I've had a few parents request some educational app suggestions for kids lately since there may be a few new tablets, iPods or iPads under the Christmas tree. : )  I put together a short list of some of my favorites.  Unfortunately, most of them cost money.  But, all of them are ones that I would recommend!  Some of them also have websites that offer educational games too. The age range is a loose guideline since I have had 10 and 11 year olds love some of the younger games. All apps are available on the Apple iTunes Store. You can download the file by clicking on the picture below! Want more apps?  Check out this SLP linky for apps specific to speech-language pathology! ...
Recently I have had a lot of requests for homework for my toddler kiddos that I see out of the office.  Since their parents aren't usually there during the session to observe/participate in therapy and they are too young for worksheets and things like that I find it's often hard to give homework without giving the parent a lecture.  So, I thought about the top toys I use in therapy (you can check out THIS post if you're interested in my go-to therapy toys) and decided to do a short write up of how they can use the toys to facilitate language at home.  I have quite a few kiddos who are working on naming and identifying vocabulary which is great because it is such a broad goal I can bring in vocabulary with just about any activity. If you are struggling like I was to give parents ideas on how to facilitate language at home with toys check these out, they're FREE! : ) (Note: This packet is text heavy, with any packet that has a lot of text there is the risk of a t......
It can be so hard to give homework for my little ones to practice language at home.  Many parents want homework (and I'm working on a more comprehensive set) but since we use mostly toys to facilitate language it can be hard to give them homework without just having them watch what we do.  So, I put together a quick playdough mat to practice vocabulary.  Directions are included at the top of the mat, just print, laminate and send home!  I would recommend making sure your kiddo has playdough at home too.  If you're in need of playdough Walmart had large tubs of playdough for 50 cents today!  They also make a great stocking stuffer! :)  Click on the picture to grab this playdough mat for FREE! ...
Are you working with the early intervention population?  If so, be sure to check out my FREE Play-Based Speech Therapy Homework .  Here is a small collection of the toys and games I use when working with the birth-5 population! Goals to Target: naming body parts, identifying body parts, requesting, producing 2-word phrases (blue shoes, green hat), basic verbs (walk, sleep, jump, hop, dance) Goals to Target: following commands, identifying vocabulary, matching pictures, naming vocabulary, requesting, animal sounds, categories/sorting Goals to Target: requesting more/please with words or signs, imitating "ready, set, go!" or "1, 2, 3, go!", producing bilabial sounds (wow, bubble, pop) Goals to Target: naming vocabulary, identifying vocabulary, simple sentences (I see __), early literacy skills.  Goals to Target: requesting, identifying animals, commands (Give me the __), naming, making animal sounds, basic concepts (in/out, on/off, etc) ......
My iPad has made some changes these days now that I am working with little ones.  I have been trying to search and gather my favorite speech/toddler apps.  My goal for most apps these days is SIMPLE!  I look for ones that are very easy to use, don't have a lot of distractions and can be completed quickly or with repetition. Here's a short list of my current favorites (and the ones that are currently getting the most use)! YES/NO App This app is as simple as it gets.  There is a yes button and a no button.  And as you may have guessed we use it for answering yes/no questions! It's particularly helpful for kiddos who are non-verbal or use limited language.  Object Sort I just found this one and haven't used it a ton but it is another simple one that works on sorting objects by colors just as the name implies.  It could also be used for naming or identifying basic vocabulary.  Towers (by Tiny Hands) This one is mostly just fun ......
There are many things I miss about not being in the classroom and the holiday crafts and activities are definitely one of them.  I loved making Christmas countdown chains with my kiddos every year and decided I could adapt them to work with my speech kiddos too! My older kids had so much fun making these today and it was a great way to get SO many repetitions.  Since I don't see the same kiddos every day, we will rip off more than one link each time they see me and they'll take the links home for home practice.  There's still a few hours to get it on sale!!   ...
UPDATE:  The winner of the giveaway is Kristi Smith!  Congratulations!  Kristi, please send me an e-mail at deana.kahlenberg@gmail.com and I'll send the packet your way! Thank you to everyone who commented, I loved reading all your traditions! It's almost Thanksgiving and I feel like the past few months have FLOWN by!  I have been a terrible blogger lately but I've still been here working and creating : ).  There are lots of new things going on in my TPT store for teachers and SLPs if you want to check it out.  Here are a few Thanksgiving themed things for this upcoming week if you're in need of some last minute resources! First up for SLPs!  I have a fun freebie called Artic Turkeys which I completed with all my pre-schoolers this past week.  It has articulation cards for my most commonly used phonemes in the initial position but could easily be adapted for language too! My little ones love crafts so much, I'm hoping to make a craft......
Hi Friends!  I hope you had a great long weekend.  Just popping in real quick to share a freebie! I have been searching for a parent friendly checklist of home activities to practice expanding and developing language with kiddos from birth-six years old since this will be the main population I will be working with.  I found a fantastic list of recommendations from ASHA but turned into something that was more parent friendly. I adapted it a bit and if you're searching for something similar you can download it for FREE by clicking either image below! ...
I have been in super planning mode this summer to try and be prepared to start working this fall.  I had so many things from my classroom that I'll be able to use in my speech room but trying to decide what I needed/wanted has been challenging.  I don't really have an allotment to buy materials so pretty much anything I need or want I have had to gather myself.  This has sent me to a lot of thrift stores this summer.  I have visited many Goodwill stores and consignment shops!  Here are my current top 5 resources I am most excited to get started with!  (If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen some of these!) #1: Mr. Potato Head I found all three of these at a consignment shop nearby (Once Upon a Child) for $20 and they are housing a ton of parts too!  Mr. Potato Head will be great for sequencing, following directions, naming, categorizing and more!  I also have a Mr. Potato Head activity pack in the works if I ever get around to fini......
I will be moving into a brand new speech room in September and was able to get an idea of what I'll need this past week.  Since I was feeling particularly crafty this weekend I decided to put together a quick & easy bulletin board for my desk.  I am going to be purchasing quite a bit for my new job so my goal for this project was quick, easy and CHEAP.  : )  It wasn't as cheap as I would have liked but the whole project cost $20 and I bought everything from Hobby Lobby.  To complete this project all you need is a fancy 11x14 picture frame, one piece of unframed 11x17 corkboard and an exacto knife.  I saw tons of tutorials on Pinterest and here is what I did (with the help of my husband for cutting). So, I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made it! Here are the materials I snagged from Hobby Lobby (and used the 40% off online coupon!). I already had an exacto knife at home. I took the glass out of the frame and used the paper inser......
All teachers know that kids learn more when they’re excited and engaged. Today a team of bloggers come together to help your students take a BITE out of learning with a theme your students are sure to love!  Blog Hop hosted by Luckeyfrog's Lilypad One way I help my students get excited about learning is to turn as many things as I can into a game!  I love playing and moving around the room while also learning.  This is why so many things in my store include games. But sadly not everything can be a move around the room game so I try to make seat work as fun and engaging as possible too.  That brings me to my new and FREE for the week Shark Attack pack!  This pack is full of 11 black/white printable pages for 2nd graders that cover ELA and Math.  It also includes a fun crown to document and illustrate the life cycle of a sea turtle!   You'll see in this pack that I included printable games, flip books and even a page with QR c......
As a new SLP I have been planning and thinking abut what tools I have to use during therapy when I end maternity leave and start my new job this fall.  I have made several must haves but I'm still going to need to accumulate materials over the next year and beyond. So, when I was on instagram and saw that Little Bee Speech had a new app that they wanted SLPs to review I jumped on it!  I am already very familiar with their app Articulation Station since it was my go-to articulation app during my graduate school clinical.  I love how I could slowly buy the phonemes I needed (as a poor graduate student this was great) and eventually worked my way up to owning most of them.  It also helped that I didn't have to remember to bring my articulation cards when I traveled since they were all stored in my iPad and my kiddos also thoroughly enjoyed using the iPad as well.  I think you get the point that I love Articulation Station and after trying Articulation Test Center ......
I have another update to a freebie to let you know about.  I have been getting lots of requests for additional Schedule Cards.  I think I have finally caught up with the requests.  So, if you sent me a Q&A in ohh the last year or so I probably added your cards to the set. : ) If you're looking for schedule cards head over and check these out.  The best part is that they're FREE. ...