Getting Program Done

 One of the biggest challenges to getting a neurodevelopmental (ND) program done is finding the time to get everything accomplished. There have been times when this has been really difficult for us but it is often possible to  incorporate program into daily life. K herself is in dance & downhill skiing, & her sisters are active in several sports as well. It's pretty hectic even without trying to get any program done!

First of all it is important to know that it is okay to take a break if you need to.  There have been times when life has gotten so busy that  we needed to take a short break.  I find it best to plan a set date to start up again though as it's easy to put it off & days turn to weeks or even months. I've heard it said that doing a neurodevelopmental program is not a sprint but a marathon so you need to pace yourself & I think this is very wise advice.

Equally as important, it's okay if you don't accomplish what you want to in a day.  Let it go!  :) Tomorrow is a new day - wipe that slate clean & try again. 

 It's okay to be flexible too. We've occasionally tried a different , much less intensive program when I knew things were going to be extremely hectic for a short time. 

When I went back & read over this list it looks like we are constantly doing ND activities & fitting something in at every moment of the day.  This is not true.  There needs to be balance in life & although ours can be very hectic K gets lots of free time to do her own thing too.

The following list is a work in progress so I'd really appreciate if you can add your ideas to in the comments or by email to jtkkmom@gmail.com & I'll add them to this list so others can benefit.

Some  things can be incredibly simple such as playing audio stories, classical music or other music recommended by your neurodevelopmentalist while your child is playing.

The  biggest thing that helped me was to associate a program activity with some part of our daily routine.  We would not forget to eat a meal or change a diaper so we did a program activity with each of these.

When K was very little, even  before we started an ND program, we tried to expose her to all kinds of sensory input.  Dabbing a little essential oil or her or my clothing was very a very simple way to help accomplish this.

After the bath  was the perfect time to fit in some baby massage.

Potty training is a great time to do some activities while you have a captive audience! Flashcards, encyclopedic knowledge, even eye exercises!

& again with that captive audience............... we've used bath time  to get some of the above program activities done too.

Fitting program in to your daily life can mean simple things like tossing the stroller & letting your child walk even when it mean that a trip to the store takes a bit longer,

Instead of lifting your child up onto the change table, high chair, car seat, etc, have them grasp your thumbs & hold on as you lift them.

Label items in your house so instead of a planned flashcard session, so you & your child can read them as you come across them in your house during regular daily activities.

Our schedule changes but at times I have been able to get oral motor work done as I am making supper.

We  try to combine activities as well & that is how we are accomplishing our oral motor exercises at the moment. K has special glasses that she uses each day while watching TV or playing on the iPad.  While she is doing that I often have her do one of her oral motor exercises.                                                                                                                                                                      
We do digit spans each time K wants the iPad or gets into the vehicle.

Now that K is 6 she can be a little more independent at some activities.  In the morning when I am making breakfast I have her work on her math book as well as do some handwriting practice.  By the time she's done breakfast is usually ready too.

We try to incorporate crawling into other activities too such as crawling while we pick up toys.

 When she has a question we describe things in more detail than I would have thought to explain to my older kids.  Like in Glenn Doman's book where he says Don't tell your child its a doggy.  Tell them it's a breed of dog called a Golden Retriever, etc. etc. Give them  lots of specific information on the breed of dog. It only takes a few seconds longer to give a detailed explanation but the knowledge adds up.

While I'm not a fan of letting your child sit in front of a TV/computer screen all day & I prefer to watch with my child so I can be engaged with them, there were times when I had K watch BrillKids Little Reader to teach her words, concepts, encyclopedic knowledge.  I created my own playlists which had the content I wanted to work on with her.  Here is a link on their program & very generous discount program.

That is all that I can think of at the moment but please remember to share your ideas in the comments or send to my email. I need some new ideas too!

Here are some ideas that some other moms have shared:

Melissa said:
1. Know your program really well so it is easy to include activities when walking on the beach or playing. Just adding some jumping and ball throwing for example if that is a part of your program.
2. I write my program activities up on a big white board or on 4x6 index cards in big letters and place it somewhere I can see it easily. I prefer the index card method as then I can group and arrange and change the orders of the activities. I stick them on the door or wall with blue tack. Then when I am sitting down nursing my youngest I can look over the program and keep myself familiar. I clump them in logical groups to me so that I can remember them more easily when I am out, with the most important at the top so I know to work my way down. As I am doing program with toddlers, I cannot stick to a rigid schedule, so this allows me just to glance at the board and quickly pick the next activity that I think will be accepted well.
3. You mentioned this, but tagging program activities to daily activities is a great idea. Flash cards at the start of a meal time - done. I had trouble encouraging my son to do his processing activities, but he loves his supplements and gets many throughout the day, so now they have become a reward, he does a quick activity and gets his fish oil! It is great as suddenly he has a need to try.

Jennifer posted some great ideas on FaceBook:
We use car rides for a lot of our program. I have my 6 yo and 9 mo on program. We use the car for audiobooks, iPad apps, and audio processing. I also keep a small therapy bag in the car and let my husband drive most of the time (we work together). This allows me to sit in back with my little one and read books, do flashcards and anything else I can do while she's sitting down. Great blog post. Thanks for sharing!

I forgot to mention it in my post but we like to do program in the vehicle too.  Oral motor, eye exercises, & now that she is older I can hand K her math book or some handwriting sheets to do. 

Monki See - Around the House DVD Review

Recently, Krista of Intellectual Baby sent us a copy of her latest DVD MonkiSee Around the House to review.  Earlier we reviewed the MonkiSee Action Words DVD.   K really enjoyed it, & when this new video arrived in the mail, she was so excited to see her buddies Skip & Howie on the cover of a new DVD.

 
This fun & exciting DVD teaches sight words for over 25 common words of things found around the house.

 

K is getting much more picky about her choice of DVDs but she loves this one.  I really like that this video moves quite quickly from one image or movie clip to the next.  Although K has a really good attention span for her age, I think this is part of the reason that it keeps K's attention longer & this is also great for young babies who do not have very long attention span.

One thing I happened to notice this time, is that when the words are shown on the screen, they are shown in different locations.  I have recently learned that from a neurodevelopmental point of view, this is also a better way to show flashcards than to just show them in the same position all the time, so it was nice to see that on the video too.

The red lettering used in MonkiSee Around the House is also great as according to Glenn Doman of Institutes of Achievement of Human Potential, this is most appealing to babies & will keep their attention longer.

This video has very clear concise pictures so it is obvious what the word represents which is very important so babies are not confused about the meaning of the words.

Because K is reading so well, she knows most, or perhaps all of the words on this video already, but for a child who is not already reading these words, this would be a fun & exciting way to teach them.

K loved the songs on this video & is already starting to sing along. A video that encourages speech is something that I really like to see.  K comes from a family of girls, so I think she really relates to young Olivia who does a wonderful & very professional job playing her role in this DVD. K also really enjoys seeing other kids in books & videos, so the many short video clips of other kids was very exciting for her.

This fun & exciting video is an great addition to our educational DVD library!

Here is a link to the MonkiSee Around the House webpage if you are interested in learning more.

This review was written in exchange for a free copy of  MonkiSee Around the House .  I was not paid for this review, nor was I required to write a positive review.  This is my honest, unbiased opinion on this product.

Little Reader Chinese

I was recently asked to review the Little Reader Chinese content.  I must start by saying, that I am not the most well equipped person to review this program.  In the area that I live in, I don't know of anyone who even speaks Chinese, so I have never really had any exposure to this language.  However, K & I are always up for a challenge, so she has been learning Chinese for the last month!

 In order to run Little Reader Chinese, you will need to own the Little Reader program. Little Reader Chinese is available in either simplified or traditional written Chinese. There are 2 semesters of content available for a total of about 12 months of learning fun.  Just like Little Reader in English, this program is fully customizable.  You can choose your content, add your own pictures, voice or add new words or pictures.  The flexibility of Little Reader is one of it's best features.  The Chinese content also goes from letters, to words right up to stories.

While I cannot comment on the language, I can comment on a number of other aspects of the program. It was kind of neat for me to experience learning a totally new language & experience Little Reader from a similar point of view to what a child would have! 

The pictures and short video clips used in the program are very clear & concise. I had no trouble at all figuring out what each word meant, & I know that K is understanding some of the words too.  It is interesting though, that while she is definitely picking up some Chinese words, as far as I can tell, she is not learning them at the same voracious rate that she is in English.  I am guessing that it is because in English, she knows the letters, their sounds, & is starting to have some understanding of phonics, word families, & even just patterns in the words.  I expect that if we kept with it, she would soon begin to learn Chinese at a quicker rate as well.  I also think that I am probably not giving her credit for learning as many words as she has, again, more because of my lack of understanding of the language.

Notice K's fingers as the word fingers is displayed?


I also really appreciate that by having a native speaker, the program teaches children the proper pronunciation of each word - something that would be almost impossible for me to teach myself.

I imagine that all of you are wondering if I will continue on with Little Reader Chinese?  Who knows what the future holds, but at this point it will not be part of our regular routine.  Perhaps with my typical kids I may have continued on.  It is a great program, but K has too many other things that she needs to concentrate on right now.  Her neurodevelopmental program takes up a fair portion of our day & between that & running after my older girls, I just don't think I can consistently devote much time to anything else.  K is able to use the Little Reader program fully independently though, so you never know how often she will choose to play the Chinese content.  I really think the benefits to a 2nd language are huge, so although I am not ready to make a firm commitment to a 2nd language at this point, I am hopeful that she will continue to enjoy this program even if it is on a less regular basis.

While I am not planning at the moment to make Little Reader Chinese a part of K's regular curriculum, I do highly recommend it to anyone who is wanting their child to learn Chinese. 

Here is a link to learn more about Little Reader Chinese.
 
 While you are there, make sure you join their 70,000 + members forum & join in on the wide variety of early learning discussions.


You can also keep up to date on Facebook.


This review was written in exchange for a free copy of Little Reader's Chinese content semester one.  I was not paid for this review, nor was I required to write a positive review.  This is my honest, unbiased opinion on this product.

MonkiSee Action Words DVD review

Before I begin talking about the MonkiSee  Action Words DVD, I want to let you know that besides receiving the MonkiSee DVD to review, I receive no compensation for this review or any sales that may result. I am free to give my honest opinion on this educational DVD.

We have been enjoying the MonkiSee video for the last couple of weeks and first of all, I must say that I am so impressed with young Olivia who narrates the video. She does a wonderful job & this is obviously a strong talent for her.   K really relates to young people, so this was a plus for her also.

K loves all the videos of other kids & animals doing the actions & I appreciate that more than one video clip is shown to display the different ways each action can be performed.

 I like the way each word is presented on a blank screen in very large red letters first, before the video clip is shown. It is hard to miss & red is supposed to be an attractive color for the youngest viewers.  K has been reading words for over 2 years now & now knows so many sight words, that it is not surprising to me that she already knew many of the words in the video, but I am happy to report that she already knows all of the new words too!  I think most people buying this video would not have a child with such a large bank of sight words already, so there would a lot of educational value in learning the 30 words featured on the DVD.

The songs must be very entertaining for K, as she was singing along even the first time she watched the DVD & now sings them randomly throughout the day!

As  mom who encourages a lot of physical activity for my girls, I love the fact that this is about action words.  K spends 1/2 of this video jumping running stretching & crawling around the living room.

 

Walking!

 

K has very recently started getting choosy about the DVD's that she watches. I was pleasantly surprised that this is the only DVD she is asking for now.  I am certain it is not just because it is new, because I was given a 2nd hand copy of another very popular early reading video the other day which she watched once & now refuses to watch again.  She also seems to have pretty well outgrown some very popular sign language DVD's that she used to love.

This really is a very enjoyable & educational DVD & I am so glad to have a chance to check it out.  I expected that K would enjoy it but again, I have to say I didn't expect her to be so enthralled by it!  A big thumbs up from both of us for the MonkiSee Action Words DVD!

If you would like to learn more, here is a link to the MonkiSee website:

http://www.monkisee.com/

BrillKids Little Reader & Little Math Programs

I thought I would re post this for my newer readers who haven't seen it yet.  BrillKids offers a discount from 30 to 100% off of both their reading & math programs for kids with special needs.  So far everyone I have talked to says that they have been very generous - 100% off, so make sure you check it out.  Here is a link to the details in a previous blog:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com/2011/03/exciting-announcement-from-brillkids.html

Exciting announcement from Brillkids!

I have been talking with KL over at Brillkids about giving a discount to kids with special needs. I am very excited to announce that he has generously offered to give discounts ranging from 30% all the way up to 100% off!  The discount is available to Brillkids forum members who have been posting on the forum for at least a month and have a child with a disability.

Unlike the regular sponsorship program, the special needs discount is not based on parental income.

Here link to their forum.  Remember to join now & start posting so you can apply for their discount in a month:

brillkids

Here is a previous post that I did to explain more details about the Little Reader program:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com/2011/03/brill-kids-little-reader-program.html

Here is my review of the Little Math program:

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com/2011/09/brillkids-math-program.html

Here is a link to a form where you can fill out the necessary  information. Make sure you include the fact that your child has a disability, state the nature of that disability, and include a scanned copy of a note from a medical professional or therapist and remember to get started posting on the forum!

BrillKids sponsorship

UPDATE: So far everyone I Have talked to who has applied for this discount has gotten a VERY generous discount on both Little Reader & Little Math!

Other reading programs

There are various other reading programs that we haven't tried. Some that I can think of off hand are:

Monki See Monki Do - http://www.monkisee.com/

e Reading Pro (formerly known as Out of the Box reading) - http://ereadingpro.com/products.php

Preschool Prep Company has a series of DVD's, books, etc. - http://preschoolprepco.com/h/i/index.php

If anyone has tried these and would like to share, please leave a comment about your experiences.

BrillKid's Little Reader program

This really is my favorite of all of the early reading programs that I have found. Little Reader is the only  program that has grown with K from the time she read her first words until now and is still growing with her.

Little Reader is a computer based program which allows a parent to customize it to suit their child.  You can choose between available pictures or add your own.  Fonts can be changed or set to display randomly.  You can even record your own voice if you wish. Little Reader has a set curriculum, or you can choose between thousands of files that are available. I am so impressed with the versatility of this program. Now.........time for my confession...........I have not utilized this program even close to the full extent that is possible.  There are two main reasons for this.  1. Lots of computer problems! and 2. To repeat what I said earlier, you really need to teach your child in the way that suits them best. When she was younger, K really didn't seem to learn as well with a TV or  computer screen  she seemed to learn best with a flashcard - and she insisted it had a picture on it. In fact, it has only been in the last 6 months that she willingly reads a flashcard without a picture. Having said that, Little Reader has still been a huge time saver for me. The vast majority of her flashcards are from Little Reader and thanks to all of those great features, I can customize the flashcards. I could never have kept up to her if I had to make all of her cards myself. To be honest, I probably still don't really keep up to her! I have a hard enough time keeping up when all I had to do was print and laminate! It would have taken endless hours to source all of the pictures, then make and laminate the cards. I have so much respect for the moms and dads who had to do it this way! Thankfully, now that K is doing well with reading, she seems to learn just as quickly from a computer or TV screen as with flashcards. As soon as I get my new computer rather than having to borrow my husband's work computer or my kid's iPad, we'll get back at it again!

Update as of Aug/2011: Other than doing a set of "Fleschcards" (phonics flashcards based on Rudolph Flesch's book & created by Larry Sanger), we are solely using LittleReader.  K is picking up new words more quickly than ever & it is so much easier for me now.  A Little Reader weekly program takes literally a few minutes to set up - a far cry from the time it took to do a 45 word per week program with laminated flashcards!
BrillKids also has a math program called Little Math. Look forward to some blog posts about our experiences with it soon!

BrillKids

UPDATE: BrillKids is now giving a discount to parents of children with Special Needs.  Click on this link for more info:
  Exciting Announcement From BrillKids

Starfall

Starfall is a great phonics based Internet computer  program. I like that this program is interactive.  All of my kids have played and enjoyed this program at one time as our school sometimes allows kids to play on it as a treat if they are done their school work. It starts with ABC's and continues to increase in difficulty. I really feel that while younger kids will learn some things from this program, it is better for teaching older kids. I'm starting to experiment with teaching phonics using a sight word approach, but still think that phonics taught in the traditional way needs to be taught to 5 or 6 year olds who have a longer working memory.  

http://www.starfall.com/

How to Teach Your Baby to Read

How to Teach your Baby to Read is one of a number of books written by Glenn Doman of IAHP (Institutes for Achievement of Human Potential) and is co authored by his daughter Janet. It was this organization that first started teaching children with Down syndrome and other brain injured children to read.  This was the first early reading resource I found, and a many of the ideas we use came from this book. Even when using other programs, I often use methods from this book rather than what is suggested by the particular program. Some of these ideas include fast flashing, using huge flashcards with red lettering to make the words easier to read and more visually appealing and most importantly, that teaching your child must always be done joyfully. This book goes step by step through the process of creating a reading program for your child. I would highly recommend reading this book even if you choose to use an already made program. It is often available at local libraries or can be bought at the IAHP bookstore at the link below, or on Amazon.

http://www.gentlerevolution.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=G&Product_Code=0201-40

The Learning Program

This is another great program that is offered free of charge for kids with DS by the down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County. It can be downloaded to your computer and printed off. This program was also great for helping K to learn various concepts such as  colours and shapes.  This program has books with many of the main words having flashcards and a matching picture card as well.  They even have a page of activity suggestions to go along with some stories.

The pictures are mostly quite a good quality. Many are photos, and even the drawings are easy to understand. Their books range from single words to short sentences.  Because K was able to easily able to read smaller print by the time we started using this program, we changed the settings on our printer to print many of these books out with 2 pages on each of card stock to make a smaller book.

The one minor problem we had with this series is that a number of these stories start with the words  " I see".  K started saying "I see" whenever we read any story for a while. We started reading other stories and she eventually started paying more attention and reading the words properly. I doubt this would happen for every child though.

Thank you to the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County for creating such a great free resource.

Here is a link to the page where you can register to access the free materials:

Down Syndrome Association of Orange County 

See and Learn

This is a program created by Downs Ed. This organization has both a UK and a US division. See and Learn can either be purchased and mailed to you or can be downloaded and printed on your home computer free of charge. 

This program has various components.  They have picture cards and matching word cards. One of the activities is to match the word to the picture on the template.  They also have books starting with one word per page, increasing in difficulty to short sentences such as "Emma is eating an apple". 

I really like this program. The pictures are very clear and concise and the words and stories are quite relevant and interesting to most kids. 

The one part of this program that we chose not to implement was the matching. We were concerned that it was a form of testing and were careful to avoid pressuring our daughter to perform. This method also seems so much slower than the fast flash method we use, ( & I don't have enough time in the day as it is!), so we just stuck with just fast flashing.   We did really enjoy the materials, just in our own way.  K still likes to pick up the books and read them for fun.  

This program is still under development and they are adding new sections as they are ready. At the present time there just wasn't enough reading materials to keep my daughter occupied for long. I wish it had been a  little further along in it's development when my daughter started learning sight words. 

I really appreciate everything that Downs Ed is doing for people with Down syndrome.  The reading program is really only a small part of it. 

Here is a link to the Downs Ed site's home page, where you can click on a link to either download or puchase the program.  Check out all of their wonderful articles which you are there too. 

http://www.dseusa.org/en/us/

Funnix

This program is computer based & I acquired it when it was available for free download back in January. This previously $250 program is now being offered on DVD for $25 at the time of this blog post, which still seems pretty reasonable to me. We've only just started, but there seems to be quite a bit of material to keep kids learning for quite a while, so hopefully you wouldn't have to keep shelling more money out for other programs. In my opinion this program is better for kids who are starting a little bit later - maybe closer to school age? K enjoys it, but really she seems to enjoy any early reading program we have tried! I think it is more enjoyable for her because she already has a basic knowledge of letters & letter sounds. Personally, I find it very boring & very repetitive! One thing I do like though is that it encourages interaction in various ways such as having the child point out different letters on the screen. There are also worksheets to print off that go with the lessons, although K has so far refused to do any of them! The stubborn gene is on the 21st chromosome right? This may be something some kids would enjoy though & would help with fine motor & preprinting skills. You can also download samples for free to try it out.


http://funnix.com

Your Baby Can Read

Time is so short around here lately that my early reading program reviews are going to be fairly short. Maybe I'll revisit this topic when I have more time, but for now, here is my next review.

Your Baby can Read - or YBCR for short, is a popular early reading program. It is advertised on TV & I've heard people mention even buying it at Wal Mart. The fact that it is so readily available may appeal to some people. This program is fairly expensive, however I was fortunate to find several of their DVDs & books at my local Down syndrome association library. This program involves watching a video & reading the books on a daily schedule. I've never been one to stick closely to a schedule, & K was already reading a number of words before we tried this program so we disregarded the schedule. Actually, I'm not even sure that I agree with using a schedule anyways. Unless your child is very enthusiastic, you have to be careful not to push reading just because it is in the schedule or your child may decide they don't want to read at all. K really enjoyed this program & learned new words quickly. As with all programs we have used, we spent time with her while she watched the DVD & read the books to her often. I liked the pictures used in their books. They are very clear, concise & dont have a lot of background to distract from the subject of the picture. It is also great that they separate the picture from the word by hiding the picture under a flap. After you read the word, you lift the flap to reveal the word - there is nothingnto distract the child from looking at the word. I also think it is really good that they use different fonts. K went through a stage where she had trouble reading words that weren't a standard font & their program adresses this concern. The videos are also a fairly modern which makes it more enjoyable for mom & dad too:)! YBCR is a good program, but again, I think the price is a little high for the number of words your child can learn.

http://www.yourbabycanread.com

Love & Learning

This is the first commercial reading program that we used with K.  We did use some huge, home made flashcards first, but because K was less than a year old, & we did not test her it was hard to tell if she was learning them or not.  At the time, Love & Learning was the only early reading program I had heard of.  It is designed specifically for kids with Down syndrome.  I ordered the first 2 kits & we started showing them to K.  She really enjoyed the DVD's & videos, & as you can see from the videos in an earlier blog post, she did learn to read the words in this program.  The videos are somewhat outdated, but K didn't mind & was quite excited about watching them.  One thing that I don't like is that the pictures in the book are not very clear & concise -  I prefer to use a very accurate picture rather than a sketch on my flashcards.  I do appreciate that there is a word on one page & a picture on the next.  This helps babies & young children to focus on the word only & not be distracted by the picture.  My biggest complaint is the cost of the program.  For the number of words it teaches, it is a fair amount of money.
http://loveandlearning.com/home.shtml

Early Reading Programs

My next set of posts will be on the early reading programs that I have tried - & we've tried most of them! LOL!  Most of them will be in random order, but I'm saving my favorite for last, so wait for it before you go buy a program!  Please keep in mind that every child learns differently & therefore what works best for my child may not be the best choice for yours.  Consider your child's learning style & personal preferences before you make your choice.