The Weekly Review: Week 80

SLP Resource of the Week

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Ava this Week

It sounds like a little thing, but Ava finally let me buy her a leotard for gymnastics. She absolutely refused to put one on before now. Then, this week, she saunters over to the leotard display they have in the waiting area and asks why I hadn't gotten her one? I asked her, rather suspiciously, if she'd actually wear it if I bought her one. She assured me she would, so we picked out her favorite and I bought it. She wore it for the next 24 hours before I peeled it off her and told her it was just for gymnastics from now on.

Weekly Michael

Michael and I have been homeschooling while Ava is in speech. So, twice a week for 45 minutes we do a RightStart Math Lesson and work with our Usborne Very First Readers. We have the best time. The child takes in math like breathing. Reading takes a little more effort, but for 4 1/2 he's pretty darned good.

Weekly Weight Loss

This week I'm up a pound. I have to say that compared to the 3.5 pounds a week I've been losing on the low-carb diet I was very disappointed. I was hungry all the time and craving carbs for the first time in weeks. I had started to slowly increase my veggie intake and even add a slice of apple or two here or there and I thought that was the problem at first.

Then I realized the weight gain, cravings, and water retention began at almost exactly the same time I began a 10 day course of antibiotics. I did a little research online and found that water retention, cravings, and other unpleasant side effects often accompany antibiotics due to all the good bacteria in the gut being wiped out along with the bad germs. Too bad I wasn't prepared with a really good probiotic a week ago.

I took a closer look at my data and realized that although the scale has gone up by a pound, my fat mass (as measured by my fancy scale) had gone down 1.2 pounds which seems to confirm that the gain I'm seeing on the scale is water weight. We'll see if things turn around next week after I finally finish off these antibiotics.

Weekly All Consuming Obsession

Not working! Other than daily blog posts I took a complete break from working on the speech resource kits this week. I needed a break after the big push I made getting the first two products ready to go and getting the store and back end stuff set up. I took the opportunity to survey you all to see what phoneme you'd like to see in the store next and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't have guessed /k/, but that has the lead by quite a bit. This week I watched some fall tv on Hulu and read several books. I'd better not count up quite how many books I've read this week, but they were a great change of pace. I'll start working on the /k/ resource kit next week. I'm hoping to have it up by next month, but until I get into it, I can't be sure how quickly the project will come together.

Initial J: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Cards

If you like this free card set, you might want to check out the premium speech therapy kits now available in the Testy Shop. Kits include expanded card sets, illustrated minimal pairs, homework sheets and more in a single download.

Initial /ʤ/ Card Set

(/ʤ/ is the phonetic symbol for the sound typically spelled with the letter "J".)

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock and laminate for durability.

Description

This articulation picture card set is designed to be more comprehensive than the typical sets you might find elsewhere. The target audience for this set is young children or children with more severe speech delays that need intensive practice with initial /ʤ/ at a one-syllable level. No blends or vocalic /r/ sounds are included in this set. The set pairs the initial /ʤ/ with as many different vowel sounds as possible to maximize co-articulation variety.

Key Features

• This set includes 12 therapy cards with the target word and picture on the front, and the difficulty level and a carrier phrase on the back.
• The words are all CV or CVC in syllable shape.
• The words are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.
• Combines the target sound with a variety of vowel sounds.
• Words are sorted by difficulty level for an easy progression from easy to hard.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this card set provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More sets are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page. Other card sets include /p, b, t, d, m, n, h, f, v, k, g, w, j, s, z, l, th, ch, sh, ʤ, s-blends, and l-blends/ and more sets are being added regularly.

What kinds of activities can I do with this cardset?

1. 10 Card Set Game and Activity Ideas
   
2. Simple Speech Card Puzzles
   
3. Speech Card Stories
   
4. Speech Card Caterpillar
   
5. Speech Card Game: What's Hiding?
   
6. Speech Card Game: Speech Switcheroo (An Uno-Style Game)
   
7. Speech Card Set Activity: Magnetic Speech Cards
   
8. Speech Card Game: Speech Fours
   
9. Speech Card Game: Old Maid
   
10. Speech Card Set Activity: Bang!
    
11. Speech Card Set Activity: What's Hiding Behind Door Number...?
    
12. Speech Card Set Activity: Customizing a Homework Sheet
    
13. Speech Card Set Activity: Making a Simple Sentence Flipbook
    
14. Speech Game: Find-It
    
15. Speech Card Set Activity: Speech Art Collage
    
16. Speech Card Set Activity: Speech Crowns
    

Gratitude and a Request for Information

A Huge Thank You

Six blog readers generously donated their time to look over the rough draft of the /s/ therapy kit (which is now available in the Testy Shop). They were a huge help. They found a few typos, but more importantly they made countless suggestions that I was able to use to make the product better. The resource book grew from 67 to 81 pages as a direct result of their helpful suggestions. I wanted to say thank you to each and every one of those volunteers.

I also need to thank my family members who also volunteered to spend extra time watching my children while I frantically worked to meet my self imposed deadline for finishing up the kits and making them available to you all. Finally, I wanted to thank my husband for helping me code the storefront page. I would have been able to do it myself, but it would have taken me twice as long and it wouldn't have been as elegantly done.

Suggestions?

I have not yet started on the next phoneme kit. Instead of deciding completely independently, I thought I would put up a survey and ask all of you which phoneme you'd like to see available in the store next. The survey lets you choose between /k/, /f/, and /l/-blends. If something else is at the top of your list, just mention it in the comments to this post. You'll find the survey in the sidebar. At the end of the week I'll tally up the results and those results will strongly factor in my decision.

Talk to Me

If you're one of the people who has already purchased a set or two, thank you! Also I would love to hear your thoughts. Please send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com and tell me what you think of the product, how you are using it, or anything else you'd like to share. Also, if you like it, please recommend it to other SLPs or parents as appropriate.