Buttons

Objective

a) to encourage speaking in 5-6 word sentences
b) to practice taking turns in a conversation
c) to reinforce the letter B sound


Points to Remember:

1. Don't correct your child's language in this activity. Instead, reply to their sentence correctly by adding a few more words. Such as, your child says, "It's purple" You can reply, "Oh, yeah, I see the little, purple button that you found."
2. Let the conversation happen naturally.


Lesson:

1. We were working on the letter B this week. I look a piece of construction paper and drew a large block-letter capital B.
2. I put out our box of various buttons. I think these buttons were from Grandma....thanks Grandma!





3. Take or sing about the sound the letter B makes. We sing the Leapfrog song,
The B says /b/,
the B says /b/,
every letter makes a sound,
the B says /b/

I continue to sing this throughout the lesson at various points

4. Allow the child to cover the letter B with glue.
5. Have the child look through the buttons and choose the ones he/she wants to put on her letter B.



6. Talk, talk, talk! Here is a little bit of the conversation Brooke and Kate had while decorating their letter B. These are sentences that Brooke said to Kate during the conversation:

"I found a purple one."
"A big one and a little one."
"There are lots of black ones"
"Wow, this one is special."
"Hey, I have the same one."
'This looks like a fairy ring."
"They are all circles."
"I found a little, tiny, baby button"
"You have the same one, the bottom and the top"
"There are two baby buttons."
"That is Mickey Mouse ears."
'This one is brown. I like brown."
"Look Kate, top, bottom, top, bottom, it's the same."

I just sat in amazement at the length of the sentences, the correct use of plurals, the adjectives, the shape identification, the connections to other things like fairy's and Mickey Mouse, and the sweet way the girls talked to each other while looking through the buttons.



Modifications:

1. Find other objects to talk about such as a bag of colored feathers, a box of various animal toys, or sea shells.
2. Do this for other letters. Make a capital F and glue on feathers, make a M and use colored marshmallows, etc.
3. Find something that interests your child and just let the conversation flow naturally.

Thankful Thursday

"This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

In November, we have a national holiday called Thanksgiving, when people celebrate all the things they're grateful for. Except we've gotten into the dangerous habit of taking it all for granted, even the sumptuous holiday meal. It is my goal to take the spirit of Thanksgiving and keep it all year long.

Life is just more fun when you're grateful, and you're more fun to be around.

Want to get more enjoyment out of life? Express gratitude to God more often! Be appreciative. Let others know that they matter to you. Say a silent prayer of appreciation when you get a morning kiss from your toddler, before you eat every meal, and for protecting your family throughout the day and His promise to protect throughout the night.

Thank God before you read the Bible, because you know that he reveals himself to you through his Word. Tell him you're glad for the specific ways he's helped you in the past, then thank him ahead of time for how he's going to help you in the future. That's putting your faith into action.

When you've had an especially bad day and have really messed up, tell God at bedtime that you're relieved it's finally over. Thank God for the gift of salvation because you could never make it to heaven on your own. Thank God that he loves you exactly same on a bad day as on a good day. Be grateful that when you ask God for patience, wisdom, and strength that He will provide it.

If you look for things to complain about, you'll find them. But if you look for things to thank God for, you'll find those too.

What I am thankful for today:

The cute things my kids say that make me laugh: like my son Jake saying, "Having a purse is better than having a wallet 'cause your money doesn't fall out."

Brooke's new therapy starting next week with a wonderful therapist, a great location, and perfect time of the day.

A great coupon my friend Stephanie gave me; saved $59! WooYoo

Band Aids...what would we do without Band Aids?

The attention-holding power of the Cinderella movie.

That my girls love to clean the house; they are mopping the floor as I type. Yes, I will have to go behind them with a large towel but none-the-less, the floors will be clean.

Turkey sausage links

God's beautiful creation - even the acorns.

Objective: To teach your child to
a) listen and understand a sentence with at least 5-6 words
b) listen and understand to at least three critical elements


Points to Remember:
1. Always use longer sentences that use vocabulary the child knows
2. Remember to model the sentences and allow the child to engage in the conversation
3. Make sure the child is "talking" about the pictures and not "showing" the pictures.


Lesson:
1. There should be two players; each player should have the circle with the two hands.
2. I started as the Speaker and keep my circle hidden as I move red hand to a character and the yellow hand to an object on the right. Then I say a sentence, "The boy with the water wings is swimming with the flippers."
3. Brooke (the Listener), in clear view, should move the arrows to match the sentence she just heard.
4. When I see that Brooke has listened successfully, we do a "Match Up!"
5. I say, "1,2,3, Match Up!" and we show our circle boards and make sure they match.
6. After modeling a few times, Brooke is the Speaker and I am the Listener.



A few more sentences:
1. The girl with the blue bathing suit and swim wings wants to build a sand castle.
2. The girl with the green hat with a flower on it goes for a ride in the row boat.
3. The boy with the green hat needs to put on his suntan lotion.



Modifications:
1. Play this game with a friend as the parent observes and helps with vocabulary and sentence structure.
2. Don't worry about the color of the arrows; as long as one arrow is on a character and one arrow is on an object, the color doesn't really matter.
3. Start your sentence with the object and then the character such as, "The beach ball belongs to the boy with the green bathing suit."
4. This can be an activity that you do between turns in a quick turn game like Kerplunk or a dice board game. Have the player listen and move his arrows correclty before he gets a turn.
5. In everyday life, remember to make your sentences longer so they include more details and lists. Having a child remember a list with 3-4 critical elements is an important auditory skill needed for success in school. For example, instead of saying, "Get your shoes on." say "Get on your pink sandals and then stand next to the door." This gives your child more practice with remembering critical elements.

A video of Brooke as the Speaker and me as the Listener

Where the Wild Things Are

In this book, Max puts on his wolf costume in pursuit of some mischief, chasing his dog with a fork and talking back to his mom, and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired.

Activities:
READ THE BOOK
1.Look at the front cover: read the title and author. Look at the picture on the cover: What kind of feet does the Wild Thing have? What is he doing in the picture?

2. Say This is the title page and it says Where the Wild Thing Are? What is a Wild Thing? Look at the 2 Wild Things, what is different/same? Point to the boy in the costume Is he a Wild Thing? How is he different?

3. Begin reading. I would often stop to let Brooke talk about the pictures. As long as she is talking about the book, I will stop and let her ask her questions or tell her story. If she talks about something else, I say We can talk about that when we finish reading the book but that rarely happens if it is a good book.

4. I pointed out the differences between the pictures of the Max in his room and when his room began to grow into a forest. We talked about imagination.
5. I pointed out the expressions on Max's face, Does Max look happy or scared? etc.
6. "Let the wild rumpus start!" What is rumpus? What do you think it means? Jake helped with this question.

7. When we got to the page where the wild things are hanging on the tree. Brooke looked carefully at each wild thing. I asked her How do the wild things look the same (e.g. they all have sharp claws, yellow eyes ...) and how they are different (e.g. one has human feet, one has a beak ...) She thinks the one in front of Max looked like PopPop since his hair "sticks up" and it "has hair all over his face"

8. At the point Max leaves to return home, Brooke pointed the the wild things and gave them voice, "Don't go, I love you, Stay here with me" are some of the phrases she used in her high-pitched Wild Thing voice.



ART Create a Wild Thing together. Use your imagination to create a Wild Thing. Be sure to use detailed descriptors to describe your Wild Thing (e.g. his tail is long; and skinny and looks like a rat's tail, his teeth are sharp, like a lion's teeth etc..)






STORY TELLING Using our wild things and a puppet of Max (made from a photocopy) We practiced retelling the story. I went first to model re-telling since we really haven't done this yet. I retold the story in basic, simple sentences that the kids could also use.

Max put on this wolf costume and acted like a Wild Thing. His mommy told him to stop and Max said, I'll eat you up. Mommy said, go to your room without any supper. In his room a forest grew and grew and grew. Max got into a boat (had a boat puppet) and went far away to where the Wild Things live. Max and the Wild Things swung on trees and marched and danced. Max said, Be Still. The Wild Things went to sleep. Max was sad and lonely and went home. The Wild Things said, Stay here, Don't go, We will miss you. But Max went home and his Mom put his supper in his room. The End


Brooke told some basic parts of the story. It was difficult to understand her from behind the puppet theater but I could make out parts of the story in sequence. For instance, Max was naughty. Go to your room, Don't go, Max went home and lots of phrases I couldn't make out in between but a great accomplishment for re-telling the story.




KIDS IN THE KITCHEN

Make a Wild Thing to eat! We gathered raisins, almonds, dried apricots, dried apples, coconut, dried cranberries, and mini-Reese's Pieces from the cabinets. On toasted English Muffins, I spread peanut butter and let the kids create an edible Wild Thing.




Brooke looked in the book and chose a Wild Thing to create. We talked about the vocabulary: horns, claws, toes, sharp teeth, whiskers, and much more.



I think it looks really good! Kate and Jake's Wild Things are below.







WILD RUMPUS: Of course, we had to turn on some music and have a wild rumpus of our own.

Cats

Objectives: To teach your child to:
a) listen and understand sentences of at least 5-6 words
b) understand and use early connecting words such as ‘and’ and ‘then’
c) speak in 5-6 word sentences

Points to Remember:
1. Always begin by using longer sentences that combine known vocabulary.
2. Make sure you include conversational sentences to encourage the child to respond to someone’s comments.
3. Use a variety of sentences that contain descriptions, actions, lists of items, tell a story etc.
4. Remember to model the sentences and engage the child in conversation. Avoid asking questions to ‘test’ the child’s understanding.

Lesson:
This is a structured activity to help your child listen and understand longer and more complex sentences. Choose pictures, stickers, photographs of your child. I choose some miniature cats that we have collected over the last few months. Brooke loves "little things" and cats so I know this will be interesting and engaging for her. Then, follow the instructions given below:

1. Think about the sentences you will use and pay attention to the length and variety of the sentences. You should be using at least 5-6 words in your sentences, and at least two or three different types of sentences (descriptions, lists, questions etc). The most common mistake is using shorter sentences. It is okay if your sentences are longer, but they should not be shorter.
"Look at all these cats. There are many different kinds of cats on the table."
"There is a black cat holding a teddy bear in its mouth. Can you touch it?"
"The brown cat is might be taking a nap."
"I like the cute, white cat that is looking in the mirror."
"Which one is these little cats in your favorite?"
"Two cats are laying down: The gray cat and the brown cat."
"Do you see any cats that are the same?"
"The white cats on the red pillows are the same."

2. Go through your items and talk about them. I encouraged Brooke to talk about the cats and then expanded on her sentences.

Brooke said" This cat is bringing the bear to the baby cat." and "The orange cat plays with the frog (then something I didn't understand as she pointed to the bubble in the frogs throat)....so we talked about that. "The orange cat is playing with the frog that has a big bubble of air in his throat."
3. Continue until you have gone through at least 5 objects .

4. Then tell a story using the objects.
Using Brooke's idea of the brown cat taking the teddy bear to the baby, I told a short story using a few of the cats. I plan to retell her the same story later this afternoon and then she is she can re-tell me the story using the props.
Modifications:
1. Throughout your day, in addition to doing structured activities like this one, use longer and more complex sentences that combine descriptions, actions, and familiar vocabulary Your child will begin to understand these sentences over time, and will soon be trying to use longer sentences to communicate.
2. When completing this as a structured activity, you can choose pictures, stickers, photographs of your child or a family vacation, or a story to talk about. Whatever you choose it should be interesting and engaging for your child and you should be able to do something with the pictures after you’ve talked about them e.g. tell a story, make a photo album. You can also choose an experience activity such as baking cookies, a craft activity, etc. (remember to take some pictures so you can talk about it again later)
3. In earlier experience activities, you probably used phrases with about 3-4 words such as -- "the dishes are dirty!", "wash the dishes", etc. Now, for the same activities, make sure you expand your use of sentences. Instead, use sentences like “ Help me wash all the dirty dishes in the sink. We need to clean up and put them away!"
4. Carefully go through your day and what your child does. Change the way you are speaking to your child in each of these situations. For example, when its time for breakfast, instead of saying "It's time to eat!" or "It's time for breakfast!", use a sentence such as “I’m so hungry! Let’s have some cereal and a bagel for breakfast”.

Little Cloud by Eric Carle

This tale introduces a little cloud that changes itself into a handful of shapes. Calling upon memories of objects it has seen, Little Cloud becomes a plane, a shark, trees, a rabbit and a clown before rejoining the other clouds. At this point they do what clouds are apt to do when they get together: "Then all the clouds changed into one big cloud and rained!" The text is very predictable and gives Brooke an opportunity to listen and answer questions. This is how we read the book:

Mommy reads while not allowing Brooke to see the picture: " Little Cloud changed into a sheep. Sheep and clouds sometimes look alike."

Looking at Brooke I ask, "What shape did the little cloud turn into?"

Brooke replies, "a sheep" and I show her the picture.

Then we turn to the next page without letting Brooke see the picture and I read, " Little Cloud changed into an airplane. Little cloud often saw airplanes flying through the clouds."

Looking at Brooke I ask, "What did Little Cloud change into?"

Brooke replies, "a airplane" and I show her the picture.

Using the predicable structure of the book, she is able to answer correctly. She knows she is listening for what Little Cloud changes into and is able to answer correctly most of the time. Listening for one part of the story is much easier for her. If I start to ask different questions such as "What sometimes looks alike?" or "Where were the airplanes Little Cloud saw before?" Brooke would struggle and since she didn't know the answer would try to repeat the entire page instead of answering just the question. So to make reading fun and enjoyable, I try to find repetitive books to practice this Learning to Listen skill.

Now for the fun:
We made some Little Clouds to eat! The clouds are meringue and so, so, so yummy

You'll need:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• dash of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

To make:

1. Separate egg whites and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes
2. Add egg whites, pinch of salt, and cream of tartar to a bowl. Beat at medium speed until soft peaks begin to form
3. Slowly add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat on high speed until soft peaks begin to form
4. Drop onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper to form "clouds"
5. Bake at 225 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes. Remove from rack and let cool.
   

While our yummy cloud were baking, we did some art in the style of Eric Carle. Using blue construction paper, white paint and cotton balls, we paints clouds.
Brooke's Little Cloud was a boat.

We then read the book again! Now we'll head outside and look at the clouds seeing if we can find Little Cloud up in the sky.

Bubble Day

Today was Bubble Day - all things bubbles. We spent a great day talking and talking and talking about bubbles. We did a variety of activities that allowed Brooke to hear lots of conversations, directions, and songs all about bubbles.

BUBBLE WORKSHEETS

I printed off some bubble activities from Kid Sparkz. We had a bubble puzzle, a bubble lotto game, bubble bookmarks and bubble tracing sheets. The bubble lotto game was a fun way to work on listening skills. I would describe the picture and Brooke would listen (not able to see my picture) and then place her Bingo chip on the correct picture. She did fantastic with this activity.

BUBBLE GUM

We colored a Bubble Gum sheet while chewing Bubble Gum and then had a BUBBLE GUM CHEWING COMPETITION. We sat on the floor to chew, blow, and pop. It was not so much fun for Brooke and Kate who can not blow bubbles yet but it was fun popping Mommy's bubbles and provided good conversations. We had some Bubble Yum for this game.

SOAPY WATER PLAY

We went outside for some soapy water play. We filled some buckets with water and added a bar of good smelling Dove soap. The kids squeezed and squished and whipped and stirred until everything was bubbly. Using the hand held eggbeater was supper fun since they could use it by themselves without Mommy repeating "don't splash it, don't splash it" hundreds of times.

We put a little turtle in the Soapy Water buckets and sang about him:

I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim.

I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water; he ate up all the soap.

And now he's sick in bed with a bubble in his throat!

Bubble, bubble, bubble,

Bubble, bubble, bubble,

Bubble, bubble, bubble,

Bubble, bubble, POP!

And then used the soapy water to wash our bikes.

FRESH FRUIT AND WHIPPED CREAM: The kids chopped up some fruit for a fruit salad. We took turns using the hand held eggbeater to whip up some heavy whipping cream while Mommy said, "Don't splash it, Don't splash it!" This is where the bubbles came in. As it thickened we added some sugar and vanilla. Fruit Salad Yummy, Yummy!

BUBBLE ART

We mixed 2 tbs of powdered tempera paint, 1 tbs Joy soap, 1 cup cold water and shake. We then poured it into a pie plate and using a straw, gently blew into the mixture. The bubble slowly rose over the edges of the plate. We then lightly presses white copy paper into the bubble mass. A very messy activity and very fun.

PLAIN OLD BUBBLE BLOWING We dug out our bubbles and had fun blowing plain old bubbles. I had purchased a big container of bubble wands from Kmart clearance for lots of bubble fun. We talked about the highest, biggest, blueist, longest flying time, smallest, and most bubbles - lots of vocabulary practice

Summer Recipes

Brooke loves to help out in the kitchen! While her sister and brother entertain each other outside, Brooke and I often find ourselves in the kitchen. This summer we have tried out a bunch of new recipes and had some great conversations too.
Children with hearing loss need "one hour of auditory instruction in a quiet environment". Creating a quiet environment in my home is nearly impossible with a six year old and two 4 year olds...quiet is something rare except for the brief moments Brooke and I find ourselves in the kitchen. So, I take advantage of these opportunities by turning a house-hold chore into a listening activity.
1. Vocabulary: When parents cook with a child, kids are exposed to an entirely new set of vocabulary words. Using words like bowl, preheat, teaspoon, mixer, stir, measure, and grate expand a child's mind. Parents should use the correct words for kitchen utensils and cooking terms whenever possible – it will surprise them how fast children pick up these unfamiliar terms.

2. Critical Elements: All children have difficulty remembering lists, but children with hearing loss have to learn to remember lists that are given verbally. Parents can say, "We need to use 2 eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. (pause) What do we need?" The child will then repeat back the list or pick up the items from the counter. They learn to listen to verbal directions, remember them, and carry them out; this skill is difficult but practicing in the kitchen is a practical way to work on it.


3. Lessons on Sequencing: By preparing meals with a parent, preschoolers begin to see that the order in which steps are taken is important. This allows a parent to teach sequencing vocabulary such as first, second, next, and last which are often difficult for a hearing impaired child to understand.


4. Song: Songs are difficult for Brooke to learn since the words often flow together and there is little separation in the words. She can pick up the tune (despite my poor musical ability) but learning the words take a lot of practice. In the kitchen, we often make up songs about what we are doing so she can get some more practice with this skill. We will sing, "This is the way we stir the batter, stir the batter, stir the batter. This is the way we stir the batter when we make cupcakes."

Below are some of our wonderful and not-so-wonderful creations this summer. We often didn't take pictures because of sticky hands, but we have a few to share!




Pretzels: These were disgusting and not a single person ate them, but it was a good learing process since we made some letters, numbers and shapes out of the pretzels.



Homemade fruit roll-ups






Here is Kate with some cupcake cookies we made.




I don't even remember what these pictures were but probably some cookies, banana bread, cupcakes or some other yummy treat.




Granola - also a"flop" since I burned it. But we used it to feed fish, squirrels and birds and they liked it!