Inspire to be a doctor

Here is a story of a hearing impaired girl about to graduate from medical school.  She has a cochlear implant and has worked hard to complete her training.

Here is a sample from the article:
Hajjar will graduate this week from the University of Calgary’s School of Medicine, thanks to support from her classmates, staff in the department of medicine, and mostly her unfailing discipline, work ethic and relentless drive to become a doctor.
Humbly, she says much of it comes from the rewards of helping others.
“It still amazes me how grateful my patients are. And working with them, knowing I can help them, it really means a lot to me. That is what drives me.”
Find the article here.
Maybe Brooke will become a doctor!  :)

Inspirtation to deaf children

I saw this article this morning and found the story so inspiring! Here is a little of the story:

BEING born deaf has never stood in the way of Ipswich woman Ceilidh O'Sullivan's ambition.
The Peak Crossing 22-year-old, who completely lost her hearing as a teenager - was a successful BMX rider before she embarked on a mission to help deaf kids in Africa.

After receiving a life changing cochlea implant and learning to listen and speak again, Ms O'Sullivan joined the Boanerges Deaf Initiative and has since taken a key role in establishing schools specifically for deaf kids in the central African country of Uganda.

She has become the Australian representative of the not-for-profit organisation, which looks after the needs of 35 hearing impaired children in the capital, Kampala, plus another 90 children in the north of the country, and about 40 in the east.

"Deaf children are seen as a curse in Uganda - being deaf is viewed as a disease," Ms O'Sullivan said.

"I felt I had to go there to teach them that deafness is OK and it is not a sickness."

I would LOVE to compile a collection of inspirational stories of deaf people who change the world! I think it would be great for Brooke to read one day!

Go here for the entire story

Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss Newsletter

I got this newsletter in the mail today....and to my surprise it has a picture of Brooke! How cool is that! Click the picture to read the newsletter......

Sight Word practice

Draw a hopscotch board outside. Fill each square with a new sight word. Then play hopscotch having your child read the word she hops on! We have been working REALLY hard on sight words lately. Click my other blog to see all our sight word practice.

Rhyme Poster

As a family we created a Rhyme Poster with words that Brooke can rhyme. We keep it in the kitchen so that is a common topic of discussion. Jake and Kate enjoyed helping with it too.

This is a simple rhyming sound. I like how it repeats the rhyme 3 times to allow the child to hear it over and over. We sing this little tune when we find words that rhyme during everyday life.

Hat....Cat....These words rhyme
Hat....Cat....These words rhyme
Hat....Cat....These words rhyme
So rhyme along with me

More rhymes:

bed/red
hat/cat/bat/rat/sat/mat
duck/truck/stuck
shoe/blue
hand/sand
frog/log
dad/sad
brother/mother

We find all sorts of simple words and go from there....sometimes when we take a walk the children will find things that rhyme and bust out in the song...I am so proud when that happens! I also do not discourage the nonsense words, as they are still rhyming; for example, Brooke always wants to rhyme the word tongue....so we just make up some non-sense words that rhyme with tongue.

More rhyming

Play a guessing game to introduce the concept of rhyming words. Have your child close her eyes and try to think of the animal that you’re describing. Give her several hints, ending with a word that the animal’s name rhymes with.

For example, you might say, “I’m thinking of an animal with whiskers and a long tail. This animal likes to catch mice. Its name rhymes with the word ‘pat'." Have your child say the animal name then stress the rhyming word: "That is right. 'cat' rhymes with 'pat'. cat...pat"

Another example would be, “I’m thinking of an animal who sleeps through the long winter. This animal is very large, and sometimes it likes to eat honey. Its name rhymes with the word ‘hair'." Have your child say the animal name then stress the rhyming word: "That is right. bear' rhymes with 'hair'. bear...hair"

Try this: " I am an animal who is a pet. It has four legs, a wagging tail, and likes to chew on a bone. Its name rhymes with 'log'." Have your child say the animal name and then stress the rhyming word.

Or: "I'm thinking of an animal that is an insect. It flies through the air and travels from flower to flower to collect nectar. It has a stinger so be careful. Its name rhymes with 'tree'.

Or these pairs:
fox-socks
mouse-house
bat-sat
frog-hog
cow-wow
snail-pail
bug-slug
whale-scale
fish-dish
snake-lake



Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/early-childhood/articles/42631.aspx#ixzz1ZeoLZPkK