New Year, New Venture (and a Giveaway)

So I have recently been introduced to Jamberry Nails.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed this! :)  Have you heard of them? Jamberry wraps are heat activated vinyl wraps that adhere to your fingernails (as well as gel, acrylic, shellac, etc.) and last on your fingernails for up to 2 weeks and your toenails for up to 6 weeks! They do not chip like polish and there's no drying time!  Did you notice I said "heat activated"?? Here's the official Jamberry Application Video. FYI, I skip the cuticle oil. I found that my nails started to lift at the cuticles the one time I did use it. I also do a slightly different removal process (see below).

This was my first attempt at applying them:

Way neater than I ever could have done with polish!  BTW, I almost NEVER polish my nails! I'm just terrible at it!  Also, when I was little, I used to bite my fingernails. My mother told me "If you bite your nails, they'll never grow long!"  So, I started biting/picking at my cuticles instead, lol!  This is a horrible habit to have and nail polish remover is just plain painful!  Anywho, I've tried nail "stickers" before, but none have lasted as long as the Jamberries!

This is the next wrap I chose, just in time for the holidays!  How cute are the candy canes???

I loved these so much, I did them twice!  Here's the 2nd set on day 14, and after I broke 2 nails cleaning the house:

Not bad, huh?  You can see some nail growth, but they still look awesome!  On day 14, though, I was hosting a demo at my house and wanted to show my guests how I remove my "jams."  I don't have pictures, but basically I dip my fingertips in a small bowl of olive oil (about 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp) and work the oil under the wrap from the cuticle to the tip. No Chemicals!  I totally love that!

This "Jamicure" has been on my hands for about a week now.  I'm not typically one to "mix-and-match" patterns, but I really like this combination!

I have to add something speech related to this post...My preschoolers love the patterns! They've been a conversation starter since I've started wearing them.  Some of my kids are even paying more attention when I point to things, lol!

So why am I telling you about Jamberry?  Well, I love them so much, I decided to become a consultant!  I started this blog and my TPT store, not as a way to make money, but as a way to share my ideas with the rest of you.  I have been SOOO fortunate to make a little bit of money from my TPT store and I am unbelievably thankful to each of you who has made purchases!  A few years ago, my husband went back to school. 

The short version of a long story is that, to supplement our income while he's in school, I have been thinking about joining a direct sales company (e.g., Pampered Chef, Thirty-One) for a while now and along came Jamberry! Talk about right place, right time!  I can host virtual Jamberry parties right on Facebook with my son in the same room!  

If you're interested in hosting a party right on Facebook, January is the perfect time to do so!  Check out the AWESOME bonus hostess rewards for January!  I still have a few spots left, so email me if you're interested (I'm using cmanchester1@yahoo.com for Jamberry related emails)

If you're interested in finding out more about Jamberry, I invite you to check out my website (www.cmanchester.jamberrynails.net) and/or Facebook Page.  

I'm so excited about this new venture! I'm going to do a giveaway because I believe that once you try Jamberry, you'll love it as much as I do! I'm giving away a half sheet of nail wraps!  Each wrap is meant to be used on 2 fingers (right hand, left hand).  I cut them down the center, but if you have short nails, you can get up to 2 manicures out of this sheet (right side of wrap, left side of wrap, center of wrap)! The wraps I have available are pictured above (Midnight Celebration, White Stars on Pink, Heartstrings, Sealed With a Kiss, Dizzy Blue, and Cool Blue Sparkle). Enter using the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Super Duper Speech!

I was contacted recently by the nice folks at Super Duper about reviewing one of their products on the blog.  I was given a list of items to choose from and, not surprisingly, I already owned more than half of them!  While I'm waiting for the product I will be reviewing (you'll have to wait to find out what it is!), I figured I'd share some of my favorites!

I started looking around my room and was surprised at how often I saw the Super Duper logo! (You know, the two kids in the black oval).  So here are some of my favorites (in no particular order)...

Word FLIPS:
I've talked about this product before, but in case you missed it...FLIPS stands for "For Learning Intelligible Production of Speech."  I use this with most of my expressive language/articulation kiddos for 3-5 minutes at the start of just about every session. It's a great warm-up for expressive language/articulation activities. Also, it a good preschool vocabulary building activity! What I didn't mention the first time around is that it's great for kids with apraxia or other motor planning difficulties.  The book is divided into three sections and each section is printed with CV words, divided by sound (e.g., bee, boo, bye...tie, tea, toe...shoe, show, she, etc.).  You can make any combination of words you'd like.  My first copy of this book was so well loved that I ended up getting a second!  Now I have the opportunity to have kids sequence up to 6 CV sequences!

Lids 'n Lizards:
I bought this game some time last year and it has instantly become a favorite (of mine and of the students!).  With my little kids, I typically keep the magnetic pictures on top of the lids and have kids either name the picture, tell me about the picture, find a member of a specified category, or choose a picture to answer a WH question (e.g., What can you use to heat up your food?).  They absolutely LOVE finding the lizards!  I love that you can target /l/ in the middle of a language lesson!  I also love that you can grab other little animals at the dollar store (frogs, dinosaurs, etc.) to coordinate the game with classroom themes!  In addition, there is a list of game variations printed on the inside cover, making this game VERY versatile!

Grammar Gumballs:
This is another new-to-me product that I got at the end of the year.  I love that I can address multiple targets in the same session and the kids love the reinforcement of collecting bubble gum.  I've even used the game board within articulation sessions as reinforcement.

Fun Decks:
I have a bunch of these.  I store them in a drawer-box that is designed to hold CDs.  I found the box at an odd-lot type store and the fun decks fit perfectly! Also, did you know that many of the fun decks are available as apps?

(I couldn't find Voice Choice! on the website so I'm not sure if it's still available)

Voice Materials:
Last year I got my first ever student (pediatric) with a voice disorder.  I needed help (and materials) FAST! I ended up getting Voice Choice, Voice Adventures, and Martha Mouse & Baby Bear.  They have been a HUGE help for this kiddo!

Chipper Chats (etc.):
Whenever anyone asks me what my "Must Have" therapy materials are, I always answer with Artic Chipper Chat and WH Chipper Chat!  They are so versatile and can be used in many different ways!  I like to use WH Chipper Chat to take baseline data for answering questions!  Auditory Adventures is another great product for kids with comprehension and processing difficulty and Basic Concepts is wonderful for my youngest preschoolers!

Jumbo Artic Drill Books:

These are another "Must Have!" If you're a new SLP, you need at least one of these (preferably one that comes with a CD!!).  I STILL use these books to make my own artic cards!!  In fact, I wrote a post about that, which you can read HERE.

Category Cut-Ups:
Last, I shared with you yesterday about how I introduced the EET to my preschoolers (you can find that HERE if you missed it).  After I wrote the post, I had an older student.  To introduce the concept of "groups" or "categories," I made some copies from this book, then we sorted the items (I didn't give him a whole lot of instruction other than to "make groups...as many as you need").  We used dry erase markers to draw circles on my table and give names to our groups!

And there you have some of my favorite things from Super Duper!  Now, while I'm waiting for the red box to show up at my door, Super Duper has given my fabulous readers (yes, that's YOU!) a special code that will earn you 30% off web orders!  When you check out enter the following code to receive the discount:

DHRMKSP8

Happy Shopping!  

PS, What's your favorite Super Duper product???

Noisy Stories and Some AAC

Have you heard about Preschool Week over at Busy Bee Speech?

Well, Lauren recently contacted me and asked me to write a short blurb about one of my favorite materials for preschoolers. You're going to have to wait until Thursday to see what I wrote about for her ;)  But, I figured I'd share another of my can't-believe-I-ever-performed-therapy-without-this materials:  Noisy Stories!

Noisy Stories is by Joan Rivard, MA, CCC-SLP and Jessica Rivard and is published by Mayer Johnson.  The cover of the book states that the book provides "language activities for children of all communicative abilities."  I purchased this book with a select few of my students in mind - a classroom of preschool students with a variety of significant special needs.  Many (but not all) of these students did not talk.  Some used sign, some used vocalizations, some used voice output devices.  What I found, however, was that this program is PERFECT for all of my preschool kids!

Noisy Stories is a collection of short stories.  Many of the stories follow common themes (Back to School, Halloween, Winter, etc.).  There are very little words in each story with one picture per page (all Boardmaker PCS).  The stories are predictable as well.  Because of this, the kids learn pretty quickly when it's "their turn" to talk.  You could program a switch for your non-verbal kids to participate in this activity as well.  Here is an example from "The Mitten" story:

The book gives you the ASL sign for each word as well!

Did I mention that each story comes with a 2-page send-home version?

When I first started using this program, I simply made black and white photocopies from the book.  After a while, I started using my Boardmaker Software to create full-color versions, which I printed on cardstock and bound with a comb binder.  Here's what the Halloween story looks like completed:

Notice the "s-s-s" on the bottom of the page above?  Each page of each story has a simple word or sound to encourage imitation.  The objectives of each story are printed on the first page in the Noisy Stories book.  Some include:  CV sequences, bilabial sounds, etc.

So, when I use the stories, I try to gather physical manipulatives for each vocabulary item.  We read the story - many of the kids will verbally participate in some way at this stage, but some do not yet.  Next, we review the materials and each child gets to hold some (if not all) of the materials.  Then read the story again.  This time, most of the kids will attempt to participate (vocalization, sign, word, or switch device).

Like I said, I used this program primarily with students in a substantially separate classroom.  All of the students in this classroom received speech.  I was so fortunate that the teacher truly believed in the importance of communication and was beyond helpful in carry-over of my activities.  So, she created amazing take-home versions of some of the stories - having the kids create crafts for selected pages.  I don't have pictures of those, but they were adorable!

Additionally, I created Switch-Access Power-Point versions of the stories as well!  (I've actually done this for a few other stories as well, "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" is one of them).  If you'd like more information on how to do this, THIS is a good start).  I imported all of the pictures and text, added a delay on the advance button, and recorded my own voice reading the stories.  As long as you position the mouse over the advance button, the child simply needs to tap the switch to advance.  The classroom teacher added the Switch-Access story as one of the student centers each day during the week we used the book, so each child got a chance to hear the story numerous times!

Notice the cursor over the advance button?

You could also create a PDF and open on iBooks on your iPad!  You wouldn't have the voice recording, but it would be highly portable.  Also, some kids may have difficulty with switch access, but do fine with the swiping motion.

Noisy Story opened in iBooks

Do you use the Noisy Stories Program?  What do you think of it?

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens....

Welcome to my "Favorite Things" post!  I've had a couple of people ask me about my favorite books, apps, games, etc.  So, I figured I'd write this post.  I'm not Oprah though, so don't expect a massive giveaway, lol!

*The items listed are in no particular order!

Favorite Books:

For the little guys (Preschool, Kindergarten, maybe even Grade 1):

• "Where's Spot?" by Eric Hill  (Click here to see my post about this book)
• "Don't Wake Up the Bear!" by Marjorie Dennis Murray (I'll be featuring this book in January as a Book of the Week)
• "Apple Trouble!" by Ragnhild Scamell and Michael Terry (Click here to see my post about this one)
• "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle
• "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson (and another post)
• "The Jacket I Wear in the Snow" by Shirly Neitzel (Check out a feature of this book by Speech Time Fun)

For the "older" kiddos (Grades 2-4 or 5):

• The Amelia Bedelia series
• "Never Take a Shark to the Dentist" by Judy Barrett
• "Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones" by Gene Barretta
• "Whole Body Listening Larry at Home" by Kristen Wilson & Elizabeth Sautter
• "Whole Body Listening Larry at School" by Kristen Wilson & Elizabeth Sautter
• "Interrupting Chicken" by David Ezra Stein

Favorite Apps:

Articulation:

• Articulation Scenes by Smarty Ears ($29.99 in the App Store)
• Articulation Station Pro by Little Bee Speech ($49.99 in the App Store)
• Speech with Milo Articulation Board Game:  Common Sounds Pack by Doonan Speech Therapy ($6.99 in the App Store)
• Articulation Games by Virtual Speech Center ($34.99 in the App Store)

Language:

• Rainbow Sentences by Mobile Education Store ($7.99 in the App Store)
• Tense Builder by Mobile Education Store ($19.99 in the App Store)
• Preposition Builder by Mobile Education Store ($7.99 in the App Store)
• Story Builder by Mobile Education Store ($7.99 in the App Store)
• Syntax City by Smarty Ears ($ in the App Store)
• Language Adventures by Smarty Ears ($20.99 in the App Store)
• Go-Togethers by Smarty Ears ($9.99 in the App Store)
• You're the Storyteller:  The Surprise by Hamaguchi Apps ($5.99 in the App Store)
• Speech Cards Professional by RWH Technologies ($9.99 in the App Store)
• Speech With Milo:  Interactive Storybook by Doonan Speech Therapy ($1.99 in the App Store)

Miscellaneous:

• Custom Boards-Premium by Smarty Ears ($39.99 in the App Store)
• Cookie Doodle by Shoe the Goose ($.99 in the App Store)
• Scribble Press by Scribble Press ($2.99 in the App Store)
• Clicky Sticky Series by invocore (price varies in the App Store)

Favorite Games (Commercially Available):

• Cranium Cariboo:  Ok, this is not necessarily available anymore in the original version. They make Cranium Cariboo Island now, which is less easy to adapt for speech/language therapy, but not impossible.  I did want to mention the original game because you may be able to find it in Thrift stores!
• Apples to Apples or Apples to Apples Junior:  I'm going to assume that you're familiar with this game (if not, check out the description on Amazon).  I personally use the junior version.  I find the vocabulary is more on level with kids who are receiving speech/language services.  For a fun variation, when a child is absent from a group and we're playing this game, we have that child's empty seat still play (deal out the cards and randomly select one of them).  One time, an absent child actually won the game!
• Bubble Talk: You can play this game kind of like Apples to Apples.  There are picture scenes and talk bubbles.  The object is to match the most appropriate captions/talk bubbles to the picture.  
• HedBanz:  Simple concepts.  You wear a headband with a picture of an object on your head.  You have to ask others yes/no and wh- questions to figure out "What Am I?"
• Zingo by Think Fun:  This is a bingo game with a twist.  The vocabulary is basic, so the game is most appropriate for preschool.  You get word/picture tiles that are plastic.  You place all of the tiles into a contraption that reminds me of the old fashioned credit card swipers (you know, when some stores had to take an imprint of your card).  You swipe the handle back and forth and the word tiles "magically" appear!  The kids love this game!

Favorite Speech Specific Products:

• Lids 'n Lizards from Super Duper
• "WH" Chipper Chat from Super Duper
• Artic Chipper Chat from Super Duper
• MagneTalk: Let's Find and Name Things from Super Duper
• The Matt and Molly Series from Linguisystems
• Word FLIPS from Super Duper (I use this for a few minutes at the start of every session as a "warm-up"

Other:

• Lesson Pix:  It's totally worth the $36.00/year to subscribe to this site, but keep your eyes peeled.  Sometimes Bill will post promo codes for sales on Twitter and Facebook!

What did I miss?  What are some of your favorite things??