Happy Spring!

In Ready, Set, Winter, I asked Isabella and Dante what they do on a snow day?  Yesterday was definitely a snow day across Colorado. What do I do on a snow day? I update my blog!

I posted five new Ready Set products.  Allison and I just need to add three more (summer, fall and Thanksgiving) to complete our series.

I also posted links to the four therapy manuals I published with LinguiSystems between 1999 and 2002. We continue to use these products on a regular basis at my clinic. I added tips on how to make the materials in the manuals readily available to busy clinicians. If it's not easy to use, a product no matter  how good stays on the shelf.

Speaking of easy, LinguiSystems is a great company for busy clinicians to use to publish their therapy materials. The application process is easy. The staff provides a lot of support with editing.  They have their own illustrators.  And the company has an incredible market base. I look at Teachers Pay Teachers as a great way to share discrete therapy activities (e.g., a verb tense game).  LinguiSytems is better for publishing an in-depth program with multiple steps.

Happy Spring!

http://www.linguisystems.com/products/product/search

LinguiSystems: Take Home Preschool Language Development

Take Home Preschool Language Development

This was my first LinguiSystems publication.  I had a mother with 3 language delayed children, one was also hearing impaired. She needed to know how to interact with her children at home to stimulate their language development.  I designed 10 home activities, added indirect language stimulation pointers, expansion activities, pictures and signs.  I engaged in one fun play activity per week (e.g., blowing bubbles, rolling a ball, stacking blocks, etc.) then sent the activity home with mom to practice.  This model worked very well. The home assignments became the beginning of Take Home Preschool Language Development. It has 45 fun activities, including 10 activities related to books. This manual helps you plan therapy for the young language delayed child and provides assignments you can copy for home practice.

LinguiSystems: Just for Kids Autism

Just for Kids Autism

I use this product more with language delayed children than with children with autism.  It provides the visual support and structure for all children to learn more complex language.  Each unit in Just for Kids Autism is based on a fairy tale. The concept that occurs naturally within the fairy tale is developed throughout the unit (e.g., The Three Little Kittens - pairs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears - possession, The Ugly Duckling - negatives, Henny Penny - rhyming).  Each unit has the following elements:

1. pictures for sentence formation

2. sequence cards for story telling

3. rebus stories, comprehension questions and word picture matching to develop reading skills

4. games for social interaction

5. worksheets for concept development

7. craft for problem solving

To make the product easy to use, I have laminated the materials and placed them in hanging files.  Each unit also has a play set, i.e., miniature characters and items so the child can act out the story.  The clinician can just grab the hanging file and tub and dash off to a very fun and engaging therapy session. 

LinguiSystems: Just for Kids Apraxia

 

Just for Kids Apraxia

I really enjoy working with motor speech disorders.  I do different things depending on the age of the child and severity of the disorder. Just for Kids Apraxia works well with those 4-6 year olds who have a sense of the alphabet and are talking a lot. They are the children who come to me (sometimes after a couple years of therapy) essentially unintelligible.  My goal is to improve overall intelligibility as quickly as possible.  So I use the alphabet to organize my sessions. Children at this age need to know the alphabet and parents easily understand the home practice assignments. I work on letters/sounds in the following hierarchy:   

• Sounds in Isolation
• C-V-C Words
• Multisyllabic Words
• Sentences
• Expressions

To make materials easy to use, I photocopied picture pages from the units on different colors of paper, laminated them, cut them into flashcards and put them in a file box.  The busy clinician just grabs the flashcards and therapy manual, and is ready to go for the session. 

Two of  my Teahers Pay Teachers products complement Just for Kids Apraxia.  A is for Ape can be used with the first unit (sounds in isolation). The words in A is for Ape are shorter and easier for younger, more impaired children. Copy Cat: Words of Increasing Length provides more phrases to use in the carry over portion of the program. 



LinguiSystems: Easy Does It for Articulation A Phonological Approach

Easy Does It® for Articulation A Phonological Approach

I caution young clinicians not to use flashcards from articulation decks in phonological processes therapy. The phonetic contexts are not controlled. A child with a severe phonological processing disorder cannot handle cat, rock, school, ladybug, etc.  These words contain more than one difficult phoneme.

In Easy Does It for Articulation A Phonological Approach, the words are carefully selected so the phonetic contexts of the target words do not contain other phonetic patterns that are typically deviant in children.  This approach followed in this manual is based on the work of Barbara Williams Hodson and Elaine Pagel Paden. 

I use the pictures from this manual in therapy daily.  I have them laminated, clipped together and in baggies (e.g., a s-cluster baggie, a /r/ baggie, a "sh" baggie, etc.). I just grab the appropriate baggie from my cabinet and am ready to go. I copy the pictures and activity list to send home for practice.  For the child who is not ready for drill, I encourage mom to get one or all of the suggested books from the library and provide auditory bombardment.

Ready, Set, Mother's Day

There are not many children's books and activities specifically designed for Mother's Day so I hope you enjoy this product.  In this story, Kayla and Darius plan a very special day for their mothers.  Here are a few pages from the easy assembly version.

I really like using the manipulative version with children who have very limited language. It allows them to take part in the story and provides a heart-warming story for the child to share with his/her mother.

Ready, Set, Spring/Ready, Set, Winter

Ready, Set, Spring

Allison did a wonderful job of creating Ready, Set, Spring.  Check out both the easy assembly and manipulative version at our store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Ready, Set, Winter

Although it is officially spring, it feels more like winter in Colorado.  We are currently in the midst of a blizzard with white-out conditions in Pueblo. Here are a few pages from the easy assembly version of Ready, Set, Winter.

The manipulative version allows the child to actively engage in listening activities and choice making.

Ready, Set, Valentine's Day

Join Morgan and Hunter as they get ready for Valentine's Day.  Here are a few pages from the easy assembly version.

Ready, Set, Valentine's Day is also available in a manipulative version.

Ready, Set, Halloween

Allison and I have been working on completing our Ready Set series. Ready, Set, Halloween was fun to create because children love this holiday and there is a lot to talk about. In addition, I found wonderful graphics on the My Cute Graphics website.  Thank you Laura Strickland for making your graphics available to educators.

Once again, we created both an easy assembly version and a manipulative version of our product. The manipulative version requires Velcro for assembly.  Take a look at both products at our store on Teachers Pay Teachers. Here are a few pages from the easy assembly version.

The manipulative version has boxes for the child to give the boy and girl in the story his and her choice as well as to make a choice of his own.  The child's choices can then be placed into a personalized story that is taken home for additional practice and enjoyment.

Ready Set Me/Ready Set Birthday

You can get a feel for the Ready Set series by downloading a free copy of Ready, Set, Me! and Ready, Set, Birthday on the Teachers Pay Teachers website. In these products, the child points to his/her choice or choices.

Ready, Set, ME!

               

                                          

Ready, Set, Birthday   

 

Phonological Awareness/Articulation Skills

Do you have children who cannot learn the alphabet?  Chances are they are not making much progress in articulation therapy either.  Try working on phonological awareness for awhile until the child has a better sense of sounds and is able to identify and manipulate sounds in words.  I work on alphabet skills using this ABC chart (organized like the song) and letter cards.  Alphabet signs are also a good way to make letters more salient.                

A is for Ape

Complex Sentences/Description

COMPLEX SENTENCES

  Sentence Power is designed to provide the structure and visual support for children to develop longer and more complex sentences.  The child pairs two associated words, e.g., toothbrush and toothpaste.  With the help of sentence starters and connecting words, the child expresses a complex sentence (e.g., I use a toothbrush and toothpaste to brush my teeth so I do not get cavities.).  Take a look at a few sample pages:

Sentence Power

                                          

DESCRIPTION

This is one of my favorite products.  It was developed by a co-worker, Becky Doidge, SLP.  The child uses the grid with 10 characteristics as a tool to describe objects or pictures.  It is fun to use in I Spy/I'm thinking of games. I've expanded it into comparing and categorizing activities.  What do you think?

Tools for Expression

 

Verb Tense Series

Third Person Singular

Verb tense is difficult to teach.  Seems like kids do well in drill but do not transfer the skill to conversation.  I find that drilling one verb over and over adds to the child's success (provides a foundation for learning other verbs).  In Who eats....?, the child forms sentences with the verb eats (A rabbit eats a carrot. A bird eats a worm. A penguin eats fish).  Then other verbs are practiced (A rabbit hops. A bird flies. A penguin swims).

Who eats.....?

                                   

Regular Past

The regular past verb tense is practiced with the verb colored.  Children color a group of pictures then the SLP asks, Who colored the balloon? Who colored the frog? Who colored the cake? Expansion activities are included using other verbs.

Who colored.....?

                                  

Irregular Past

Irregular past verb tense is practiced with the verb drew.  Children draw pictures then the SLP asks, Who drew the football? Who drew the apple? Who drew the whistle? Pictures of people and objects (24) are provided to practice a variety of irregular past tense verbs.

Who drew.....?