My daughter is 10 weeks old with Down Syndrome. I am wondering when is an appropriate time to start these? I am going back to work in 2 weeks and am wondering if now is a good time to start trying them or is it better to wait until she’s a bit older? She also has a heart condition so she sleeps often, I don’t want to overwhelm her when she is awake.
Congratulations with your new daughter! I would try and look at the reaction. generally I was doing a lot of reading, singing, listening to the classical music, sensory stimulation, and visual stimulation with black/white/red flash cads at that age. Then at about 3 months we started with Little Reader, not with the whole lesson, but a part of it, with frequent breaks, then about two weeks later I added Little math, then Little Musician, and then second language. We kept every single lesson very short and fast going, with lots of cuddles and praise.
You do not need to do the way I did it, I am just sharing what worked for me. You can start with Little Reader lessons only and do it a few times a day shorter lessons, keeping it fun and inspiring and stopping before she wants to stop.
We are always here to answer any question, there is always one of the parents in this community that probably went through some similar situations. So feel free to come back often and ask questions.
Looking forward to hear from you!
Hi! Now is always a good time IMO. My son has a genetic condition too and I wish we had of known about it sooner so I could start sooner! Of course you don’t want to overwhelm her, but most learning is just fun and loving stimulation so go by her reactions and your instincts and see how it feels to you.
Congratulations on your beautiful baby! There are some awesome resources out there for parents of children with Down Syndrome, from supplements to early education. I am just new here so I am not sure if I am allowed to share links but if you have not already found a door into the alternative T21 community let me know 
Thank you for the info! I would love links to any other info you have!
Hi Trisha!
Since your baby is just a newborn, (4 months and below) I would suggest starting with Infant stimulation cards. These infant stimulation cards are simple cards in high-contrast colors (black and white and red) which are proven to stimulate very young children visually. We have a few free downloadable infant stimulation card files at our Free downloads section: http://www.brillkids.com/free-download/index.php
Instructions on how to use your Infant Stimulation Cards:
- Put your cards on a pile, in the reverse order which you want to show the cards to your baby.
- With your baby near you, show the cards one by one. Use about 10-15 seconds to present one side of a card.
- After showing one side, present the corresponding pattern on the back of the card.
- Allow your child to study the patterns and adjust her eyes to the images.
You may repeat this exercise as often as you want, but of course, do take breaks and allow your child to take breaks, too! And make sure to stop the exercise when your baby seems disinterested or is preoccupied with something else - just take it up again when your baby appears more perceptive to the cards.
Listening to soothing and classical music will also help with auditory stimulation.
Meanwhile, personally encourage you to have a read through of one of our websites: BrillBaby (http://www.brillbaby.com/)
In BrillBaby, we discuss everything you need to know about teaching your child, how to start, what to remember, and even a review of several different products to help you teach. Although we at BrillKids also develop our own products for kids 5 months and onwards, we would never pressure anyone into just buying them without knowing what they do, so please read through BrillBaby first so you can decide which teaching method and style is best for you and your baby.
To learn specifically about teaching young children to read, please go here: http://www.brillbaby.com/teaching-baby/reading/introduction-to-teaching-baby-to-read.php
To learn specifically about teaching young children math, please go here: http://www.brillbaby.com/teaching-baby/math/introduction-to-teaching-baby-math.php
You’ll learn about the two methods you can use to teach - the flash card method (which takes advantage of right brain learning capabilities of children) and the multisensory method (incredibly fun and very stimulating for baby). We’ve built all of our BrillKids learning systems to be able to use both methods, so you have more flexibility in your lessons.
If you found which method works best for you, and you’d like an easier way of teaching, then I would totally love to invite you to try Little Reader, Little Math and Little Musician. (Don’t install the programs before you intend to use them though! There’s currently no way of extending trials, so it’s really best to only install when you intend to start using them.)
And of course - my biggest recommendation - is to ask questions on anything here in the forum. :happy: We have LOADS of families who have the blessing of caring for children with special needs here, and we would be more than happy to share experiences and ideas with you.