Hi Molly! Welcome!
I have a son with DS who is 6 yrs. old, and I've just started using Little Reader as part of his home schooling. It's set up to do one lesson per day, 5 days a week. Each lesson has 2 sessions so you can do it twice a day. It only takes 5 min. or so to do a session, so it's good for short attention spans. I repeat each lesson for 2 or 3 days, as I don't want to move on to new words too soon. So, we've only done 7 lessons, so far, and he knows 27 or 28 new words! He tends to get bored with words on flashcards and resists doing them, but he likes doing things on the computer. Also, I don't have to spend time making flashcards by hand. I can print flashcards right from the computer program if I want. And I can put your own pictures in for words that are being presented. So, when, for example, he saw a picture of himself standing outside in the yard for the word "stand" and a picture of himself sitting on an old fashioned fire truck for the word "sit", he was so excited.
And then when I print those pictures out for flashcards, he's happy to do the flashcards because of the personal connection to the picture on the back of the card. The program has also been good speech therapy for him as he always repeats the word after the voice on the computer says the word.
Since your son is only 2, he may not be able to repeat the words, but hearing the words over and over along with seeing the pictures and the short video clips and any actions you incorporate into it, will surely increase his receptive vocabulary. And, with enough repitition, he may try to say the words. If you are teaching him sign language, you can do the signs for the words. Less verbal children with DS can often show the words they have learned to read by signing or doing an action for the word or by selecting a specific word from a group of 2 or more words. Children with DS learn to read by memorizing the word shape, so they need lots and lots of repetition. Little Reader provides that in a way that is not so monotonous that it drives the parents crazy.
Best Wishes! Justin's Mom
Digg
