategies effortlessly. By initially examining letters at the sound level, then letters within words, a strong foundation is built. Explicit instruction is necessary to draw children’s attention to the phonemic rules of the English language. Consistent with Mouth Time, oral motor skills, auditory processing skills, speech production skills, vocabulary and concepts, and phonological awareness skills are targeted daily.

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