Guest guest Posted May 11, 2003 Report Share Posted May 11, 2003 My daughter Ariel is a very good reader. Loves to read and always has. At the age of three she could " read " the disney tapes. Ariel learns to read through whole language.....at school they teach her phonics (thats the way they do it) yet she learns by whole language....and they continue to frustrate her by teaching her in a way that she " cant " learn. I feel that if she were taught by whole language approach she would be reading even better. She's in 3rd grade and on grade level with reading. My suggestion is see what way your child learns and encourage it and fight if any one tells you otherwise. Mom to Ariel 9MDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 12, 2003 Report Share Posted May 12, 2003 is just finally learning some words by sight... so I would say whole language also. At 10, he still can't read... But in his new class room, I think he's being taught so many things in a much more appropriate way! He's finally learning some basic addition, and has about 10 sight words down pat!!! Angel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 13, 2003 Report Share Posted May 13, 2003 Hi Everyone, I have read all the postings for how our children have learned to read (I posted a message myself) some for phonics and some for whole language. Ariel has been taught by the school district by the phonics method..She doesnt learn by the phonics method, much to the districts frustrations! She continues to learn by the whole language method....I guess some methods work for some children and others do not...I wish sometimes that Ariel would learn by the phonics method, one less arguement with the school district. It always reminds me of when Ari learned how to tie her shows (she wasnt even 4 years old yet) and the pre school was teaching her one way and I was teaching her another way so Ariel wasnt learning how to tie her shoes she was so confused...They told me that the way I was teaching her wasnt the " right " way. Well I have been tying my shoes that way for 25 years and the end result is the same so how can it be the wrong way? I told them to try my way and see what happens. Low and behold you guessed it she could do it...Ha! So my suggestion is for all the parents of children who are pre readers is to see which method works for your child and insist that your child be taught in the manner that is easiest for them...Ariel struggles with her phonics so much and yet I can give her vocab list after vocab list and she can wiz right by the kids in her class and yet the school insists on teaching her that way....UGH! Mom to Ariel 9 MDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 13, 2003 Report Share Posted May 13, 2003 Here is a snip from Sue Buckley's site. " Phonics for reading will also improve the child's sound knowledge and sound production, but phonics will only be linked to reading once the child has a sight vocabulary of at least 30 to 40 words and can read and understand short sentences. The initial goal is for the child to understand that reading is a language activity (i.e. we read to understand the message) before introducing phonics. " Here is a link if anyone wants to read the whole thing. It is pretty long. http://www.downsed.org/research/history/20years/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 14, 2003 Report Share Posted May 14, 2003 Dear , Thank you for some really great ideas! I love the labeling things around the house idea! I am going to do that for Jonas. My best girlfriend has a son who has learned to read at a very early age and she attributes it to the leap pad books etc. he used and loved. I will have to check out that system too. Blessings, Barb Martz Mom to Jonas (MDS) 2 1/2 & 8 Re: learning to read > My daughter is 12. She does better with reading than math but still struggles a little below grade level. > > She learned the whole language way also, even though they continued to teach phonics at school. > > When she was small, I took note cards and put them on everything in the house, including pictures of family members on the refrigerator with their names under them. She loved it. Started recognizing words almost right away. > > That worked well to start. Also, the teachers mentioned at school that she did very well when reading books on subject matter that interested her, even though at the time some of the books were over her reading level. > > She loved reading about dinosaurs, all animals, anything related to science and history. oh, and anything magical, Harry Potter, Buffy, etc. > > She also had a " Leap Pad " that read to her when she used to pointer to say each word. > > Hope this helps. > > Bell > > > Won't you please consider adding your personal story on the MDS website today? http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com > ************************************************* > Become a member of IMDSA at http://www.imdsa.com > ************************************************* > MDS MESSAGE BOARD - http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/discus > ************************************************* > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 14, 2003 Report Share Posted May 14, 2003 Dear Josie, Thank You for this information. I would love to get a look at that book, I wonder if you can tell me the publisher? We have a resource for books such as this that I will check as soon as I can, but would love to buy myself a copy if it is commercially available! I know how we taught , but I DO NOT know that it will work for Jonas. He does love to be read to, but he responds differently to so many things we teach him, that we are not sure what will work best for him. Thanks again. Blessings, Barb Martz Mom to Jonas (MDS) 2 1/2 & 8 learning to read > > > > I was wondering what methods have been most successful in teaching > > reading to your children. The consensus in the DS circles seems to be > > that their kids do better with a whole language approach versus phonics. > > Did any of you find this too or did phonics work well for your children? > > Hope > > mom to 16 months and looking ahead. She has been signing more for > > a few days now and pointed to her sisters picture today and said didie > > (sissy) It was so cute. > > > > > > > > Won't you please consider adding your personal story on the MDS website > today? http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com > > ************************************************* > > Become a member of IMDSA at http://www.imdsa.com > > ************************************************* > > MDS MESSAGE BOARD - http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/discus > > ************************************************* > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 14, 2003 Report Share Posted May 14, 2003 Wow Barb you are up as late as I am! I have just gotten home from work and always check my email while I wind down. You never know what important notes could not wait until morning. The publisher is Woodbine House. It is one of the " Topics in Down Syndrome " books like " Communication Skills in Children with Down Syndrome " Author Libby Kumin and also Woodbine House. They are very good. Although I can't say that all the time I spend reading and studying these books have helped me put it all into practice with my daughter. I should probably do more practice with her and less reading of the books. We have just started a list to keep track of all her spoken words. She just had her 6 month review of her IEP and whenever they ask I am on the spot and cannot think of all her words. Keeping track has made me realize she does have more than I realize. That is happy :-) You can find these books on the online book stores. Josie learning to read > > > > > > > I was wondering what methods have been most successful in teaching > > > reading to your children. The consensus in the DS circles seems to be > > > that their kids do better with a whole language approach versus phonics. > > > Did any of you find this too or did phonics work well for your children? > > > Hope > > > mom to 16 months and looking ahead. She has been signing more for > > > a few days now and pointed to her sisters picture today and said didie > > > (sissy) It was so cute. > > > > > > > > > > > > Won't you please consider adding your personal story on the MDS website > > today? http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com > > > ************************************************* > > > Become a member of IMDSA at http://www.imdsa.com > > > ************************************************* > > > MDS MESSAGE BOARD - http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/discus > > > ************************************************* > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 14, 2003 Report Share Posted May 14, 2003 Hope, Oelwein also said that because the ear canals are so small/narrow/short, that they hear so differently than 'us'. Paired with the fact that the mouth is small/tongue is big, and the low muscle tone, it is no wonder that speech is such a big issue for our kids. My oldest child did Zoo Phonics in Kindergarten and I think I enjoyed it almost as much as he did. Farrah also liked it and would copy him doing the motions and sounds, the best she could. With the Zoo Phonics each letter has a different animal, song, motion, poem and a whole song for the alphabet and all the animals. It's very cute! So I hope that I can use some form of that with Farrah, but will most likely use others as her main method.....who knows. Step by step, day by day. That is all we can do. Josie Re: learning to read > , > > > Thanks Josie. I will look for the book. What you are saying here is > exactly what I have heard many other parents say...... that phonics just > didn't work for their children with DS. I have always been a firm > believer in the phonics method for teaching reading but I keep hearing > over and over that it just doesn't click for kids w/DS. I have not heard > it discussed on this list though so I was just wondering if kids w/mds > also had trouble understanding phonics. I wonder if the articulation > problems many kids have is behind the diffuculty with phonics. > Thanks to everyone for their input. > Hope > > > > Won't you please consider adding your personal story on the MDS website today? http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com > ************************************************* > Become a member of IMDSA at http://www.imdsa.com > ************************************************* > MDS MESSAGE BOARD - http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/discus > ************************************************* > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 14, 2003 Report Share Posted May 14, 2003 > My oldest child did Zoo Phonics in Kindergarten and I think I enjoyed > it almost as much as > he did. Haha, I can relate to that. I used Sing, Spell, Read and Write with my oldest and had a ball with it. My son was not nearly as impressed with it but he did learn to read very well with it. Hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 Hope, and others, You can look at all the books from Woodbine House is to go to their website. It is www.woodbinehouse.com . The book is titled Teaching Reading yo Children with Down Syndrome(A Guide for Parents and Teachers) written by Logan Oelwein. It costs $16.95. My wife and I will be useing it soon on (6), whowe are fighting to get into a regular kindegarten next year. Larry (father to 6MDS) learning to read > > > > > > > > > > I was wondering what methods have been most successful in teaching > > > > reading to your children. The consensus in the DS circles seems to be > > > > that their kids do better with a whole language approach versus > phonics. > > > > Did any of you find this too or did phonics work well for your > children? > > > > Hope > > > > mom to 16 months and looking ahead. She has been signing more > for > > > > a few days now and pointed to her sisters picture today and said > didie > > > > (sissy) It was so cute. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Won't you please consider adding your personal story on the MDS > website > > > today? http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com > > > > ************************************************* > > > > Become a member of IMDSA at http://www.imdsa.com > > > > ************************************************* > > > > MDS MESSAGE BOARD - http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/discus > > > > ************************************************* > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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