His Mansion

One of the amazing experiences we encountered on our recent vacation was a trip to His Mansion in rural New Hampshire.



His Mansion is a Christian counseling and residential care community for people recovering from addictions, eating disorders, depression, etc. It is a year-long program that includes counseling, biblical teaching, hard labor (they grow most of their own food, chop their own wood, clean their own facilities, etc.), and discipleship training.



15-25 young men and 10-15 young women go through three phases of training to help them recover physically, emotionally, and spiritually from the issues in their lives. By taking a time to heal and learn about Christ-like relationships within a community, the long-term recovery rate for graduates is supposed to be quite high. Unfortunately, as in most recovery centers, most residents who enter the program do not graduate, as these are extremely hard issues to overcome.

One of the most amazing things about this program is that it is free to residents. Free. Some addition recovery centers cost $30,000 per DAY, and this program is free. All staff is volunteer. Clothing, extra food, and materials are donated. So of course, volunteers (long term and short term) are much needed as well as donations.



Would you or someone you know be interested in spending time mentoring others, helping with labor, and learning to live in community?

You may just see a bit of God's glory in the process.

Marvelous Children's Book Monday: George and the Dragon

Twas the book that launched a six year old's birthday party...

Until checking this book out of the library, The Flash was going to have a "robot" themed party. Afterward... it had to be a DRAGON theme (pictures to follow in the next few weeks).

George and the Dragon


"Far, far away in the high, high mountains in a deep, deep valley in a dark, dark cave..." lived a dragon who was so fierce and powerful that all feared him. And he feared none...except for mice. Unfortunately, a mouse named George moves in next door to him. With one small appearance, George petrifies the dragon, saves the princess, and becomes the new owner of a protective mouse hole in the castle.

What I love about this book is that because there is only small amount of text, I can easily get through this story in half of a therapy session, leaving the rest of the session to discuss the rich vocabulary and illustrations.

Speech Therapy Ideas:
1. Discuss vocabulary words: mighty, blast, fiery, flick, monstrous, fierce, pity, drafty, previous, fixtures, inconvenient, miserable, loan, lumps, fled, groaned, cozy.

2. Practice comparing. The dragon can fly higher than the clouds. What else can fly higher than clouds? The dragon can fly faster than the birds. What else can fly faster than birds?

3. Talk about the dragon's new neighbor, George. Why doesn't he like his new home? Is he brave or powerful? How does George save the princess?

4. Why did George get a feast and a new home?

5. What does the sign, "Beware of the Mouse" mean? Who is cowering in the back of this picture? Why?

6. Practice /r/ sounds. This book has a lot of difficult /r/ blends in "George" and "dragon".

7. Learn more about dragons with these activities:
ABC Teach Dragon Theme Unit
Activity Village Dragon Theme
Print activities Dragon printables

Therapy Thursday: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

As you may have noted from my extended blogging absence, I have been on holiday. But never fear, Super Woman is here! Did you figure I was captured by my evil nemesis, or off saving the world?


After ignoring my library book for 12 consecutive weeks (no joke), I finally completed reading The Diving Bell and The Butterfly as discussed in this post about Augmentative Communication using one's eyes. The language, imagery, and vocabulary used in the book are breathtaking. It soars between the author's former life, his current situation, his family, his dreams. Revealing the terror of Locked-In syndrome, while still fondly dreaming of feasts he can never eat and sites he can never see.

And his ode to my profession cannot be ignored (of course!). If these lines from the book do not re-inspire me, then nothing will:

The identity badge pinned to Sadrine's white tunic says "Speech Therapist," but it should read "Guardian Angel." She is the one who set up the communication code without which I would be cut off from the world.

and

Speech Therapy is an art that deserves to be more widely known. You cannot imagine the acrobatics your tongue mechanically performs in order to produce all the sounds of a language.

The amazing way that this book was written and transcribed, however, cannot be fully appreciated without also seeing the french film with the same title. Amazing, dream-like, and very french (therefore not for kids!), it is no wonder this film was awarded "Best Foreign Language Film of the Year" at the Golden Globes.


The absolute power of communication is revealed when you imagine life without it. What would you do, and who would you be, if you could not express yourself?

Therapy Thursday: Listening Activities

If you are like me, you had a heck of a time learning foreign languages. Too many of the sounds seem similar and the words sound indistinguishable. To a native speaker, however, these differences are vast and very clear. Just as a native Japanese speaker may not hear the difference between /l/ and /r/, the native English speaker would exclaim that they are as different as night and day (and made in totally different parts of the mouth too!).

If, however, I had been raised in Switzerland (or most of Europe for that matter) and been exposed to many language from early on, the listening part of my brain would probably have much greater phonemic awareness capability.

In the same way, some children have natural difficulties with hearing sound differences even in their native language. This can affect their articulation, vocabulary, and reading skills.

Photo by carf.

A recent article by Judish Maginnis Kuster entitled, "Do You Hear What I Hear? Listening Activities" lists a large collection of excellent links. These practice games can help to tune and develop a child's listening skills.

Some of my favorite games are:

• Bananas in Pyjamas: timed animal-sound matching/concentration activity with easy, hard, or very hard examples
• Fisher Price Animal Sounds Game: click on the picture of the animal they hear
• Sounds and Hearing at Crickweb: identify sounds and sort musical instrument sounds
• Which One Makes the Sound You Hear: sort eight animal and musical instruments sounds
• Alien Scavenger Hunt: choose the sounds heard in the word presented
• Fuzzy Lion Ears: listen for beginning sounds in words
• What Do You Hear: discriminate vocabulary and grammar

All of these activities can be found (among other activities) in my PortaPortal site. Just log into the Guest Access "CCspeech".

Teaching Tuesday: Tracking reading time

Participating in a summer reading program?

We are.

And as much as the Flash does not want to read for a full 30 minutes, I'm going to be a stickler on this one. Just think of all the hours spent reading he will have accumulated by the end of the summer?!

Instead of having him ask "how much time left??" every 2 minutes, we have a count down timer.


When the Time-Timer is trapped in the room with a sleeping Marvel Girl, however, we can use the online Class Timer.



You can count up or down, and can have a "beep" play at the end of the allotted time.

Most of us can't afford the hefty price tag of the Time-Timer (I had a gift certificate, otherwise I wouldn't have one either!), but the Class Timer is free. Although count down timers don't make time pass more quickly, they can eliminate the constant questioning and nagging.... Which makes them all worthwhile.

You jump, I jump.

The Teachers Jumped Out of the Windows

The teachers jumped out of the windows.
The principal ran for the door.
The nurse and librarian bolted.
They're not coming back anymore.

The counselor, hollering madly,
escaped out the door of the gym.
The coach and custodian shouted
and ran out the door after him.

The lunch ladies threw up their ladles,
then fled from the kitchen in haste,
while all of the students looked puzzled
as staff members scurried and raced.

We'd never seen anything like it.
But, still, it was pretty darned cool
to see all the staff so excited
to leave on the last day of school.

--Kenn Nesbitt

Copyright © 2007 Kenn Nesbitt
All Rights Reserved

To read more funny poems like this one, please visit www.poetry4kids.com


Photo by Lel4nd

My Shadow

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My shadow documents a time
When the sun shone upon my back.
This one is from 2 weeks ago
It hides the things I lack.

My shadow shows who I am
It shows me tall and strong.
It cannot show the victories
Or the place where I belong.

My shadow outlines my body
It reveals if I stand proud.
If I've tried my best at work
Helped children learn to talk, and loud!

My shadow hides my triumphs
Helping my son learn to read,
Assisting my daughter to blossom
Smiling as they take the lead

My shadow fades the worry lines
The white hairs that start to grow
Now that I'm "one year older"
Tell me please, do they show?

Auctionable Cookies. Month 3.

Snickerdoodley-Doodley-Yumm-O.

To my son's shock and horror, the cookie he had reserved for himself disappeared during the school day. You know, after the rest of the batch was given to the auction winner.

Oops! Guess mommy should have mentioned to the family that the cookie was off-limits.

I owe him another cookie. Or 3.



Snickerdoodles
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Combine ingredients in mixer
2. Roll into balls
3. Roll balls in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar
(4. optional step- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm)
5. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes

Teaching Tuesday: Online Teaching Games (edited)

Apparently I'm a little behind on the interactive teaching tools.

I recently discovered Portaportal, a compilation of my favorite websites and can direct my children (or students) to play these pre-selected sites. Since children easily can be re-directed to other sites, they must still be monitored, but this gives them a great place to start.

Take a look at my newly compiled Portaportal site by signing in as a guest of "CCspeech". I have put together language and math websites for kids aged 3-9.

Or create your own free Portaportal and then share it with me!

Edit: Sorry! Apparently I had set my preferences to "no guest access". That should be rectified now. Go ahead and check out my compilation of activities. :)

Marvelous Children's Book Monday: Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted To Be Noticed

Trust me, the humor is this book selection choice does not escape my notice. In an effort to maintain my family's secret identities, however, please refrain from any "revealing" comments. ;)

What is a super talented ninja, who just wants recognition for his skills, to do when he is supposed to be stealthy and unnoticed?

Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted To Be Noticed


Wink comes across this dilemma when trying to demonstrate his superior skills at ninja school. He cannot keep silent during stealth practice. He attracts brightly colored materials and ribbons like glue. He even fights with a panda when his stealth goes unrecognized by his master.

Using torn paper illustrations, this book is beautiful, amusing, and enduring. It is short enough to read and discuss within a speech therapy session, but encompasses enough vocabulary and detail for several therapy sessions discussion.

Speech Therapy Ideas:
1. Practice final /k/ sounds every time "Wink" is mentioned in the text. Remember that /k/ is made with the back of the tongue.

2. Discuss the master's sayings such as, "Free-flowing water will always find its way." What does the master mean? How do these sayings apply (or not apply) to Wink?

3. Discuss the grandmother's sayings such as, "Time spent laughing is time well spent." What does the grandmother mean? How do these sayings apply (or not apply) to Wink?

4. Explain the similes mentioned in the text: "flying through the air like a glittering cannonball", "clapped like thunder".

5. Practice vocabulary: stealth, silence, ninja, perform, flaunt, notice, extend, demonstrate, nimble.

6. Retell the story with (or without) prompts. Who are the main characters? Where does this take place? What is the problem? What happens? How does the story conclude?