Confidence

As a mom of a child with a disability, I need to be aware of Brooke's self-confidence. I want her to be able to stand up for herself, self-advocate, and not think of her hearing loss as a weakness.

I need to be careful of how I talk with my 3 children. Making statements such as "Brooke can't hear because it is too noisy in here" or "Say it loud enough for Brooke to hear" are just constant reminders that hearing is hard for Brooke. It is better to make listening a family issue instead of a Brooke-issue. Saying things like "It is hard to hear someone from far away, please move closer" or "It's hard to listen when it is this noisy" or "Everyone should be looking at the person speaking" put the focus on the issue of listening instead of on Brooke's disbability.

I need to remind myself of this often and think before I speak!

Yucky!

Using a gallon size Ziploc bag, create a monster. I printed this monster from The Listening Room. To play, gather 12-20 itsy-bitsy miniatures; they can be food items, vehicles, clothing, etc since monsters eat just about everything. Play and "I Spy" type game by saying, "I see something yummy to eat....." and give a description of one of the itsy-bitsy miniatures.

Once your child finds the item, pretend to but mustard or ketchup or BBQ sauce on it and eat it up by placing it in the monster's mouth. Then let your child have a turn to describe an item.

Brooke had some great descriptions today. For French Fries she said, "You hold it with your fingers, it is red and yellow." She described the ice cream cone by saying, "It is white and brown and has a cone." I thought those where great descriptions!

Answering questions about a story

objective:

a. to listen to 5-6 sentences and answer a who, what, why, where question without visual clues


Points to remember:

1. In therapy, her teacher reads the pages, asks the questions and then shows her the picture after she answers the question but a home that doesn't work. Brooke wants to see the pictures and says, "No questions for Brooke" if I try to read without her seeing the pictures. So, at home, She looks at the pictures while I read and I'll ask her a question that she can't find the answer in pictures - which makes it a little harder for mommy!

2. Browse the books in the library that you think will work best for your family. I usually check out about 5-6 books each week.


Lesson:

1. Look at the front cover of the book.

and ask some pre-reading questions: Where is the title? What do you think the book is about? What do you see in the illustrations?

2. The first page reads: There's a cow in the road! And it sure is a shock when I first wake up at seven o'clock. I asked Brooke, "What time did she wake up?"

3. Another page reads: He's twitching his tail and tossing his mane. He's a handsome horse But a little bit vain. "I asked What kind of horse is he?"

4. There's a pig in the road! At the end of the line As I gobble my toast at seven thirty-nine. I asked, "What did she eat for breakfast?"

5. There's a crowd in the road! And it sure feels good To wait all together in our neighborhood. I asked, "Why are they waiting?"

Modifications:

1. Try to do this will all the books you read. You don't need to ask a question on every page, but do remember to ask a few to make sure your child is LISTENING to the story but just looking at the pictures.

Rhythm repeat

This is a great activity to help your child learn to listen:

Clap a rhythm and ask your child to imitate it. Start with a simple 3 clap rhythm; do a variety of them. Then try some 4 or 5 clap rhythms. Try doing it with your backs to each other so she can not see you clap. You will probably be impressed with what you child is able to imitate. This will help with auditory discrimination and phonics as your child starts to put sounds together to read or write words. And it is a fun activity to fit into your everyday routines to help your child learn to listen!

Funny Voices

Here is an easy auditory activity to play with your child:

Talk to your child and let her talk back to you in different intensities of voice: softer, louder and with different intonations.

Just use common everyday phrases:
1. "Would you like some orange juice with your waffle?" spoken in a whisper
2. "Look at the beautiful white blossoms on the tree near the car" spoken like you are singing
3. "Don't forget your backpack." spoken like an opera star

This is so much fun and your child will have fun listening. Encourage her to say some things really loud or with funny intonations.

A great travel time activity that promotes learning in the everyday!

Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

For more letter lunches:
Find B-I here and Find J - P here

Qq lunch included a quesadilla with salsa, quiche, question mark sandwich with letter Q Cheeze-Its and a Q sugar cookie. The note is addressed to Qt pie!

Rr lunch was a rectangle (cheese filled cracker), raisins, Ritz, Roll-up, raspberries and rainbow Skittles.

Ss lunch was Super with an S-sandwich, salad, strawberries, Snickers, Spongebob Square Pants cake decoration, and strawberry milk.

Tt lunch is Terrific: tuna and tortilla chips, turkey roll-up, tangerines, and tomatoes.

Uu lunch is u-noodles, umbrella made from bread, cheese and a candy cane, pineapple upside-down cake yogurt, carrots under an umbrella, cookies under an umbrella, and saltines with the letter U drawn with food markers.

Vv lunch included vegetables, veggie chips, V-sandwich, vanilla wafers (rectangles and circles) and vanilla pudding.

Ww lunch was wonderful with waffles, whales (really Goldfish, but close enough, worms, watermelon, white beans, and water to drink.

Xx lunch was a xylophone with a mallet, pretzel in an "x" shape and "carrots" in an x shape - that was a hard letter!

Yy lunch was Yummy! There was yogurt with strawberries, a Y sandwich, yellow lemon-heads, a York peppermint patty, and yellow pineapple chunks.

Zz lunch is zucchini frattata, zucchini muffins, a Zebra cake (Little Debbie's zebra cakes), a Z toast, and a bunch of zoo animal crackers.

For more letter lunches:

Find B-I here and Find J - P here

1,2,3 Listen

Objective:

a. to listen to a short sentence then pick the appropriate picture from a worksheet

b. listen and understand recorded voice.

c. We used this site to download the audio file and the worksheet: Body Parts

Points to Remember:
1. Download the "What's Wrong" audio file. You will need Windows Media Player to listen.

2. Then print off the included worksheet. I choose the worksheet with 2 answer choices but there are others such as 3 answer choices or connect the answer to the picture. I felt the 2 choices was an appropriate one for Brooke.

Lesson:
1. Tell your child that you are going to listen to some sentences on the computer and then ask her to show you a picture about the sentences she heard.

2. I used 2 envelopes so Brooke could only see the 2 pictures that we were working on.

3. Play the audio file. There is a pause button to stop it in between the questions.

The first questions states: "I have a cut on my arm." "What happened?" "I fell off my bike."
Once your child listens, pause the audio file. Ask your child to point to the picture that shows what the people were talking about.

Your child should point to the picture of the arm. If not, rewind the audio file and listen again.

4. Continue with the other 10 questions. Brooke was able to get about 4 of the 10 by listening the first time, a few we listened to twice, and a few she didn't get at all.

Modifications:
1. You can make up sentences yourself if you prefer not to use the recorded voices. Recorded voices are more difficult so make sure your child is ready.
2. There are lots of other topic choices such as transportation, weather, feelings, daily routines, Halloween, and more. We will be doing more of these too!