When I founded Yorktown Therapy Services, I vowed to provide the highest possible level of care to every child I serve, For this reason, I am so honored to receive the ACE Award from the American Speech-Language Association! This award recognizes individuals across the nation for excellence in continuing education. I am proud to receive this recognition, and I remain committed to lifelong learning and to employing techniques rooted in evidence-based practice. #lifelonglearning#everychildmatters#knowbetterdobetter#ACE
Winter Greetings! I hope you are staying WARM!! Even in Virginia, we are getting hit with some icy temps and even some snow accumulation. Despite the cold weather, this season is one of my favorites for speech-language fun. I love to grab a huge mixing bowl and go outside to gather a big pile of snow to bring in my therapy room! In addition to sensory play, snow is perfect for fostering speech-language opportunities — everything from /s/ and /s/ clusters to descriptive vocabulary, formulating sentences, answering WH questions, modeling core vocabulary, and more. If you have snow in your area, take advantage of the opportunity and grab a bowl!
I also have a couple other favorite speech-language activities, perfect for open-ended fun no matter what the goals or objectives. My students absolutely LOVE this Feed the Penguin game!
Feed the Penguin Speech-Language Therapy Game
I use this open-ended activity to target a variety of speech and language skills, and also as a reinforcement. It’s the perfect activity for differentiated groups! This set includes winter vocabulary words (or you can add your own pictures to match any theme, language target, or speech sound)! Fish can be offered as reinforcements/rewards, or students can take turns selecting fish (I like to add a small magnet or paperclip to each fish and use a magnetic fishing rod for extra fun). With each turn, students can answer wh questions about the word, formulate utterances using the word, provide descriptive utterances to help other students guess the word, and more. Extra fish are included so you can use your own pictures or speech sounds. I also love using this activity to model and promote use of core vocabulary words like want, more, go, eat, help, etc. Instant reinforcement built into this activity! This open-ended game allows you to differentiate in groups and target virtually any speech-language goal – my students love to earn the fish and then feed Mr. Penguin!
If you are looking for another open-ended winter game that is perfect for your classroom push-ins or differentiated groups, check out this Winter Bingo Game! This 14-page print-and-go set can be used to target object identification/labeling, visual discrimination, auditory processing at the word/phrase/sentence levels, comprehension of WH questions, seasonal vocabulary, language formulation, use of vocabulary and related descriptive concepts, and articulation/phonological skills. These open-ended boards are perfect for differentiated instruction of students in your small groups or larger classes. This activity set includes 6 unique color bingo game boards, each containing the same vocabulary words but in different positions on the boards; 6 unique black and white game boards for students to color; and a page of calling cards you can print (I like to print doubles of these for an instant matching/memory game!).
Happy Holidays to all from Yorktown Therapy Services! The season is jam packed with holiday festivities and I wanted to make time to let you know that I am thankful for all of you! Our center will be closed beginning Monday, December 20th and will reopen on Monday, January 3rd. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season filled with peace, love, and joy! See you next year — with more therapy ideas and materials coming your way in 2022!!! 🎉
It’s been a long while since I’ve posted an update here! As many of you know, my career branched out into a Clinical Assistant Professor position at a university, a job I truly loved! After about seven years of university teaching and clinical supervision, I relocated to my hometown in Virginia and began working in the corporate world as an SLP/Learning Consultant. When the world shifted in our post-covid era, I started to really long for personal connection again and dreamed of re-opening my private practice and serving children and families in my community. At the same time, my wonderful, hard-working husband was working to expand his dental practice and purchase the entire building that houses Geary Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. This larger practice and bigger space meant that there would be room for me to share his space (and his love for helping people) and open my speech-language therapy practice right in the same building! I am so excited to have begun this next adventure, serving families in my very own hometown. So, introducing Yorktown Therapy Services! Don’t worry; I plan on continuing to blog here to serve devoted supporters of Live Speak Love! I have lots of information and therapy goodies to share! But feel free to head over to my new practice Facebook page and give Yorktown Therapy Services some love!
Thanks everyone for continuing to support me and my dreams! Check out pictures of my new practice:
