My Son is Reading

Any of you who know me, know that my youngest son has Down syndrome. I have been homeschooling him this year in hopes of preparing him to enter school next year.

I have taught all of my children to read. I homeschool them for kindergarten so that I can make sure they learn to read. I believe that reading is the most important academic skill they can have because if they can read, then the whole world is open to them.

For most of my kids, I have used the Spalding method, which is a phonics-based program. I also used Hooked on Phonics for some of my kids. I believe phonics-based approaches give kids the tools to decipher words and think it is the best way to teach kids to read.

Then I started teaching my youngest son. Everything I knew, or thought I knew, went out the window. I had to start from scratch and figure out how to best teach him to read. I read a lot of articles and books that said I needed to use sight words with him. So I made up flashcards with familiar words. We did that for a while, but it seemed like he needed more.

So I went back to teaching him the sounds of each letter. We do sound cards each day and he has been sounding out words now when we read. He has also learned many sight words. He still struggles with how to say the words, but he knows them.

One day, I suddenly had the idea to take the Hooked on Phonics books that I've used and make a flashcard for each word in the book beginning with book #1. I say the word and have him pick out the flashcard. I also say a sentence from the book and then have him find the corresponding words on the flashcards and lay them out into a sentence. It's working really well. He is not only recognizing the sight words, but he's also sounding out words using his knowledge of the sounds of the letters, which means he's improving his verbal skills.

The other day, we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I was astonished, and excited, when he started reading the book. I read the first part and he read the second part on each page. And he actually read it verbally. Yay!!!

So I know that he's beginning to read and, even better, he is saying words and using his verbal skills. It's been a long time coming, but I am so thankful to see this progress.

Sight Reading Cards

Any of you who have read my blog know that I have a son with Down syndrome. He is 5 and is currently enrolled in a virtual kindergarten class. He's doing well. He continues to surprise me with what he learns.

As much as I love seeing him learn the kindergarten curriculum, I am more interested, at this point, in helping him use speech as his primary form of communication. To this end, we have been working on sight words. I've made flashcards out of index cards and I've written down the words that are most useful and pertinent to him.

Every day we go through flashcards. To introduce some new words this week we decided to include the whole family. I read the person's name on the card, showed my son the name, and then asked him to give it to the correct person. I want him to associate those words/names with the people in his life. We then went around the house and put flashcards on the refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, bathroom, plate, cup, bowl, spoon, knife, fork, table, and chair. I'm hoping this will form a connection in his brain between the words and the items they represent.

I've also introduced him to names of animals, clothing, colors, and food by showing him the word and then associating it with a picture and/or sign. That seems to work very well.

A great idea someone shared was to take a favorite book and make sight words from the book so the child would then be able to read that book.


I don't send my kids to kindergarten at school because I prefer to teach them at home that year to make sure they learn to read and understand simple math concepts. I have taught my kids to read using a phonics program and all of them have entered school reading, some even reading 2-4 years above grade level. I'm sold on phonics programs.

Then, I had my son. I've learned that phonics is much harder for him to learn than sight words. I've had to relearn and reteach myself so I can work with him. It feels like I'm doing this all backwards. But he is learning and that's what's important.

And I'm learning, learning, learning, I'm thankful for the opportunity to see reading, and learning, from a different angle. Supposedly when kids with DS master over 200 sight words, they begin  to speak more. I'm sure hoping that's true because I can't wait to hear all that's on my son's little mind.