This document discusses homeschooling children with Down syndrome. It notes that homeschooling allows for individualized education tailored to a child's specific strengths and weaknesses. Homeschooling also provides one-on-one teaching and avoids potential peer pressure or ridicule in public school. The document addresses common questions about homeschooling children with special needs and notes that curriculum should be chosen based on each child's unique profile. Support resources for homeschooling children with Down syndrome are also mentioned.

1. Homeschooling Children with Down Syndrome
By Amy Dunaway
©2010 – All Rights Reserved
My Blog: http://onajoyfuljourney.blogspot.com
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2. Table of Contents
1 Introduction 4
2 Why Homeschooling 5
3 Homeschooling and Down Syndrome 6
4 FAQs – Homeschooling Children with Down Syndrome
and other Special Needs 8
5 Learning and Down Syndrome 10
6 Individualized Education Plans 13
7 Learning the Basics – Reading Writing and Arithmetic 16
8 Reading and Down Syndrome – The Early Years 18
9 Reading and Down Syndrome – The Primary Years 20
10 Motivation and Errorless Learning 21
11 Routines – The Groove 24
12 Visual and Verbal Memory
And Down Syndrome 26
13 Down Syndrome and Challenging Behavior 29
14 Homeschooling and Down Syndrome – “The Reluctant Learner,”
The Homeschooling Parent 31
15 Homeschooling and Down Syndrome – “The Reluctant Learner,”
The Child 33
16 Homeschool Burnout 35
17 The Homeschooling Community -
Supporting Families with Children with Special Needs 38
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3. Appendix 41
A. Prayer for Homeschooler with Children with Special Needs 42
B. Reading Recommendations 43
C. Math Curricula Suggestions 45
D. Curriculum Resources 46
E. Software Recommendations 47
F. Resources for Speech, Language and Communication 49
G. Resources - Homeschooling and Down Syndrome 50
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4. Chapter One
Introduction
Our family began its homeschooling journey in In my research about education and Down
1992 with the birth of our daughter with Down syndrome I discovered a common theme in several
syndrome. Reagan is now almost 16 years old and books and research articles – targeted etiology-
thriving in the homeschooling environment. She is based interventions.
a well-adjusted, delightful young lady.
Children with Down syndrome face etiology-
I have faced many challenges through the years on specific (specific to Down syndrome) strengths and
our homeschooling journey but the greatest was weaknesses – different from other causes of
unlocking the key to learning for Reagan. We intellectual impairment. These strengths and
decided early in her life that the public school weaknesses have become known as the specific (or
system in our area could not meet her learning typical) learning profile of children with Down
needs and began our homeschooling journey. syndrome. Targeted etiology-based interventions
Children with Down syndrome commonly have look to those strengths and weaknesses to develop a
auditory processing challenges with impaired short- plan for intervention based on what is known about
term memory, difficulty with attention, delayed how children with Down syndrome learn.
language acquisition and articulation issues,
impaired cognition, and gross/fine motor delays - Children with Down syndrome learn differently
significant issues. than typically developing children. To think that
children with Down syndrome are just “slow
I, like most other parents who have children with learners” is to do them a great disservice. The
special needs, spent a great deal of time in research learning profile of children with Down syndrome
about my child's condition. The more I learned, the clearly defines their learning differences.
greater confidence I felt that I could parent this
child and meet her learning needs by As time goes by, more and more research points to
homeschooling her. the success that comes with targeted etiology-based
interventions – yet mainstream education has not
Homeschooling is a natural extension of what followed suit. For the most part, they have failed to
parents do to care for and nurture their child's embrace our children‟s learning differences and
growth and development - homeschooling begins at adapt classroom learning to their needs.
birth. A child with Down syndrome needs syndrome
specific instruction in skill acquisition and The impact of this knowledge I have gathered in my
development in areas that are often taken for research on our homeschool has been tremendous.
granted by parents of typically developing children Learning has occurred at a more rapid rate. Any
due to the challenges they face. frustration that comes with the work that must be
done to learn has dramatically decreased. Attention
Down syndrome is the most well researched skills grew. Difficult behaviors and avoidance type
syndrome which causes intellectual impairment. As behaviors are mostly gone as they pertain to
a result, much is known about the way children with schooling!
Down syndrome learn but it takes an information
junkie and a great deal of persistence to find it. I
confess to being an information addict which has
blessed our lives in the knowledge I have gained.
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5. Chapter Two
Why Homeschooling
When my husband and I started our family, we had education that targets their specific learning needs
many discussions about homeschooling. Initially, it and to provide an education that will not sacrifice
piqued my interest as a rather novel idea - totally academic learning for life skills and "socialization."
foreign to me. With time, research, much prayer and Many families leave the public school system after
the birth of a child with significant special needs, I unsatisfactory academic progress for which they
was completely convinced that homeschooling was saw no other option than to educate their child at
the only path for our family. Today, I am passionate home. I even know of a few cases of abuse as a
about homeschooling my children and the result of public school placement. I moderate three
homeschooling movement. I love to share the yahoo groups which target families homeschooling
benefits of homeschooling with anyone who shows children with Down syndrome and have listened to
an interest in our lifestyle. many, many stories over the years. The system
(early intervention and/or the public school system)
I think the best way to show the benefits of has difficulty meeting the needs of our children.
homeschooling to others is to have my children out The biggest lesson I learned when we participated
in the community. Most people are quite impressed in the system was that it primarily seeks to serve
with their behavior and their ability to interact with itself – sad, but true in our experience and that of
people of all ages. many others.
In my opinion, the greatest benefit of There are good stories too - wonderful placements
homeschooling to our family is that God does not and caring professionals. We did not get that
have to be compartmentalized in the lives of my experience. We met professionals with low
children. We can learn about and uphold the expectations, who cared little for the individual they
traditions of our faith at home. Holy Scripture is a were providing services for and could not see
part of our everyday life. We pray together. We beyond her diagnosis of Down syndrome.
grow together in Christ as we make decisions and
implement them. Our Triune God is celebrated in Faith Concerns
our house and looked to when we face Why don‟t more Christians don't homeschool their
difficulties...and praised for the blessings we children? This article gives a scary picture of what
receive. children face in the public schools today:
The National Home Education Research Institute "80% of Christian families send their children to
says the key reasons for home education are the public schools where their faith is attacked. Based
transmission of beliefs and values to children, close on the study's findings, it appears that their children
family relationships, controlled and positive peer are the ones being "evangelized" by the religion of
social interaction, quality academics, alternative secular humanism. More than half of their Christian
approaches to learning and safety. I think all these teens believe Jesus sinned and only 9% hold to
factors played into our decision to homeschool our moral absolutes, while 83% of children from
children. committed Christian families attending public
schools adopt a Marxist-Socialist worldview,
Why Homeschool Children with Special Needs? reports the group."
Families are educating their children with special
needs in their own homes to provide them with an
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6. Our hope is that by keeping my children home for
their education, that we are raising strong disciples
for Christ - placing the Lord first in their lives,
strong in their knowledge of Holy Scripture and
joyfully fulfilling the Great Commission.
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7. Chapter Three
Homeschooling and Down Syndrome
Once we made the decision to educate our children children with Down syndrome - different from
at home, I read everything I could get my hands on typically developing children and children with
about homeschooling. other causes of developmental delays.
As we moved through our homeschooling journey, Today, there is a great deal of support for families
much of what I learned about homeschooling and homeschooling children with Down syndrome
Down syndrome I learned the hard way by working primarily found on the internet. For more
with my daughter. Initially, I didn't have Internet information:
access and therefore no access to information on
how children with Down syndrome learn or even Homeschooling and Down Syndrome
others homeschooling families with children with A family oriented list.
Down syndrome. Professionals were not really
helpful because they had little specific knowledge Home Education and Down Syndrome
about Down syndrome. A list for committed homeschooling families that
focuses on the special learning needs of children
We engaged a consultant with a Masters in Special with Down syndrome - resources, curriculum,
Education as an educational consultant. He gave us strategies for teaching etc.
suggestions for curriculum and general information
about learning in children with cognitive challenges Homeschooling Kids with Down Syndrome
- and information about academic and A list comprised of only homeschoolers with
developmental skills progression in typically children with Down syndrome. It is a closed list but
developing children. He also gave me the if you are interested just send me an e-mail.
confidence to homeschool our daughter with special
needs but did not have the answers on how to National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated
overcome the challenges we faced. It wasn't really Network (NATHHAN), a Christian support network
the fault of the professionals we worked with - it for those homeschooling children with special
takes a long time for research to trickle down to needs, also offers e-mail support for those of us
those working in the field. In fact, with Reagan, I homeschooling children with Down syndrome.
had to unlearn much of what I knew about Send me an e-mail and I'll give you the contact
homeschooling and learn with her, about her & her information.
unique needs. I now have a room (seriously) filled
with research into how children with Down
syndrome learn along with my regular
homeschooling stuff!
The fact is children with Down syndrome learn
differently. Simply put, they are wired differently.
Methods used for typically developing children may
eventually work I suppose, but to lessen frustration
all around and increase learning potential (and keep
motivation high) they need their specific learning
profile targeted for success. The learning profile is a
list of strengths and weaknesses common to
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8. The Benefits of Homeschooling the Child with Down Syndrome and other Special Needs
 The child with special needs can receive the  The parent can pick and choose social
one-on-one teaching that will enable them to opportunities. Homeschooled children are
grow academically. This cannot be matched not limited to socializing with only their
in the public school setting. peers. They tend to socialize with children
and adults of all ages for a wide variety of
 The program can specifically target the experiences. Homeschooled children are
child‟s relative strengths and tailor the less affected by peer pressure.
child‟s education in such a way that
increases learning potential.  Character development and behavior issues
Homeschooling also allows us to teach can be dealt with by providing an
subjects not commonly offered in the public environment where limits and consequences
school system. are consistently enforced. Homeschooling
can offer atmosphere where the choices and
 The program designed for them by the consequences are articulated as necessary to
person who knows their needs intimately. make the best choice available and wrong
Your home program will best suit their choices can be discussed and dealt with
individual needs. You can create a balanced consistently.
program that does not sacrifice academic
skills for life skills.  The spiritual needs of children with special
needs can be met best in our own homes
 The child can learn at his/her own pace to where they will be exposed to the love and
allow their needs to be met properly. word of God. In a world where many of our
Concepts can be taught with the repetition children seen as "disposable" and somehow
necessary for mastery using a wide variety less worthy, they need to know that God has
of materials ensuring success appropriate to a plan for them and loves them
the child's needs and developmental age. unconditionally. God does not make
mistakes! "For you created my inmost
 The child will have the opportunity for being; you knit me together in my mother's
successful learning experiences that will womb. Praise you because I am fearfully
motivate them to develop persistence in and wonderfully made; your works are
learning difficult concepts. wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm
139:13-14, NIV.
 The child learns academic and functional
life skills in the best of all venues-real life.
Fractions are “important” when it comes  The health benefits are tremendous.
time to share a pizza! Children exposed to Early Intervention in
group settings and the public school system
are constantly exposed to every
 The child with special needs can learn where
viral/bacterial illness present in the
they are safe from peer ridicule. Many
community. Homeschooled children with
children with special needs are the object of
special needs can avoid many of these
peer ridicule because of processing
common illnesses until they are older and
difficulties, difficulty expressing
better able to tolerate them.
themselves, physical impairments or
cognitive challenges. They can make
mistakes where it is safe to do so – their own
home.
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9. Chapter Four
FAQs Homeschooling Children with Down Syndrome and other Special Needs
Over the years, I've been asked many questions significant special needs. There is a great deal out
about homeschooling children with special needs. I there to choose from.
thought I would post the most frequently asked
questions just in case you needed to know! The longer answer: Many known syndromes and
disorders are associated with known behavioral
Is it legal to homeschool children with Down traits called a phenotype. These traits give us a
syndrome and other special needs? profile of strengths and weaknesses that we can
target to create better learning environments. For
Homeschooling is legal across the United States – example, children with autism are known to have
even for children with special needs. The level of communication and social deficits – part of their
accountability varies state to state so it is good to phenotype. Therefore, they need specific teaching
know the law and level of accountability of the state in social skills presented primarily visually to
in which you live. impact learning.
Why do parents decide to homeschool their child Homeschooling children with special needs takes
with special needs? creativity in adapting what is available to the child's
relative strengths and weaknesses.
Many families I know are already firmly ensconced
in the homeschooling lifestyle when their child with How about special curricula for children with
special needs is born. Some are medically fragile. Down syndrome?
Others research homeschooling knowing their child
will face obstacles to learning that may be better Down syndrome is the most researched of all causes
targeted at home. Some come to homeschooling of intellectual disability. Much is known about the
because of difficulties they have experienced in the strengths and weaknesses of children with Down
public school system syndrome. Therefore, there are targeted
interventions known to help them learn.
Don’t you need special training to educate a Researchers are working to provide tools and
child with special needs? curriculum to aid learning – much of it targeting
early learners.
Many parents I know that have turned to
homeschooling with a degree in special education See:
say that their degree is often a hindrance! In getting Bob Jones University Press Adapted Curriculum
their degree, they are often given the big picture but (send me an e-mail for more information)
it doesn‟t help them homeschool their child with See and Learn
special needs. The parent knows their child best Numicon
and know their needs. Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County
Learning Program
Is there a special curriculum for homeschooling
children with special needs? Where do I go for information and support?
The short answer is - not really. Curriculum choices I would suggest you seek out others homeschooling
should be based on the unique needs of each child. I children with the same diagnosis as your child. It is
would encourage you to look outside the great to have face to face support so check out your
homeschooling world for those children with local homeschooling association. The internet is
also a great place to find others for support. Yahoo
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10. Groups has a support for almost anything you can See:
think of! Just type homeschooling and ____ (fill in NACD: National Association for Child
the blank with your child‟s diagnosis) into the Development
search engine and you will most like find a group to Hope and a Future Linda Kane
provide information and support. ICAN: International Christian Association of
Neurodevelopmentalists
How do I know if my child is learning?
Note: I am not necessarily recommending the
You know your child best and you will become neurodevelopmental approach (lack of peer-
very familiar with what they know and what they reviewed research) but many parents of children
are learning as you see them implement the with Down syndrome and other special needs find
knowledge they have learned. Many families use a their services beneficial - especially in the areas of
developmental and/or academic skills inventory to reading and memory. Having not used this
help them set goals and display learning progress. approach, I really have no opinion - just awareness
of the support families get using their services.
See:
VORT (my favorite) Do I need legal protection?
The Brigance
Legal protection is a sensitive and somewhat
Where do I start? controversial subject. Homeschoolers can become a
target of well-meaning public school authorities and
Right where you child is functioning – then build up social workers. Homeschoolers with children with
the skills he/she has. Many families use one of the special needs can be particularly vulnerable. In my
above developmental skills inventories to gauge opinion the persecution of homeschoolers is pretty
where their child is functioning and choose rare. Research the need carefully - no one wants to
curriculum that fits their learning style. Learning be caught unaware.
styles are important in children with special needs
in targeting their individual learning needs. Home School Legal Defense Association
Pacific Justice Institute
What about professionals? National Home Education Legal Defense
The Rutherford Institute
I believe professionals can be an invaluable
resource in supporting homeschooling families – if What about socialization?
they are well educated in the child‟s diagnosis,
targeted interventions….and have the child‟s best I think what most concerns most people considering
interests at heart. We have found it most beneficial homeschooling their child with special needs is not
to search the private sector for professional help. socialization (the process by which the norms and
Those within the system tend to be bogged down by standards of our society are passed from one
the system and not as interested in the individual generation to another) but socializing – the
with special needs and their family. gathering for communal activities where friendships
are formed. I have found the homeschooling
Have you heard of the neurodevelopmental community the most inclusive of communities and
approach? the opportunities for socializing are endless and not
a problem.
Many homeschoolers use neurodevelopmental
consultants to develop very specific home programs
for their children. Neurodevelopmentalists design a
program to build on the neurological framework to
support skill development. This in contrast to
mainstream approaches which are skills based.
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11. Chapter Five
Learning and Down Syndrome
We made the decision to homeschool not long after targeted intervention (specific to the special needs
Reagan was born. Her birth and the diagnosis of of learners with Down syndrome) is where the
Down syndrome cemented our decision to future lies in education and Down syndrome and
homeschool both girls. During that first year, I read successful learning experiences for our children in
everything I could get my hands on about our homes. Research shows it to be very promising
homeschooling. and hopefully as awareness grows targeted
intervention will increase in our early intervention
Early on, much of what I learned about programs and the public school system.
homeschooling and Down syndrome I learned the
hard way -- by working with Reagan. Initially, I had Targeted intervention is basically teaching to the
no internet access and, therefore, no access to how child‟s learning style – a hallmark of
children with Down syndrome learn or even others homeschooling. In the case of children with Down
homeschooling children with Down syndrome. syndrome, this takes on greater significance.
Professionals were not really helpful because they Typically developing children most often will learn
had little specific knowledge about learning and using a variety of methods. They may be primarily
children with Down syndrome. They tended to work visual learners, primarily auditory learners or
with her based on isolated diagnoses i.e.: primarily kinesthetic learners but can adapt to a
variety of methods. Children with Down syndrome
Physical Therapy – hypotonia learn differently. Methods used for typically
Speech Therapy - delayed speech developing children often slow progress in learning
and decrease our children successful learning
No one was looking at the big picture and what experiences.
Down syndrome means to the whole child. We
couldn't blame them though - it takes a long time A good example of targeted intervention is found in
for research to trickle down to those working in the a book most parents of children with Down
field. syndrome have, Teaching Reading to Children with
Down Syndrome, by Patricia Oelwein. Her method
During those early years, I made lots of mistakes. In of teaching children with Down syndrome to read
fact, with Reagan, I had to unlearn much of what I (matching, selecting, naming) targets their specific
knew about homeschooling and learn with her, learning profile (visual learners) and utilizes
about her & her unique needs. errorless learning...and our children find success!
When I finally got internet access a whole new A learning profile is basically a list of strengths and
world was opened for me. My husband worked weaknesses developed from a set of observable
long, hard hours when the girls were younger. I behavioural traits called a phenotype. Children with
used the hours he was working after the girls were Down syndrome have a specific learning profile
in bed for the night to research. Little by little, I different from typically developing children and
amassed a great deal of information which made a children with other forms of intellectual disability.
dramatic difference in our homeschool. I now have
a room (seriously) filled with research into how The awareness of this profile and incorporating it
children with Down syndrome learn along with my into our daily lives drastically improved our
regular homeschooling stuff! successful learning experiences.
I've come to the conclusion after all these years that
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12. Down Syndrome - The Typical Learning Profile
Children with Down syndrome (Down syndrome) of sign, gestures, the written word, drawings
often share a set of observable behavioural traits or pictures for visual cues. Learning from
known as a phenotype. These traits are different seeing is important and effective for children
than seen in typically developing children and with Down syndrome.
children with other causes of intellectual
disabilities. I like to look at the big picture or the  Children with Down syndrome have speech
whole child. These traits do not occur in isolation and language delays. They have relative
but influence each other and can cause obstacles to strengths in their receptive language skills
learning. and are typically able to understand far more
than they can say or sign. Their
Not all children with Down syndrome will show the understanding of spoken language is often
typical learning profile seen here but the majority underestimated due to these delays.
will. I must say Reagan fits this picture perfectly! Children with Down syndrome have relative
Targeting the strengths of children with Down deficits in expressive language. Expressive
syndrome will result in a more optimal learning language skills often fall behind receptive
environment. Working to strengthen the weaknesses language abilities. A high incidence of
in the profile will give the child the tools to increase hearing difficulties early in life contributes
functional competence as they grow. to speech and language delays.
Children with Down syndrome often share a set of  Many are able to effectively use gesture
observable behavioural traits (phenotype) displayed (e.g., pointing, guiding) and sign language
in the following profile. Not all children will show for communication. This should be an
the typical strengths and weaknesses listed below acceptable form of preverbal communication
but children with Down syndrome are more likely for our children with language delays. A
to share these behaviors. We can help children with small number (approximately 5%) of our
Down syndrome to learn by understanding their children with Down syndrome will be
typical developmental and learning profile and nonverbal and require some kind of
teaching to their strengths. augmentative communication.
 Children with Down syndrome have  Children with Down syndrome typically
significant cognitive challenges. As with have strong social skills (though they may
the general population, there is a wide range misread or misuse social skills at times) and
in IQ levels but most operate in the mild to enjoy learning from social interaction where
moderate range of mental retardation. IQ meaningful two-way communication and
has limited practical value and tells us little interaction takes place. Take advantage of
about functional competence. Older this strength using games and other social
children with Down syndrome have mental activities to reinforce concepts and practice
ages ranging from 4-6 years of age. Most skills.
individuals with Down syndrome do not
progress beyond the average capabilities of
 Children with Down syndrome have
the average 6-8 year old.
auditory processing and working memory
 Children with Down syndrome typically deficits making learning from listening
have relative learning strengths in the areas difficult. For this reason, it is imperative
of visual processing (the ability to make that information to be learned is paired with
sense of information taken in with the eyes) visual cues.
and visual memory (recall) skills. They
learn best when information given verbally
is paired with visual supports such as the use
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13.  They have delays in fine and gross motor What this really tells us is that children with Down
skills. Fine motor delays may make syndrome are primarily visual learners. They have
working with manipulatives and writing great difficulty learning from listening. Therefore,
difficult. With time and practice, most all learning material must be paired with visuals
children with Down syndrome will learn to and/or sign language as a visual cue.
write legibly. Delays in gross motor skills
limit a child‟s ability to explore the Reagan has always had good language skills and
environment which further delays cognition. communicated her needs quite well so we had no
need to learn sign language. Teaching to her visual
 Children with Down syndrome frequently learning style, with frequent repetition, while
display challenging behaviors. They show keeping learning errorless were the keys for her in
higher rates of attention problems, social consolidating concepts. Homeschooling has been
withdrawal, noncompliance and compulsive such a gift to us! It has given us the ability to
behaviors. From early infancy on, escape implement what the research tells us about learning
and attention motivated challenging and Down syndrome.
behaviors involving noncompliance and
misuse of social skills are common.
Challenging behaviors result in reduced
learning and social opportunities.
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14. Chapter Six
Individualized Education Plans
Every summer I take the time to write and event of inquiries.
Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for the
upcoming school year. Because my daughter has I create simple checklists for the skills/concepts we
Down syndrome, she does not learn at the same are working on. When a skill/concept is
pace or in the same way as typical learners. consolidated, I get the simple pleasure of dating it
and checking it off!
I find creating and IEP helps to keep me on track
and focused on meeting my child's needs in Sounds time consuming - Is it worth the effort?
thoughtful, reasoned way. A few days during the For me, it has been a huge time saver! Yes, it does
summer focusing on setting goals, breaking down initially take time and effort to create but then I
skills - creating a plan for the coming year sharpens know we have a plan and I don't have to waste time
my sense of where we have been, all that my deciding what we are going to do, look for
daughter has accomplished and where we are going. materials, give a great deal of though to breaking
down skills. It's already done!
Are IEPs required for those homeschooling
children with special needs? Also, if you are required to report hours/days
There is no legal requirement for homeschoolers to schooling to a state or local authority, time spent
create an IEP for their child with special needs. working on IEPs count as school hours.
Doesn't every homeschooled child have an IEP? Domains
There is a certain amount of truth to this statement. IEP's generally include the following academic
Homeschooling does provide an environment where areas or domains: Language, Reading, Math,
each child receives and individualized education Perceptual Skills, Writing or Pre-writing Skills,
based on how they learn and allows them to learn at Fine and Gross Motor Skills.
their own pace. IEPs are intentional in thought and You can also include domains such as life skills,
purposeful in achieving individualized goals for social skills, self-help skills and/or character
areas of weakness and any deficiencies in academic development
skills.
What kind of information should be on an
Why write and work with an IEP if it's not homeschool IEP?
required? The IEP should have the following information:
Developing an IEP for children with special
learning needs is beneficial to the parent and the 1. Present skill level or present level of
child with special needs. performance. This can be documented on a
developmental inventory.
1. It allows us to plan goals for the future and ways
to meet these goals. 2. Long-term goals for any areas of weakness or
2. It allows us to break down goals into short-term deficiency. These should be reasonably
objectives (more manageable pieces)to implement accomplished over the next twelve months.
our plan for the child. Challenge your child-he/she will achieve goals.
2. It also provides for instructional direction. What Decide what your priorities are with realistic
are we going to concentrate on this day, week, expectations. Long-term goals are generalized,
month, year. The IEP allows us to address how we broad-based such as "Charlotte will increase in
going to teach skills and concepts. receptive language skills." There may be more than
3. It is documentation of your child's progress in the one long-term goal per domain or skill area. If you
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15. meet your goals for the year, set up more goals. An skills/concepts need more repetition to cement the
IEP should be fluid, always moving forward. Do not skill/concept or look at whether or not we can move
be afraid of moving a goal that has not been reached on to a new skill/concept. I've been using the same
into the next year's IEP. master schedule/journal format since we began
formally homeschooling. Once it is set up all that
3. Short-term objectives to meet the long-term needs to be done is fill in the blanks!
goals. These should be specific, concrete, well-
defined objectives tailored to meet your child's For each day I list:
individual needs and based on their long-term goals.
These are the daily steps you take to educate your 1. Subject and resource/curriculum
child. Each objective that you meet brings you 2. Objective
closer to your long-term goal. Use these short-term 3. Brief evaluation
goals as benchmarks to show the mastery level your 4. Skill/Concept in the review cycle (unique to the
child is expected to have at certain times of the child) for the subject.
year.
We do not necessarily stick to the schedule
4. Methods and materials to meet these goals and absolutely but it is our guideline for the day.
objectives. These could be items/games made by
the home educator, specific curriculum or other Each IEP is unique for each child to meet your
resource to implement your individualized program. child's needs but you will probably find that
children with Down Syndrome have common
5. An evaluation to measure progress. You need learning differences. No one IEP will be appropriate
to define how you will know your child is making for all children with Down syndrome. The IEP
progress. With some thought most skills can be process will help move your child toward maximum
broken down as a task analysis. Task analysis independence by keeping focus on your goals for
involves identifying a skill, determining an entry the child's academic and functional growth.
behavior, analyzing the skill and recording the
sequence of task events into small observable Developmental Inventories/Scales
components and sequencing the skill. Some skills Children with Down syndrome usually have very
can be observed and recorded in a daily journal or scattered skills – age appropriate in some domains
log. Written tests may work for the older or able and delayed in others They tend to learn best when
child. We must be careful not to compare our we build on the skills they have and target their
children with other children. Let us measure their interests.
progress as individuals. Measure your child against
their own baseline. A developmental scale or inventory easily lets us
find out where our children function and let us set
6. List of resources or curriculum used for the goals (short-term & long-term) to aid us in their
school year including resources for outside growth and development and academic skills.
therapies such as occupational therapy, speech
therapy, or physical therapy.
I have always used the developmental inventories
Schedule/Journal and curriculum available from VORT. They are
I have found it helpful to display our short-term most famous for their HELP (Hawaii Early
objectives in a a weekly schedule/journal that I Learning Profile) series. They have inventories and
work on every Sunday afternoon. Using a master curriculum for all ages and stages --- even one for
created with my word processor (to keep things children with special learning needs. The BCP
simple) it can be accomplished with little time and covers the developmental ages 1 - 14.
effort. I base our daily schedule the outcomes of my
brief daily evaluations for the previous week and on I have been very happy with VORT through the
my vision for the coming week. I ask myself what years. I mainly use it as a tool for setting goals but
15

16. have used the curriculum to break down skills for help for skill development. I have to admit I found
teaching. It is a great tool if you feel the need to the cost of The Brigance prohibitive.
write your own IEP. I like to write an IEP to keep
ME on track.
I know other families who use The Brigance. The
Brigance is a screening tool only and doesn‟t offer
Resources Resources for Goals
Home Schooling Children with Special needs by HELP Series and Assessment Strands from VORT
Sharon Hensly BCP Instructional Activities and Record Booklet
Strategies for Struggling Learners; A Guide for the from VORT
Teaching Parent (The VORT products are my favorite)
By Joe P. Sutton (ISBN: 0-96456840-3) Out of The Brigance
print but available at many libraries. You can rent this from Homeschool Legal Defense
The IEP Planner by Jim and Debby Mills Association
Helps for Special Education Teachers, Curriculum Skills Evaluation by Rebecca Avery, ISBN:
and Activities to Promote Basic Skill Development 1580958842, Out of print.
by Eileen Shaum Learning Objectives for Grades Kindergarten
Through Eight, published by Hewitt
Homeschooling
16

17. Chapter Seven
Learning the Basics – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
I‟ve given you lots of information on how children Reading is a relative strength for children with
with Down syndrome learn and resources for Down syndrome. Given their visual nature, they
curricula (more in the appendices) that have been often find early success in sight word reading.
know to have success. When it comes to learning, Success in reading is associated with advances in
our children‟s progress is quite dependent on our cognitive ability, vocabulary, grammar and visual
methods of teaching. Teaching to the child‟s and short-term memory. Despite those wonderful
learning strengths, using errorless learning – benefits we should teach reading for the sake of
especially in the early years - will lead you on the reading itself. Reading contributes greatly to
path to learning success. functional competence and will provide pleasure
throughout the individual‟s lifetime.
For emphasis, I‟ll repeat what has been found to be
important in working with children with Down There is a profile within the typical learning profile
syndrome: (strengths and weaknesses) for children with Down
syndrome for reading.
Visual aids in the form of pictures, drawings, text,
manipulatives, and/or sign language. Reading profile for children with Down
Hands on activities work well for young learners syndrome:
Errorless learning/teaching is essential for
successful learning experiences Strength
Language - use language they know and
Word identification
specifically teach new vocabulary
Scaffold skills - build on what they know, Weaknesses
scaffolding in new skills/concepts
Break down skills/concepts into more manageable Word attack (decoding) skills
chunks
Practice step until mastered. Comprehension
Anticipate spending more time on each I‟ll go into more detail on reading and Down
skill/concept than with a typically developing child syndrome in the next chapter.
Repetition - frequent repetition necessary for
consolidating skills
Review of skills/concepts
Positive attitude - bring a positive attitude to the Math
learning environment.
The acquisition of math skills is known to be
Application of these methods will lead you and your difficult for children with Down syndrome. They
child to growth in skill/concept development, do far better in acquiring reading skills than with
knowledge math skills. DeAnna Horstmeier, Ph.D., author of
Teaching Math to People with Down Syndrome and
Reading Other Hands-On Learners, found her adult son with
Down syndrome was more handicapped by his
Did you know that it is only within the last 20-25 deficits in math than any other factor!
years that attaining some level of reading ability has
become a goal for children with Down syndrome? So, what are we to do as homeschooling parents?
How far we have come! There is very little research available regarding
17

18. math skills and Down syndrome. Our fall back is letter a scripted plan for the letter. Every time the
the above list! child practices a letter, use the same words in the
same order to make the letter – a rehearsal strategy
Learning math requires carefully structured lessons – to guide them in writing the letter. Soon they will
with skills/concepts broken down to teach step-by- be repeating the script and writing the letter
step, demonstrated, and then practiced daily until independently!
the step or skill is mastered – and then the step or
skill/concept should go into a review cycle. I have never pushed Reagan in her writing
Repeated use will keep skills fresh and easily skills. We do it every day until I feel she has given
recalled. me her best. When she gets tired, I stop. Writing is
difficult for children with Down syndrome I want
It is very important to specifically teach the
writing to be an enjoyable activity. I give her work
language of math. The language of math can be
that is meaningful to her everyday life to keep her
very confusing. Look at how many ways we speak
interest in the skills needed as an adult.
of the answers in working addition problems – in
all, altogether, sum, and total. We need to be very If your child finds writing to be frustrating, do
intentional in our teaching to reduce confusion in consider beginning keyboarding skills early. This is
our young learners. a world of electronic data transfer so those
keyboarding skills will be quite important to our
Children with Down syndrome learn very little
children.
incidentally – especially when it comes to math. As
math becomes meaningful and useful in everyday Back to the Basics
life, the child‟s interest will grow. They will need
plenty of opportunities to learn and ongoing Learning the basics for children with Down
meaningful practice. syndrome means sticking to the basics for longer
than with a typically developing child. It takes
Writing much longer (and many more learning trials) for the
I once read from a physical therapist that a typically child with Down syndrome to progress in
developing child has to write a letter approximately skill/concept development. Structured, daily
130 times for it to become rote. Due to fine motor instruction with lots of repetition will lift our
issues I would expect children with Down children beyond their mental age. Older children
syndrome to take much longer for letter writing to with Down syndrome generally have mental ages
become rote. Handwriting without Tears is a that range from 4-6 years of age and adults
wonderful writing program for our children with generally have the capabilities of an average of 6-8
Down syndrome. When teaching letters, give each year old.
18

19. Chapter Eight
Reading and Down Syndrome – Early Learners
Teaching Reading Early (0-3)
The technique is easy and only takes a few minutes
Did you know reading and children with Down a day. There is no need to buy expensive programs
syndrome is a controversial subject? Sounds pretty – all you need is a bold marker and poster board.
benign doesn't it? Families tend to fall into two
groups - those who teach reading early and those The following method is familiar to those who use
who wait until a more typical time in a child's life - the neurodevelopmental approach and excerpted
the elementary school years. I thought I might share from Teach Your Baby to Read by Glenn Doman.
what I've learned about reading and Down
syndrome and explore the different options. Length of play (reading flashcards) is very short. At
first it is played 3 times a day. All sessions must end
Much of our time during infant and toddler years as before the child wants to stop. This way the child
parents of children with Down syndrome is will enjoy the sessions and want to play the reading
generally focused on health issues. Approximately game and the parent is nurturing vs. destroying the
45-50 percent of our children are born with heart child's natural desire to learn.
defects. About another 7 percent are born with
gastrointestinal defects. Many present with feeding Materials
issues. Respiratory issues are prevalent due to
lowered immune response. Most of our energies as Stiff white cardboard (poster board) – ready made
parents during those early years are focused on note cards are just too small.
getting our children beyond these health issues to a Words should be lettered w/felt tip maker – red is
healthier place for our children. recommended..
Printing should be neat, clear, and have consistent
During the infant/toddler years the focus of most plain lettering style, large letters (5 in by 4 in with
professionals and parents is on the most obvious 1/2 in between letters.
delays – delays in gross motor skills. Our children Margins should be at least 1/2 in. all around.
are normally delayed in reaching the typical Printing should be lower-case letters unless the
milestones of the infant/toddler years. They sit at an word is a proper noun.
average age of 11 months and walk on average at 26
months. The First Step (Visual Differentiation)
Speech Therapists during the infancy and toddler First words:
years are focused on feeding skills and/or sign Pick 15 words of high interest or familiar, start
language skills. How many parents are counseled to w/mommy, daddy, names of family members, pets,
begin teaching reading? favorite foods, objects in the house, favorite
activities.
I really want to encourage every parent who has a
child with Down syndrome to consider beginning to Sessions
teach their child to read during late infancy and the
toddler years. Because our children are so visual Pick a place with little/no distractions.
they easily learn to read words syndrome that are Work only when the child is in a good mood.
meaningful (words they can say or sign) to them. In Hold up the word mommy, say "This says
the long run, teaching reading early eases their entry mommy." Give the child no ore description and do
into the world of literacy and gives them a great not elaborate. Hold up the next card, daddy, and
head start! repeat the process. Show 3 other words. Do not ask
19

20. your child to repeat the words. After the fifth word,
give your child a hug & kiss with lots of praise. Another early reading tool for birth to age 3 – Love
Repeat session 3 times/day, at least 1/2 hour apart. and Learning
Sessions should last no more than 3 minutes.
Always end the session before the child is ready to Though it is convenient to have ready made
end it. curriculum for reading, the cost of these programs is
a bit out of reach for many families - especially
How hard does this sound! Doman's book will give during economic downturns as we are experiencing
your greater detail on how to proceed with this now. Doman‟s reading method is cheap, easy to use
method. Several people have developed materials and successful!
using Doman‟s method to assist the parent in
teaching their children to read including
eReadingPro.
20

21. Chapter Nine
Reading and Down Syndrome – Primary Years
Elementary School Age with each word from beginning to end. Struggling
will lead to distaste for reading and most likely lead
As I‟ve said earlier, I did not have internet access to avoidance and behavioural issues and we don‟t
when my daughter with Down syndrome was in her want to go there! Nurturing a love of learning and
infant/toddler years. I did not have access to keeping them successful will keep them coming
information about early reading and Down back for more.
syndrome so we began teaching reading when Miss
R was about 5. Teaching Reading to Children with Another thing I might mention related to reading are
Down Syndrome by Patricia Oelwein was my first those reading readiness skills. Most are related to
purchase from the Woodbine House series Topics in auditory processing issues – a definite weakness for
Down Syndrome. This book was the first book to most of our kiddos with Down syndrome. Most of
give me insight into how children with Down our children will learn to read without them!
syndrome learn and began my quest for more
information specific to learning and children with Back to my learning profile and children with Down
Down syndrome syndrome -- research suggests a distinct profile of
areas of strengths & weaknesses within literacy
As most of you know, Teaching Reading to skills in children with Down syndrome. This profile
Children with Down Syndrome, uses a combined includes stronger word identification skill, poorer
approach - sight words moving into phonics in the word attack skills and poorer comprehension.
form of word families. The games used in the books Obstacles for sure but not something we can‟t work
are interesting and fun – a perfect method for older on throughout their education!
children. This method uses errorless learning so our
children not only have fun but they are successful. Again, I‟m not suggesting that phonics are
unimportant, as our children get older they will use
Homeschooling moms tend to be purists – phonics those skills to help them identify words hey may not
is the only way for their kids! I had one mother say know. Every strategy we teach them will be
she was purposefully not teaching her child with important to their functional competence as adults.
Down syndrome sight words – which made me very Just be sure to keep moving forward where they are
sad. I want to suggest that perhaps we put our pride successful – for most children sight word reading -
behind us when teaching our little ones with Down while teaching phonics!
syndrome to read. Don‟t get me wrong, I‟m not
suggesting that we don‟t teach phonics to our An excellent sight word reading program used by
children with Down syndrome. I am saying that we many homeschooling moms (and the public
need to consider that our children with Down education system) is the Edmark Reading Program.
syndrome have auditory processing issues – they Edmark uses errorless learning to teach children
have difficulty with remembering and sequencing with special needs to read – guaranteed success for
sounds vs. remembering what they can see. most children with Down syndrome. The software
Children with Down syndrome tend to have version makes a homeschooling mom's life so much
difficulty blending sounds because they often have easier! For more reading curricula suggestions see
short-term memory difficulties. Word families this.
remove that difficulty because they learn words in
chunks (visual) vs. blending letter sound by letter A great overview of teaching reading from
sound through the whole word. In other words, they DownsEd is found here. While you there, take a
struggle to read a word instead of a smooth path look at their See and Learn materials.
21

22. Chapter Ten
Motivation and Errorless Learning
One of the most often missed keys to overcoming are too easy or too hard – from the misuse of social
obstacles to learning in children with Down skills (taking advantage of the extra chromosome
syndrome is the use of errorless learning. There was cuteness factor) to acting out behaviorally.
a period in Reagan‟s life when I was looking for
ways to lift her out of the preschool stage. I call it Given our children‟s frequent exposure to failure
an era because it seemed to go on forever! This key they commonly have decreased motivation when
discovery, the errorless learning technique, lifted us learning new skills and concepts. Decreased
beyond the preschool era into the elementary phase! motivation, along with inefficient learning
processes (perhaps related to cognitive abilities and
I would like to talk about errorless learning and the auditory processing difficulties) in children with
connection to motivation issues, how they impact Down syndrome, contributes significantly to
each other and what we can do to create a more obstacles to learning in our children.
optimal learning environment for learners with
Down syndrome. So what is a parent (especially a homeschooling
parent) to do? In our experience, we began to look
Motivation for ways to guarantee successful learning
experiences which make for more efficient learning.
Reagan is, like most children with Down syndrome, How can we keep our children motivated? Give
extremely sensitive to failure. She hates to fail. them positive, successful experiences! Success
Period. As an adolescent, she has better tools to feeds motivation!
meet failure with and works to persevere on most
tasks but it hasn‟t always been this easy.
Errorless Learning
I often questioned my contribution to this problem
as we moved through the early learning years. As I Errorless learning offers our children success
looked back, even to infancy, there was little I could learning experiences without failure. It is defined as
have done to prevent this sensitivity to failure. Let‟s teaching new tasks by guiding the child through
look for a moment at our infants/toddlers with each step of learning a skill or concept correctly, not
Down syndrome. allowing them to fail. As the child becomes more
capable, the prompt or cue can be reduced until it is
Even very young children with Down syndrome not needed.
meet many experiences with failure. Decreased
muscle tone, common in children with Down The key to errorless learning is errorless teaching.
syndrome, results in ineffectual movement. Speech Errorless teaching uses the same language – a script
and language delays, along with articulation - with each lesson and repeating the process several
difficulties result in ineffectual attempts at times (as long as it takes) following the same steps,
communication. Did you know that self-evaluation in the same order, using the same words while using
of competence occurs in early stages of some sort of visual input (picture or possibly sign
development before the child can express language) to incorporate what is most often our
themselves verbally? children with Down syndrome learning strength.
So, I guess it is really no surprise when we see our Hopefully, this method will develop a strong base
children develop strategies to avoid failure. Patricia for higher levels of learning such as problem
Oelwein writes in her book, Teaching Reading to solving with a trial and error approach. One thing I
Children with Down Syndrome, (pp. 23 – 25 ) as to have learned along this homeschooling journey is
the lengths our children will go to avoid tasks that that allowing Reagan to make a mistake encouraged
22

23. her to repeat the mistake and then incorporate the
mistake or error into her knowledge base. If you reach a point where the child is frustrated or
unsuccessful, bring the lesson back to a successful
The most familiar errorless learning technique is the place before ending the session.
matching, selecting, & naming technique taught in
Teaching Reading by Pat Oelwin. Children with Sincere, appropriate praise is important to children.
Down syndrome are guided throughout the process
of learning new words without failure. Very Modeling is important to many skills....show the
successful and very exciting for the young reader! child how to complete the task. For example, hand
washing has many steps and will need much
Suggestions regarding the use of the strategy of practice for many of our children to complete
errorless learning: independently. Sometimes physical support is
necessary...hand over hand for skill development.
Be sure to have the child's attention...some children
need training to attend. Don‟t forget to fade the support, prompts and cues
with success.
Use language that is understood by the child.
Develop a script to use when delivering lessons. Patience, patience, and more patience is needed for
Teach any unfamiliar language using errorless teaching our children with special needs. If I child
teaching/learning. does not appear to be getting it then often times it is
not their fault...or the teachers! So many factors can
Target skills you want to teach. There are several impede the learning process...memory issues,
developmental skills lists that will help decide what processing issues. Sometimes their development is
your child needs to know when. Take into just not at the right place for learning a concept and
consideration the child's interests. can be returned to at a later date. I have been
amazed when returning to a concept that I put aside
It is important to break down even the basics into for lack of progress only to find that somehow
small steps. Teaching the plus sign for addition something clicked and Reagan has incorporated the
requires the teacher to name the sign and the child concept!
to match, select, then name it such. Children with
short-term memory problems - where errorless Errorless learning can be used with very young
learning is most needed - need practice at every learners to the more sophisticated of learners. It can
step. be applied to most concrete learning. Some
examples would be:
A key to learning for those children who have
developmental delay, learning difficulties, attention Learning colors
problems, is to work only as long as it is fun and Learning letters
interesting. Once they reach a level of fatigue or Learning letter sounds
boredom it is time to switch gears and move onto Sight words
something else. Math concepts
Learning numbers
Always keep learning sessions positive. The parent Money Skills
or teacher‟s attitude is extremely important. No Telling time
matter how many times you have taught the lesson "Wh" questions
or what you mood is at the moment, keep the lesson
positive and uplifting. Our attitudes are quite The list can go on & on....
apparent to our children and impact
learning....especially children with Down syndrome. Example of errorless teaching
As you may know, they are very sensitive to our One simple example - when introducing shapes
moods and feelings. show the child a picture of a circle, use whatever
23

24. script you develop to teach such as “This is a circle. the concept will be incorporated and you will hear
A circle has no corners.” Present the same visual your words repeated back to you!
and script for as many times as necessary and soon
24

25. Chapter Eleven
Routines (The Groove)
The groove is so important to individuals with homeschooling household. Without a routine in our
Down syndrome that the groove is addressed in home, little would get done.
Down Syndrome: Visions for the 21st Century,
edited by Cohen, Nadel and Madnick, p. 228 Routines are important to typically developing
children too!
"A groove is simply defined as a set pattern or
routine in one‟s actions or thoughts. In the general Routines are important for all of us!
population, this tendency may be considered
obsessive-compulsive disorder but in the individual A few suggestions for families homeschooling a
with Down syndrome, it provides them with child with Down syndrome regarding routines and
structure and order. The groove allows people with motivating the child to work within the routine:
processing disorders (common in Down syndrome)
to have more control over their lives." Develop a routine and stick to it.
It is important that your child knows what to expect
When I first discovered the presence and every day. Soon you‟ll find that your child will
importance of grooves in my research about people remind you what is left to be done.
with Down syndrome, I noted the fine art of the
groove in my daughter‟s life. The groove allows her Devote yourself to the routine.
and her very set routine to accomplish the activities Most of the distractions to our day came from the
of daily living, her school work and recreational telephone. Train yourself to avoid those distractions
time in a set order where she doesn‟t have to think until what you need to accomplish as far as school
about it. is complete.
The groove is so common in individuals with Down Make a visual for the child to refer to as the day
syndrome it is also mentioned in Mental Wellness progresses.
in Adults with Down Syndrome: A Guide to Initially, I would just use a daily schedule. As the
Emotional and Behavioural Strengths and child understand the rhythm of the day, move on to
Challenges by Dennis McGuire and Brian Chicoine, weekly and monthly schedules.
has devoted a whole chapter to these characteristic
behaviors. Do not wait until your child is older to Prepare the child well ahead of time of any
get this very important book. It speaks to many changes.
issues common to children/teens/adults with Down Again, the groove. Changes in routine may cause
syndrome, such as challenging behaviors, autism, anxiety in the child with Down syndrome. There
self-talk, memory issues and much more. will much less anxiety if any changes in the daily
routine are talked about and placed in the weekly
The groove - routine and structure are important to schedule.
individuals with Down syndrome. The groove
allows them greater freedom and independence School is not a choice.
within the known routines. Reagan has never known that she has a choice as far
as doing her school work. It is something that
Individuals with Down syndrome thrive with a set happens every day. She does have choices about the
routine. less important things in her life but reading, writing
and arithmetic are to be done daily.
Routine and structure are also important to the
25

26. Plan ahead. into smaller steps to build on. As the skills/concepts
Every Sunday I take the time to plan out our week. I are practiced and consolidated, add another step.
plan and I gather materials so that when it comes
time to start our day, I‟m not running all over trying Consider rewards
to find things while my child loses interest. I know you‟re thinking food but I am not! Sincere,
appropriate praise will be genuinely appreciated and
Speaking of planning will go far in keeping with the flow of the day and
Plan all those necessary errands and the child's willingness to participate.
physical/dental/therapy appointments after school
hours. Use that wonderful parent – child relationship as a
reward for you both. How about a little cuddle time
Make fun a priority on the couch with mom and a good book? Our
The daily routine should consist of things the child visual learners all love a little computer time or a
enjoys inside the work day. Choose the right high DVD for a good school day and a job well done.
interest materials to make learning fun.
Speaking of rewards.
Learning should be meaningful. Sprinkle rewards throughout the day as necessary.
To keep the child engaged, learning should target More frequent rewards may increase motivation to
the child's interests and build on what they know. stay with the scheduled day.
New skills and concepts should be broken down
26

27. Chapter Twelve
Visual and Verbal Memory and Down Syndrome
Growing Memory Skills in Young Learners with Down Syndrome
Children with Down syndrome are well-know for
their relative strengths in visual memory and their
deficits in auditory (verbal) processing skills. Visual Memory Activities
Auditory processing is a complex issue for our
children with Down syndrome. In this post, I‟m Visual Memory is a relative strength in children
going to concentrate on the short-term auditory with Down syndrome. This channel is not
memory aspect of our children‟s difficulty in completely intact so working to strengthen visual
auditory processing. It is something tangible we can memory is important.
work on in our everyday interactions with our
children. Concentration Games
You will need two sets of color cards: make a
Let‟s take a moment to define what we are talking sequence of two color cards (red-blue). Have the
about: child look at these for a few seconds. Then turn the
cards over. Given some other cards, she must pick
Visual Memory refers to remembering what you out the two that are hidden. Increase to three and
see more colors as she is ready. Variations: Play with
objects, number cards, letter cards, picture cards, or
Auditory Memory refers to remembering what block shapes
you hear. Another variation of the above game: Use one set of
color cards. Make a sequence of two colors (ie. red-
blue). Allow your child to look at these a few
Activities to Strengthen Processing Skills seconds. Then turn the cards over. She must then
touch each card and tell you orally what the card
Activities for young children should be fun and color is before turning it over to check. Again this
engaging. When choosing activities, start with the can be played with objects, number cards, letter
lowest level of difficulty to gage your child's skill cards, picture cards, or block shapes.
level. We want our children to be successful with
the following memory skill builders or “games.” Games marketed under the trade name Memory
- or make your own. This games involves pairs of
As you begin memory training, your child may need pictures-shapes, letters, colors, animals etc. The
cues to be successful in completing tasks. They may cards are placed face down. Pick a card and try to
need to learn the game so give them plenty of remember where its match is located. Start with just
practice learning the games. Build to higher levels, a few pairs and build as skills allow.
increasing in complexity, as your child finds
success. What's missing? Place 2-3 objects or pictures in
front of your child. Have him/her look at the group
Remember, that sincere appropriate praise is a and name each object. Have the child close his/her
great motivator! eyes, remove one object. Identify the missing
object. Increase the level of difficulty as your child's
27

28. skill level improves.
Given three pictures, you verbally tell the child
Identify what is missing from known objects drawn what order to put them in.
on paper. For example, draw a face without a nose Tell the child to clap his/her hands. Then give her
and ask what is missing. two commands to do (clap and jump) Work up to
giving her a sequence of three things to do.
Sequencing & pattern activities. Reproduce
patterns of colors, shapes, pictures. Continue a If the child can draw, tell him/her to draw items.
pattern after several sets are given. Keep them simple at first: a red ball, a green square
and so on. Increase in complexity over time. The
Hide the peanut or some other treat. Hide a peanut child will have to hold the instructions in their
under a cup. Use a set of two or three cups and your memory as they complete the task.
child must find the peanut after you slowly move
them around. Repeat a series of sounds: Clap, Clap increasing in
number with success, ie. Clap, Clap.....Clap
Recreate drawings from memory. At the beach or
create your own "sand box" with sand or salt poured Create an obstacle course in your house or
into a flat container. Draw a simple picture, letter, outside! Describe the way you want your child to go
shape, wipe it away, and have your child recreate through the course in 1, 2, or 3 parts depending on
the drawing. his/her developmental level. For example, go
around the chair, jump over the pillow, crawl under
Auditory Memory Activities the table.
Children with Down syndrome have deficits in Act out simple stories/nursery rhymes. Read a
short-term memory. They have a difficulty simple story or nursery rhyme and act it out or have
remembering what they hear which leads to delays him/her tell it back to you sequentially. You may
in talking, processing spoken language, for reading have to break the story down after reading it to your
and math. (1) child until his skills increase.
These activities should help to strengthen verbal Play the shopping game. Ask the shopkeeper (your
short-term memory skills. child) for a series of food items. Begin with one or
two and work higher as he/she progresses. Let them
Repeat a sequence of two numbers given verbally, help you remember your list when you visit the
one per second. Have the child repeat what you say. grocery store.
Increase to three and more as he/she is able.
Variation this can be played with names of people, Treasure Hunt. Have your child retrieve a series of
animals, toys, verb words, and letters. "treasures" from another room.
Note: When my daughter was young we found Sequence activities of daily living. Repeat the
repeating numbers to be confusing to her. She had activities of the day or an activity with several parts
difficulty ordering numbers in the proper sequence and have your child "help" you with what comes
for what seemed to be a long time. We only played next. This will seem quite natural when relaying the
auditory memory games with the variations found days events to daddy over dinner.
above.
Helping around the house. When preparing dinner
Verbal Commands. Place some toys in another have your child get a list of needed items i.e. salt,
room. Tell the child to get the doll. The child has to pepper, napkins, for the table. Repeat the series as
hold the command in her memory and bring back needed to encourage success.
the doll. If she can do one toy, tell her two toys to
bring back. Repeating sentences. Start with simple phrases and
28

29. increase length of utterances. For example, red ball
or brown chair. As skills improve-The big ball is For more information:
red. The brown chair is hard. If your child hears 1. Down Syndrome Issues and Information,
well, make it fun and whisper. Memory Development for Individuals
withDownSyndrome by Sue Buckley and Gillian
Teaching organizational skills will also help with Bird
memory skills. In the early years teach sorting by
color, shape, & size. As they sort according to 2. Early Communication Skills for Children with
classification i.e. food groups, function, etc. Don't Down Syndrome by Libby Kumin
forget oddity tasks...what doesn't belong to a certain
group.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note on long-term memory: Individuals with Down syndrome retain information
that is meaningful (autobiographical memories) and
It is interesting to note that the long-term memory what is drawn directly from their life – both stored
of individuals with Down syndrome is relatively in long-term memory.
unaffected. Once skills/concepts reach the long-
term memory they are rarely lost. At issue for children with Down syndrome is the
instability in learning and getting concepts from
short –term memory into long-term memory.
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30. Chapter Thirteen
Down Syndrome and Challenging Behaviors
If you are a parent with a child with Down In my research, I found that children with Down
syndrome, you might know our kiddos show higher syndrome respond better to positive behavior
rates of challenging behaviors than their typically supports which encourage appropriate behaviors.
developing peers. Challenging behaviors common Little things like sincere praise, positive attention to
to children with Down syndrome include appropriate behaviors, and rewards made a huge
wandering, attention difficulties, inappropriate difference in effecting changes in behavior.
social behaviors, noncompliance, and compulsive
behavior. My parenting patterns had to change to effect
changes in Reagan‟s behavior. I had to be much
Did you know that many children with Down more creative in parenting this child to make our
syndrome do not respond to typical parenting home environment more conducive to learning and
styles? As parents, we often use negative her behavior outside the home socially acceptable
consequences (time-out, spanking, punishment) for so that learning and social opportunities were more
inappropriate behavior. In many cases, using available to her.
negative consequences with the child with Down
syndrome can exacerbate behavior issues! I learned about looking at behavior in the context in
which it occurs. I learned about A-B-C
Reagan was one of these kids. Like many children (Antecedents – Behavior – Consequences) patterns
with Down syndrome, she has quite the delightful to look for ways to effect changes in behavior.
personality. She is kind, thoughtful and affectionate
most of the time. She is right there when someone is I learned that ridding a child with Down of problem
in need to offer her love and support. I don't think behaviors often takes more learning trials than it
she has a malicious bone in her body but we have would with a typically developing child.
faced many challenging behaviors. Challenging
behaviors in children with Down syndrome tend to I learned that you must teach the child exactly what
be complex in nature - related to you expect. Most young children with Down
processing/language difficulties, fear of syndrome learn little incidentally (by example) -
failure/motivation, cognitive issues, lack of choices, appropriate behavior must be explicitly taught and
etc. modeled. Skill building vs. trial and error which can
lead to frustration and even embarrassment!
For Reagan, the most challenging behaviors stem
from her highly stubborn nature. I think every The younger child may benefit from a pictorial
parent of a child with Down syndrome deals with guide to refer to when placed in known difficult
what appears to be an exaggerated stubborn streak. situations as a reminder of what is expected. In the
Negative consequences did nothing to change her school age child, social stories are often used to
patterns of behavior. teach social skills to children with special needs but
can be adapted to address challenging behaviors in
As a homeschooling parent, I took our discipline the child with Down syndrome. They are easy to
issues very seriously. After all, without control of create on a word processor and can be tailored to
challenging behaviors and discipline (on all parts) the unique needs of the child.
we cannot effectively educate our children at home.
Reducing challenging behaviors had to become a I also ran across a book that I recommend to every
priority if we were to continue on our parent with a child with special needs, Steps to
homeschooling journey. Independence, Teaching Everyday Skills to
Children with Special needs, by Bruce L. Baker and
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31. Alan Brightman. This book not only speaks to skill with immediately and consistently. As she has
development but has several chapters devoted to matured and her language comprehension increases,
behavior and positive behavioural support. The we can discuss various choices she has as she
book does not specifically target children with problem solves and the consequences of her actions.
Down syndrome but I have found it to be an She gets plenty of time out in the community - more
invaluable resource! opportunities for working on developing proper
behavior and social skills. At times it has been
At 14, Reagan understands negative consequences exhausting - especially in the early years - but
and I use them effectively as necessary. In the real definitely well-worth every ounce of effort! She is
world there are negative consequences for growing into a lovely young lady.
inappropriate behaviors so she finds them at home
too. I think maturity has made a huge difference in Reagan, like most of us, is still a work in progress.
her ability to understand the consequences of her We continue to work on appropriate behaviors and
behaviors and increase her compliance. social skills in the home and around the community.
It is said that good behavior and social skills are the
Educating Reagan at home has been quite beneficial keys to success for adults with Down syndrome so
in ridding her of challenging behaviors. She is in an we continue working to become the best we can be!
environment where behavior issues can be dealt
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