About this time last year, my son was really into all the Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site books. We read them over and over again. So I decided to make him Construction Vehicles Three-Part cards.
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Is your child ready for phonics? Here’s a free and easy way to try it out!
A year ago, I came across the newly published book Phonics the R-igh-t Way for Children and Adults with Down Syndrome by Judy O’Halloran and Marilee Senior. My son with T21 was already a fluent reader, but I was interested to see if there were any ideas that might help the boys in our Down Syndrome co-op.
What the authors presented, among several great ideas, was a very unique and clever order of teaching the phonograms. Almost all other phonics programs teach the CVC (Consonant-vowel-consonant) words first, such as cat, pig, and dog. However, each of the vowels produce several different sounds. For example, think of the different sounds of A in the words apple, cake, and father.
Judy O’Halloran and Marilee Senior recommend teaching the seven phonograms that make one and only one sound first, to avoid early confusion and frustration. These phonograms are as follows: ay as in say, ai as in rain, ee as in bee, igh as in night, oa as in boat, oe as in toe, and eigh as in eight. Starting with these phonograms also helps a child get used to the idea that multiple letters can make one sound.
Very clever indeed!
Continue reading “First Steps with Phonics: A FREE Phonics Workbook for Children with (or without) Down Syndrome” →
My son loves the picture book Bear Wants More by Wilson Karma and all the books in the series. We have borrowed them from the library again and again. So, I made him these Montessori-inspired three-part cards to help him read the names of the animals.
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If you would like to help your child learn the addition facts within ten, here is a FREE resource I hope you will find helpful. I have tried several math curricula for my son with Down Syndrome, but when it came to independence, accuracy, and fluency in working out the addition facts within ten, he did not make any real progress until we introduced the rekenrek. And so I found myself making worksheets and eventually this workbook for him and the kids in our coop, and for any child who needs extra help with addition.
Continue reading “Simply Addition Level 1 – A FREE Math Workbook for Kids with (or without) Down Syndrome” →
May is the month of Our Lady, so this month I’m sharing Montessori-inspired three-part art cards depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary for FREE. I made these for the boys in our co-op to use in our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium. They are a beautiful way to teach your children about the mysteries of the rosary.
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Here’s a free resource to help your child with (or without) T21 learn the concept of silent e in long vowel words. Most phonics programs require children to practice word families by reading long, drill-like lists of words. Early on, I knew that was not going to fly with my little guy. So, to help him understand silent e, I adapted the word lists to make them colorful, interactive, and full of pictures to boost comprehension and to make reading lists of words more meaningful and interesting.
Take a look:
Continue reading “A FREE CVCe Practice Book” →
Spring has sprung! So I made these Spring-themed Picture Addition Cards.
Take a peek:
Here’s a set of Spring-Themed Tracing Pages I made for my son to keep him motivated with handwriting.
For those of you who have used my free Short Vowel Stories to practice phonics with your emergent readers, here’s an easy next step: a FREE and adapted version of Teach Me to Read Duets.
Fifteen years ago or so, I wrote these little stories for my daughter when she was learning to read.
Then, about two years ago, I adapted them for my son with Down Syndrome. Compared to the original version, the font size is larger, there are two spaces between each word, and there are larger gaps between each line. I also broke this book up into three smaller books (A, B, and C), all of which are included in this file.
Well, my son whizzed through them nearly as quickly as I could adapt them. Just recently, I pulled them out again for a young boy in our Down Syndrome Co-op, who had just completed the Short Vowel Stories. Easy-peasy! He read several pages in one lesson. So I thought I really ought to post this one.
Take a look:
Here’s a FREE set of winter-themed number line addition worksheets. These focus on the +1, +2, +3 and doubles facts within ten. They’re designed for children with Down Syndrome and other special needs.
Continue reading “Winter-themed Number Line Addition” →