The kids love the Super Sorting Pie. It's been a versatile toy since Christmas (2011) and great for learning colors, sorting, counting, fine motor practice with tongs, and even pretend play.
Three 2-sided cardboard inserts come with the pie and provides a good visual for the kids to remember how I am asking them to sort the fruits. The inserts are easily interchangeable by simply lifting the sectioned-off part of the pie.
Elizabeth enjoys sorting by color and by type of fruit.
I've even used it for simple addition and subtraction practice with Matthew.
When not sorting or counting, the kids play with it many days in the week pretending to bake a fruit pie in their play kitchen. Today, they were so cute playing together. Matthew was telling Elizabeth what fruit he needed and how many and Elizabeth listened, understood him (she usually always does despite his struggle with articulating some words), and played along. I would've taken a longer video but stopped right after Elizabeth announced, "I'm pooping." Thankfully, she still wears diapers.
As of today, it's selling on amazon.com for less than $20. It's also available on the Learning Resources website but it costs more.
His very first remote control truck toy! At age 4, we felt he was ready for one. We found the Fisher Price Big Action Construction Site with Remote Control at Toys R Us. It's also available on amazon.com.
When we first started playing with this, controlling the truck using the remote didn't come naturally to him. Being a visual learner, it helps that directions are color coded on the truck and remote controller. To move the truck forward, he has learned to push the green button. He has learned that the red button makes the truck move backward.
Some limitations: the truck doesn't move diagonally forward or diagonally backward. The left and right buttons make the truck spin left and spin right. And we can only push one button at a time on the controller. It only comes with one controller and truck. I wish there were two (so I can play at the same time.) Elizabeth isn't very interested in this toy yet. In fact, she doesn't like the truck moving toward her.
The most fun part is driving the truck on the lower elevator, which goes up as soon as it senses the truck on it. Then the top elevator descends as soon as the truck is on it.
Overall, it's been an interactive and fun toy for learning basic directions and improving hand-eye coordination.
Not all kids really get into train toys. Matthew did. Our little train engineer will play with this train set for at least 15 minutes - that's relatively longer than other non-electronic toys and non-screen based games. Elizabeth, his assistant train engineer, enjoys it too. The kids started out with the Water Tower Figure 8 set and then inherited a large plastic tub of tracks from older cousins.
They have two battery-operated metal trains - Salty and Percy - and all the other trains are made of wood. Train Engineer Matthew has mastered the art of connecting the interlocking wooden tracks. Matthew is very particular about how the track is set-up and which trains are on it. If we add another train without his approval, he says "Nooooo!" and takes it off the track. Both little engineers always make sure the trains stay on track. The battery-operated trains tend to go off-track if the tracks aren't connected just so. Some reviews online cite this as annoying but I think it's a good way to hold the kids' attention.
I honestly enjoy playing with the train set too. Bill says I seem to enjoy it more than the kids when I help make elaborate railroad lines. It's just so much fun to think of the possible configurations with bridges, tunnels, twists and turns and then watch the battery-operated trains pull the other trains along the track.
Thomas & Friends books on iPad/ iPhone
Matthew, in particular, has been enjoying Thomas the train so much that I have borrowed Thomas & Friends books from the library. We also have all 13 apps on my iPhone and iPad.
The apps are mostly developed by HIT Entertainment and some by Callaway Digital Arts. The HIT Entertainment ones feature an interactive book, a coloring sheets (6 choices), puzzle, and voice recording capability. The Callaway Digital Arts ones feature an interactive book, a matching game, puzzle, coloring sheets (6 choices), and a short video excerpt of the story.
All books are narrated in a British accent. All the stories are quite lengthy (and wordy) and don't hold Matthew's attention. So I usually disable the British narration and make up a shortened story as we manually swipe through the book.
By HIT Entertainment:
Down at the Docks
Thomas and Toby
Thomas Gets a Snowplow
Thomas and the Castle
Thomas Gets His Own Branch Line
May the Best Engine Win!
Calling All Engines
Thomas-saurus Rex
The Special Delivery
By Callaway Digital Arts:
Misty Island Rescue
Day of the Diesels
Engine Activities
Hero of the Rails
Birthdays are a fun time for kids. Birthdays can also be a difficult concept especially for kids who may think it's their birthday at every party or kids who may be overwhelmed with all the activity and excitement and people.
The time-honored birthday cake ritual of singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candles was a perplexing for Matthew when he was younger. He wasn't quite sure what to do about the candles until he was 3. And people singing the happy birthday song around him brought forth his lower lip with a downward curve. (Maybe he just thought everyone was off-key and that was upsetting to him??)
With many birthdays to celebrate in our family (with nearby relatives), playing with the Melissa & Doug Birthday Cake has completely helped him warm up to the birthday ritual. Both kids even like to turn the lights off after the candles are put on the cake. Then we sing the birthday song. The lights come back on for cake cutting and eating.
We like this birthday cake set because it is fun and durable. It also nice for counting, sorting, learning to follow directions, and imaginative play. I can see it used for simple sequencing also but we haven't tried it yet.
Integrating some more fine motor work into our birthday cake play, Matthew picks up candles and pieces with tongs.
I saved some lids of the jarred baby food Matthew used to eat. Then I cut small pictures from magazines and glued them on the inside of each lid. We've successfully used them for several activities.
Activity Ideas
"Look for something... (descriptive)" is one game we have played. We'll have all the picture lids facing up and look for something yellow or round or shiny and so on. As a learning activity, not a testing activity, if I find something first, I'll pick it up, show it to the kids, and say, "This banana is yellow." Elizabeth is usually the first echo in the room saying, "banana yellow." (Yes, she's very verbal and articulate).
Matthew doesn't process complex "wh" (what, who, where) questions yet, except he knows some simple, straight-forward ones through rote learning. If I were to read a short story to him and ask him what, who, and where questions in relation to the story, he would not know how to answer them. But if I showed him some picture lids and asked him, "What do we drive?" then he'll pick up the lid with a car. "What can we eat?" then he'll pick up the lid with green beans or other food instead of one with a telephone.
To help improve auditory processing and short-term working memory, I ask Matthew for 3 or 4 pictures out of 4 to 6 picture lids laid out face up in front of him. And I require him to give me the pictures in the same order that I had requested verbally. Ideally, he should do it without any prompting or repetition of the request. When he can't seem to remember or he gets the order mixed up, I guide him hand over hand. Matthew can usually get a sequence of 3 correctly.
Elizabeth likes to look at the pictures, verbally label the ones she knows, and drop them into the can with the slotted lid.
iPhone Apps
For the tech-savvy like Matthew, iPhone apps that are structured like the activity I described above include:
"ABA Receptive Identification by Class" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification - FFC Combined" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Function" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Feature" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification" created by Kindergarten.com
Spontaneous speech is one of the areas we are focused on developing at home and at school. Early number concepts is another area. Matthew likes numbers. This week at school, Matthew spontaneously demonstrated that he could do simple math too.
Working on counting objects (I forgot what was used) at preschool, Matthew's teacher asks him to put 4 in a container. He counts 4 into the container.
Then 3. He counts 3 into the container.
Then 2. He counts 2 into the container.
Then 3 again. But there are only 2 left on the table. He counts 1, 2... pauses and scans the table. Then without any prompting he slowly says, "I need 1 more."
Teacher: Yes, you do need 1 more, Matthew.
Matthew (speaking slowly): I can't find any.
Teacher: What should we do?
(Matthew pauses thoughtfully).
Matthew: Get more in here (pointing to full container).
Using felt board pieces are one way I am able to make stories or rhymes more tangible. Matthew and Elizabeth enjoy putting the felt pieces on our modified garage sale-bought (for $5) easel. It's "modified" because I covered the chalkboard side with 4 sheets of adhesive felt ($1 per 8" x 10" sheet).
Beyond Play sells magnetic felt boards and felt boards with cardboard backing. I didn't want to spend $20 to $30 on a felt board for our purposes. I suppose I could've also made one using a flat panel of wood from the hardware store and covered that with adhesive felt sheets. Hmmm...
We have several felt story sets. So far, we have "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed", which is pre-cut and store-bought (online from Beyond Play). Matthew enjoys pulling the monkeys off the felt board and dropping them on the floor. Then he says, "No, no" while shaking his head when we get to the part "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."
The rest I made using felt board templates from an educational resource website called DLTK's Growing Together. There is an option to print in color or black and white - with the idea that the kids will color the pieces. Then I cut out the pieces, laminated them (I use a Scotch Thermal laminator. It is so easy to use and does the job very well.), and put adhesive felt on the backs so they'd stick to the felt board. I tried using cut up pieces of sandpaper but the glue wouldn't hold the sandpaper and plastic together.
We have Baa, Baa Black Sheep, 5 Little Ducks, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
I also made a fish tank felt set (with stiffer felt) just for fun. It's been good for counting and colors. I only made 10 fish though.
Our latest homemade felt story set is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" since that is the book that Matthew's preschool class is reading at school this week. I also made separate pieces with just the words "brown bear", "yellow duck", "blue horse", and so on for all the animals in that book.
Play time with the felt stories isn't consistent though. The kids' staying power largely depends on their moods and how interesting I make it. Sometimes they'll be into the felt stories for 5-10 minutes at a time. Sometimes I am only able to hold their interest for 2 minutes. But that's ok. With most activities I do with them, I go for repetition and fun instead of length of time. Repetition has always been one of the important keys to Matthew's learning. And of course, it has to be fun!
Overall, they've been great to have for my visual learner (Matthew) and my quick study (Elizabeth). They are another simple tool to encourage speech, language, cognition, and reading.
I remember playing Memory Game as a child. It was one of the many games I enjoyed. It makes me happy to see that Matthew has taken an interest in it too.
I began teaching Matthew how to play a few months ago. Starting out with just 2 pairs, I'd illustrate how to turn over the cards individually to find the matching card. I had to be quick and enthusiastic about it to keep Matthew's attention and get him interested. He wasn't very interested the first few times I brought out the game.
Teaching him the objective of the game only took up to a minute or less each time we would "play". Whenever I let him have a turn, I applied the "errorless learning" method, wherein he always succeeded at finding the matching card. This involved either hand-over-hand help or me pointing to the right card to flip over.
Gradually, as he started to show more interest, I added a 3rd pair. These days we play with either 4 or 5 pairs while Elizabeth likes to look at the other cards. It's cute to see her pretend to play too. She'll say "Match!"
A couple of iPhone apps helped build upon his interest and understanding of the game too. The app "Monkey Preschool Lunchbox" has a mini memory game in amongst the other games. Another one I have on my iPhone is "Preschool Memory Match".
When Elizabeth is older, Matthew and I will teach her to play Memory Game too.
Sharing our personal stories, photos, and videos has raised awareness about Down syndrome. We hope you, our dear readers, have enjoyed following along as much as we have enjoyed sharing and meeting friends on this journey. Thanks for your friendship and encouragement. Thanks for reading!
Please consider helping us make a bigger difference in this world through the plus15 campaign. By supporting biomedical research to improve cognition, including learning, memory, and speech, by 15 percent, you will give Matthew and our friends with Down syndrome, more opportunities to full inclusion - academically and socially - and independent living as adults.
Our involvement in plus15 has a two-fold benefit. This fundraiser is a contest. The top fundraiser will receive an Apple iPad. IF we win, we will donate the iPad to Matthew’s preschool. Your contribution could help more children with special needs, such as Autism, who can benefit from its use during their therapy time. Please help us win the iPad for the kids!
We really appreciate your interest in helping!
Facts to Consider
Studies show that the life expectancy of someone living with Down syndrome has increased from 25 years to over 50 or 60 years over the past 3 decades. But cognitive abilities have not improved at a similar pace. Current advances made in cognitive research are promising of positive change, such as avoiding the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) cites that “25 percent or more of individuals with Down syndrome over age 35 show clinical signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's-type dementia. In the general population, Alzheimer's disease does not usually develop before age 50.”
Federal funding for Down syndrome research is only $55 per person. That's about 95% less on average than what the government spends on research for similar disabilities. A big chunk of federal funds goes to research to develop more tests to merely detect Down syndrome prenatally, instead of toward cognition research. We have collated data in the following tables as gathered from the sources listed below.
2008-2010 NIH Funding for Various Medical Conditions
CONDITION
US POPULATION (est)
2008 NIH FUNDING Million $
2009 NIH FUNDING Million $
2010 NIH FUNDING Million $
Cystic Fibrosis
30,000
90
86
86
Parkinson's
1,500,000
152
162
154
ALS
30,000
43
43
47
Huntington's
30,000
51
57
65
Multiple Sclerosis
400,000
169
137
133
Crohn's Disease
400,000
51
55
66
Down Syndrome
400,000
17
18
22
Fragile X
17,000
26
27
25
Autism
560,000
118
132
160
Duchenne MD
45,350
22
27
33
2008-2010 NIH $ per Capita Amount for Various Medical Conditions
CONDITION
US POPULATION (est)
2008 NIH $ per CAPITA AMOUNT
2009 NIH $ per CAPITA AMOUNT
2010 NIH $ per CAPITA AMOUNT
Cystic Fibrosis
30,000
3,000
2,866
2,866
Parkinson's
1,500,000
101
108
103
ALS
30,000
1,433
1,433
1,567
Huntington's
30,000
1,700
1,900
2,167
Multiple Sclerosis
400,000
422
343
333
Crohn's Disease
400,000
128
138
165
Down Syndrome
400,000
40
45
55
Fragile X
17,000
1,529
1,588
1,471
Autism
560,000
211
236
286
Duchenne MD
45,350
485
595
728
Sources:
2008 data from Dr. Brian Skotko’s testimony before the Down Syndrome Congressional Caucus in February 2009 (http://www.brianskotko.com/images/stories/Files/down_syndrome_congressional_caucus_feb_09.pdf) as provided by M.M. Harpold, DSRTF based on 2009 NIH Data (http://report.nih.gov/rcdc/categories/).
2009 & 2010 data sourced and adapted from 2011 NIH (National Institutes of Health: Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories) http://report.nih.gov/rcdc/categories/Default.aspx. Note that I calculated the 2009 and 2010 NIH $ per capita assuming unchanged population estimates from Dr. Brian Skotko’s 2008 data.
3 Possible Ways to Donate
To donate online, please click on Matthew’s photo below. Any amount would be helpful and appreciated.
Our fundraising page will open in a new window where you can donate online. Donations can be made anonymously, if you choose to do so. Online donations will be accepted until May 21, 2011. (Please be aware that this fundraising site automatically allocates 10% of the donation amount as a tip. Tipping the fundraising site is not necessary. You can select the option not to tip in the drop down menu before confirming your donation.)
If you would rather send a check, make it payable to "Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation" and write "Bill and Ria" on the memo line. Please contact us so that we can send you more details. Check donations are accepted until May 14, 2011 because we have to get them to the DSRTF by May 16, 2011 in order for checks to count toward our total.
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Thank you very much for your generosity and helping us spread the word! Your support of this great cause means a lot to us, especially to Matthew.
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About plus15
plus15 is an initiative of the Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation (DSRTF), a non-profit organization funding cognition research. When you give to the plus15 campaign, 100% of your money will go directly to funding cognitive research at major research centers around the country, including Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Stanford University, University of San Diego and University of Arizona.
There are many varieties of wooden number puzzles. We have the Melissa & Doug wooden number puzzle.
Matthew can rote count from 1 to 10, which is an early number concept - a pre-math skill. This wooden puzzle serves three primary purposes for him:
1. learn to rote count from 1 to 20
2. learn to recognize numerals 1 to 20
3. learn to put written numerals in the correct order.
I give Matthew the pieces, one at a time, in the correct order so he gets accustomed to the sequence. As he lays the pieces on the puzzle board, he sees that they go from left to right, which is good practice for reading since the English language is read from left to right.
Our next step is to teach him to arrange the numbers in the correct order without the board to match. However, this activity is only meant to teach sequence, not the concept of big or small numbers or quantities.
Note: Some 3-1/2 year olds may find this to be the most boring activity ever. Matthew thinks it's quite fun. It helps that he is currently highly interested in numbers and counting.
I love lightbulb moments. That "aha!" feeling for thinking of a solution to a problem or finally understanding something I've been trying to learn is simply very self-satisfying.
I love Matthew's lightbulb moments even more. They make me happy. And he has many, I've lost count. There are lightbulb moments in everything he is learning - from walking to saying words to blowing bubbles to learning colors to sight reading locking me out of the house to navigating the apps on my iPhone on his own.
I'll share a recent lightbulb moment.
A friend's 2-year old figured out how he could use a stool to help him get to things that were a little out of his reach. And I realized that I hadn't taught Matthew that yet but I bet he could do it.
So, playing with a balloon one day, the balloon landed on the kitchen counter just out of Matthew's reach. Taking him by the hand, I led him to the bathroom where we keep a little plastic step stool. Hand over hand, I showed him to pick it up and take it to where his balloon was. We put it on the floor, he got up on it and was able to get his balloon. We did it a few more times that day. He is a visual learner and a hands-on learner. And he learns better when we go through the motions rather than just talking about it.
This evening, Matthew demonstrated his understanding of that skill. I was in our bathroom with Elizabeth and Matthew.
Me: Elizabeth, let's wash your hands.
Matthew: Wash hands.
Me: Oh, you want to wash hands too? Ok. Oh, but you can't reach the water here. We need a stool.
Matthew left our bathroom. I washed Elizabeth's hands, not even thinking about where Matthew could've gone. As I was drying Elizabeth's hands, Matthew walked back into our bathroom with the plastic step stool from the other bathroom, set it on the floor by the sink and got up on it to wash his hands.
I didn't specifically tell him to get a stool. I didn't tell him where the stool was. He just processed what I said and thought, "Aha! I know where I can find a stool to use!"
Do you have a lightbulb moment to share? We'd love to hear it.
When Matthew was a baby, I didn't know the extent of Matthew abilities when I was told he would develop like other kids but just at a slower pace.
At age 3, he takes my iPhone, unlocks it, and scrolls through six screens of apps to find his favorites. He does this all by himself after observing me many times and some trial and error on his own. He has not accidentally deleted any of the apps (yet). His current favorites are Talking Roby, Talking Hippo, preschool prep apps, I See Ewe, Toddler Counting (by iTot Apps), and SmallTalk Phonemes.
He pushes the 'on' button on his vReader and vTech Mobigo, then proceeds tapping on the screen and navigating through games. I don't think he understands all the instructions but he understands enough to be able to experiment, learn to figure out some of the games, and play some of them independently.
If I let him, he'll randomly click on the laptop mouse when he wants to view more of the videos that I made for him or look at photos. But he's a little too click-happy with the mouse and since there are too many important documents on my laptop, I've taken away his mouse-clicking privilege.
Yes, he may be learning many things at a slower pace. But he is tech savvy just like most kids in his generation.
We improvised fine motor, learning activities using leftover alphabet craft beads, ice cube trays, and small containers. There are many possible activities with these materials. So far, we've used them for:
- putting beads into the various containers using a pincer grasp. - letter identification - articulation - words that start with the letter on the bead - one-to-one correspondence and other basic counting skills - pulling beads off a pipe cleaner using a pincer grasp. When he's older (and if he's interested), we can string these beads on pipe cleaners or small diameter string and make bracelets.
Simple. Great for concentration building. "Fun" is relative. Matthew enjoys it when he's in the mood for alphabet beads. Otherwise, I have to make it "extra gamey" to spark his interest.
One of the very first cause and effect toys Matthew ever owned when he was a few months old was the Busy Ball Choo Choo by Playskool. Three plastic balls cycle through the train when activated with the big yellow button on top of the train. Once Matthew could sit with support, he enjoyed watching the balls disappear into the train and reappear at the top. A lever on one side of the train also allows the balls to pop out the back instead of cycling through but we hardly used that feature just because Matthew found it uninteresting.
The train can also be set to move forward while the balls cycle through. But it moved so slowly on our berber carpet and Matthew never pursued it so we kept it stationary.
We also used this toy to learn "putting in". The balls are a perfect size for little hands. And since they are light and air-filled plastic balls, they were perfect for Matthew to grab even with low muscle tone.
Elizabeth has been enjoying this toy too once she could sit with support. Like Matthew, she also enjoys watching the balls cycle through and then she grabs them as soon as they pop out on top.
The music is loud and the train is without volume control but I don't consider it terribly annoying. With all the other toys we have, toy music and sound effects just become a part of our daily lives, blending in with the sound of the dishwasher running or the washing machine or the vacuum cleaner.
I would say that the toy is probably expensive for what it is (currently retailing on amazon.com for $30) but it was one of Matthew's first Christmas presents and now, both kids are putting a lot of playtime into it so we're not complaining at all.
Matthew played with the Easy-Grip Pegs & Pegboard for the first time when his developmental therapist in the Early Intervention program brought this to our house. He was 2 years old. It was initially used for developing hand-eye coordination and improving his finger and hand grasps on small objects. As Matthew has a relatively great attention span, getting him to sit for this activity was not a problem.
But he initially was not drawn to the pegs. It was love at first bite with the foam pegboard. He just loved to mouth it and bite it. We redirected his chewing to putting a few pegs into the holes, hand over hand and always ending on a good successful note - one guided peg in was a success. Keeping the activity short, simple, frustration-free and seemed to be the keys to holding his interest, especially for the next time she brought this toy.
Over time, he was liking this toy so much that I included it in his Christmas wishlist in 2009, afterwhich he got his very own set from Beyond Play. He also eventually outgrew the desire to bite the pegboard.
To date, Matthew has used this for: - putting pegs in holes - stacking as high as Matthew can stack - learning colors - counting - sorting colors, playing same and different
Sequencing is another activity for these pegs but we haven't tried that yet. He is now 38 months old.
Tackling Fine Motor and Gross Motor Simultaneously Lately, with Elizabeth getting more mobile and more interested in Matthew's toys, I've been using this to help her practice get from sitting to kneeling and reaching for pegs to pull out of the board. I taped the pegboard to the back of a whiteboard, just slightly out of her reach.
She just turned 8 months old today and requires only a tiny bit of support while kneeling since she does not have low muscle tone (hypotonia) like Matthew. At 8 months of age, Matthew was nowhere near crawling and he could sit with boppy pillow support. Needless to say, Matthew would not have been able to do this at 8 months, maybe at 13 months.
When developmentally ready and if we had this toy when Matthew was younger, this would've been a good one to use for leg and hip strength by moving from sitting on heels to a full kneeling position instead of the full range of motion (full sit to full kneel). And with good support to make sure he was not using any compensatory movements during the activity. I did something similar when encouraging him to pull up to stand with a vertical surface using the Leapfrog Fridge DJ as his motivator.
Wrist Movement I actually learned the tip to stick the pegboard on a vertical surface from Matthew's preschool teacher. I saw it in his classroom and his teacher said it helps with wrist movement leading up to writing. I tried it and the wrist is certainly angled differently when working with a vertical surface compared to a horizontal surface.
Overall, a great educational and developmental toy with no bells and whistles. I'm glad we have it.
Just two months ago, Matthew didn't have a good grasp of early number concepts. I had been teaching him to count up to 3. I hadn't taught him to count from 1 to 10. I had been showing him the difference between big and small as well as same and different, which are prenumber concepts. But I hadn't been doing it as often as I feel I should have. I had been reading counting books to him like "Very Hungry Caterpillar" but he was more interested in other books two months ago.
If I asked him to give me 1 block, he would give me whatever he could hold in his hand. He was excellent at matching and sorting shapes and colors though.
In an effort to teach Matthew the concept of counting, identifying and naming numerals, and sight reading number words zero to ten, we counted everything of high interest to him like crackers, toys, steps, and many other things. We read more counting books. We sang more counting songs. I made number word flashcards since I was also teaching him sight words.
I also made a "Counting Crackers" video for him using my photos of goldfish crackers and Windows Movie Maker. He loves goldfish crackers, looking at photos, learning to sight read new words and watching videos. It was a huge hit and he evidently learned from it.
Progress He can now count from 1 to 10 in the correct order and without prompting, also known as rote counting. He is also beginning to count objects by pointing to them one to one. He can now recognize numerals and number words zero to ten. He says "two" and "eight" the clearest.
The other day, while eating goldfish crackers, I asked him to give me two crackers. I held my hand out and he put two crackers in my hand, one cracker at a time.
Early Math Resources The Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County's (DSFOC) "The Learning Program" offers materials for free on their website. Registration required. They have an "Everyday Math" handout with plenty of activity ideas for prenumber concepts and early number concepts. Prenumber concepts include sorting, comparing objects and patterning. Early number concepts include rote counting, counting with meaning and number symbol (numeral) recognition.
For a more multi-sensory approach to learning math using manipulatives, there are teaching resources like Numicon, which was developed in the UK and is available at downsed USA's online store, or Math-U-See, which was designed by a math teacher and father of a child with Down syndrome. It looks like the DSFOC's Learning Program uses Numicon.
We decided to try Numicon so I ordered the Firm Foundations kit and the book to adapt it specifically for kids with Down syndrome. Beth at Hannah's Shenanigans shares her daughter's experience using Numicon in several blog entries. At this time, I have no blog links to share for personal experiences with Math-U-See.
The book "Teaching Math to People with Down Syndrome and Other Hands-On Learners" by DeAnna Horstmeier also has many activities for learning prenumber and early number concepts.
Alphie is Matthew's current favorite toy from his 3rd birthday. He says things like "Alphie-nomenal" and "You compute me." Yes, he's cute and a little corny. I found Alphie a little annoying in the first few days when Matthew started playing with him. He talks almost constantly and loudly even at the lower volume setting. But over time, I've learned to tune him out and actually like him.
He's an interesting, fun, engaging little toy. It took a little time for Matthew to figure out which buttons to press and how he could only put in one card at a time in the slot but otherwise Alphie is very kid user-friendly.
He sounds out letters, has interesting fun facts, matching, animals, sequencing, colors, rhyming and number games. Some of the double-sided cards that come with the robot have concepts that are a little advanced for Matthew at this time. The toy is rated by the manufacturer for kids 3 and up.
Right now, Alphie's main purpose is to keep Matthew's mind off of his post-surgery discomfort. Matthew does enjoy the letter cards and he sometimes sounds off the letters himself. He recognizes more upper case letters from playing with Alphie. Matthew likes to listen to Alphie talk. He understands some of the simpler activities/ concepts. He'll randomly press buttons when he doesn't understand what Alphie asks for or says. Alphie hints at the right answer if Matthew presses the wrong button. Matthew will eventually understand the more advanced concepts as he gets older. It's a toy to grow with, assuming he doesn't lose interest.
These magnetic fridgigears are on our dishwasher. Matthew has developed a keen interest in playing with these gears over the last 3 weeks or so. I love how this toy makes him think. How do I make these gears move? Where can I put this gear so it will move too? What color is this gear?
From a gross motor and fine motor point of view, the toy encourages good hand grasp and hand strength to be able to pull the gears off the magnetic upright surface. Kneeling on the floor when playing with these gears also helps with abdominal and leg strength especially if he alternates from sitting on his ankles to raising himself up several times during play.
Here's a video of him playing with the gears.
However, I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about this toy. I like it for the fun and educational value it offers but there are things about it that I do not like.
1. The magnets on the back of some of the gears have fallen off. I've fixed the faulty pieces with super glue but they came off again within 2 days. I threw away 3 gear pieces because of this.
2. The stickers on the front side of some of the gears are starting to peel off. Some have already come off. I threw those away. Matthew didn't mind that some of the gears were bare anyway. He was more interested in how they moved.
3. The easy tap on/tap off button on the motorized gear is great for making it easy for Matthew to operate. It's also easy enough for me to accidentally tap on with my knee when I'm standing in front of the dishwasher. I've done it so many times. The motor isn't the quietest either. That low, whirring sound from the motor is guaranteed to annoy, especially if it's been on for a long time. I'm learning to block out the sound though.
Overall, a decent toy except for the poor quality magnets (or adhesive on the magnets) and stickers. There are other similar gear toys I have found to have better reviews on amazon.com but we will keep this set that we have because Matthew likes it so much.
Why wait for a party to blow up balloons? Thankfully, we're not allergic to latex balloons. We use balloon play for various aspects of development.
Eye-hand Coordination Matthew enjoys tossing the balloons up as high as he can and catching them as they come down. It's a fun game that keeps him entertained.
Speech & Language He enjoys tossing it down the stairs. It's just his excuse to have to go downstairs, where we have his ball pool and a few other toys set up. From the baby gate, he watches the balloon go down the stairs and says, "dow, dow, dow" (down, down down). Then he quickly comes over to me and says, "el! ahs! dow!" (help! stairs! down!).
Social Skills A simple turn-taking game of throwing and catching is a way to encourage interaction with other kids. However, it doesn't work as well with pets.
Cognition We have two sizes of balloons handy. It's one way to teach the concepts 'big' and 'little'. Matthew also knows his colors - blue, red, purple, green, yellow - thanks to many hours of play with the Melissa & Doug Sort and Stack. Identifying balloon colors is one way to see if he can transfer his color knowledge to other objects, which is validation of his ability to truly recognize colors.
Fine motor When he's a little older and has developed a tripod grip on a pen, I suppose we can draw on the balloons. Animal faces perhaps?
Learning colors is an abstract concept. Once Matthew was familiar with certain objects like car, wagon, or ball, I started labeling them with colors. For example, white car, red wagon, or green ball. It's a way to expand his vocabulary and help him learn his colors.
The Melissa & Doug Sort & Stack toy was also a good way to learn 5 basic colors: red, blue, yellow, purple, and green. Each colored block is also a different shape so the toy can also be used for stacking, matching, sorting, and later on, sequencing. There are helpful activity suggestions on the bottom of the peg board as well.
Matthew received this Sort & Stack at Christmas last year. From our experience, this has been a very good developmental toy for him. He's very interested in stacking pegs or blocks and has the attention span and patience for this toy. If he didn't have the interest, attention, and patience for this toy, then it would not be a good toy for him and I would be looking for other ways to teach him colors.
It is mainly because of this toy that he is able to match colors and label them. Of course this skill wasn't developed overnight. His developmental therapist and I have been working on colors since he turned 2 in October last year. So it's been a work in progress. Now he consistently says "de" for red, "bu" for blue, "owo" for yellow, "pa" for purple", and "guh" for green. Here's a video (from February this year) of Matthew working on this toy with me.
