For a year or so, I’ve been listening to my firstborn and wondering, just wondering, about a few of the sounds he makes. Now being an early childhood educator, I knew I was probably being a little over-curious. But this past spring, I called Unit 4 and requested a speech evaluation. Finally, a few months later I got a call saying his eval would be August 12.
I took Ellie to a friend’s house because I knew they’d get nothing accomplished with her there. ;) We headed to the Early Childhood Center where we met Maureen, a very sweet speech pathologist. She explained they would do the whole early childhood evaluation, as many times they get parents worried about “speech” but there are many other issues that are revealed in the screening.
Owen didn’t want to go in alone, so I sat outside the open door which was nice because I wanted to see what she did anyways. She asked Owen to do a series of things like stack 9 blocks, draw lines and shapes, and describe objects she laid out on the table. He had fun doing most of them, as witnessed by his hands in the air here:
She said (later) that she won’t ever forget Owen because of what he did during one portion of the “test.” He was asked to look at 2 pictures and then she turned them over. Then she held up a matching picture and he was to tell her where to lay it down so it would be on top of it’s matching card. Does that make sense? Well, he did the 2 cards just fine. But then she did it with 3 cards, a house, a duck, and cup. He placed the first one fine, but looked confused about the second. He pointed at where to lay it down and then looked at the cards (which were turned over). He said “that one is wrong.” She asked him how he knew that since they hadn’t turned them over yet and he said “the numbers don’t match on the back.” We both laughed! She said she’d never had a kid pick up on the fact that they were labeled with numbers (for her benefit) on the back before. But of course, she still had to dock him that point even though he showed a higher level thinking skill. (boo to standardized tests)
Overall, he passed with flying colors and she said he an absolute joy to work with. She did hear the 3 sounds I was worried about, so I wasn’t a complete nutcase for requesting a screening. He replaces his /th/ sound with a /y/ sound. For example, instead of
this, it sounds like
yis. He also has trouble with a /r/ sound when it’s in a blend. For example, in
crayons, it sounds more like
cwayons. And lastly he struggles a bit with the /l/ sound. It sounds more like a /w/ or /y/.
For example
glasses sounds likes
gwasses and
leaf sounds like
yeaf.
She said she never does speech therapy for the /th/sound because it almost always corrects itself. And for the /r/ and /l/, she said it is totally normal at his age. I’m supposed to just model over and over and she even suggested using a mirror so he can see what it looks like to make those sounds. So we’ll just work a little on those sounds extra hard as we start preschool here in a few weeks! It was an interesting experience to be on the other side of the teacher table for the first time. :) Glad to know that on paper, he’s right where he needs to be!
They spend the first 5-10 minutes singing a welcome song and things like that. Then they practice the ukulele with Mr. Luke. This includes things like learning the string names, how to hold the ukulele, how to pluck the right string, etc.
Then, they get to do piano with Ms. Danielle. Basic key recognition, learning soft and quiet, very simple songs, etc.
I will say that I’m not sure the instructors have had a ton of experience teaching small children and there’s been at least one child with some behavior issues in both of his sessions. And the price is a little steep. Buuuuttt the child loves it and refuses to try anything else. So we’re going to keep going for awhile. Now if I could just get him to practice. ;)
They came over and Weston played with the kids and we all chatted about every issue under the sun. Then on Thursday, Weston came over for a “trial run” while his mom worked in her classroom. It couldn’t have gone better. He played so well with Owen and Ellison and is such a sweetie. 
He loves a good art project like my kids.
And who doesn’t love some outside play time?
And the kid sleeps. Hallelujah.
All in all, it was a great first day. We’ll be getting to hang out with this sweet little guy on Tuesdays and Fridays. I’m so thankful I’ll be able to help add to our budget while still just hanging at home with my kiddos.
At the first table, they poured what looked like salt into a cup. Owen got to dump in water and it turned into “snow.” They go to play with it in pans and bury animals and such. Then, we build snowman (Olafs) with glitter playdoh.
We cut out some snowflakes and hung them up on the little stage area. Of course, we had to belt out some Frozen tunes while on the stage!
They were so awesome that when Owen asked for a treat while we were leaving, I had to oblige. :)
It was a fun way to ruin our dinner. :)
These two boys are quite the goofy pair when they’re together.
Today the kids helped lead worship to show the songs they learned at VBS. Definitely a fun week for Owen! (Anne D, you’ll enjoy your guy in this one too)
Saturday morning I was enjoying my coffee that hadn’t been warmed up several times, cuddling with Miles, and reading a book. It was pouring outside and even when our phones went off with a flood alert, I wasn’t too worried. Until William disappeared in the basement and then came up to say he needed help. The sump pump was starting to not keep up with the amount of water that was coming in. So we started shoveling buckets across the room into the shower.
After the doctor, we headed right to the pool. Avery once again was a huge help holding Miles while we played!
And a cute someone got a hold of my phone during snack break.
After it dried, we peeled off their names. So cute!
Then we enjoyed pizza and cupcakes. Such a fun morning. And can you tell that Jen is a professional photographer? Thanks for all the great pictures of the day! Happy 4th birthday Janessa!
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