Guest guest Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 I just found this message in my Drafts folder. I don't know how long it has been sitting there, but it was responding to Inga's requests about early reading ideas. Here it is, for anyone who is looking for some. --------------- Hi Inga, Speaking of messages I meant to keep. . .I had been saving one you wrote to respond to you about reading. You had asked about strategies for early reading. I thought I'd just tell you what we have done and let you decide if you think any of it would be useful in your house. I started all this before was speaking really well. She was talking some, but not in full sentences and not very recognizable to other people. Because started reading really early (2 1/2) there was a lot of sitting down with books etc that happened in conjuction with potty training. He would read to me while I made him sit. Even though I didn't think was really "ready" to potty train, I would have her sit on the big toilet while he was on the little one. I had some bath toys that were light weight letters to stick on the edge of the tub. I started with just S and G (for their names) and would hold one up and tell her what it was. After a few days, I would ask her. If she said it right, I gave it to her and she got to throw it out the bathroom door (GREAT fun for a girl who loves to throw). One at a time, I added letters and by age 3 1/2 she knew them all. She started a Montessori preschool then, and our progress halted for a while, because at Montessori they don't do letter names, but letter sounds. It's not a "gee", but a "ga", not an "are" but an "rrrrr". It took her about 3 months to put it all together and be able to say "T, ta, ta, train" and get all the elements in there. We just stayed there for quite a while. At Montessori they started sounding out 3 letter words, and for many months she could sound out the individual sounds, but not blend them: ca-a-t, but never moving on to cat. It was at that point I bought the book "Teaching Reading to children with down syndrome". I LOVE the book! It suggests that while phonics can be helpful, most kids with DS will learn from sight words. It suggests you start with 2 pictures and 2 index cards. I used a picture of me and one of her. On one card I wrote Mom and on the other wrote . It was pretty easy for her to learn to put the word on the picture. Then I added her brother, babysitter and grandma, one at a time. Then I added the word "see". We started linking 2 words: See , See mom, see . Then removing those as "learned" and starting a word bank, I started over with 2 pictures/2 cards, using cat and ball. When she had about 20 nouns, I added "the" and "I" (which were a little abstract, and no picture to go with them. . .it was hard). From that point we had lots of possibilities: See the cat, I see mom, I see the drum, etc. This was not quick, but a process of about 2 years. She is 5 1/2 now and has 3-4 (very) early readers she can read by herself. She can sound out a lot of 3 letter words, but certainly not all. I try to add about 5-6 words a week to her word bank, still using pictures to introduce them. Verbs are a little harder for her to learn, I think because it is harder to find pictures that represent the action. She seems to be a very visual learner. There you go, that is what we have done. She loves it, so it has been easy to incorporate it into our day. She often brings me her bag of words and asks to do it. It is neat to see how proud she is. She tells my mom, sisters, her teachers, "I can read!!" with great excitement in her voice. Good luck! Casey, mom to (DS) and , 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Carol, That is great news about Trisha, thanks for sharing such an important step of the reading process. I know it's still far off for us but will tuck it away for when the time comes. Glad Trisha is doing well. Take care, jayne csvillars wrote: a, I understand where you are coming from. I have been fighting the schools to teach Trisha to read for a long time now as well. Trisha also cannot read except for a some sight words but she can't read a whole sentence. We got her two programs called first verbs and first categories. One thing I have learned, is that in order for them to be able to read they must first understand different things like: nouns, verbs, categories sentences etc. You can get a trial version of these programs at www.laureatelearning.com We didn't order the first words because she did so well on them at the AT eval that we decieded to go with first verbs. I love the program and it is beginning to help Trisha. She had no clue what categories meant and now she knows animal, clothing body part and is working on furniture categories. Carol Trishasmom She isn't typical, She's Trisha! If we always do what we always did We'll always get what we've always gotten! -- Re: n....long winded!!! he can read on a 5-6th grade level im sooo jealous. i keep on nagging and nagging the school as nathan just turned 14 yesterday and he still cant read maybe a few words, im at a loss weve done soo many tests and have been using what is suggested by the docs etc and i still see little to no results, not even a 1st grade level yet. i understand he may not evert be a reader but sooo want him to be able to read imprtant stuff in his surroundings and at least understand them toa certain degree, like danger means to stay away from shawna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Jayne, I'm sorry I forget how old is now? I wish I had known about these programs when Trisha was 5-6 years old. I would have started them then. If you get a chance get the demo and look at it, it might not be too early to sit with him and watch the program. It has some cute animations on it. Carol Trishasmom She isn't typical, She's Trisha! If we always do what we always did We'll always get what we've always gotten! -- Re: n....long winded!!! he can read on a 5-6th grade level im sooo jealous. i keep on nagging and nagging the school as nathan just turned 14 yesterday and he still cant read maybe a few words, im at a loss weve done soo many tests and have been using what is suggested by the docs etc and i still see little to no results, not even a 1st grade level yet. i understand he may not evert be a reader but sooo want him to be able to read imprtant stuff in his surroundings and at least understand them toa certain degree, like danger means to stay away from shawna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 is 6 years old, maybe that's something I should start after all. I'll look at their website. Thanks Carol, Jayne csvillars wrote: Jayne, I'm sorry I forget how old is now? I wish I had known about these programs when Trisha was 5-6 years old. I would have started them then. If you get a chance get the demo and look at it, it might not be too early to sit with him and watch the program. It has some cute animations on it. Carol Trishasmom She isn't typical, She's Trisha! If we always do what we always did We'll always get what we've always gotten! -- Re: n....long winded!!! he can read on a 5-6th grade level im sooo jealous. i keep on nagging and nagging the school as nathan just turned 14 yesterday and he still cant read maybe a few words, im at a loss weve done soo many tests and have been using what is suggested by the docs etc and i still see little to no results, not even a 1st grade level yet. i understand he may not evert be a reader but sooo want him to be able to read imprtant stuff in his surroundings and at least understand them toa certain degree, like danger means to stay away from shawna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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