It is generally known that children with Down syndrome possess greater receptive language skills compared to expressive children.
To put it in simple terms, what this translates to is that children with Down syndrome are better at understanding than expressing in words.
Teaching a child with down syndrome will help to provide better opportunities to enjoy and participate in their environment just like everyone else.
If you are a parent or caregiver homeschooling a child with Down syndrome, your concerns may be largely focused on their ability to read.
The best approach when teaching kids with special needs is to harness their strengths to their advantage.
This applies to children generally; they tend to learn a lot faster when their interests are strengths are used to teach them various skills.
You can achieve a lot of progress by integrating their strengths to reading strategies; you are more likely to experience less resistance and more progress.
Since down syndrome affects hearing and language, it is easy to understand the implications of the condition on a child’s ability to acquire reading skills.
Their auditory weakness and preference for visual learning make it less likely for them to benefit from the traditional phonetic approach that is being used in regular classrooms.
A more successful approach for teaching a child to read will be incorporating sight words and phonics (as a supplemental skill). This method has been tested and proven to be very effective.
When teaching phonics, a link between visual and auditory information should be present. This gives the student the opportunity to learn visually as well as gaining support through sound.
Keep in mind that students with Down syndrome will not usually progress in learning how to read along the traditional timeline.
They may show readiness to learn to read at any age, and skill learning will not always follow a regular or linear pattern.
Unlike normal kids, literacy skills may not be accomplished at once, it could be a skill that they continue to learn throughout the life of a child with Down syndrome.
Strategies to teach a child with Down syndrome to read
The following strategies can help in teaching children with Down syndrome.
Taking advantage of their visual learning preference by using multimedia tools designed for teaching.
Breaking the reading instructions into smaller bits with plenty of breaks in between to prevent resistance.
Teaching reading incrementally by building on what the child has learned in the previous lesson.
Ensure that the instructions are properly structured and predictable. This will make learning easier for the child.
Introduce instructions that have games that can help the child learn and have fun at the same time.
There are reading programs that can be used when homeschooling a child with Down syndrome.
Reading programs are critical when teaching a child with Down syndrome.
You should try to start off with a program that appeals to the child and not you.
Parents can get carried away and choose a program that they think will be easy for them to use, rather than focusing on a program that can be driving with the child’s strength and interests.