Don't Mince Words.....

ŁI find it funny that I started a blog. I am the type of person who doesn't mince words. Straight to the point, blunt, that's me! When I see other blogs, they just go on and on. who has time for that? Get to the point, tell me what Ii need to know. It drives me nutty to have to sift through information to get to the meat and potatoes- just give it to me! But here I am, Mindy with a blog! Lol

This is how it came to be...

I had been looking for speech resources, and couldn't find anything. So I thought I would start making my own. I then found TeachersPayTeachers and teachersnotebook and fell in love. The more I poked around the more speech blogs I found, and keep finding! Now don't  get me wrong here, blogging or writing is not my thing. I will be up front about that, I am more of a talker! I write like I speak.  I am not saying I'm a top notch blogger, with a husband, 2 kids, a full time job and then a business in the side, I don't have time....

during this process I realized one thing, not only do I love finding resources, I LOVE making them even more! This summer I am making more items for my store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mindy-Olson-pizzey and my shop: http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/mindyop.   

Check them out, all of my items are either free or drastically marked down all summer! :)

Anyway back to my other point....I do think I have something to offer for parents (information & support), teachers and SLP's (ideas and resources). 

So if you are like me and like information and resources that you don't need to sift through, this is the place to be. I will spoon feed you!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your summer! 

Read with your kids!! & talk!

A little about me....

 I have been working as a speech assistant for my health region for 11 years come November. I love, love, love my job. The kids are great, the games are awesome, and I love seeing the progress they make. 

In our area, Alberta,  First Nations people don't receive speech services from the health region, so there is a large gap in services. First Nations children can be at higher risk for speech and language difficulties as compared to children who are not living on reserve land.  I noticed this need and wanted to do something. I don't think who you are or where you live should dictate the types of services you get. The same for everyone, everywhere. Even more services for children at risk. I also noticed how little information is given to parents and teachers about speech and language. We really need to support parents, teachers teachers aides and get this information out there! And that is how Creating Communicator's was born. My goal for Creating Communicator's is to provide children with academic and social skills in order to be successful and to provide children with a voice!

Creating Communicator's is a speech and language service that goes to first nation schools on reserve land. How does our service model look?

 Well...A contract SLP assesses children that have identified by parents or teachers as having some type  of communication concern. And then  the SLP provides a report and goals I go into the school and provide training, resources and consultation  on how to carry out the goals. I can visit once and twice a month for support-depending on need and caseload size. When I come in I can provide support on how to work on treatment goals through games, and other resources. I also go into classrooms and do group activities that target language and phonemic awareness skills. The speech path. also provides me with supervision throughout the year.

 In the fall we are excited to announce that we will be offering video conferencing support.