Hi Laura
That's okay, I appreciate the thought but thankfully I still won without your votes!  Not by much though, I won by just 22 votes.  It was very exciting to have won this contest.  Lots of people saw the video for which I am grateful.  I hope it gives people a better understanding of what a blessing our kids our.

Bloorview Children's Hospital in Toronto is having a video competition for the purpose of Bringing visibility to disability.
I have entered a video and am so excited that my video was just chosen by a panel of judges to advance to the finals.
The winner will now be determined by public voting beginning August 24 -31.  You may vote once per day.
If you like my video could you please vote for it daily for the next week?
I would be so appreciative if you would.  Thanks so much. Denise

Here's the link  http://www.filmpossible.ca/contests/showentry/815718

Hi Laura
In response to your question we do the cards quite quickly.  Josiah will look at the card for as long as it takes me to say what it is.  I think that's what you were asking.  If however you were asking how often to I introduce new material the answer is not often enough.  Our kids are capable of learning so much more than we teach them.  Their ability to learn is definatley far greater than our ability to present new material.

I want to respond to Ariel's question "Did you make your own Ek cards?"  The answer is "yes"  I have tried Domans cards but find the content sometimes not that relevant.  Someone already mentioned how they preferred to learn things that they would encounter such as local flowers. This is how I feel.  I also like to keep the facts simpler.

Even though I feel that it's not so much about the facts themselves as it is about what it does in the brain, I prefer to show things that I also enjoy learning that way I can be genuinely enthusiastic as I teach.

Thanks to all who have posted, I am enjoying reading everyones thoughts.

Now this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart.  Thank you dad dude for your interesting comments, the rest of you as well.  I have been doing EK with my 4 year old with Down syndrome since he was about 1.5.  I persevered for 2 years with little to no results, then finally at age 3.5 he suddenly decided to show me that he was taking in what I was teaching.  The question now is, is this just a neat parlour trick or is there true value.  I contend that there is great value in this and I will tell you why.  Be warned, my response is rather lengthy. Josiah is only 4 and will be 5 at the end of the month but already I see how learning these facts is helping him to think better.

Let me give you an example of something we are currently working on to illustrate.  I am hoping to get this on video in the next few weeks and I will post when I do.
I have been teaching Josiah some art.  I have pictures of 10 painting from Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir and Gauguin.  I started more or less by flashing a set of one artist at a time.  I then introduced the next and so on.  After I felt he knew 4 fairly well I laid the self portrait of each artist on the table then randomly would say the name of a painting and show it to him and ask him who painted it.  He would say the name of the artist and place it under his picture. (Josiah has only just learned to speak within the last 2 months, he used to point to show me the answer.  He had some words before but now he is putting them together and speech really seems to make sense to him now)

When Josiah could do 4 artists and 40 paintings I introduce Gauguin and within days he could distinguish his paintings as well. To exercise a different part of the brain I sometimes just ask him "Who painted, The Potato Eaters" for example and he will say "Van Gogh.  So he is using visual and auditory memory.  My next experiment will be to show him paintings he has never seen by these artists and see if he can distinguish by style.  I hope to do that soon but want to have a video going.

I do believe there is value in straight memory work as a brain building activity but I also believe that it is better to layer the learning which is what I am trying to do.  We also do flags and eventually he will learn the flag of France, and that Renoir and Monet were French.  Then one day I will have him divide the artists by nationality for example.  My point is that there will be some independent thinking going on.

To illustrate further why I believe this is building his brain power I will give you an example that has nothing to do with EK.  After Christmas we began playing a game called A fist full of coins.  http://fistfullofcoins.moonfruit.com , if you check it out the following may make more sense.  This game helps to develop processing skills.  Children with Down syndrome typically have great difficulty in this area.  I believe that the things I have been doing with Josiah such as EK have helped him to the point that he could follow these Level 1 instructions in the game such as “Put the yellow moon under the red heart box”.  He folds his hand while I read the instructions and when I am done reading he does what I read.  Another example is  “turn the yellow square box upside down and put the orange diamond on top of it.” In 5 months Josiah completed Level 1 (15 card) and we have just begun Level 2.  An instruction he has completed in L2 is “Put the orange button under the green oval box and put the purple car in the box”
This game says it’s for ages 5 and up.  Josiah is 4, with Down syndrome and I believe that the EK we have been doing for the past 3+ years has contributed to helping him think better.  I could be wrong but I am convince it has made a difference.

If you are interested here is a 2 minute video I put together entitled Are you smarter than a 3 year old with Down syndrome.  I have posted it on a forum before but since it is relevant to the topic I will repost. I realize that the video alone proves nothing, but hopefully the other comments I have made make my point.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/N9NqHcHNWWA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/N9NqHcHNWWA&rel=1</a>

Hi Laura

I was just checking out your website and watching the videos - well done!
I too have been teaching my son with Down syndrome to read from a young age.  While I have had some success with reading we have had far more success with encyclopedic knowledge.
It's strange but he seems a bit blocked with words.  Having said that he is still probably ahead of many kids his age. 
The key is to persevere and I feel newly inspired to do so.  Thank you.

Hello All

My name is Denise and I have 2 boys, the youngest Josiah has Down syndrome,  he will be 5 in June.
I have learned so much on this journey and am eager to learn more as well as to share what I have learned.

Hi Kezia

Little Math is not in my Brill Kids folder which might be the problem. It is in my start up menu seperately but when I click on it it does not open as I mentioned in my previous note.

My mother was recently helping me clean up my computer so perhaps she inadvertantly removed it.

If you could please help me reload it I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Denise

Hi I could use some help. For some reason my Little Math has stopped working.
When I click on the icon to open it, the opening picture of the boy with the abacus flashes for a second then disappears.
It will not open. Could you please help me to reinstall or do whatever you suggest.

Thanks,
Denise

I have no experience with dyslexia however I recently found out about a spelling curriculum that I think is fantastic. It was made by a man who is dyslexic and is supposed to be effective for teaching kids with dyslexia how to read. I am going to start using it with my 7 year old without dyslexia as I think it looks like a great curriculum.
Here is a link to the website. There is a video that explains it.
http://www.avko.org/sequentialspelling.html

Suddenly I can do it. Either I'm losing my mind or that button just appeared. There now is a "modify" button which I didn't see before.
I had previously posted a video of my son entitled "Are you smarter than a 3 year old with Down syndrome"
I have now posted it on youtube so wanted to change the link.
Mission accomplished!

Could you please tell me how to edit a post. I don't see anywhere to do it.
Thank you,
Denise

If you would like to watch the video please click on this link instead.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/N9NqHcHNWWA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/N9NqHcHNWWA&rel=1</a>
It seems to be too big a file. I had entered the video in a contest and it is still available on their website.

Encouraging story, thank you.

My son has Down syndrome and I have been doing flash cards with him for years.
I was doing cards for a long time before he first started showing me that he was taking in what I was teaching, close to two years. So I would encourage those who are discouraged not to give up.

I have attached a two minute video of Josiah at age 3, I posted this once before but as it is relevant to this thread I will repost. It is entitled "Are you smarter than a 3 year old with Down syndrome?"

I have a great suggestion of something I have been using with my son since he was 3 1/2.
It is called Mighty Mind. The website is www.mightymind.com
It is tanograms, in other words different shaped pieces that you place on a picture.
It helps children develop problem solving, matching, hand eye coordination and more.
My son has Down syndrome and we have been working through the 30 cards in the kit for 10 months now.
He has completed 22. As he does one I write the date on the back.
The kit I have is not magnetic but if you could get the magnetic one I would recommend it.
It is a wonderful educational toy.