The Weekly Review: Week 27

Post I Found Visually Amazing

I came across 21 Images You Won't Believe Aren't Photoshopped at cracked.com. I loved the images and the true stories behind them. They really are extraordinary pictures of some amazing things.

Sibling Moment of the Week:

Typical school mornings involve getting the children dressed and fed in pretty quick succession. They tend to be underfoot the entire time we're getting ready. Then we drive first Ava, and then Michael to school. Yesterday morning I went downstairs to make some oatmeal for breakfast. I didn't really pay attention to the relatively leisurely time I was having making breakfast until I realized half an hour had passed, the oatmeal was cooked and had cooled and there were no children attached at my hip. I eventually found them together in Michael's closet with some toys and flashlights playing sleepover. I do love the joys of independent sibling play.

Ava Names a New Kitty:

Ava has her mama kitty and her baby kitty. She has recently discovered Hello Kitty. She likes Hello Kitty bandaids and a Hello Kitty shirt she was gifted as a beloved hand-me-down. I noticed though, that she calls Hello Kitty, "Hello." When choosing a bandaid she requests "Hello." When picking which shirt to wear, she wants the one with "Hello" on it. It is difficult to figure out how to explain to my 2 1/2 year old that the character's name is "Hello Kitty" and not simply "Hello." It sure is cute though. Too bad we had to ban the bandaids. As it turns out, her skin reacts to the adhesive with huge red welts.

The Weekly Michael

Michael read the first Bob book to me tonight. I am so proud. He's been spelling for a while now. If I help him sound out the individual phonemes he can instantly tell me the letters that go with the sounds. Every time he's on the computer playing with the paint program he switches into font mode and tries to spell something. A few days ago he ran in the kitchen saying, "Mama, come see! I made zoozoozoo!" Sure enough, he had typed in exactly that.

At the easel today he wanted to write boom. I asked him what it started with. He said, "B." And then he attempted to write a "B". Then I told him that two letters together make the "oo" sound and asked him if he knew what two letters do that. He responded "O" "O" and proceeded to add two Os to his word. Finally he put the "M" on as well. I am amazed at how good he is at this stuff. (Of course, "boom" looks more like "doom", but he tried.

Projects of the Week:

1. I figured out how to add both audio and video to the site.
2. I completed two hours of continuing education credit. Both hours were on Childhood Apraxia of Speech topics.
3. I created a short screening tool for my own use with the kids that tests each phoneme in initial and final position using only 22 CVC words and administered the screening to both children. I am using the results of the screenings to decide what to work on next.