Skip counting is an important math skill, especially for counting money. Many children with special needs require extra practice with skip counting to master the correct sequence of numbers. Providing a variety of ways to practice keeps them interested. One of our favorite ways is practicing with puzzles. Here are FREE puzzles for counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. They are a fun, motivating way to practice skip counting.
Continue reading “FREE Skip Counting Puzzles” →
I just had to share this with you.
Because parenting is hard. Today, more than ever.
As most of you know, one of the hardest parts of parenting is managing our children’s use of addictive screen-based tech: Smart phones. Social media. The internet. These are wreaking widespread havoc on the mental and emotional health of our youth. And navigating screen-based tech with our kids and teens has been challenging… exhausting, actually.
If parenting weren’t hard enough, along comes AI, that powerful tool that is rapidly changing the landscape of innovation, work, and education.
So parents have yet one more thing to worry about, monitor, and try to keep up with.
Continue reading “Introducing a Catholic AI Platform Parents can Trust” →
As Christmas draws near, it’s fun to take a break from our regular curriculum and dive into Christmas-themed unit studies. My son really enjoys pretending to shop with play money, so here is a set of Christmas shopping cards and activities I made for him.
Continue reading “Christmas Shopping Math Activities for Kids with Special Needs” →
Using subtraction flash cards are a quick and easy way to help our kids practice the subtraction facts. I searched high and low for rekenrek subtraction flash cards with large numbers and finally ended up making them myself. For children with Down Syndrome and other visual learners, including a visual aid on the flash cards makes subtraction more concrete. So that’s what I did:
Continue reading “Subtraction Flash Cards and Worksheets for Kids with Down Syndrome” →
Here’s a collection of ALL my spelling worksheets made especially for children with Down Syndrome and other special needs. I use them to supplement All About Spelling, but they can be used with any Science of Reading aligned phonics or spelling program.
Continue reading “Spelling Worksheets for Students with Special Needs” →
As summer rapidly approaches and the school year winds down, it’s a great time to think about easy ways we can keep speech and language moving forward. One of the easiest and effective ways is Shared Book Reading. If you have a young child with Down Syndrome, you’re probably doing it already to a certain extent. After all, reading a book out loud to a child is one of the most natural ways parents cozy and connect with their young ones. But today I’m sharing with you some ways to make that magical story time more purposeful and productive for a variety of goals.
Continue reading “Shared Book Reading for Children with Down Syndrome” →
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.
Continue reading “Construction Vehicles Three-Part Cards” →
Picture books with repetitive, predictable texts are one of the most enjoyable and effective tools for teaching young children early language skills. Young children love being able to anticipate and chime in with repeated texts. Needless to say, I am always on the hunt for picture books with predictable texts because Junior finds them so engaging and because there is so much he learns from them. So I created a list of picture books appropriate for each month of the year.
Continue reading “A Year of Picture Books with Repetitive Text” →
Tracing high-interest words is a meaningful and motivating way for my son to practice handwriting. So, I made these Christmas and Nativity-Themed Handwriting Tracing Pages for Junior. He definitely enjoyed these more than his usual handwriting sheets.
Take a look:
Continue reading “Christmas and Nativity Themed Handwriting Tracing Pages” →
I am so excited to share the news that my daughter Carolyn has just published her seventh novel. Set in the Dark Ages, The Tale of Finegan Patches is the story of an impoverished young serf and his epic battle against evil.
For centuries the sinister, blood-thirsty dragon Trepezard had lain asleep in his lair. But something mysterious has awaken him and his wrath. In one fiery breath, the dragon can burn entire villages. The peasants of Leatholin live in mortal fear of their lives. Yet the treacherous and corrupt lords and knights are too afraid to protect their people. Meanwhile, there are threats of the the wild and powerful invaders from the North. The situation is dire and hopeless.
Until one insignificant, simple-hearted farm boy sets out to fight the dragon.
Continue reading “Just Released! The Tale of Finegan Patches” →