Speech Freebie: LaLa L Blends Ragdoll Artic Game

I made a new freebie for you guys! 

One of my favorite speech kiddos is an adorable little girl with apraxia of speech. We have cleaned up her speech a lot but her blends are just really adversely affecting her speech intelligibility. "The sa-nake sa-lithered down the sa-teep sa-lope."  (The snake slithered down the steep slope.) Epenthesizing her blends every time... After working with her I found that targeting 1-syllable /l/ blend words to work on the motor planning of these words has really helped. I made these cards and this game to help my little speech friend, and all of you SLPs who have clients just like her, master this skill.  Of course, this activity will work well for all kids working on /l/ blends as well!

This download contains 96 total 1-syllable /l/ blend cards:
16 /gl/ cards
16 /cl/ cards
16 /pl/ cards
16 /sl/ cards
16 /fl/ cards
16 /bl/ cards
1 Game Board
16 special cards

Graphics by: © prettygrafikdesign & Osagadesign and licensing inc. & MyCuteGraphics.com

There are more previews on TPT. Grab your freebie here. I would love for you to comment and let me know what you think!

Getting To Know You Kit

Speech/Kid Post:    I have so many kiddos on my caseload that need to work on having a conversation. I created this free printable kit so that parents and SLPs can have an easy start at working on these skills. My awesome intern, Melissa McCoy, also helped with the content! Check it out below and download it here.

This kit contains:

36 Personal question cards with visual stimuli

6 Asking questions visual cue cards

2 Reminder cards for conversational turn taking

8 Reminder cards for SLPs to coach their students during  conversation

Print this kit and laminate the cards for best use. 

Have your child practice answering the personal and biographical questions, with the included cards, that will be needed for having basic conversations with peers and adults. 

Once your child has mastered answering questions about themselves, use the asking question visual cards to help your child practice asking a communication partner questions. 

When this skills is mastered it is time for learning basic conversational skills. Use the turn taking visual cards to role play conversations and show when it is the child’s turn to communicate.

The conversation reminders are great for helping the child repair communication breakdowns without stopping the flow of conversation or calling too much attention to their errors. You can also use the question cards as topic cards for conversation.

 I hope all of you find these tools useful for giving the gift of communication to your kiddos! Also, feel free to link your parents to these for home practice!

I'd love to hear what you guys think and if you find these useful. :)

-Lacey

Are You Potty Training Too Early?

I have been very busy this month, organizing, cleaning, making  a plan for a year, not to mention beginning the introduction of the "potty" with my almost three-year-old.  My doctor has been harping for me to start potty training since before my daughter was even 2 1/2.  I had read this article by Dr. Steve Hodges, when my daughter was very young and had decided to follow his recommendations regarding potty training. 

However, my doctor (who I typically love very much) made me feel like I wasn't being a good mother, because I wasn't already trying to potty train.  Don't get me wrong, we had a little potty and offer for her to try it, but we weren't forcing the subject.  Well, finally he made me feel neglectful, so I tried hard core potty training for a week and it made both my daughter and I feel like failures, and our success rate decreased.  I decided it wasn't right for her to be potty training yet.  She didn't even have words for "poop" and "pee" yet for goodness sake!

A quick summary of Dr. Hodges' research:  Dr. Hodges is a urologist and he has done extensive research, including x-rays of children's bladders.  Dr. Hodges states, " I believe in potty training when kids are ready -- when they show an interest and can tell you when they are peeing or pooping -- and I believe that few kids are genuinely ready before age three."  My daughter cannot actually tell me when she is going, which tells me she isn't quite ready to successfully potty train.

Furthermore, Dr. Hodges stated, "Kids hold their pee and poop because they simply don't understand how essential it is to get themselves to the bathroom when nature calls. Kids think you only go to the bathroom only when you desperately need to, or when your mom threatens to withhold treats if you don't. The most seriously constipated kids I treat are those who trained earliest and with ease. In other words, they've been deciding for the longest period of time when they should pee or poop. But even kids who train later can develop problems, especially if Mom and Dad aren't keeping tabs on them. Parents cringe when I say this, but getting your child out of diapers is the easy part!" His point here is that children don't understand the importance of going to the restroom, instead they are more concerned with playing, which may result in accidents or even worse over the long term, true medical issues with toileting.  It is our responsibility as parents to make sure our young children go to the restroom enough, so that they aren't "holding it" too long.

I plan to ask my doctor next time we visit, what exactly are the benefits of potty training early. The only things I can think of are less diaper rash (which my daughter never has) and not having to change diapers (which don't really bother me).

 Hopefully you take the time to read Dr. Hodges' insight on potty training.  He does not define a specific age that is "perfect" for training your child.  Instead he simple reminds us that our child knows when they are physically ready to use the potty. He also explains that accidents (once potty trained) are not normal and that the child may have urinary problems or be severely constipated.  I wish you luck with potty training your child. I know (from experience) that it's not all rainbows and butterflies!  Just remember to celebrate your child's successes and expect a few accidents.

SLPs: Have you tried TPT?

As an SLP I have been excited to see the increase in the amount of SLPs sharing their therapy materials on the Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) website. I have downloaded lots of freebies but just only browsed the "pay" items. With all the free stuff why pay to download anything right? Boy was I wrong! I finally took the plunge and decided to actually pay for some materials. I feel like I hit the jackpot. My $4.00 that I invested was totally worth it and I will have these materials for years! So, fellow SLPs, read on, pull out your laminator, file folders, plastic baggies, scissors, and cardstock. Get ready to download, print, and make some cheap, adorable, and everlasting therapy materials. Tip for printing things from TPT: Actually read the directions on how many of each page you should print. I forgot to do that! Okay, now lets get to the good stuff.

I decided to start with one of my very favorite SLP blogger's, Jenna Rayburn's, TPT store. At her store, I browsed and browsed and finally decided on my first purchase. I chose to buy her Winter Receptive Language: Speech Therapy digital download. This digital download came with 4 separate games. I will give you a brief description of each since she already has the descriptions available at her store.

Game 1. Ski Trip: Following Directions had more than enough cards for a session ranging from very basic directions, conditional directions, to two-step directions temporal directions. She also includes some "special" cards to make playing a game with these cards more fun. I love that I could use the title sheet on a file folder to make it look like a real board game for my kiddos. It included the game directions as well. I stapled the sides of the file folder to make a pouch that holds everything. This game also came with two place holder cards. All the items were printed on cardstock, laminated, and the cards were held in a plastic baggie. 

Game 2: Penguin: Answering WH Questions. This game is pretty self explanatory. It contains a visual for types of WH question words which is a great bonus and has lots of "special cards" and even blank cards. I use the blank cards to ask personal questions. 

The graphics are just so cute!

Game 3: Hot Chocolate: Comprehension. This game includes some well written winter related paragraphs, some adorable special cards, five task cards, and two place holder cards. The instructions are also included. 

Game 4: Artic Animals: Sequencing. This game has all of the same awesome features. The cards have a topic and 4 steps to sequence. 

Ugh, I just love everything about this set of games! $4.00? That is $1.00 a game. I know how long these things take to make too. Just think, if you invested $10.00 a month to new therapy materials on TPT you could have an amazing collection in no time. I will continue to shop here. Now that I know it is worth it I'm hooked. I hope you guys check out Teachers Pay Teachers and get some inspiration!

Lacey

Advent Calendar Activities

1. Help decorate by putting your favorite ornaments on the tree.
2. Take a picture wrapped in Christmas lights
3. Write a letter to Santa and mail it
4. Make edible snow (it only takes 5 minutes) 

Advent Calendar

I have a friend that I swear should be an interior decorator.  This was her craft so I don't have many pictures, but she gave me permission to share her idea with you.

First, she went to Hobby Lobby and bought a frame that did not come with glass.  She was planning to paint a frame, but this rustic look was perfect for her vision.  Then she chose a variety of different designs, such as miniature clothes pins, stockings, large cute gift tags, and she added some kid socks for character.  Next, she cut chicken wire and stapled it on the back of the frame.  Finally, she hung up the various Christmas stockings and tags after writing an activity for her children to complete each day.  Such a simple, but cute idea.  Thank you Natalie for allowing me to share your creation! I can't wait to make one for my house!

Stay tuned for Advent Calendar activity ideas....

My Favorite Free Toddler Apps

Recycling Broken Crayons

I hate being wasteful and as a child I remember loving rainbow crayons. The mystery of what colors would appear excited me for some reason.  So I gathered all of our melted (from being in the car) and broken crayons and peeled the paper off of them.

Introducing & Teaching the Concepts "Before" & "After"

"Before" and "after" always seem to be difficult temporal concepts for children to learn. I created these sheets, using Boardmaker for the graphics, to make learning these concepts easier. I chose events that children know the natural order of to teach these concepts. You can read the sentences to the child, all meaning the same thing but with different syntax,  and have him/her point to which set they think the sentence means. So, does that sentence mean that dessert is first and dinner is second or is dinner first with dessert second. All of the answers should be row 1! After the child gets in the groove with practicing this way they can move on to practicing the concepts "before" and "after" with items that could be done in any order.

I have really found a lot of success with helping my speech kiddos link their prior knowledge of the order of things to these two otherwise arbitrary words.  Stay tuned for our next post which will contain cards for the next level of practicing "before" and "after."

$2.00 DIY Halloween Following Directions Activity

If you are a thrifty SLP like me, or a frugal parent, then you might be a frequenter of your local Dollar Tree like me. I picked up two bags of these Halloween rings to replenish my treasure box when I realized that they are the perfect manipulatives for many speech activities. They are fun in color and shape and there are lots of them!

Colored Rice Sensory Box

My daughter is 2 ½ years old and is basically my whole world.  My main objective in life is to make her have the best life and be the best person she can be.  I am probably seen as one of those ridiculous moms who worries too much and tries to make Gabby achieve goals before they are necessary.  I don’t really concern myself with others; I just want her to have the best life possible with a fun and memorable childhood.