February 14, 2007 8:21 AM
Encouraging a work ethic in children with Down syndrome - or any children, for that matter
Daniel is #11 of our 12. I've told the story before of how we came to adopt him. For those new to this site, we have four boys with Down syndrome - one by birth and three by adoption. The cool thing about having four is that we truly understand how individual each individual is - and we have to be on the lookout for ways to encourage each one as he grows.
As a Montessori teacher/mom, you all know I encourage you all to get your children involved in chores. Toddlers love to help and the time to start them is when they're willing. Use my personal sidebar Google to enter Montessori or toddlers or preschoolers to read more about how to nurture that inborn love of service in your children - or get a copy of The Mommy Manual.
Anyway, one of the heartbreaking things to me as Daniel was growing up was his complete lack of interest in helping around the house. Those of you who've nurtured the love of service in your young children will know what I mean when I say heartbreaking. It's not so much that we need their help as that they need to be helping to reach their full potential.
Daniel has some autistic behaviors and his personality is very different than Jonny's (our 14-year-old with DS). No matter what I did, I could not get him interested in any family chores.
Until last summer, when all of a sudden he just got excited about everything going on around him - the work it takes to keep a home. Now there is nothing he doesn't want to do. It's as though at 10 years old he hit that developmental stage of toddlerhood in wanting to be busy with the things of the real world.
Daniel is very gifted academically for a kid with DS. He can read hundreds of words, do simple addition problems, understands time and money - he's way beyond Jonny in those areas. It's funny, but these are the areas many, if not most, parents of kids with DS start out thinking are most important.
They're not. The most important thing is social and practical skills - being able to move comfortably through life and have relationship with people.
So I am REJOICING at Daniel's breakthrough. To celebrate, I made him this book:
Just wanted to share this because I know some of you have pictures you took for Mommy, Teach Me! If they didn't make it through my editor's cut, don't think they were a wasted effort. Gather them up and make your child a little book, too. I used Comic font because I wanted this to be a like an easy reader for Daniel so wanted to have the traditional printed letter shapes we teach pre-readers. Also for the friendly feel.
I laminated the pages because I want them to last. Remember, I've suggested getting a laminator before because laminating will protect any teaching materials you make for your children - especially if you have a large family. Believe me, it will pay for itself - but what you can do is go in with a group of mothers to split the cost and share it.
I hope you like this idea! I'm showing the book to you first. Today I'll put it together and give it to Daniel.
Posted in Adoption, Big families, Down syndrome, Family, Montessori, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Permalink
Comments
Sweet! I have made similar books for my oldest 3. I need to get busy on the rest.
Posted by: Connie | February 14, 2007 10:06 AM
Wonderful idea! As the homeschooling mommy of three with DS (one by birth and two by adoption) I am always open to new ideas for my special girls. I love your perspective on helpfulness and personal connections being relatively more important than academic skills--I often have a hard time deciding what I want that balance to be.
Posted by: Jill | February 14, 2007 11:46 AM
That's an awesome idea. I also love the circle you drew for him to sweep into. I've been so frustrated trying to teach my children to sweep because all they do is drag the broom around. That looks like it would give them a goal and a focus -- get all the dirt in here! :)
Posted by: Michelle | February 14, 2007 8:56 PM
Barbara--you have tons of information on helping kids work and be helpful and enjoy it... any advice on how to inspire ourselves to a better work ethic?
Posted by: young christian woman | February 15, 2007 7:11 AM
Reading through your latest posts has been interesting indeed. I commented earlier on the post about the "Safe Side" video because our day coinciding with it. Now I just have to comment here because my 10 year old with autism (not DS), who was also previously uninterested in learning any tasks, has just had an awakening of a similar sort. He wants to pour his own drinks, attempt to cut his own food, vacuum, dust... And, lastly, I'd just been wondering how much the fact that I'm an introvert affects the way I'm coping with the constant kid demands I'm facing lately, when I happened upon the post about personality type and mothering! Have you been inside my head?!
Thanks for sharing as you do.
Posted by: marian | February 15, 2007 10:55 PM
I have been blogging lately about going through puberty with my son with Down syndrome. We made a change to really focusing on contributing, working and changing our language. We stopped calling them "chores" and started calling them his "job". He now gets a "paycheck" instead of "allowance". Just some little changes we made to get him thinking about employment....crossing my fingers!
Posted by: Jodi | February 17, 2007 7:38 PM
Yes, I certainly wish I had known about laminators a few years ago. As you say, it would more than have paid for itself. [that and several miles of Velcro]
Best wishes
Posted by: mcewen | April 22, 2007 6:44 PM
