Anyone home schooling children with Down Syndrome?

[Lovelightlaughter]

  Hi.
  My daughter is in transition to the school district and we are going through all the paper work and evaluation stuff. She is right now attending a beautiful pre school that happens to run a 2 year old program. It is just something more than a day care. They make crafts, with help and they have circle time with stories and snack time. You get the picture. It has over all been great for her social skills yet we wonder about home schooling her from now on. We see how much she has achieved with the one on one attention at home with us and therapists.

I know there are people home schooling their children with special needs and I wonder, what is your opinion on the subject?
If you are already home schooling, how is it going? Any tips?
Thanks!

[luvn4]

We are a homeschool family and I love it.  Yes I feel that my children receive so much more attention that they would at school and this makes a difference.  My youngest daughter has down syndrome she will be three in April and we plan on keeping her home just as I have done with my others.  She is doing so well.  Have you seen these videos on You Tube?  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/GjCWqMU34y8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/GjCWqMU34y8&rel=1</a>   These are put out by the NACD and Bob Doman talks about his thought about Down Syndrome and education.  There is also a yahoo group called homeschooling down syndrome, this is a great group. 

I have created a blog about some of the things we are doing at home with my daughter here is the link;
 http://wecandoallthings.blogspot.com/

[kmum]

We have been homeschooling our 4 year old with DS, & will likely continue to do so for another year before putting her in kindergartenat our tiny local school where she will be in a multi graded classroom with about 12 or 14 other kids. Our plan is to continue with that school, however if there is ever an occasion where we feel it is not appropriate, we will go back to homeschooling.

I agrree about kids progressing so well with all the one on one at home.  Our hope is that with the intensive neurodevelopmental program we have been doing at home, she will do well at school.

Part of me thinks that continuing to homeschool would be best, however, my older kids go  to school & K has had a taste of it at preschool & loves it, so for now this is the plan, but it is always flexible.

[Lovelightlaughter]

   Thank you guys.

   We may be moving fro mthe States to Germany for a year so the home schooling may be the option we go for at least for that year and then we will see.
  My concern is thefact that we do not have any other children and most mother I come to meet are way too much younger than I am so it is not that easy to create bonds and relationships with other children her age. If we stay we may send her to a three day program so that we can try a bit of both worlds.
 I don't know... I guess that I doubt my ability to homeschool. I really appreciate the resources mentioned Kmum.
 I need to keep iinvestigating about curriculums it all seems a bit too much right now. I know. One step at a time...

[mommy22]

Hi Love,

I am homeschooling our 9 yr. old son. w/ DS.....In our situation we found that the school system was very unwilling to have him in a regular classroom learning what the other children were learning due to his DS. They wanted to put him a special needs class. We said NO...that would kill his chances of going to University.

We had already been in touch with the University of Notre Dame..asking questions. They had told us that the requirements for their University for a student with DS was....no assistants or aides during the school years ( which blew the special needs out the window!), had to have a graduation Diploma ( this also blew out Special needs as all in that class don't aquire a Graduation Diploma due to their not having enough credits! They would perhaps get a certificate of completion if they are lucky!!).

So.....since the system was not being co-operative we decided the best way to teach our son was home schooling. I also didn't think I was capable of teaching but I found that actually, I teach him everyday, it's not been that much different. Other than what the curriculum says he needs to know. Doing the Neurodevelopmental Program also with ICAN, which helps with just about every school subject. We do what we can do. Just remember to keep it fun for everyone....there's more than one way to teach!

 I've also heard of a teaching method where all subjects use music! Play lots of Mozart and Beethoven also as they actually help in growing neuro-pathways in the brain!! I suggest.... Mozart "Rhapsody in Blue", Beethoven " Symphonies Nos. 5, 4 and 9 (Opus 125) .

We also use Music from "THE MOZART EFFECT"..... http://www.mozarteffect.com

As for socializing....you can always enroll her in some swimming classes, art classes, music, drama, etcetera! She will get the same benefit while learning!

We also found....schools are notorious for being havens for viruses and bacteria. If his older sister wouldn't bring home those nasties we'd all be healthier! He always gets sick after his sister.....

Just some things to think about....

[evachong]

Is the Home Schooling better than the traditional school ? My superior suggested me that dont put your kid to the kindergarden at the age of 3 years old. Let them stay at home and you teach her till 4 years old. I think this is the good idea that too early for them go to school may get negative effect on them. Eng up they will not happy go to school. Dont you think so ? I was told that Taiwan now they have home schooling which sound better traditional schooling? Is anybody know more detail about taiwan home school ? 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Mommy22- you may be interested in the CD's waterdreamer just reviewed on the product reviews and discussion board that are specifically designed to stimulate neural development.
http://forum.brillkids.com/product-discussions-and-reviews/the-miracle-musicmath-system-giveaway/

[mommy22]

@TeachingMyToddlers...

Thanks! I will definitely check those out!!

Our Programmer for ICAN is not able to get us the "SAMONAS" CD's any longer. The distibutor quit. She suggested using Classical music. I did some research on that and found the information I was looking for.

We have found since using the Mozart Symphonies that our son's speech has improved, which is about the only challenge we are having at this time.

Thanks again!

[ayusmom]

Mommy22 that was really interesting. My DD is only almost 2, but as everyone knows, EI runs out in a year and they will start trying to throw the whole IEP thing at me. My instincts keep telling me not to do it. I dont want DS on her school record no matter what. I want her to be judged by her actions not her chromosomes, like everyone else.
She is doing so well that I honestly dont feel she would need an assistant, but nonetheless.....I guess I'm just nervous about the whole thing.I'm also not sure how we could pull off me not working for so long, financially. We've been doing it for 2 years now and its been tough. I was also thinking Montessorri and I have heard that can work with ND programs. But then there is the cost issue again. sigh...DO you have to get some kind of certification yourself to homeschool or meet some requirements or what?
Thanks for your input as the next year will be up before I know it!

[mommy22]

Ayusmom...

Where I am in Canada, we do not need a special certificate to home school. We have many home schooling school boards to chose from. Our ICAN folks, actually helped us find the one we are using. They have been very accomodating!

Our son had been on a program called "PUFF" for speech therapy. It was part of the Provincial school programming. It really wasn't helping any! So, we started checking out some things....we went into our Provincial Education requirements on-line...this is where we found out that any child who was in the "Special Needs" program didn't get a Graduation Diploma after 12 years of schooling. Their theory is...that at some point the child will be able to integrate into a regular classroom. Obviously this hardly ( if ever) really happens due to the fact that they aren't being taught what the other students are being taught. They just don't get the credits that they need to actually graduate.

With this PUFF program our son was actually categorized and if we had started school in a school setting this would have led to him having an IEP and labelled.

We also held back for a year...our son started grade 1 when he was 6 yr. old. We also repeated the year as he had not finished all the curriculum to what we had found suitable.

I understand how tuff it can be with only one parent working in the household. We have been doing this for many years! What I would suggest is to find out what the Education system in your area has for information on the "Special Needs" program....go talk to a school in your area and see what they say about placing your child in a regular classroom without an Assistant. If these things actually work against your child....you may have to find another way to do the home schooling...such as having someone you know and trust to come into your home to teach while you are working.

Don't get discouraged....find out all you can. Then figure out how you can make it work so that your child wins! Follow your instincts also....they usually will never lead you wrong!

[ayusmom]

Thanks Mommy22!
 I am planning to steer clear of any 'special needs' programs, mainly because my daughter doesnt need anything special! At 2 she is only slightly behind in speech which is her biggest delay, and I feel confident that since we are now really focusing on oral placement therapy she will catch up in the next year.
She has zero cognitive delay, she has been reading for almost a year and has been walking for about 4 months now. She is even using the potty a couple of times per day!
I didnt intend to be bragging but I can't see why she would need anything different from other kids at this point.
I feel like I'm alone in my area in not wanting an IEP as EVERYONE here just does it.......but you are right, instincts are best! We will figure it out!

[Bragg Kids Mom and Dad]

Thanks for all the posts everyone. I enjoyed reading this because I too have wondered how it will be homeschooling a child with ds.  We homeschool our oldest child and will soon be starting our next two kiddos.  Our youngest has ds and has just turned 1 and we plan to teach him as well. We are just going to get an early start with him on Brillkids!  (hopefully soon!) 

[mommy22]

@Sunnys Mother...

We have found that if you have high expectations for children with DS concerning their learning and you find innovative ways to teach them, then you will have them achieving a great deal more. When you lower the bar for them because of thinking it's beyond their comprehension and skills, which is what most "special needs" classes in regular school systems do, then the child will reach that level of expectation.

So...keep your lessons fun but always strive for the high expectations that your child can achieve great things. Individuals with DS have graduated High School , have gone onto University and have earned degrees!

I would suggest checking out NACD programs also. Children with DS have different ways of learning...it may take the child longer to grasp a lesson and retain the information. Neurodevelopmental programs like the NACD , are geared to each individual child's abilities.

[kmum]

I 2nd what mommy 22 said - high expectations are so important. I'm sure I am considered unrealistic in my expectations by some, but my daughter is living up to those expectations!

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