I teach Matthew through play at home. He's been learning shapes, colors, letters, numbers, working on gross motor skills and fine motor skills. But I have no set plans to formally homeschool Matthew. He will be starting public preschool in a few weeks as soon as he recovers from the tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. That's not to say that I won't homeschool if I have to.
I think the e-book Homeschooling Children with Down Syndrome by Amy Dunaway is a wonderful resource, whether homeschooling or not.
In the e-book, Amy Dunaway shares her experience of homeschooling her daughter with Down syndrome, who is now 16 years old, and the knowledge and information she has accumulated. Parts of the book are written in question-answer format, addressing frequently asked questions by would-be homeschoolers. There are also a ton of links to more resources online.
Even as a non-homeschooler, I have found this book very helpful and interesting. I am particularly drawn to Chapter 12, Visual and Verbal Memory and Down Syndrome. She writes about growing memory skills in young learners with Down syndrome and offers several activities to strengthen visual and auditory processing skills. I also like to refer to Chapter 7 (Learning the Basics - Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) and Chapter 8 (Reading and Down Syndrome - The Early Years) because that is where we are at on the education roadmap. There is also a chapter that addresses challenging behaviors.
Overall, this is a very helpful guide to have. I've saved it in my favorites folder and refer to it as often as I need to.
Have you read it? What do you think?
Friday, October 29, 2010
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7 comments:
Hadn't read this. Thank you so much for sharing it. I did home preschool Aidan, and have considered homeschooling again. It is nice to have some resources to help us teach our kids. Even if we send them to public school we are always the main teacher in our kids lives. =)
Prior to having my son, I had never thought about the possibility of home schooling. Now that he's here, I have begun to consider it as a real possibility. Part of me would prefer for my son to have a more traditional school experience. However, there is also a part of me that fears that a public school will fail to recognize my son's intelligence & tremendous potential. Bottom line is, I will do whatever I have to do to help my son reach that potential.....whether that's homeschooling, public, or private school. Will definitely be reading this book! Thanks, Kim
Thank you so much for the link to the e book. I am not sure what we are going to do about G's education.I home schooled my first three but didnt think home schooling her would be an option. Now that the adoption is complete and we see how far behind she is and how quickly we are learning, plus bonding and attachment issues. I am not willing to send her off to be away from us all day. I think that leaves me with no other options for now. Once again.... thank you for a great post.
Ahhhh, Ria. I just love that I can count on you to do my research for me! :) Although, I home educate the others, our original plan was to send Eon to school. I am seriously rethinking that plan, or at least rethinking the whole "sending him to preschool @ 3yo" thing. We shall see, but I look forward to reading this book, either way. Thanks!
Ria, Thank you for your kind review of my book! I hope my experiences and years of information gathering will somehow improve the future of all our kiddos w/Ds.
I haven't read it, but have been tossing around the idea of homeschooling. Since we are military and always on the move, I think it would be easier for transitioning. I'm just not sure if I want to commit to that just yet. I'll have to check out this book though.
Haven't read it but I will Have to pick it up!
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