This is Etienne after our five minutes of "homework." Two weeks ago, he was supposed to bring to preschool something that started with the letter 'B' (What happened to A, I don't know, we are where we are). For the first few days of the week, every morning the entourage would name things that started with 'B' but Etienne was so not into it. He immediately began to cry and whine if he was asked. That was two weeks ago. Since than, we have been trying, daily, to get the sound of B. Yesterday his preschool teacher (he goes 3 mornings/wk when I see patients) asked that we work extra with him on his sounds. If she only knew! I am in no way, shape or form qualified to be teaching but I do have a former kindergarten teacher mom in my back pocket. Grandma has equipped us with more games, ideas and flash cards to practice with. This is again something God is growing me in. I assumed Etienne's school challenges would be in his behavior; this is the kid who has removed and rebuilt flashlights, plumbing and hairdryers. This is my boy who learned Enlish as a third language. I assumed sounds and numerical values would be a cake walk.
Two weeks into the sound of B, we still don't have it mastered. This morning I took a new approach. We looked and talked about things that start with B ("My Big Brother Blake Bounces a BasketBall!!") and than we practiced the sound of 'B." I screamed louder than I have ever screamed "B says bbbbbbbbb!!!!" Etienne looked at me and quietly said, "Mama, I usually don't like a lot of noise." Well that just did me in. Probably one of the most frequently heard phrases from this mama is "Too loud, that's too loud!" Clearly, God still has His sense of humor about me learning my Etienne.
Find the items he likes to take apart and look for parts that begin with the "b" sound... instead of asking him to find them, you mention them. "Etienne, the flashlight you took apart has batteries. Batteries begin with the letter 'b'. Did you break the flashlight, or fix the flashlight? 'break' begins with the letter 'b', too!" Draw little pictures of batteries, etc. as you find them in your house. Make it casual, and don't expect him to respond, just notice you doing it. Maybe he just needs to have a real connection to his home in order for the abstract pictures/sounds to make sense. And, as a preschool teacher, don't worry! He's learning even if he's not parroting it back. Trust me. I've seen so many first year teachers feel like failures when the second year teacher thinks she's making amazing progress with a particular child, only to listen closely and realize that it is the things the first teacher taught that are suddenly making sense to the child. (particular projects, poetry, classroom routines, often clue one to where the information was actually learned) One of these days, he's going to suddenly point out a 'b' word and say the sound. The more you push, the more he might just stall.. I absolutely love reading your posts - your willingness to be real and without a facade is refreshing. Blessings!
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