Educational Support, Training and Information
Down Syndrome awareness training, teaching strategies, reading and maths resources, and evidence-based educational programmes for schools and families
Down Syndrome Awareness Days (Barnet)
Run by the Early Years SEND Down Syndrome advisor and Senior Educational Psychologist, open to teachers/nursery staff and parents. (See Barnet Local Offer for more dates/information). Well worth going - simple and practical ways to support children within the classroom, to maximise their learning. These days are absolutely vital for anyone in the Education setting and for parents.
Only a few examples of what you can learn:
- Behaviour: a range of strategies for avoidance behaviour, appealing alternative to misbehaviour, understanding the amount of concentration needed for a task and what is manageable, using visuals to depict the school rules, giving the child or young person a job in the class to help.
- How to support language reading and more: focus on reading is important because children with DS learn to read words before saying them, so unlike other children in the class, they need a whole word approach to build up meaningful sight vocabulary by being taught to read whole words. Of course, children can learn the basic understanding of phonics to support later reading development, but the main teaching focus needs to be on building up the child's sight vocabulary. Reading then develops articulation, understanding of grammar and sentence structure, to name a few skills.
- Visual support: one simple example could be to use big pens and bold lines (Think Big Think Bold). On the workbooks to support all children with Down Syndrome who often have subtle visual impairment issues, even if they do not wear glasses, also ways to encourage independence, consider where they sit in class and so on.
Down Syndrome Levels of Expertise (Barnet)
This provides an ongoing Education Framework - supporting children and young people with Down Syndrome in primary and secondary schools. The document outlines the best practice for schools in supporting children and young people with Down Syndrome. It focuses on:
- Planning.
- Curriculum.
- Social, emotional and behavioural needs.
- Personal support needs.
- Transition/Activities.
The levels of expertise are a summary; they present three levels that schools can use for checking their offer and planning next steps. Bronze is level one and details standards of practice for schools to make sure they have a good offer for their pupils with Down Syndrome. Level two, silver, outlines a more developed offer of support and expertise. Gold, level three, outlines excellent practice for children and young people with Down Syndrome. See Levels of Expertise Supporting Children and Young People with Down Syndrome in Primary and Secondary Schools.
Schudio TV - What is Down Syndrome?
This short, video-based, online free course provides an introduction to Down Syndrome and dispels some of the most popular myths. The Ability Bridge - Inspirational online courses for teachers.
We created SchudioTV to provide teachers, school leaders and staff easy, affordable access to a range of high-quality, inspirational online courses. The journey started when our youngest son started school. Arran has Down Syndrome, and his school couldn't access the training they needed to support his education simply because they couldn't afford it. I'd love to quickly tell you the full story!
Our aim is for you to access the training you need without it costing the earth and, wherever possible, for free.
DSE - Down Syndrome Education
(Also affiliated to Down Syndrome Education International, Down Syndrome Education USA and Down Syndrome Education Enterprises CIC) It aims to help children from infancy to adulthood improve outcomes. It has strategies to help speech development, reading, language, maths and has advice for health issues that affect cognitive outcome, focusing on improving early intervention and education. Started in 1987 by Professor Sue Buckley OBE, who is one of the world's leading researchers in the education and development of children with Down Syndrome. See the Down Syndrome Education website.
Down Syndrome Education International
An international charity that supports scientific research and delivers evidence-based advice and information to improve outcomes for children with Down Syndrome worldwide. Facebook and Twitter groups, too. Research, resources and training and consulting services to offer parents and professionals expert, evidence-based advice and guidance on early intervention and education for children with Down Syndrome. Also, provide accessible online training and support. See the Down Syndrome Education International website or email hello@dseenterprises.org.
Online resources and teaching materials are offering detailed information and practical guidance for parents and professionals. This charity also offers advice and online training courses, and consulting and training services, offering expert guidance and support to parents, therapists and teachers worldwide.
E.g. of resources: See and Learn Speech, See and Learn Language and Reading, See and Learn Numbers, A reading and language intervention for children with Down Syndrome (RLI), Down Syndrome Issues and Information, videos. Resources on the Down Syndrome Education website.
Reading
Reading is often a huge focus in class, and for a child with Down Syndrome, this can be hugely beneficial, as often they learn to read before they might learn to speak or to write, and this can be used so it can be hugely supportive and confidence-building, with the right support and experience from teachers, families and others.
Maths for Life
The Maths Mum
The Maths Mum® talks about maths and Down Syndrome.
Why is it important for someone with DS to learn maths?
Children and adults with Down Syndrome need to understand maths to be able to live an independent life. They need to be able to deal with money, time, weights and measures and do simple calculations. Technology today can support them, like the rest of us, but a calculator is only useful if you know how to use it and can gauge if the answer it gives is sensible.
What are the key challenges?
The way maths is traditionally taught in schools weighs heavily on the use of memory… short-term, long-term and working memory. We know that Down Syndrome is typically associated with poor short-term memory, and therefore, we need to adapt and develop new ways to teach our children to compensate for this. We know that visual memory is a strength, and it is essential that we capitalise on this and use visual maths aids to support learning. We know that our children are achieving more and more, and with today's early intervention, they have the potential to keep pushing the boundaries. And as The Maths Mum®, I have a professional and personal reason to help this happen.
When should I start teaching maths to my child?
From birth! Honestly, maths should be an integrated part of life from the beginning. From the singing of nursery rhymes such as "One, two, three, four, five… once I caught a fish alive" to counting fingers and toes, from the learning ‘more' as your first Makaton sign to understanding more and less. Mathematical words like big, small, slow, fast, tall, short, as well as colours and shapes, all form part of the pre-number skills needed in maths. It is never too young to start introducing these words and concepts… Would you like the big car or the small car? Which one is the red block? Modelling with things that you find in the toy box and around the house. Maths is based on the ability to be able to tell what is ‘the same' and what is "different", so it is always useful to point out things that are the same and things that are different, starting with obvious differences such as colour and size, but then looking at more subtle differences like spotty socks versus stripy socks.
Resources
Contact Details
- Email: contact@themathsmum.co.uk.
See and Learn
- Carefully structured, evidence-based activities and guidance to help children speak more clearly, to communicate more effectively and to learn to count.
- Step-by-step instructions and practical resources designed to make it easy to help children with Down syndrome and other children with similar learning needs learn early speech, language, reading and numeracy skills.
- Can be used to help children learn foundational speech, language, reading and numeracy skills from birth through to the early school years.