Testy yet trying

Friday, July 26, 2013

It's the small things...

I'm beginning, bit by bit, to get the schoolroom decorated. As I mentioned, we're working on handwriting and after researching I chose the Steck-Vaughn style for our print style. I loved the free printable 5x7 alphabet flashcards available on the Confessions of a Homeschooler website that can be printed and used as an alphabet border on a classroom wall. I wanted my own version for several reasons. First, I wanted the handwriting font to match. Second, I wanted the pictures on the cards to represent all of the phonemes that are represented by each letter in English because that is how the letters are being taught in our reading program. (So, for example, "a" needed an axe, acorn, and avocado.) Finally, I wanted the letter rules to have a blue skyline, and a highlighted bottom section because my littles need a little help with visually discriminating the different portion of the rules in order to properly form their letters.

So, in my usual way, I made my own. I carefully designed them so that the pages don't need to be trimmed or anything, I just needed to place the edges of each sheet together and they would look evenly spaced. I was also lucky in that the wall I wanted them on was the perfect lenth for 14 landscape pieces of paper (26 letters on 13 sheets and 6 digraphs on an additional sheet of paper). I recruited my husband to help me hang them. Of course, then we discovered that the wall space was not an evenly spaced. There were curves where there shouldn't have been, and our entire house apparently leans downward to the west. Delightful. We fudged a straight line, used the double sided tape I had bought specifically for the purpose and set to hanging. It looked beautiful. We both stepped away and gazed up in satisfaction. Then we heard the distinctive sound of tape peeling away from the wall. The double sided tape wasn't sticking. My husband crawled back up on the chair and I handed him strips of regular tape while we essentially redid the entire job. However, one week later it is still hanging and I am delighted. They suit our purpose beautifully, they cheer up the room, and Michael has spontaneously referred to the border as a resource multiple times.

Take a look:

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Sorting by Category: Free Speech Therapy 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 speech sound card sets, illustrated minimal pairs, homework sheets and more in a single download.

Sorting by Category Card Set

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 or laminate for durability.

Description

This speech therapy picture card set includes 30 picture cards. There are five cards in each of six categories: animals, transportation, toys, food, body parts, and clothing.

Permissions

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

Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
No copies are altered without my express consent.
No one makes a profit from these copies.
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 Download/Print Free Speech Articulation Materials page. Other card sets include /p, b, t, d, m, n, h, f, v, k, g, w, j, s, z, l, r, 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?

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Verbs: Free Speech Therapy 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.

Verbs Card Set

Description

This speech therapy picture card set includes 30 verbs paired with picture stimuli.

Permissions

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

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