31 for 21 - Question from a reader about reading & math

A while ago, a reader asked some questions about teaching reading & math to her son. I thought I'd post my replies in case it helps someone else.  I only have my response, not the original questions but it should still make sense.

I found it very tough to really know what K was learning until she was around 2 years of age.  I tried very hard not to test her knowledge so really didn't know until she started becoming verbal enough to read out loud. 

I wonder if going back to paper flashcards would help your son.  We only switched to Little Reader on the computer when K was over 3.5 years & already reading simple commercial print stories. It seemed like she didn't learn nearly as well from the computer as she did with a laminated flashcard.

Even now, if K does not want to be tested she will either refuse to read or be silly & say completely wrong words so it is possible that he resents testing.

My other thought is that if you are repeating things too much & boring him, he may be losing interest. 

If he is losing interest it may be helpful to show the cards more quickly like this:

Fast Flashing

.  Do you use a flashcard with a picture?  That may help keep his interest. Also using a few less cards along with showing them as quickly as possible may help.  Always try to quit before he loses interest.  This may mean doing shorter but more frequent sessions.

As for math, I'm not really sure what is best.  We sporadically did a math program but probably because I didn't see as much positive feedback, I wasn't as consistent. We did do math dots but I'm not sure how well she learned them.  K did teach herself basic numerals before age 2 though & is just finishing a traditional kindergarten math curriculum one year ahead of schedule. 

The other important thing to remember about Doman dots & quantity is that the ability to see & identify large quantities is a not a skill that stays with babies except in rare cases.  This is why babies often start out with this ability & then lose it before age 3. The whole point is to give them a solid basis for later math skills.  Even thought they may no longer be able to instantly recognize quantities, other math skills should come more easily. I do think that most kids retain this skill until age 2 or 3 though so this may not be the case with your son. There is a great thread on BrillKids about this with replies from IAHP themselves.

To be honest, I can only think of one typical child that seemed to have great success with the Doman math program. I'm sure that there are others but I don't think that it is that common.

K is still doing pretty well with math so it is possible that her early math dot program helped some but it is hard to say for sure.

Questions About Early Reading, Math & Speech

Here are some more questions from a reader .  My replies are in purple.

Hi,

I stumbled on your blog a few days ago, which is immensely helpful, and am hoping you can answer some questions for me.

My child is 24 months old and is speaking about 15-20 words, so working on speech is a priority for us.

I am wondering a couple of things:

- when did your DD begin to speak single words?

She was about 7 months when she spoke her first word, & if I remember right, she had about 8 or 10 by one year - I wrote it down, but I forgot where - oops.  

 .

- was she reading before she was speaking? if so, how did you know that she could read - did u test for actions or something?

I'm sure she was, but I feel very strongly that testing should be done very rarely, if at all.  I did test briefly, on one occasion when K was about 15 months & was certain then that she was reading some words.  We really didn't test again until she was about 2 & started voluntarily saying words out loud. It was really only in about January that we started consistently getting her to read books for us each day. Until that time, we waited until she was in the right mood to read to us.  I think it is much more important to make sure it is a good experience & that the child does not feel pressured than to have to know how they are doing.  It can be a very frustrating leap of faith, but a lifelong love of learning & reading is much more important. If I was going to try to test, I'd be sneaky & teach action words & model the action, hoping for a response.

-- what things did you think were most helpful for getting her to speak more words?

Probably the most important thing  wasn't anything I did! K is the youngest of 4 daughters & she hears a lot of talking from all of the family.  My next oldest daughter KJ, is a "gifted talker", & K has been known to say "KJ, please stop talking." lol!

Some things that we did that I think helped were:

 - talking to her a lot & explain things to her - we talked about just about everything even as a very tiny infant.  We talked about sounds we heard, we described what we were doing when changing or dressing her, we talked about colours, body parts, familiar objects, foods, you name it - even very uncommon subjects.  For example, last summer just after she turned 4, we  had a conversation about some irrigation equipment we saw on the side of the road.  

- to give her lots of time to respond to us verbally.  Even when she was too young to speak, we would listen very patiently for her to make some sort of noise & have a conversation.

Google Dr. James McDonald's site - his Communicating Partners method is wonderful. He also has an active Yahoo group you can join.

Longvida curcumin & fish oil are two supplements to research that can be helpful for speech.

- i have been doing Glenn Doman's sight words program with physical word cards (only the words - no pictures) for a few months now, and just saw the post on Little Reader. I am curious about why you stuck with the physical cards only for a while, and at what point you transitioned to the Little Reader program itself?

We actually stayed with physical word cards for a very long time.  Until K was about 3.5 years, she would not even look at a flashcard that did not have a picture on the other side!  From age 3.5 to 4, we started to do more word only cards, & only in the last 6 months have we transitioned right over to Little Reader.  We will still rarely do cards, but not often.  We still do home made, laminated books occasionally, but more often to help teach or prepare K for things like her recent trip to the dentist, which, thanks to all the  preparation with her personalized "My Visit to the Dentist" book, went very well.  The biggest reason we switched is that she was getting to the point that she was sounding words out & had so many sight words that her vocabulary was tested at age 4.5 at a 4th grade level.  I felt that it was better to just stick with longer sentences on Little Reader or getting her to read us stories. Even on Little Reader, besides finishing up a series of phonics files, most of what I pick to show her is more geography, science & French words because we are starting to focus more on learning a 2nd language.
 

 

This is a picture of many of our flashcards - those are bundles 

of cards, not just individual cards - we have thousands!

- on Little Reader, do u do all the methods each day - flash cards, multisensory and picture flash cards?

- when did you start Little Math?

 When we got the Little Reader program, it was just in it's initial beta testing stage.  The didn't have the semesters yet, so we just made our own play lists.  By the time the semesters were finished, K was too far along in her reading, so I just used some of their files & still created my own play lists &  more & more I find that I need to create my own files to keep her challenged  & entertained

We have puttered with Little Math off & on, but didn't officially get the full program until last summer.  It just seemed like I had too many things going on & didn't really focus on Math.  We also did the Doman red dot cards when K was little, but again, I wasn't real consistent.  Doman dots & Little Math are meant to be done with very little kids - under age 2 for typical kids.  We have & do still use Little Math, but have now gone to a program called Math N' More which was recommended by K's neurodevelopmentalist.  We have been consistently doing 1 or 2 pages a day since about October of last year along with some other math activities & it is going very well.

I recognize you are probably superbusy but would be most grateful for any light you can shed to help me out.

THank you,

The other thing I would like to add is that it is really important to use pictures to help teach comprehension.  I think it is easier to teach to word meaning & develop comprehension at the same time rather than have a child that can parrot back words but doesn't understand what they are reading. Because K insisted on having the pictures too, we accidentally helped her to have really good comprehension of what she reads. She reads directions all the time - it is her job to read directions in her math book & follow through & she does a great job of it.

Good Luck & I'd love to hear an update down the road!

More Questions From Readers

 I was so happy when I came across your blog tonight.  We live in _____ and currently there is little information out here on teaching reading to young kids with DS.  I was just wondering how many flash cards do you think I start with and do I use the same cards until he is board with them or do you change every week?


When we first started teaching our daughter a few years ago, there was even less information!  Thankfully, people are realizing how well early sight word reading works with our kids so we are hearing more about it. When we first started doing flashcards, we did one set of about a dozen cards for 1 week, then switched to a whole new set.  We fast flashed them very quickly like in this blog post.

  http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/2011/05/fast-flashing-method.html

In order to fast flash them, they should be laminated.  This post has a few ways to do it:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/2011/08/laminating.html

A good book is Glenn Doman's How to Teach Your Baby to Read or How to Multiply your Baby's Intelligence - they are for older kids too.The 2nd book is the one that I have & also has information on other early learning programs besides reading.

In  his book, Glenn talks about adding new words & retiring old ones each day.  Perhaps this is ideal, but I am not organized enough, so that is why I chose to retire all of her words weekly.  I think it is better to have a system that is easy to implement & works with my schedule.

At the moment the only words our son says are mum, dad and car .  He is using a few signs. Any thoughts on showing him the word and the doing the sign.

We used sign language & it was very beneficial to our daughter. My only hesitation with signing, is that for some kids, if you teach them too many signs, they may not be motivated to speak because they can communicate enough with just signs. For sure I would teach essential signs like eat, more, drink, help, etc, but perhaps not too many.  Here is my post on my views on sign language:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/2011/02/my-views-on-sign-language.html

We did at times use words that she could sign or action words when reading, although we did tried to input only, not require output, so we did not require her to sign in response.  

I have just signed up to brill kids.  What are your thoughts on love and learning it other USA based program I've come across.

I think love & Learning, See & Learn, YBCR & some of the other early learning programs are good, but my dd outgrew them quickly.  BrillKids has so many files & has the ability to be completely customized, so it has worked with my daughter from reading single words to customized stories.  For example, last week I made her a book titled "I'm Going to Be a Ski Racer"  I was able to put in pics of her & her sisters skiing, racing going up chairlifts etc with longer sentences & my voice saying it on Little Reader.  My daughter loves family pictures so this is a perfect way to teach her - No other program can offer all that, plus a ready made curriculum if that suits your needs best.

You are aware of the BrillKids Special Needs discount right?

I have some reviews on the following page.  You may have to click on older posts at the bottom of the page to read them all.

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/search/label/reading%20programs

Even though I like BrillKids best, check out the others in my reviews because there may be one that suits your family better.

I was also wondering if you have had success with toilet training your daughter?
Thanks in advance for your help.

We have been lucky that K was toilet trained by age 3.   She had the odd accident after that, but not often. She started preschool 3 months after her 3rd birthday & has never had an accident there.  We really didn't use any special techniques, although I find the Toilet training in 3 days type of program interesting.  You can google the directions - Miriam's Kauck's Einstein Syndrome has a good description with a progress diary of training her daughter too. 


and the next set of  questions from Robin:

My name is Robin and I found your blog by googling Down Syndrome.

My son was born with Down Syndrome in September 2011.

He is almost 6 months old now and I am starting to research using flashcards, word systems, your baby can read, love and learning and etc.

When I saw the video of your cutie reading I thought I would reach out to you. My question for you is... How did you begin with your daughter? What system did you use? How old was she when you started the basics with her?

You must be a very busy lady with four children! I hope you have a minute to respond. I would greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Robin 

We started at around 6 months with very large flashcards with large red letters. It is important to use very large letters so babies can see them well before their eyes are able to focus well on small details.

By one year of age, we were using a bit smaller words & by about 12 months, we started with Love & Learning because at the time, it seemed to be the most commonly talked about  commercial program out there.

I did some reviews on reading programs on the following link. Make sure you click on older posts, as they take up more than 1 page.

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/search/label/reading%20programs?m=0

Shortly after that, I was fortunate to stumble upon the BrillKids Little Reader (LR) program. I have tried quite a few programs, but stuck with LR because it is so easy to customize & is the only program that can still keep up with my daughter's reading ability. It has more ready made content than any other program that I know of & because I can customize it I can make a new story for any purpose. The latest example being a story about going to the dentist. Not only did she learn new vocabulary, but her trip to the dentist a week later went wonderfully because she was so well prepared. She doesn't really like strangers touching her (& it is probably good that she isn't too friendly with strangers) but the book prepared her for everything very well & she cooperated fully when having her teeth examined.

You can use this program as a computer program or use their print function to make your own cards. We used printed cards until very recently as it seemed like my dd learned much more quickly that way.

Here is a link to some info about their SN discount. Make sure you apply. It is VERY generous!


http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/2011/03/exciting-announcement-from-brillkids.html?m=0

The other thing that I think is very important, is to either have the computer flash the words very quickly or to fast flash printed cards like this:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/2011/05/fast-flashing-method.html?m=1

This one is also important:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.ca/2011/08/laminating.html?m=1

You might also want to click on my important posts tab. Some of them will be helpful too.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Laura

Questions about starting a reading program with a 5 year old.

I love checking in on your blog.  I have a just-turned-five-year-old (yesterday), Erin, with Down syndrome.  I also have 6 older children and 1 younger son.  I would like to begin a reading program for Erin.  She knows all her letters and a few words.  I signed up for the Brill Kids free trial.  I like it, but have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind me asking.  No hurry....I know you are a buys mom, like me .

1)  I prefer flashcards I can hold in my hand to flashing on a computer screen.  Do you find a benefit to the computer screen method, or would hand-held cards work just as well, in your opinion?

I preferred flashcards as well & as a matter of fact, K didn't like TV or computer programs as well & didn't seem to learn as quickly from them.  We used laminated card stock flashcards until she was about 3.5 years old when we finally made the transition to using Little Reader as a computer program only.  In fact, until K was 3 years old, we included a picture on the back of almost every flashcard because she did not like word only flashcards.  The odd one we didn't do this with, but usually that was because it was difficult to describe with a picture.  After age 3, this was harder as we started doing the Dolch words like and, it, the, which can't be portrayed with a picture.  Laminated flashcards with pictures took lots of time as well as used a lot of ink & time & money for lamination, but I really think that it was the most beneficial way to teach my daughter.  It will not be the same for all kids, but for K it was because:

 1. printed, laminated cards with pictures kept her interest better which is the most important part of teaching a child

2. by including a picture with each word, K developed an understanding of the meaning of each word & I feel that she has excellent comprehension for her age.

We ended up with lots of cards, but don't be intimidated by this picture. This is about 3 years worth of work.

2)  Where to begin?  If you were just starting out, where would you begin?  Cost is a factor, but not the main factor.  Learning to read in the most efficient way is the main factor (keep in mind that my typical 2 year old will be right along side my daughter with Ds, so I have two kids that will use the program)

When just beginning, I recommend starting with familiar & fun words.  Thing like family member & pet names, lots of nouns & fun action words. If you like Little Reader after the free trial, make sure you check out this link to learn about their discount for kids with DS, etc. If you choose to print & laminate cards there will be a cost involved in that, but at least the initial program with it's thousands of files & pictures will be free which will save you tons of time.

If you do choose to use printed flashcards rather than the computer program, I highly recommend laminating them.  I have written about several different ways to laminate in this post.

Make sure you fast flash them like in this post.

I would teach both kids at the same time.  These methods are meant for really little kids, even under age 2, so I'm sure you will have great success with both kids.


3)  Is the Doman book recommended even IF you are using a reading program, such as Brill Kids, or does it basically just teach you what the packaged programs is already implementing?  Or vice versa! 

You can use one of the reading programs to do basically the same thing, but personally, I would still read How To Teach Your Baby to Read, or even the reading section in the How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence book.  It really helped me to have an understanding of why the method worked & when I understand things better, I can implement the idea better.

4)  I am a busy homeschooling mom, teaching 7 kids, so I need a program that can be EASILY implemented.  With that in mind, what would you recommend? 

The simplest thing would be to use a video program like Your Baby Can Read or get the BrillKids Little Reader & use their semesters one & two on the computer.  The next best & still pretty simple is to still follow the Little Reader semesters, print them out & show them by hand. If you use the fast flashing method that I talked about above, it will require only several minutes a day to show the cards to both kids.

Thank you so much for sharing what you have learned with the Ds community!

Kris

You are very welcome!