The letter of the week is "I", so Izzie has been learning the difference between the short i and long i sounds. She has known the short i sound for awhile (thanks to the wonderful Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD....a must have); however, she was just introduced to the long i sound. I was a little concern that she would be confused that letter "I" made two different sounds, but she really caught on quicker than I thought.
We practiced that the short i sounds like "Indian" and the long i sounds like "ice cream". Then, she would say the flashcard picture and decide whether it sounded like the "i" sound as in Indian or as in ice cream. The top cards (Indian and ice cream) are from ABeka, but you can download the flashcards here.
So, to celebrate the different sounds of letter I....
Izzie created the capital letter I...ice cream cone.
Izzie has been practicing the "shhh" sound at speech therapy for a few weeks, but is still having a little trouble. She has a difficult time puckering her lips and then she crosses her tongue between her teeth, when trying to make the sound. So, to help out at home, I created a "Fish Splash" game for her to play. It's just like using flashcards, but Izzie is much more willing to participate...flashcards do not hold her attention. She has been playing this game over and over again, even by herself!
I made 20 felt fish and attached a picture to the back of each. Izzie "fishes" for a fish, then simply says what the picture is...it's that simple! I may (eventually) add little washers to the mouth of each fish and have Izzie use a homemade magnetic fishing pole to catch the fish. But, for now, this is working.
Thanks to the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD, Izzie knows the sound of each letter! I highly recommend this DVD to all parents! Izzie received the DVD for her 3rd birthday back in September and quickly learned all the sounds and was able to recite the entire alphabet within a week.
She has begun trying to sound out words, while we are reading and will often tell me what letter a word begins with...example, If I say, "Izzie, please put away your toys." She'll respond, "toys...t-t-t...toys...letter T." So, to follow her lead, I found this neat activity...
Inside each heart, there is a picture that may or may not start with the letter "H" sound. As Izzie colored the pictures, we discussed what they were and what sounds each began with. Then, I simply made a huge heart with a pocket (light pink at the bottom), so Izzie could place the hearts that begin with the letter "H" sound inside the pocket. This is also a fun way to practice her speech therapy!
Did you notice that she's wearing her heart pajamas? She insisted on wearing them for this activity!
Izzie is currently 35 months old, has been in speech therapy since she was 20 months old, and was just recently diagnosed with Apraxia, a speech disorder. She is progressing with her expressive language development, but still is not at age-level. However, her cognitive and receptive abilities are above age-level. Therefore, she completely understands and comprehends everything that is said to her, but has trouble saying what she wants to say correctly and consistently.
What is Apraxia?It is a disorder in which a person has trouble saying what he or she wants to say correctly and consistently.
What causes Apraxia?The cause or causes of Apraxia are not yet known. Some scientists believe that Apraxia is a disorder related to a child's overall language development. Others believe it is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to send the proper signals to move the muscles involved in speech.
What are the symptoms?One of the most notable symptoms is difficulty putting sounds and syllables together in the correct order to form words. Longer or more complex words are usually harder to say than shorter or simpler words. People with Apraxia of speech also tend to make inconsistent mistakes when speaking. For example, they may say a difficult word correctly but then have trouble repeating it, or they may be able to say a particular sound one day and have trouble with the same sound the next day. People with Apraxia of speech often appear to be groping for the right sound or word, and may try saying a word several times before they say it correctly.Children with developmental Apraxia of speech generally can understand language much better than they are able to use language to express themselves. Some children with the disorder may also have other problems. These can include other speech problems, such as dysarthria; language problems such as poor vocabulary, incorrect grammar, and difficulty in clearly organizing spoken information; problems with reading, writing, spelling, or math; coordination or "motor-skill" problems; and chewing and swallowing difficulties.
How is it treated?Children with developmental Apraxia of speech will not outgrow the problem on their own; speech-language therapy is often helpful for these children.In severe cases, people with developmental Apraxia of speech may need to use other ways to express themselves. These might include formal or informal sign language or a language notebook with pictures or written words that the person can show to other people.I read that many children with Apraxia of speech, even at young ages, have some awareness of their difficulty. I would completely agree with this statement. Izzie knows exactly what she wants to say and will try to say it and can hear and recognize that it came out wrong; then she gets extremely upset and frustrated.
Izzie attends therapy once a week and will increase to twice a week starting in September when she turns three years old. She is consistently saying 2-word phrases now and has recently begun saying 3-word sentences. However, many words are unrecognizable to outsiders and can only be understood in context or paired with sign language.
We have many more years of therapy ahead of us, but each day when she says a new sound or attempts a new word, it gives me hope that she will overcome Apraxia.
I made these Monkeys Jumping On The Puppets for Izzie a few weeks ago; however, she did not enjoying playing with them. So, I decided to recycle them. I got my inspiration from here.
Izzie is having more fun playing with the monkeys this way. She loves being able to attach and detach the monkeys. She is enjoying counting the monkeys on the bed and attaching the correct number. In addition, we're using this rhyme to work on her speech; she is filling in the blank for bed, head, doctor, no-no, and numbers 1-5.
The monkeys and numbers are attached by using Velcro.
Izzie was having so much fun with Monkeys On The Bed that I decided to make another one for Monkeys In A Tree. We are using the same monkeys and numbers. I got the tree and crocodile clipart from here.
Again, this is great to help her speech. She is filling in the blanks for tree, me, snap, no, and numbers 1-5.
This week we are working with the "P" sound on the speech board.
Letter "P" words: purple panda Pam pan party pinwheel peach plate pay police potato pink pancake pear peas pig purse pop Pooh pants up
I had really liked having the picture cards on the felt board, but Izzie had them all over the house and even lost several. So, I came up with a solution...I hole punched each card, grouped them by letter, and then placed each letter group on a shower curtain ring (I bought a pack of 12 at Wal-mart for $2.00). Now, Izzie still has access to them, but they aren't scattered everywhere.
I even attached her microphone (she uses it to practice saying her words) with yarn to a shower curtain ring.
This week, Izzie is practicing her "M" sound on the speech board. I found this great "Eco-phone" at Target for $1.99. She is really enjoying saying her sounds/words into the microphone...it makes it much more fun for her!
Since Izzie is practicing her "B" sounds this week, I decided to have her do some activities with buttons. First, I made a letter B for her and had her place buttons on it, while trying to say "button" each time (I need to add a button picture to the felt board).
Then, she sorted buttons by color. She gathered up all the buttons of the same color at the same time. Finally, she organized the buttons by size (big and small) in different bowls.
Izzie has a speech delay and has been in Speech Therapy for the last year. She has made some progress, but still isn't at age-level. I've been trying several different techniques with her and she seems to like the "flashcards" the best. However, she does get a little overwhelmed with the flashcards since there are several different sounds at one time, so I decided to focus on one letter each week. This week, we are going to focus on the Letter "B". Izzie has the most success with the letter B, so I thought this would be a good place to start. I printed off simple everyday picture cards and few more challenging ones for her to practice. Each day, we'll spend about 30 minutes repeating/attempting to repeat the different words. I placed the pictures on the felt board, so she has access to them throughout the day. She has been at the felt board several times today by herself...organizing the pictures and even pointing and identifying several of the pictures with words!!
We practiced that the short i sounds like "Indian" and the long i sounds like "ice cream". Then, she would say the flashcard picture and decide whether it sounded like the "i" sound as in Indian or as in ice cream. The top cards (Indian and ice cream) are from ABeka, but you can download the flashcards here.
Izzie created the capital letter I...ice cream cone.
