September

Hey! Its time to get back, and if you are like me,  you are really dragging your heals! I am happy to get back at it, but no schedule is really nice. I like getting up and leisurely having a coffee and just doing what I want. But that is not our reality in September, we have to get back to it. I made a little schedule of quick activities to implement in speech.

September Schedule

  Here is a little taste of what you will find in these products:

Fall Interactive Book

 

Here is a great book for back to school. For $3 you can have your first week ready to go!

In this 40 page book you will be able to target
prepositions
associations
and
opposites
with your preschool or special ed students. 

Back to School Essentials from Amazon

Here are a few of my "must haves" for BTS that we all need to provide good speech therapy to our beloved little guys!

Growth Mindset in Speech

Growth Mindset in Speech!

What is Growth Mindset?  

According to the Mindset website: Some people believe that their intelligence and abilities are unchangeable. In other words, you have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t do much to change it. This is called a “fixed mindset.” Others have different ideas about their intelligence and abilities. Some people believe that it is possible to grow your intelligence through effort. This is called a “growth mindset.”

Why is it important?

Holding a fixed or a growth mindset has huge implications when it comes to motivation. If children have a fixed notion of intelligence, they probably believe that success has a lot to do with talent. They may think that some are born with the ability to succeed, and others just aren’t. They might view successful people as possessing some unattainable, innate gift. The side effect of the fixed mindset is a helpless or apathetic attitude toward effort — especially when it comes to challenging tasks.


Now how will we use this in speech you ask? I want to introduce the idea to the students and then explain to them that although some of the goals we are working on in speech might be difficult, we can get them. The power of yet! 
Putting up some posters and explaining that some of the targets we are working on might be difficult they can do it. In speech therapy the kids will target their goals by targeting each goal little by little- like syllable level, then word, phrase, etc. This will help them stay motivated by achieving goals little by little.
I don't claim to be an expert on the idea, but I really like the idea and think that the kids in therapy might really benefit from having a positive mindset. Our speech kids are tackling goals that are difficult, working on goals that can be easy for their peers. This can have an impact on their self-esteem. I want to give the kids the skills to work on their goals but also give them tools that they can use for the rest of their lives.

Here are some videos you can use to teach your kids growth mindset:

Here are some resources you can use from TPT:

 



Will you use growth mindset in speech? How?

SLP Summit

I am looking forward to taking some courses during the 4th Annual SLP Summit sponsored by SLP Now and SLP Toolkit.
 I am so excited, it's my first time participating. I had no idea it was free! What?! Super pumped about that and the course line up sounds amazing!

 

 I will be taking a course on Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Strategies for Targeting Multiple Goals , During Preschool Therapy Groups & 6  Steps to Implement Curriculum-Based Therapy.

They are all  relevent areas that will help me in my therapy room!

Don't forget to sign up for a few courses and join the FB page!

Cheers, 

See you there!
 

Mindy

My Break this Summer

My Break

I really needed a getaway! I work 6 days a week providing therapy to 5 schools plus private clients and I put over 80 000 km on my vehicle in the last year, YES 80K! This summer I was ready to have a getaway and I needed it! I am sure you need a break too, whether you are in the speech world or not!


I went to Molson Lake Lodge (plus its like my name Mindy Olson, get it?!)  The lodge was fantastic. We had an ablsolute peaceful time. My kids and husband went in a float plane and fishing. I got to go quadding and in an argo (some of my fave things to do!) There were camp fires, swimming and good food. 
There is complete solitude, peace, beautiful scenery and bliss for your soul! We are planning to go for 2 weeks next summer!

Love it!!


Cheers,
Mindy

Quiet Books

Hey!

 

I recently purchased a  Quiet Book from Etsy because we were going on a long road trip and I wanted to keep my little guys hand busy. There are so many benefits for the little people in our world so I thought I would share some of my ideas here. You can also use them in speech therapy if you have groups, one kids gets to play with the quiet book while you are working with another or you can use it along side your student to help tackle language and social skills, and fine motor goals.

I did a post on quiet books a while ago, read it here.

The benefits of Quiet Books

1.  Teach Concepts- you can teach concepts like color and size. This page is a good one for on top, over, under, above, below, bottom, big, bigger, & biggest.  

   

This page is, of course, great for number concepts but you can also use more and less than too. You can try it for social skills, like turn taking.

 Another great page for concepts, put it in, take it out but you can also talk about vocabulary. What else grows in the garden...

These pages can be used for following directions, first, next, last and fine motor skills. 

Would you use a quiet book in therapy? How? I'd love to hear your ideas, leave me a comment. 

Cheers Big Ears!
Mindy

Bloomboxes

Bloomboxes

Recently I found Bloomboxes and was blown away by the idea! Playing with purpose!

How Bloombloxes work is you subscribe for a subscription (1, 3, 6 or 12-month subscriptions) & get a new box of toys every month, then, at the end of the month you send your toys back and get a new set! The boxes are great for preschool-aged but might work for kindergartners, depending on your group. This is an excellent idea for speech therapy. We always need new activities and toys for our kids/therapy and don't have a warehouse to store it all (at least I don't!). Plus the kids  (and I!) get sick of the same toys over and over again. So it's always like Christmas, I love to get some new goodies! But you can also purchase the boxes if you like them! :)

I can't wait for my first box!

What's in it? 
A vibrant variety of educational toys that allow for natural, open-ended learning. There are also activity guides for parents to direct them to use the toys so that they are using the toys to enrich their language skills. The kids can engage in hands-on play to learn about their senses and work on their fine-motor skills too! There are sensory activities and toys to calm, focus and engage a child.

The activities in each box target each skill area:

• Language
• Fine Motor
• Cognitive
• Social
• Sensory

 

There are instructions for 3-4 activities utilizing the toys & sensory bin although, in the speech world, we have our targets. But did you know a certified Child Speech Pathologist designs every activity? WHAT? That's awesome! Can someone say "save me some work!"