Recently we had the lovely privilege of going to the ENT to have Paul's ear wax sucked into oblivion, uncovering eardrums that actually work. My other three children find the suction tube captivating and ignore their poor brother's plight, as he lies on a bed writhing in misery.
Did I tell you? I highly suspect they lost Paul's early-December speech evaluation paperwork and don't want to admit it to me. I suspect this because the speech teacher--Beth's speech teacher--who will work with Paul, never got the paperwork and I never got the typed-up official speech diagnosis in the mail, as I had done a week after Beth's evaluation.
Instead of redoing it or admitting that it's lost under a pile of paperwork on someone's desk, the speech teacher decided to listen to Paul's conversation and decide what errors he's making so we can get started. There are two minor speech errors he knows how to correct himself with reminders, and also a challenging r problem. He substitutes a w for r and the first step is to say many r words a day while smiling. Speech teachers first get rid of the bad habits--the substitutions or improper mouth position--and next they work with the child on forming the sound correctly. If Paul smiles while he says r words, he can't possibly substitute a w.
My dear husband brainstormed a long list of r words to torture Paul with. Yes, parenting is fun that way.
I have to offer chocolate chips to get through the whole list. 20 for Paul and 80 for me.
Just kidding.
What's really fun is that now Paul can hear! He isn't shouting or doing that piercing laugh in my ear anymore, and I bet playing the piano is much sweeter now. And when we put on the Audio Adrenaline CD (Christian band), he doesn't turn it up quite so high. The children climb the walls and enter a high-energy ecstasy when we listen to Audio Adrenalin. Last night, my husband explained why. "Honey, it's called audio adrenaline. Get it? Adrenaline that's audio?"
Oh...yeah! The lights went on.
When your oldest child turns 11 years old, music enters your life in a big way. Good thing I happen to enjoy several Audio Adrenaline songs. My husband also has Stryper and Super Tones and Petra CD's, most of which I dislike, and thankfully, several News' Boys CDs, which we all love.
But yucky wax going up a suction tube and adrenaline that's audio wasn't what I wanted to share today.
Really, it wasn't.
John Burningham is one of my favorite children's authors and his genius is what I wanted to share today.
While we sat in the waiting room at Paul's appointment, I pulled out some library books, including Would you rather... by John Burningham. Not only were my children captivated, but all the other waiting-room children and adults were too. Even the ladies working the computers enjoyed it!
An excerpt:
I don't need to tell you that most children in the room wanted to be pulled through the mud?
Think how much fun you and your children can have rewriting such a book with your own preposterous suggestions? Doing this project would cover many aspects of your curriculum--writing, art, grammar and punctuation, and maybe even a little history and science and math, if you work hard at your brainstorming.
Have fun and Happy Friday!
P. S. Would you rather...have your ear wax sucked out...listen to your tween's alternative Christian rock n' roll...or go grocery shopping with four children, two of whom are tired?
More books by Mr. Burningham:
Did I tell you? I highly suspect they lost Paul's early-December speech evaluation paperwork and don't want to admit it to me. I suspect this because the speech teacher--Beth's speech teacher--who will work with Paul, never got the paperwork and I never got the typed-up official speech diagnosis in the mail, as I had done a week after Beth's evaluation.
Instead of redoing it or admitting that it's lost under a pile of paperwork on someone's desk, the speech teacher decided to listen to Paul's conversation and decide what errors he's making so we can get started. There are two minor speech errors he knows how to correct himself with reminders, and also a challenging r problem. He substitutes a w for r and the first step is to say many r words a day while smiling. Speech teachers first get rid of the bad habits--the substitutions or improper mouth position--and next they work with the child on forming the sound correctly. If Paul smiles while he says r words, he can't possibly substitute a w.
My dear husband brainstormed a long list of r words to torture Paul with. Yes, parenting is fun that way.
I have to offer chocolate chips to get through the whole list. 20 for Paul and 80 for me.
Just kidding.
What's really fun is that now Paul can hear! He isn't shouting or doing that piercing laugh in my ear anymore, and I bet playing the piano is much sweeter now. And when we put on the Audio Adrenaline CD (Christian band), he doesn't turn it up quite so high. The children climb the walls and enter a high-energy ecstasy when we listen to Audio Adrenalin. Last night, my husband explained why. "Honey, it's called audio adrenaline. Get it? Adrenaline that's audio?"
Oh...yeah! The lights went on.
When your oldest child turns 11 years old, music enters your life in a big way. Good thing I happen to enjoy several Audio Adrenaline songs. My husband also has Stryper and Super Tones and Petra CD's, most of which I dislike, and thankfully, several News' Boys CDs, which we all love.
But yucky wax going up a suction tube and adrenaline that's audio wasn't what I wanted to share today.
Really, it wasn't.
John Burningham is one of my favorite children's authors and his genius is what I wanted to share today.
While we sat in the waiting room at Paul's appointment, I pulled out some library books, including Would you rather... by John Burningham. Not only were my children captivated, but all the other waiting-room children and adults were too. Even the ladies working the computers enjoyed it!
An excerpt:
Would you rather...your house were surrounded by water, snow, or jungle?
Would you rather...en elephant drank your bathwater, an eagle stole your dinner, a pig tried on your clothes, or a hippo slept in your bed?
Would you rather...be covered in jam, soaked with water, or pulled through the mud by a dog?
I don't need to tell you that most children in the room wanted to be pulled through the mud?
Think how much fun you and your children can have rewriting such a book with your own preposterous suggestions? Doing this project would cover many aspects of your curriculum--writing, art, grammar and punctuation, and maybe even a little history and science and math, if you work hard at your brainstorming.
Have fun and Happy Friday!
P. S. Would you rather...have your ear wax sucked out...listen to your tween's alternative Christian rock n' roll...or go grocery shopping with four children, two of whom are tired?
More books by Mr. Burningham:
John Burningham source here
born
April 27, 1936 in Farnham, Surrey, The United Kingdom
gender
male
genre
About this author
1 comment:
Audio Adrenalin is well loved in our house as well! Avid Fish listeners in our house.
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