Reading and Down Syndrome
There are lots of ideas out there about teaching children to read. To be honest, I've not researched enough to know which is best. I just know that Judson was a whole word learner (vs. Phonetically breaking it down by sounds) and I can see that Sawyer learns much the same way. So I tried an 'experiment'. Once or twice a day(while Sawyer is sitting on the potty which is the only way to get his undivided attention), I go over sight words with Sawyer. I started with things like family names, etc. Then I decided to go with words in a book. Not just random words but ALL of the words in a book. I picked Dick and Jane because it's repetitive and Sawyer needs repetition.
Here is a sample of him reading his book. Sorry about the quality of the video. I was trying to film and direct the whole thing while his brother and sister were in the other room making oh so much noise. (might need to turn up the volume to help you understand his speech)
Now, how much this translates to other books is yet to be determined. I will say that he can pick out these same words in other things. (books, magazines, etc) We still have to work on tracking and how much he is comprehending. It's a good start! You might have heard him say "Mommy happy". It's a big deal for him to make Mom happy. I admit I use that to my advantage.
*Disclaimer* I am not a professional teacher. I do not claim this is the way for YOU to teach your child to read. I am just showing the way we are doing it at our house. I believe that mommies and daddies know their kids best and are the best at figuring out what works. My only advice is to 'trust your gut'. We only get to work with Sawyer maybe 10-15 minutes a day because he is in school from 8-4 M-F. We have been working on this book for 2-3 weeks.
I'll post more of what we are doing at home over the next few days. You'll see how he struggles with some words and how he tries to divert attention to ANYTHING besides what is being asked.
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