/s/ eResource update (and another feature sneak peek)

I've gotten a few of the proofread copies of my soon-to-be-released /s/ Card Sets and Resources ebook back (description, sneak preview pictures). As soon as I get the rest back I'll get the edits done and put it up on the site.

If anyone happens to have some skill at making pretty graphical things on the computer (like a sidebar ad) or at webpage design within the blogger platform (making a storefront page) and would like to volunteer their time and services I'd be eternally grateful. Otherwise, I'll muddle through and come up with something functional on my own. :-)

In the mean time, here's a sneak peek of the additional features I've added to the backs of cards in the card sets. I found that I wanted the card sets to be easily sortable by a variety of features. I also wanted a way to easily sort card sets apart if I needed to mix them together in a therapy session. So all the initial and final cards in the sets have the following features.

The symbol in the upper-left will allow you to sort by phoneme and position. The symbol in the upper-right will allow sorting by vowel. The target word, carrier phrase, and difficulty level are still included. In the lower-right there are symbols for four common phonological processes. When the corresponding symbol is colored in, that card can be used for one or more of the following phonological processes: velar fronting, final consonant deletion, stopping, and liquid gliding.

I also found that over time I ended up with 20 card sets wrapped in rubber bands and stuffed in a bag. When I went to find a specific one, I had to dig around and look at the card on top and try to decide if that deck was targeting the intial phoneme or the final phoneme...? So I've added a card deck cover to each set.

These features will allow the sets to be more user-friendly and add functionality compared to the free card sets. The vowel sorting would allow therapists working with children who need vowel work to easily sort out simple CV, VC, or CVC stimuli that target specific vowel sounds. The phonological processes symbols allow therapists to easily sort out cards that target a specific phonological process.

Bonus Points for the Mom Who Lets Her Children Walk Around With Serious Illness and Injury for Days on End

Remember that time I let a two-year old Ava walk around with a broken hand for five days before taking her to the pediatrician for an unrelated ear infection and discovering the broken bone by accident? (story, bonus pictures) Stellar example of motherly instinct there.

Well, this time it's Michael. He developed a cough a couple of weeks ago. There was no fever, no runny nose, no obvious signs of illness. He was just coughing. At first it was a little. Then it was nearly constant. Finally I called the pediatrician. We discussed it over the phone. Our best guess was mild asthma triggered by fall allergies. We brought him in for a "listen" and to discuss treatment yesterday morning.

We walked out with a diagnosis of walking pneumonia, a prescription for some fancy antibiotics, instructions to use his inhaler faithfully three times a day, and a directive to return in 10 days to be sure we kicked it. Lovely. This time I let my 4 year old walk around with pneumonia for two weeks before calling in an expert. You'd think I'd learn to be a little less conservative about calling the pediatrician.

The Weekly Review: Week 77

SLP Resource of the Week

Have you ever wanted one of those way too expensive plastic "whisper phones" for working with artic students? These are the phones that redirect the child's own voice into their ear so they can better hear their own productions, maintain focus, and have more fun during articulation practice. I found a link describing how to make your own adorable whisper phones using two elbow pieces of PVC pipe and some cute duct tape. (Just scroll down a bit to get to the whisper phone section of the post.)

Ava this Week

Ava has begun to carry around a baby doll. She wasn't much interested in dolls before now. She preferred her small, cuddly, stuffed "friends". Lately she will rush outside to push her doll in the swing, sit with her on the sofa helping her watch the television, and generally have the doll mimic much of her play. It's fun watching her enjoy playing with a baby doll a bit.

And just because I like adorable hair pictures, here is a hairstyle that turned out particularly well this week.

Weekly Michael

Well, the saga of interpreting the concrete decoration continued this week. As we were walking to school one day this week Michael stopped, noticing the line drawing of the penis that had been scratched into the setting concrete many moons ago. He looks up at me with stars in his eyes exclaiming, "Mama, look! It's a rocket ship!" I kept a remarkably straight face. My two preschoolers gathered around the penis on the sidewalk and held an animated debate. Ava was still voting for scissors and Michael firmly believed it was a rocket ship. He bent over and traced his finger along the horizontal line drawn across the top of the "rocket" telling his sister that *this* was the proof. Scissors didn't have lines like this. She ceded the point and thereafter each morning we walk to school the children eagerly anticipate the moment in the walk where they will see their rocket ship.

Weekly Weight Loss

This week I'm down 1.5. Every bit of that happened in the three days since I went low-carb. Thank you, by the way, to all of you who took the time to email me with your thoughts and experiences with low-carb diets. I read every email and they were all helpful. I learned that I was responding so badly because I was going too long between mini-meals. If I eat smaller meals more often I keep my energy level constant and I feel much better. Of course I miss all the yummy carbs, but I have to say I feel great. My energy level has increased and is much more consistent. Food is something I do regularly to fuel up, but I'm not thinking about it all the time. It's actually been a nice change of pace. Oh, and losing 1.5 pounds in 3 days has been pretty rewarding too.

And I should correct my statement made earlier this week about my husband and I both losing 10 pounds in 12 weeks of calorie counting. Actually he lost a little over 15. :-)

This Week's Special Event

Tonight my dad and a family friend are taking the children on their second overnight camping trip of the summer (my mom's not much of a camper). The children are beyond excited and are spending most of their spare moments discussing what they need to pack. Ava seems to have conveniently forgotten that she kept everyone up half of the night last time crying for her mama. I'm sincerely hoping they will be skipping that part this time. :-)