DownSyn Forum

[kctahoe]

Colors
Any tricks? I have made some manipulatives our of construction paper to have him match colored shapes to appropriate color of paper. He is only interested for a couple minutes. Maybe more like 30 seconds, then yells "nooooo!" Any more fun ideas?

Numbers, number values
How do you know when they are ready to learn this? He can recite numbers in order to about six, but usually just to 4. He has no idea what numbers mean, nor does he connect them with their symbol. I want to start to work with him, but am unsure if he is ready.

Reading
Is is true that our kids learn to read best by sight reading and not sounding words out phonetically? Does this mean we will have to teach him every single word by sight, or will he eventually learn to sound out words? We do Love and Learning right now, and are looking into My Baby Can Read, but just wondering. I have not purchased the Woodbine Book about teaching kids with Down Syndrome to read. Is it really all that informative?

Thanks all!
K

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Kim. Wife to Ray, Mommy to Charlie (DS), Calvin, and Miles.

[logansmom]

Does he like videos/DVDs? Some of our favorites (perhaps your library has them) include: Leap Frog Letter Factory, Meet the Colors, Meet the Numbers, and Meet the Sight Words.

Logan started reading with sight words, but he also knew all the letters and their sounds at the time (mostly due to the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD). Now, he can sound out simple words but still knows (and adds to) his sight words. He loves both computers and his Leapster, so we make sure that we purchase lots of games/cartridges that deal with reading, spelling, etc. An online website that we used a lot when Logan when he was younger was starfall.com.

As for numbers, we count everything. When he puts his feet in his pants each morning, we count to two. When he clean up the toys, we count the pieces or parts. When he gets a few m&ms for a treat, we count how many he has (and often sort them by color, too). When we tell him we're going to read books, we always give a number and expect him to count out that many books. In fact, we probably went overboard on this because he was actually obsessed with counting for a while . . . but he does understand the correlation between numbers and actual items. We didn't try and help him understand the relationship between the written number and the verbal number until he understood what different numbers actually meant.

Another possibility with colors is to have a color of the week. You can make things that color and put them on the refrigerator. You can make sure his clothing contains the color of the week, point it out around the house, and even point it out when you're at the store/library/out to eat, etc. You could also write out the word for that color (in that color, for emphasis) and have it on display for the week in a prominent location around your house. Perhaps a concentrated effort on one color at a time would be easier for him to understand.

Just some ideas. Seriously, if he likes DVDs and you haven't seen any of those recommendations, you might call your library. Logan basically taught himself the alphabet and their sounds just because he loved that DVD (in fact, he still loves it even now). Meet the Sight Words was instrumental in helping him learn some of his Kindergarten sight words before Kindergarten ever started. I know that some people may disagree about letting children watch any television, but I'm of the opinion that in moderation it can actually be a good thing.

ETA - A game that might be good for Christmas would be Candy Land Castle. Children have to match the shape and color with this game . . . it's nothing like the original Candy Land and is perfect for children working on these concepts.

Hope this helps,
Kim

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Wife of Marvin
Mom to Logan (3/6/03, Ds) and Carson (9/6/05)

[violettesmom]

our ei woman recommended something cool that while Violette hasn't got it yet, it is something good for practicing.

She got 3 tupperware type cups, one blue, one yellow, one red.

Then she got matching colored little pom poms in red, yellow and blue - about 8 of each.

Then you play put the pompoms in the same colored cup...

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[kwisteena1021]

For colors...we always did the seperating things by colors..they used to sell these little bears that you could seperate into cups. We had books that had pages color coded(the things on them matched the color ie, yellow had rubber ducks, rain coats, etc)

For number values....We use touch math now and they have a GREAT program to teach kids(in my opinion especially kids with disabilities)the crossover from the word or number six to knowing that means the value of six. you can look up more at www.touchmath.com The DVD that they will send you to teach you how to teach it is amazing and will give you great ideas that you will really treasure as you move on to adding and subtracting!!

For reading....I taught Kallie sight word reading begining at about 3 years of age till now. In the past year or so, she has moved into trying to sound out words that she doesn't recognize. For teaching Kallie reading, I simply read the book Teaching reading to children with Down Syndrome and followed her ideas. Now Kallie, who is 10, reads on about a 1-2nd grade level.

Hope that helps

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Christina
mommy to Kallie(10,DS and diabetes) and Brittany(
www.kwisteena1021.blogspot.com

[CassiesMom]

Does Charlie like music? Cassie did really well with the Rock N Learn videos when she was little. And she played Vsmile and Leapster games, which have some great games for learning basic concepts.

We have always used music and activity to help her learn. For instance, when she was first learning subtraction, we put number stickers on the piano and 'played' the problems. And we used painting tape to write words on the tiles in our hall, and she jumped on them, hopscotch-style, as she spelled words.

And yes, kids with DS can absolutely sound out words. Cassie does it regularly, and if she is stumped, we help her look up words in her dictionary.

I loved the ideas here - everyone has such terrific suggestions!

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Susan
Mom to Cassie
(11/10/98 DS, Partial Complex Seizures, Celiac Disease)

[Googsmom]

Brook learned almost all she knows from Signing Time. First it was signs, now it's words. She has almost quit signing all together. She learned colors, sight words, her abc's, numbers, everything from Rachel, Alex and Leah. I didn't know how to teach her these things either. Signing time was a blessing!! I will forever recomend it!

Also, flash cards. Brook loves her flashcards. She always wants to do words Best wishes.

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Jennifer, Momma to The Brookster 4 yrs old


www.specialneedsinmolalla.blogspot.com
www.foundalongthejourneythroughholland.blogspot.com

[kctahoe]

Thanks for all the great ideas! Touchmath looks really neat. I love the idea of hoping on letters in order to spell and using the piano for math. That is definitely stuff Charlie could get in to. We adore Signing Time. In fact every time we set aside a moment to intentionally work on some colors we first sing "Do you know the colors of the rianbow" and do all the signs. Charlie LOVES music.
Keep the ideas coming, all. You are all so creative! I love it!
K

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Kim. Wife to Ray, Mommy to Charlie (DS), Calvin, and Miles.

[ajbest]

we have the Discovery Bugs - can sort by colors and the alphabet pal which says the colors when you push the colored legs - see link.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005OWEP?ie=UTF8&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00005OWEP

we talk about what color of shirt/clothes we all have on, etc. you can gather objects around the house of the same color and put them together in a bowl/basket, etc. and yes, Signing Times!!! and even Barney; "Oh i like Red, it's the color of an apple, Orange - it's the color of an orange...."

and yes, i have that song stuck in my head!

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Momma to Janna Macie (CAVCanal/Mitral Valve Repair-T21-02/02/05)
Wife to Joseph (TOF & still thriving)



"Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance." St. Francis of Assisi

"God has not always answered my prayers. If He had, I would have married the wrong man several times." Ruth Bell Graham