Teaching Your Child With Down Syndrome Sight Words For Kindergarten
Reading is a fundamental life skill and most of our children with Down Syndrome can learn to read. When Max, my son with Down Syndrome was born I knew I wanted him to develop basic reading, writing, and math skills.
Of course there were people who tried to tell me it may not be possible but I didn’t listen.
Hey Mama Bears, full disclosure here. There are affiliate links in this post so if you click on the link and buy the product I will earn a small commission. Now that we’re clear on that let’s get back to rocking life with special needs!
I love to read and words are all around us in our daily lives. We read street names, signs, and instructions. Reading impacts learning in all subject areas and gives access to curriculum. Being able to read improves speech and allows more independence. I knew if Max couldn’t read it would be harder to keep him included in school and with my own love of reading I just couldn’t fathom him not having the ability to read.
Teaching Reading To Children With Down Syndrome
I found the book Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Teachers, read it, and for the most part followed it. It was extremely helpful and is part of my home library. You may want to check it out Mama Bear.
The author, Patricia Logan Oelwein worked at the Center on Human Development and Disability at the University of Washington. The reading program she guides us through in her book was developed in the Program for Children with Down Syndrome and Other Developmental Delays in what is now called The Haring Center: Experimental Educational Unit. She was the classroom teacher in the project.
In addition to Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome I utilized Down Syndrome Education or DSE and purchased their See and Learn kit. At the time, there was one kit but they now have multiple kits available for purchase.
I’m going to share with you how we taught our son with Down Syndrome sight words. Your child can learn at any time and any age. Learning is lifelong however, if your child is preschool age it would be a great time to help them learn some sight words in preparation for Kindergarten.
Now remember Mama Bear, your family and your child with special needs are unique. Some of these things may work and some may not. You are the expert on your child and your family so take away what will work for you and don’t worry about the rest!
When I was younger I remember learning the alphabet and the sounds each letter made before learning to read. Once I knew the alphabet and corresponding letter sounds I then learned how to read by breaking each word up into its individual sounds before blending them back together to make the word.
This is called phonics.
It turns out this is not the best way to teach our children with Down Syndrome how to read.
Our children with Down Syndrome have strong visual memories so when they’re learning how to read, teaching them sight words is the best way to start. Sight words are words that a reader recognizes instantly. They don’t have to sound them out.
Here’s a tip from Patricia Logan Oelwein…
The first sight words you teach your child should be words that are meaningful to your child and words for which they have an immediate use.
How To Teach Your Child With Down Syndrome To Read
We taught Max the names of family members first. This was both meaningful and useful to him. After he learned our names we moved on to farm animals and other farm words such as barn since my parents had a dairy farm and he LOVED the farm.
Max was highly motivated to learn to read because he was learning to read words of things he liked.
When teaching your own child to read, think about what they absolutely adore.
Do they love Bluey? Teach them sight words from Bluey! Do they love zoo animals or the ocean? Go with that!
Here’s another tip from Patricia Logan Oelwein…
Use a true language experience approach so arrange activities around the sight words you choose.
So if you’re teaching zoo sight words, arrange a trip to the zoo, at bedtime read zoo themed books, watch zoo themed shows, and do zoo themed crafts.
Steps To Teaching Sight Words To Your Child With Down Syndrome
Once you’ve decided which sight words you are going to start by creating sight word flashcards. We taught Max our names first so we took a picture of each family member, printed it out, and wrote their name underneath the picture. That’s one flashcard and you make the corresponding flashcard by just writing their name.
For example, Max called me Mommy when he was younger so we printed out a picture of me, wrote “Mommy” underneath it in black sharpie and then created another flashcard by using an index card to write “Mommy” using the black sharpie again. Make a pair of flashcards for everyone in the family or 5-10 flashcards of whatever sight words you’re going to teach your child.
Now I simply use a program like Canva to create things like this.
Using Canva I quickly created these as an example for this post. I have a picture of myself and Hubby with the words Mommy and Daddy printed underneath, then I have just the picture of myself and Hubby, and then I have just the words Mommy and Daddy.
Once you have your flashcards made you’re ready to start the acquisition stage where your child is acquiring these words into their sight reading vocabulary. The book Teaching Reading To Children With Down Syndrome the acquisition stage is broken down into errorless practice at 3 steps of difficulty.
Step 1: Matching. Your child matches a word to a matching word.
Step 2: Selecting. Your child selects the correct word when verbally cued to do so.
Step 3: Naming. The most difficult level where your child names the word when shown the written word.
If your child doesn’t speak or speech is very limited you can teach them the signs for the words you teach them to read.
Teaching Your Child With Down Syndrome To Read Step 1: Matching
For the purpose of this post let’s say you decide to teach your child the names of their family members first.
Show your child the picture of you with the name of whatever your child calls you. Max called me “Mommy” when he was younger so it said Mommy.
I would show him the picture flashcard. If he didn’t immediately say “Mommy” I would say something like “Max, who is this? Is this Mommy? Yes, it’s Mommy.” As I was talking I would point to the written word Mommy underneath my picture.
Next I would show him the flash card that had just the word Mommy written on it and say “This says Mommy too. Put Mommy on Mommy.” If he didn’t take the flashcard with the word Mommy on it and put it on top of the picture flashcard I would model for him how to do it and then hand it to him and say “Your turn.”
In the beginning I kept these sessions very short…think 5 minutes or less. I also made them very fun meaning I was very expressive and Max had my undivided attention.
Remember, our kids with Down Syndrome are very visual. When it was time to do our 5 minute sight word sessions I made sure to exaggerate my expressions to make it super fun and engaging. When Max put the word flashcard that said Mommy on the picture flashcard of Mommy I would cheer and we’d give high fives.
Teaching Your Child With Down Syndrome To Read Step 2: Selecting
Once your child is successfully matching Mommy it’s time to move on to selecting. For this step you will need a blank flashcard along with the flashcard that has Mommy written on it as well as the picture flashcard of Mommy with Mommy written underneath.
Take the Mommy flashcard and the blank flashcard and hold them up for your child or put them on the table in front of them. Instruct your child to “Take the card that says Mommy.” You may just need to simplify it and say “Take Mommy.” When your child takes the flashcard that says Mommy praise them and then ask them to put Mommy on Mommy where they will once again place the word flashcard on the picture flashcard.
Teaching Your Child With Down Syndrome To Read Step 3: Naming
Take the word flashcard that says Mommy hold it up or point to it on the table and ask your child “What does this say?” Allow your child time to process what you are asking.
When they say the word give them praise. Of note, accept any approximation to Mommy. If your child cannot say Mommy, teach them the sign and have them sign Mommy.
Once your child has matched, selected, and names the new sight word you can then teach them another sight word.
You will go through the 3 steps for each new sight word.
Once your child has learned more than one sight word you will continue to go through the steps of match, select, name but using more than just one sight word.
Here’s how the book Teaching Children Reading To Children With Down Syndrome outlines how to do it.
Level 1: Match One Word, Two Choices (Match 1:2)
Put two picture flashcards in front of your child. Let’s say you use Mommy and Daddy. Hold up the Mommy word flashcard and say “It says Mommy. Put Mommy on Mommy.” When you hold up the word flashcard your child may spontaneously say Mommy in this case say “Yes! It says Mommy. Put Mommy on Mommy.”
This is a matching task so the author tells us not to ask your child to read the word but if they do that’s fabulous. Definitely reinforce it and you may be able to start skipping some of the steps or work at a fast pace.
The focus with this task is to provide errorless practice where your child finds early success so they don’t become discouraged and they build a love for learning and reading.
Level 2: Select One Word, Two Choices (Select 1:2)
Leave two picture flashcards in front of your child. We’ll use Mommy and Daddy again. Next take the word flashcards and place them on the table as well calling attention to them. Ask your child to point to Mommy. When your child does give them praise. If they hesitate, go ahead and point to the correct word flashcard. Remember we want to make this as errorless as possible.
Once they’ve chosen the correct word flashcard tell your child you're going to mix them up and do so. Then say “Now, where’s Mommy?” when they respond correctly, give them praise. Then ask them “Where’s Daddy?” Once again, give praise when they do so.
Finally say “Put Mommy on Mommy.” Then, “Put Daddy on Daddy.”
Level 3: Naming 2 Cards
Leave the picture flashcards in front of your child. Hold up the Mommy word flashcard and say, “This card says…” Wait for your child to answer. When they answer correctly, give them praise and the card and say “Put Mommy on Mommy.”
If they don’t respond correctly, point to the Mommy picture flashcard and show them the name. This way they can learn to use the picture cards as a strategy to figure out what the flashcard says.
Introducing Additional Words
When your child can successfully match, select, and name the first two words you can then introduce new words, one at a time. For example, they’d match one word with 3 choices (match 1:3) and select one word with 3 choices (select 1:3). The recommendation is to keep the choices at four. So, once your child has progressed to matching 1 word with 4 choices and you want to add another new word you would drop a previously introduced word to keep the choices to a 1:4 ratio.
Remember to make this as immersive an experience as possible. If your child is learning the names of family members perhaps plan a family dinner with Nana and Papa and have place cards at the table or look through family photo albums before or after a reading session.
To help your child learn sight words in preparation for Kindergarten I also recommend labeling things in your house. Put the word door on your child’s door. Put the word chair on their chair. You get the idea.
Start A Word Bank
Once your child has achieved mastery of a word, put it in their word bank. A word bank consists of flashcards of words your child can read. You can use an envelope, a box, a file folder…whatever you would like.
The word bank is storage of words for future use. You’ll want to revisit these words periodically. Our kids do best when things they’ve already learned are revisited often.
There you have it Mama Bears! How to teach your child with Down Syndrome sight words for Kindergarten using the book Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide For Parents and Teachers written by Patricia Logan Oelwein as a guide.
Once your child has learned to read a few words it’s a great idea to create an individualized book. You can put pictures of your child in the book or people they know. This really peaks their interest in reading. You can also create books that are about things they love. For example, Max loves WWE so he’d be highly motivated to read a book about WWE wrestling. I use Canva to create pages which I then print out and staple together. Easy peasy!
So there you have it Mama Bears! I hope this post will help you rock this special life!
If you enjoyed this post then consider checking out…
Teaching Sign Language To Your Child With Down Syndrome
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