Homeschooling and Down Syndrome - The Reluctant (??) Learner

Part One - The Homeschooling Parent

Children with Down syndrome (Ds) aren’t really reluctant learners but it may seem that way - especially in the early years of their lives. What may appear to be reluctance or resistance is just the way they try to deal with the complexities of life with Ds and the obstacles they face in learning.

Over the years I've had quite a few questions on this issue. I would like to share a few tricks of the trade. Little things that have helped me that might help you. Some are quite obvious but some thought given to the obvious may garner some new insights as to the importance of what is obvious and how it plays into the homeschooling environment.

Children First
Children with Ds are children first. Children are fun and like to have fun. They are silly and playful so why not play along! My experience with a child with Ds is that there is more fun with the extra chromosome! The learning environment should be filled with interesting and engaging materials that help make learning FUN!

The Parent
As homeschooling parents, we may be overwhelmed by the obstacles to learning our children with Ds face. I’m here to tell you its all about baby steps. – your own and the child’s. Homeschooling a child with Ds is not that hard – it just takes time and effort to learn how the child learns, what obstacles they face and then implement what you have learned into the child’s learning environment. You will learn together to make your home the best learning environment for your child!

Educate Yourself
Be educated and informed. My archives hold a great deal of information on homeschooling and Down syndrome. The sidebar to the right has many useful links. The Riverbend Down Syndrome Support website is full of research related to how children with Down syndrome learn and also quite a bit of information on homeschooling children with Ds.

Commitment
We all go through a research phase when considering homeschooling our children with Ds. It is usually a time filled with anxiety – very normal! We wonder if we are capable of this huge responsibility. You are! Once the decision is made to choose the homeschooling option, commit yourself fully to it. Our children will sense if we are just experimenting and not fully committed.

Our Approach
Are we approaching homeschooling our child based on their needs? When I was in the research phase, I feel in love with a literature based method of homeschooling. Soon I found out that approach would not be best for Reagan. She does not learn well from listening due to auditory processing issues.

So I switched my thinking and approach to best suit her learning needs. As you know, children with Ds are visual learners. All information given verbally should be paired with a visual – gesture, sign, flashcards, picture cues, the written word etc.

Our Attitude
Our attitude is so important to the learning environment. Our attitudes are contagious! If we approach our day and school hours with a positive outlook and enthusiasm our children will too!

I am by nature a quiet, reserved person. Though I do tend to look at life with a positive outlook, Reagan demands more of me. She has turned me into a rather loud and boisterous cheerleader! We feed off of each other in our excitement and love for learning.

The Parent – Child Relationship
A warm, loving relationship between the parent and child is essential in the homeschooling environment. Nurture this and many of your battles are won! Children with Ds tend to be very sensitive to the feelings of others. Reagan is no different. She wants to please me

Latent Gifts?
Homeschooling moms might discover a few latent gifts! Homeschooling may develop some underdeveloped gifts waiting to blossom!

Patience
Doesn't every parent pray for more patience? Homeschooling a child with Ds requires patience. Learning often takes longer and requires many more learning trials than with typically developing children. Just remember that as you tire of teaching a skill/concept they are just beginning to get it. The joy that follows when a new skill is accomplished or a new concept is consolidated is glorious!

Creativity
Don’t let your perceived lack of creativity stop you from considering homeschooling! I don’t consider myself the creative type but am surprised over and over again by what is delivered to me (from above) that which is needed to get a concept across! New avenues of delivering more abstract material appear with perfect timing.

Part Two