Friday, February 18, 2011

He Will Read

I am beside myself with excitement. Last night we put in a DVD for my youngest son to watch. It's from the "My Baby Can Read" reading system. He's watched this one a few times but not very consistently. My husband and I were watching it with him and the word "dog" flashed up on the screen. My son looked at it and then made the sign for dog. No one said the word, there was not a picture of a dog, only the word and he READ it. Yep, he did. A few minutes later, "cat" came up on the TV screen and he made the sign for cat. Again, he READ the word. He had no hints, he had no other clues except for the actual word.


What a huge accomplishment and proof that he can read. Wow! I'm thrilled.

I've taught my kids to read. I don't send them to kindergarten and spend that year with them teaching them through a phonics program. We also learn math and other skills, but reading is our main emphasis. A reader can learn anything because reading opens up the world. My first grader has now read 650 books by herself. We recently had a read-a-thon at the elementary school and in two weeks she read over 800 minutes. Most of my kids go into school reading above grade level. I teach them myself because I never wanted any of them to fall through the cracks and end up not reading.

Since I've taught my other kids to read, I plan to teach my youngest son to read, but I was concerned he might not be able to read. I know that many kids with Down syndrome read, but some don't and I wasn't sure what to expect. I tend to have high expectations for my kids and I just wasn't sure what I could expect with him. Now I know. He will read. He will be able to immerse himself in the world of books and I am so excited for him to do that.

I bought a book about teaching children with Down syndrome to read in hopes that I'd be able to teach my son. And now I know. He will read! Yay!!!!!!

5 comments:

heather said...

I used that book and ereadingpro system to teach Morgan. It really works! She was reading on a kindergarten level in kindergarten. She's now in 2nd grade and reading beginning chapter books. Here's a post I did about the techniques I used when teaching her how to read with the flash card system.

http://sealbark.blogspot.com/2009/04/reading-and-down-syndrome.html

Rachelle Christensen said...

That is so awesome! You're amazing Rebecca! I agree reading is the key to learning and exploring the world. It's been so fun watching my two girls learn to read and start to recognize words all around them.

LuAnn said...

Maybe that's an unexpected benefit of this program the company isn't aware of ... helping children who have challenges. You might want to bring it to their attention so other parents can benefit.

Rebecca Talley said...

Thank you!

Heather, I'm trying to decide if I should purchase the ereadingpro. I've read your blog about it and gone to the website. I'm very tempted because I really want him reading before he starts school.

kbrebes said...

That's really wonderful news!