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Pig Latin

Remember “Pig Latin”? It really doesn’t have anything to do with Latin, but it is a fun language game. You can either share these language skills with the kids or use it as a way to talk around them if they’ve already learned to spell. Some “Pig Latin” words have actually become regular scram words. Does “amscray” for “scram” sound familiar? To play at Pig Latin, take away the initial consonant sound of a word, and put it at the end of the word followed by the “ay” sound. So “boy” becomes “oy-bay”, “door” becomes “oor-day”, and so on. If … Continue reading →

How Do You Train a Deaf Dog?

Yesterday I wrote about my friend who found out her dog is deaf. She had asked me if I knew anything about training a deaf dog, so I looked into it. I searched online for resources on the topic, and I also posted a request for help in the forums. The result? A wealth of information! Training Techniques TOUCH Both the replies in the forum and the Deaf Dog Education Action Fund emphasized how important physical contact, like pats and petting, is to training deaf dogs. Which makes sense. When one sense is out of commission the others have to … Continue reading →

Mental Retardation – Criteria and Lingering Questions

I must admit, I hesitated to write this blog. Experience has shown that some parents are extremely sensitive to the use of the term “mental retardation” when describing their children. I absolutely understand this. There can be very negative connotations with those two words, especially when neuro-typical kids use “retard” as a playground slur. I considered calling the blog “Cognitive Disabilities” or “Cognitive Delays,” but all the current literature I ran across (as recent as 2006) still use “mental retardation” (MR) as the diagnostic term to describe intellectual ability that is significantly below average. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of … Continue reading →

Tween Crafts: Cool for School

Your tween can start a trend with cool stuff for school. If other kids ask where they got this cool stuff, your son or daughter can say, “I made it.” Your child can have fun showing friends how to make these items, or they may want to make extras to give away. Hot Stuff for Cool Storage Pick up a clear plastic pencil case. Let your child cut a picture from his or her favorite pop culture magazine. A band, a celebrity, anything that’s hot right now, will work. Slip the picture into the pencil case (if you can turn … Continue reading →

Family Fun and Education with Trivia

Trivia is fun but it can also be educational. Even if you don’t know some answers right away, you’ll learn them as you go. Every family member can add to his or her basic knowledge through trivia. Remember, not all questions necessarily have to be about “trivial” subjects even if they are not facts that are necessary to know in the course of a day. “Trivial Pursuit” is cited as the most popular game in the world. It was hot when it first came out and is still quite popular, as it continues to expand, but we can make up … Continue reading →

Naming, Claiming, and Letting Go

Naming our children is a very personal decision for all of us. My own parents preferred to think of new names, rather than naming their children after family. However, my husband and I gave our first child (our birth son) one name related to my family heritage and another after a recently deceased relative of my husband’s. We planned a girl’s name at that time also—a first name I had always thought was beautiful, and a middle name which was Charles’ mother’s, grandmother’s and sister’s middle name. When we adopted, many of the Asian language names sounded strange to our … Continue reading →

Homeschooling Special Needs Kids: Resources

I set out to write one, maybe two blogs about homeschooling your child with special needs. However, I foolishly didn’t realize that there was so much to it. For those of you who homeschool special needs children, I welcome your suggestions for blogs. For now, we will start at the beginning, with a list of resources for you to check out. National Home Education Network NHEN has a great FAQs page about home schooling special needs children. National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network A resource for Christian families who are home schooling special needs kids. Aut2Be Home An e-mail list and … Continue reading →