Scholastic Book Clubs for Homeschool Too

I remember getting Scholastic Book club flyers as a child and poring over them for hours choosing exactly what to spend my allowance on. I remember turning in the paper form and the money to my teacher and I remember the joy of getting my little pile of books each month when they came in. It made me sad to think that my children wouldn't have that fun because our family is choosing to homeschool.

As it turns out, you can participate in Scholastic Book Clubs (now called Scholastic Reading Club) as a homeschool. You simply go to the Club Sign In Page and click on the "Don't have an account? Register now" button. Choose to register as an educator and then on the next popup page after entering your basic contact information you choose "Homeschool". You'll pick the grades you're teaching (you can choose more than one) and they'll send you paper flyers, but you can also do everything online.

Right now, if you make a $25 order, they'll send you a 10 pack of books with a teacher's guide for free (the book pack will correspond to the highest grade level you picked in your profile - if you want to receive a pack for a lower grade, simply temporarily remove the higher grades from your profile and add them back in later).

They have another amazing deal going on right now too. Teachers (including homeschool teachers) can purchase packs of 24 birthday coupons for $25. The coupons can be redeemed for books from any of the flyers for books up to a $5 value. So your $25 now can be redeemed for up to $120 in books during the rest of the school year.

I just made an order where I'll be getting 104 books for about 77 cents each (yes, I went a little crazy, but the deals are often best in the first flyer of the school year. The bonus points you are earning with the current order can actually be spent on the current order if you go into checkout and then back out again to make more changes. I used the points I earned on this order to "buy" additional books which is how I got the books down to 77 cents each. Well, that and I got a lot of multi-packs that were a good bargain.

I highly recommend the book clubs. It is difficult to find books elsewhere that match Scholastic's prices and they often have exclusive softcover versions of books that are only available in hardcover everywhere else. If you avoid the few ridiculously high prices items thrown into each flyer you can easily get 7-15 books a month for about $1-$1.50 each. You can also skip a month whenever you like.

If you happen to be in a homeschool organization one person can sign up as an educator and then distribute flyers to everyone else. The other parents can sign up for parent (rather than educator) accounts and use a code given to them by the coordinator to place their orders and pay for them online.

Enjoy!

Free Simple Articulation Screening Tool

For those of you who are new, I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist. I also have a daughter with Childhood Apraxia of Speech who wasn't talking at the age of two. Look back in the archives for the full journey, but to simplify things a lot, she made a great deal of progress once we began intensive therapy. Several months later she had enough speech to attempt an articulation test. Hahahaha. I'm sure some of you have tried a GFTA with an apraxic two year old so you know where I'm coming from here. It took us three sessions. And it was a mess. Think about the stimuli on a GFTA. There are so many of them. They are multisyllablic. The problems with the instrument in the context of severe apraxia with a young child are purely practical.

I just needed a quick, simple, way to gather data about the phonemic inventory of a young child with a severe speech delay while maximizing their chances of success. That meant I needed simple stimuli (CVC words) and a short test (appropriate for short attention spans). So I made my own. And I used it and found it useful. Then it sat in a folder on my computer for two years.

Recently I decided I wanted to re-screen Ava's speech. Now, of course, she could participate in a standardized articulation assessment without a problem, but I don't own one, so I dug out the screening I made two years ago to use again. All of the reasons it worked then make it an extremely easy instrument to readminister now. I thought I would share the instrument with all of you.

If you like this free articulation screener, 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.

Simple Articulation Screening

Description

This is a tool designed to screen the phonetic inventory and articulation errors of young children with severe speech delays. The screening is comprised of picture stimuli of 22 CVC words. Prompts are provided on the back of each stimulus card. Results can be analyzed for individual articulation errors and for patterns of phonological processing errors.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this articulation screening 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.

To download click on each 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.

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?

Speech therapy picture card 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/. More sets are being added regularly.

4 Simple and Sweet Picture Books about Kittens to Read To Your Toddler

Do you have a child who loves cats or kittens in your house? These books are perfect for babies and toddlers because they are simple and sweet. However, as I was cleaning the bookshelves of my 4 and five year old children I found I wasn't quite ready to put them away yet. Sometimes you just want to read a short and sweet familiar favorite even if they've moved beyond the reading level of that particular book. These books have been favorites of my son and daughter for years.

These are listed in no particular order of preference. They are all short, simple, and sweet.

1. Hello Calico! by Karma Wilson (of Bear Wants More fame). This book is in rhyme. I always enjoy picture books written in rhyme and this one is no exception. It introduces a curious kitten and the mama who loves her and follows the kitten as she explores during the day. The illustrations are vibrant and beautiful and always catch the attention of my little ones.

2. Uh-oh, Calico! by Karma Wilson. This is a sequel to Hello Calico! This time, the kitten suffers several mishaps (spilling cream, trampling flowers, etc) and finds that her mama loves her even when she makes mistakes. The children love chiming in with "Uh-oh, Calico! and predicting how her behavior will lead to the subsequent mishap on the next page.

3. Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up? by Bill Martin Jr (known best for Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom). This is a gentle, sweet story of a kitten who needs to get out of bed and ready for school and yet needs gentle reminders from his mama to stay on task. Each page follows a predictable format with the mama asking a question and receiving a reply from the kitten. There's a mouse hiding in each picture and my children always adore finding the mouse and discussing what he's up to in each new situation until finally the mouse and kitten meet.

4. Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Going to Sleep? is a sequel to Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat Are You Waking Up? by Bill Martin. This sequel is at least as sweet as the original. This time the kitten is getting ready for bed and it is his teddy bear who is tagging along through bath time, getting dressed for bed, brushing teeth, and story time. The two Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat books are some of my daughter's favorites.


If you liked these children's book suggestions, I have several others ranging from board books through early chapter books. Check them out. As soon as I get a chance, I'll share 4 truly good variations on the gingerbread boy story and 4 fun books for halloween.