Syllable Counting companion for the book “Why I Love Australia” By Bronwyn Bancroft

Available free on teachers pay teachers https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Syllable-counting-using-vocabulary-from-Why-I-Love-Australia-6801035?st=d4a1ebdbb52b62bbd0043e5ce5ac9f5f

Finding homework that can easily be done by families is always a challenge. Particularly at the moment, families are walking together and a scavenger hunt can make this even more fun. Incorporating our speech sound targets will hopefully make for a fun and easy way for home practise to be completed. This can be used for

single words e.g. “scooter”,

phrases e.g. “I found a stick”,

sentences e.g. “It’s a long stick”

and general conversation. Don’t forget to remind parents what to say/do when their child either remembers or forgets to use the /s/ blends.

To use this in your practise right click on the picture above and save the image.

Like many across the world we are in virtual lock down and only allowed to go out to exercise. My daughter asked for a scavenger hunt while we walked. How many can you find?

Right click on the image above to save the image on your phone or print.

My children are loving playing “Spot It”, inspiring me to create a simpler version for /k/ initial words for use in speech therapy to practise the /k/ sound at the beginning of words.

I love the circles, sooo cute! Well, that is until you need to cut them out….. I gave in and also made a square version for quicker cutting.

To play; please email me (jsspeech at outlook.com) for a copy (sorry I’m not skilled enough to add PDFs to this blog).

Print either the circles or squares pages – they are the same cards. Cut.

Have the child name the pictures on 2 cards and then find which 2 pictures are in both picture. With 13 cards there are plenty for home practise.

You can turn it into a competitive game by giving each player a card and leaving the other in a face up pile in the middle. Each player attempts to be the fastest to name the picture on the centre card that matches one on their own card.

These can also be used at phrase level “I see two….”, “I found two….”, sentence level by putting the matching pictures in a sentence eg “the coral is pretty” and for story telling (tell a silly story using all the pictures on a card)

Using clipart pictures from CulchaStik: Australian Indigenous Images and various clip art from teachers pay teachers, I hope it gives a fun feel suitable for all Australian children including Australian First Nations (Australian Aboriginal/Indigenous) Children.

The day’s are getting shorter, colder and wetter so it can be hard for children to use enough energy and this is one way to help them use their energy in a fun way. Some years ago I made these insect action cards for my own children when they were toddlers. They remained popular but as I retired my old blog I am reposting them here.

They go perfectly with a bugs/creepy crawly/insect home, tot or preschool theme as well as with the Wiradjuri Book Companion to The Very Hungry Caterpillar https://jasmineblooms.home.blog/2019/06/21/wiradjuri-hungry-caterpillar-book-companion/

With NAIDOC week around the corner I can finally say the Wiradjuri Hungry Caterpillar book companion is finally ready for use!

Thankyou so very much to Lloyd Dolan and Annette Campbell for working with me to freely provide the Wiradjuri language and grammar. I’d also like to thank a very special family that this was originally produced for, and whose excitement and encouragement has help to get it into a form that it could be shared.

This is to be used in conjunction with “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” Book by Eric Carle & a Wiradjuri speaker or the Wiradjuri Dictionary App with the aim of  introducing some Wiradjuri words. You can choose as many or as few words as you would like to introduce at a time (as both Wiradjuri and English are provided for key words).

The booklets can be printed and taken home to extend the activity.

As yet I can’t upload this onto the site so you will need to email me for a copy. Please note this is best printed double sided in colour. if this isn’t possible please let me know and I will try to send it in a format you can print.

jsspeech (at) outlook.com

I’m getting ready for NAIDOC week and in the process created these biscuits (or cookies if you prefer). They have gone viral so I thought I should write a short post on them. I am yet to come up with a Torres Strait Islander Flag equivalent.

My local IGA didn’t have red velvet cake mix but I think this would work too.

1 chocolate cake mix 
1/2 cup oil
1 egg

1 red velvet cake mix or vanilla with 1 teaspoon of red food colouring
1/2 cup oil
1 egg

Mix each cake mix with 1 egg and 1/2 cup oil into a dough, 
roll into balls (I found 1/2-3/4 teaspoon amount to be big enough) then join the 2 colours. 
Flatten slightly. 
Add a caramel whirl/button in the centre
bake for approx 10min depending on oven at 180C

For an egg-less option I’m told you could try:
Applesauce. Use a quarter cup of unsweetened applesauce in place of one egg in most baking recipes. Or 
Banana. Use a quarter cup of mashed banana (from about half a banana) instead of one egg when baking. …

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton