THE PRESENTATION

Kate's speech this summer focused on a presentation all about stuttering. Each day, she would put together a poster describing things such as, why people stutter, the different parts that make speech happen, facts about stuttering and so on. Kate was able to give the presentation 3 times!!! The first time was to a child that was a couple years younger than her that stuttered. The next time was to a group of college students who are taking classes to become speech therapists. And the last time, was to a group of about 10 kids that are Kate's peers.

Kate and Kendra teaching all about stuttering to the kids

This summer was so great for Kate to practice all of her techniques. But the cherry on top was definitely the presentation. I think that Kate learned so much from Miss Kendra. We will definitely miss her!!! Thank you Kendra for all of your hard work!

3RD TIME FOR SUMMER SPEECH

Kate did not want to do speech therapy for the summer, but I thought that it would be a good thing for her and for the students. Many speech therapists don't work with stuttering kids/adults, so this is a good opportunity for them to learn what to do and practice. The parents get to watch speech therapy from behind that special glass, like police offices use. I took a picture of Kate and Kendra working hard. Kendra was having her watch herself on the video and see if she could hear disfluencies. This was something that she has never done before, but I think that it has helped!

This has been our 3rd summer with Kate at speech therapy. Faith also attended for one summer when she was 4 or 5. It was great! I can't say enough about how much we love ISU! It is so great that the students are motivated to work hard and have their students improve. It's a win-win.

Kate also asked if Myah would come that day and watch. Which was sweet!!! Here she is enjoying the hour of speech therapy. She really did love watching her and being there with me!

Thank you for being such a good friend Myah!!! We love you and you are beautiful!!!

WAY BACK WEDNESDAY - SPEECH WITH WADE

Speech has been a tricky thing for Miss Kate.  We had the opportunity over the summer of 2011 to go to ISU to work with a speech student for 8 weeks.

Wade was great with Kate!  And she absolutely LOVED every minute of their time together.  He could really relate to her stuttering, because he stutters himself.  They had a real connection and even 2 years later, she talks about him!!!

Blowing bubbles on the last day of class!

Thank you for your hard work with Kate!  We enjoyed working with you!!!

Kate and Wade

CONGRATS GRADS!!!

Okay, so maybe it's not high school, or even grade school, but all of my children have survived another year of school, and so I say "Congratulations Graduates!!!"

Kate has finished another year of preschool including speech therapy. We loved having her with Miss Angela this year and getting all of the attention that she so needed this year. Kate has gone through ups and downs with her speech. We are hopeful that it will continue to improve and that she will continue to grow into the beautiful girl that she is becoming!!! Kate also learned to spell her name ... most of the time it is missing the a, but she is SO close and will be getting it in the next two weeks I am sure!

Miss Brenda, Miss Tania, Kate, and Miss Angela

Kate's preschool class 2010-2011

She also brought home a fun little surprise in her backpack on Friday. Can you tell what it is?

A little closer you say?

She grew a head of hair (grass) for us!!! What a fun idea!

Dawson made it through 1st grade. He has improved leaps and bounds in his reading, is pretty proficient in math, and will be working on penmanship and spelling this summer. The victory with reading is one that makes me smile and jump for joy!!! He even read 300 books this year. Yeah Dawson!!!

Mrs. Chandler and Dawson

Faith continues to excel in her studies. Her teacher mentioned that I wouldn't have to encourage Faith to read because she wants to do it all the time! She is right! Faith won't put down books. I'm afraid that I might rubbed off on her a little. I'm sure she is already planning on what she's going to do in 5th grade. She is growing so fast, I just want time to stop for a minute. Congratulations Faith on everything that you have accomplished!

Mrs. Pirrong and Faith

Finally, we celebrated the teachers by giving them swedish fish and A&W rootbeer with this beautiful saying that I made in Chubbuck Panther colors!!!

SPEECH 101

Kate had an annual review with her school this month. We are lucky that she will be able to attend preschool for another year. Even luckier that at this preschool, she will get speech help. We are also looking into a program for this summer to help her.

In the meantime, Kate has learned that if she sings, she does not have bumpy speech. So, we are now singing in prayers.


Through the years, we have learned a lot about speech therapy. Here are the three main lessons learned that are also great life lessons.

The squeaky wheel really does get the oil.

The best advocate for your child is YOU!

Never give up!