Just a few pics from our travels and activities lately. Happy Monday!
Monday, 15 April 2013
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Sight words!
Now that Phoenix confidently knows her alphabet and numbers I really wanted to start teaching sight words. We have been doing a few sight words on her magnetic drawing board, but nothing too consistently.The only problem is that the favourite way to teach sight words in the DS community is through the use of flashcards. And it is a good method for kids who are willing. Individual word reading is a significant skill for kids with DS.
I introduced flash cards to Phoe about a year ago and it has been a huge failure. She hates them. She starts yelling "no,no,no" and pushes them away. Which is interesting since this kid LOVES learning. She just doesn't want to learn through the use of flash cards.
Ok. Regroup.
One of her favourite time to practise letters and numbers is bath time. We have foamy toys which are numbers and letters that stick to the side of the tub. She loves them, and loves identifying what each one is. I finally came up with the idea that I should look for foamy sight words - which I didn't find commercially, but found a variation on Pinterest that I could make myself. So off to the dollar store I went to find foamy cut outs and made my own sight words. It's been a huge hit! We've only been using them a few days, but already there are over 30 words that Phoenix knows by sight! I know she knows them because when I hold the word up for her she says it out loud. This is great not only for her pre-reading knowledge, but also for her continued progress in speech.
However, your child doesn't have to be speaking to teach them words. The other way to test their knowledge is to introduce a few words and then place 3-4 in from of the child and ask them to pick the word you are looking for. Easy peasy.
Last night, here are the words she could correctly identify the first time:
I introduced flash cards to Phoe about a year ago and it has been a huge failure. She hates them. She starts yelling "no,no,no" and pushes them away. Which is interesting since this kid LOVES learning. She just doesn't want to learn through the use of flash cards.
Ok. Regroup.
One of her favourite time to practise letters and numbers is bath time. We have foamy toys which are numbers and letters that stick to the side of the tub. She loves them, and loves identifying what each one is. I finally came up with the idea that I should look for foamy sight words - which I didn't find commercially, but found a variation on Pinterest that I could make myself. So off to the dollar store I went to find foamy cut outs and made my own sight words. It's been a huge hit! We've only been using them a few days, but already there are over 30 words that Phoenix knows by sight! I know she knows them because when I hold the word up for her she says it out loud. This is great not only for her pre-reading knowledge, but also for her continued progress in speech.
However, your child doesn't have to be speaking to teach them words. The other way to test their knowledge is to introduce a few words and then place 3-4 in from of the child and ask them to pick the word you are looking for. Easy peasy.
Last night, here are the words she could correctly identify the first time:
I'm excited for Phoenix who is embarking upon a lifelong journey of the love of words. But I am more excited for ME because I was able to work around her resistance to find an activity that would help her learn a really fundamental body of knowledge.
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
March Photo bomb
I haven't posted any pics in a while, so here are a few recent photos.
The first picture is a "Look! My kid is so gifted!" picture. I feel a bit weird saying that when she will likely be categorized as ID later in life...but whatever. I'm a proud momma. This is a pic she drew on her magnetic drawing board.
The first picture is a "Look! My kid is so gifted!" picture. I feel a bit weird saying that when she will likely be categorized as ID later in life...but whatever. I'm a proud momma. This is a pic she drew on her magnetic drawing board.
It's pretty good for a 3 year old with low muscle tone, if I do say so myself.
It was Miss Phoenix's birthday recently and she is now 3! I have a few pics of her in her party dress with some of her fabulous new gifts. The biggest present was from her extended family and a bright spanking new pink Mini Cooper. Can you think of anything more fabulous than that?
She got some new open the flap books and was already enthralled.
She also got a little backpack that she loves, loves, loves. Here it is:
That's it for now. Hopefully we will get some new photos done when we see my lovely and talented twin sister over the Easter holiday. Hint, hint.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)