Modeling: using the board yourself while you talk

Shown on Android, Talking Cards 2.24.0

When your child uses the talking board, you can use it too. You tap the cards while you say the words out loud. This is often called modeling. Your child sees the pictures being used in real moments, by someone they trust, with no pressure to copy.

Talking Cards has a mode made for this. On Android version 2.24.0 the button is spelled "Modelling mode". Newer versions spell it "Modeling".

The pictures in this guide come from an Android phone.

Why a separate mode?

The app keeps track of what your child taps. It fills in the Activity page, learns which words to suggest next, and gives stickers and a little celebration now and then.

When you tap cards yourself, you probably don't want your taps mixed in with your child's. Modeling mode keeps them apart. The cards still speak as usual. Your taps just aren't saved.

Turn it on

Press and hold the gear in the top right corner for 3 seconds. Answer the sum in the "For grown-ups" box. The Parent panel opens.

Screenshot: Parent panel, near the bottom: the Modelling mode row (spelled this way on Android 2.24.0).

Scroll near the bottom. You will find the "Modelling mode" row.

Screenshot: Modelling mode on: the banner 'Modelling — taps aren't saved' with Finish sits across the top of the board.

Tap it. The panel closes and a purple banner appears across the top of the board. It says "Modelling — taps aren't saved" and has a Finish button.

If there is an old sentence in the strip, you can clear it first with the bin button.

Tap while you talk

Now use the board the way you would like your child to see it used. Say the words out loud as you tap.

Screenshot: A grown-up taps 'I need' while saying it out loud. The banner stays up; these taps are not added to Activity, stickers or history.

In our example, a grown-up tapped "I need" while saying "I need" out loud. The card spoke, and it went into the sentence strip as usual. The banner stayed up the whole time.

Here is what happens to your taps while the banner is showing:

We checked this: "I need", tapped in modeling, did not show up in the Activity page's card counts afterwards.

Finish

Screenshot: After Finish: the banner is gone and the board is back to normal.

When you are done, tap Finish on the banner. The banner goes away and the board is back to normal. From then on, taps count again.

Modeling mode isn't saved. If the app is closed and opened again, it starts without the banner. So if you see the board without the banner, your taps are being counted.

Ideas for everyday modeling

Keep it short and natural. A few words at the right moment are plenty.

At snack time, tap "I want" and a food card while you say, "I want an apple." Then hand the board over, or just carry on with snack.

When you are leaving the house, tap a card for where you are going as you say it.

If your child reaches for the board while you are modeling, let them. You can tap Finish first so their taps count, or leave the banner up if you are still showing them something.

Don't worry about getting it "right". There is nothing to score and nothing is saved.

Try it

  1. Press and hold the gear for 3 seconds and answer the sum.
  2. Scroll near the bottom of the Parent panel and tap "Modelling mode".
  3. Check that the purple "Modelling — taps aren't saved" banner is showing.
  4. Pick one everyday moment, like snack time.
  5. Tap two or three cards while you say the words out loud.
  6. Tap Finish on the banner when you are done.
  7. Try it again another day, at a different moment.

This is practical guidance from the people who make Talking Cards, not clinical advice. Your child's speech-language pathologist knows your child best.