First Day of School Pictures - 2012

I've seen a ton of sweet first day of school pictures floating around the internet. I particularly liked this one and combined it with the idea of holding a sign. This year was the first year both children were heading off to preschool/pre-K at our local public school and so I decided that I would get it done this time. I printed off the "signs" using microsoft word the night before while the kids were in the bath. I dragged the children into the driveway, cajoled smiles from them with silly sentences, and took a few pics with my phone before loading them in the car. Then I used PicMonkey to edit the pictures and add the text.

Free Articulation and Phonological Process Screener Available Online

I was thinking about cobbling together a quick articulation screening tool to use with my kids. I don't have the extra cash to invest in a GFTA or Khan-Lewis although I would love to have them. Besides, all I need is an organized way to assess the kids' current production of the full range of consonants. I was doing a bit of research online and stumbled across a really nice free one already available online. I thought I'd post the link for anyone who doesn't already know about it.

You can find the Quick Screener: A Quick Test of Articulation and Phonology on Caroline Bowen's website. She's a Speech-Language Pathologist, PhD, and specialist in speech sound disorders. Look for the third section down on the page for the links to the screener and to the record forms. The screening consists of 44 (mostly) single syllable words prompted by pictures and verbal prompts. You can transcribe errors and use the record forms to look for patterns of phonological errors.

You should note that although all but one of the words are single syllable, many of the words contain consonant blends and vocalic /r/ sounds. Take that into consideration when deciding if this would be a useful tool with a particular student. Also, the record form does not have a summary section for clearly entering error sounds/positions, but that would be simple enough to add on your own.

It's a great tool freely available for download and use. You should definitely check it out.

Initial T Homework Sheet: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Worksheet

I was playing around with a possible homework sheet format and I came up with this. It has a section for the parents to give their child visual cues, a section for the parent to do auditory bombardment (with the target consonant paired with every vowel), and then a section with picture cues for the child to practice saying target words. Useful?

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