DS Pins ~ 3.21.15 World Down syndrome Day!

They are all the same and different! 

Mariah and I had fun making these #WDSD15 pins for her schoolmates! 

Inclusive Middle School Choir Singing: "Count On Me" Song

YouTube Video by Rene Boyles 
3-20-14 Middle school choir pop concert

This is Sarah singing in her Middle School Choir Pop Concert. Look for her in the second row from the front row, and third row from the top row in front of the totally awesome boy with red hair. The student that stands out and makes this video a perfect example of why INCLUSION is good for ALL!

I came across this little video on YouTube and was so moved by what I saw and felt in my heart while watching it. I was moved to tears watching it! This video is perfect to share with everyone on my Blog dedicated to highlighting Positive Inclusion Practices, Inclusion Training Resources, Positive Stories and great Video's pertaining to Inclusion: Down syndrome Inclusion  

This video was recorded by her sister, Rene Boyles and uploaded to YouTube.

It's great to see a Middle School doing such a wonderful job of Including ALL Students that LOVE MUSIC!

Music connects us!

Song: COUNT ON ME by John Jacobson's Music Express ~ Volume 12 ~ Got Music

BRUNO MARS LYRICS
"Count On Me"

[Verse 1:]
Oh uh-huh
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see
I'll be the light to guide you

Find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need

[Chorus:]
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah

[Verse 2:]
If you're tossin' and you're turnin'
And you just can't fall asleep
I'll sing a song beside you
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me
Every day I will remind you

Oooh
Find out what we're made of
When we are called to help our friends in need

[Chorus:]
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah

You'll always have my shoulder when you cry
I'll never let go, never say goodbye
You know...

[Chorus:]
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
You'll be there
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah
Ooooooh, oooohhh

You can count on me 'cause I can count on you

IEP Meeting Collaborating as a Team~DS Education & Awareness Day #18

In honor of Down syndrome "Education" & Awareness Month -today is Day 18- I Advocated for a sweet little 6 year old that needs her school to "do the right things" for her to progress academically during this school year. 

I surprised the mom, telling her I would attend the IEP this morning with her. In honor of DS Awareness month, I wanted to Help Educate & Advocate for her little Sweetie-Pie. I wanted to help make sure everyone was on board with BELIEVING IN HER ABILITIES!! 

I love my Lil Peeps with Down syndrome!!!

Happy Day 18 of Down syndrome month!

Update:
Meeting went well at this school! At first it was edgy....but felt more 'collaborative' as we went along...as it should be. It felt like we were all working as a team for this little funny-silly-always moving little girl. There didn't seem to be that 'rush' to push thru and get this meeting on-n-over with so quickly. Mom said she thought it was only going to be a meeting for just 30 minutes or maybe up to an hour. The meeting moved forward fairly smoothly as we all worked collaboratively for close to 4 HOURS together! Having good discussions updating and doing things a little differently than usual...because this was an IEP meeting that Mom had requested to have, to discuss concerns she has for her daughter's education. 

This mommie reached out to me during an ESE Advisory Council Meeting asking "if and can they do" questions she was dealing with at her daughter's school. I met this little "punkin girl" and of course I saw all the wonderful things she was doing and how happy and active she was! ....WOW what a little talker she is too! I was VERY IMPRESSED with how well she talked to me and responded to all my questions I asked her! 

Nothing better than reaching out to another parent of a daughter (or son) with Down syndrome too! Another parent that fully understands her very real concerns for her daughter's academic education. Mom was getting discouraged when she noticed her daughter's IEP goals and things written into her IEP document was never changing and always seemed to say the exact same thing year after year. 

This was my first meeting attending with this mom and the grandmother at this school. I know they were very appreciative that I 'showed up' to help out!

BTW the front office at this school was decorated so amazing for the Month of October! Two scarecrows, lots of pumpkins, fall leaves, black cats, spiders and lots of orange twinkle lights! This made the school office FUN to come into and felt VERY warm and friendly and absolutely welcoming! This place gets high marks for atmosphere making you feel glad to be there. Made you SMILE when you walked into this school! The fall decorations were a perfect picture opportunity before we left the school. One couldn't resist wanting to take a few quick pictures in that school front office. 

Happy Down syndrome Education & Awareness Month!


October 18th, 2013

*Should I say the name of the school?

Would the school be OK with it if I did?

*I have permission to post pictures of this sweetie lil punkin face!!

"It is critical that the IEP team sees the student's future through both the parents' and the student's eyes."

"It is critical that the IEP team sees the student's future through both the parents' and the student's eyes."
NDSS website

Long-Term Goals: Parents should tell the IEP team that they want to prepare their child to live and work as independently as possible. This means being able to function and behave appropriately in a world of typical peers. The goals on the IEP should reflect the skills necessary to achieve this – both academic and non-academic. Parents acknowledge their high but reasonable expectations and inform the team that they will support them in any way possible. It is critical that the IEP team sees the student's future through both the parents' and the student's eyes.

Implementing Inclusion - National Down Syndrome Society ~ click above highlighted link for the full webpage from NDSS on the benefits of Inclusion for all students.

JUST LIKE YOU ~ Cool Short Video

THANK YOU Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City!! 
This is a PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL short video especially for October being Down syndrome Awareness Month!! 

3.21.12 World Down Syndrome Day ~ LET US IN - I WANT TO LEARN

SPELLING CITY .com ~ Unscramble the Sentence Vocabulary Game

OMG!! 

This is so awesome for helping with learning 
how to put sentences together! 

Mariah and I ~ BOTH LOVE "playing" this one! 

SpellingCity is such a perfect home ~ school teaching tool 
~ SO MUCH help & FUN! ~

http://www.spellingcity.com/unscramble-the-sentence-vocabulary-game.html?listId=6396929#.Tul8ahyA_Ws.facebook
Click above link to: 

~  "JUST TRY IT!" ~

Sign up for a yearly membership to Spelling City.com 

~ This is simply theee BEST and AFFORDABLE! ~ 

SpellingCity.com is really helping so many learn to:

Read ~ Write & Spell!

EASY & FUN all while learning!

LIFE SKILLS = Spelling ~ READING ~ Writing

For my brother and sister, and anyone who has ever experienced the beauty of Down Syndrome.

Uploaded by torihoo on Nov 17, 2011

For my brother and sister, and anyone who has ever experienced the beauty of Down Syndrome.

Entry for +15 Campaign's "One of Them is My Sib" contest.

This little video is so sweet for a sister to do for her 'sibs'!
Just had to post it here for everyone to see! Thanks Torihoo!

She LIKES doing Math!

This is Mariah doing her 5th Grade Level Math the other day.....she enjoys doing Math today more than ever before!


Now that she is bringing home her 5th Grade Level "Go Math" textbook everyday in her backpack - I am now able to see what she does in Math with her General Ed classmates without Down syndrome.... actual work done while in Math class today. Mariah is now coming home with Math classwork completed! Her classmates are more involved with being positive peer role models helping her do just what they are doing. This is progress in the right direction......finally!! It had been such a struggle to see what she was actually "doing in class". I wanted to see the same as her classmates classwork being done, group presentation work. Her teacher communicates in emails back & forth alot with me, he gives me little updates or snippets of her day, which makes it easy for Mariah & I to have conversations about her day easier. It's a new school year with newly updated IEP goals written in to help support her IEP goals that are now to be INFUSED & INCLUDED INTO HER GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM CLASSWORK.


My daughter is EXCITED to do some of her Math Homework now! This is her 2nd year in the 5th Grade and it is proving to be one of her BEST ACADEMIC YEARS so far!


Mariah is a student with Down syndrome (13 years old) and her desire to do well in school is motivating to her this year, because she knows she needs to well in Math if she wants to one day have a job as a Vet Tech and go to college.


Mariah loves school and all her teachers this year! Her mom is loving all the nice academic progress she sees Mariah doing so far this year!


This little video clip was taken at first without Mariah knowing I was recording her doing her homework, until I asked her if she liked Math...and she said, "yes" ..and it's the way she says yes that is so cute. I asked her if Math was hard for her...she says, "No, it's easy!"  ~ Oh my I love this girl!! ~


It's BASICALLY SIMPLE ~ or as Mariah will say.... "SEE, IT'S EASY!" If you had a whole Apple Pie sitting on the table in front of you, you wouldn't have to eat the entire pie to know that you LIKED Apple Pie and wanted to have more of it! You would know you LIKED it just by eating a slice of that Apple Pie! You would  know you LIKED it and WANTED MORE even with just a BITE of the PIE...even a TINY BITE OF THE PIE! It doesn't take eating the WHOLE PIE to know you LIKE IT & WANT MORE OF IT! ~   Point being, Inclusion is that same way.....providing a SLICE or a TINY BITE OF THE PIE (lessons) is what should be practiced in ALL our Classrooms today. That is what ACCOMODATIONS are all about....it LEVELS THE PLAYING FIELD for ALL Students. 


Mariah has Accomodations, she doesn't have to do pages and pages of Math that some of the other students may have to do....she just needs to do a PORTION....a small portion even. On some days depending the assignment she will do more or less depending on the new concept being taught. 


Today....she LIKES Math!


My daughter is now being provided more of that  Apple Pie (Grade Level Math) which is about her being provided a PORTION of the Pie (Math Lesson). Small bites of (Lesson) what she CAN DO! Let's give students what THEY NEED...in small portions and build from there. 


Mariah ROCKS in doing her Math this year and is actually doing 5th Grade Level Basic ALGEBRA!!


I am soooo PROUD of her!!

New Teacher with a New Attitude!

Once she was settled into her new classroom, her new homeroom teacher, Mr. Allagood started emailing me after school every day letting me know how things went in class that day. I was thrilled that not only did he email letting me know what the class lesson was about, but he let me know how he accommodated the lessons so she "got a piece of the pie." I have always said that inclusion is about allowing for lots of flexibility in lessons and how the presentation is provided in certain ways to particular students. For example, if a delicious apple pie was set out on the table for everyone, do they all have to eat the whole pie to know that they like and want more of that pie? If they were given a slice of the pie and or even ate just a piece of the pie, they would know that they liked it and maybe wanted more....even if someone was given just a smaller bite of the pie, they too would know they liked it and wanted more as well. 

Inclusion is much like that, a student should be given the opportunity to have at least a small bite of the apple pie. Being provided just a small bite of that delicious pie is enough to know you like it, you know it's good and you want more! Classrooms today are not a one-size-fits-all or at least I hope not. It's not about getting all students to eat the whole pie. It's about being given a piece of the pie and trying it! It's about doing the best you can with what you can handle. It is about being offered an opportunity to show that you can do your best, if you are provided the support and positive encouragement. It's about sharing so everyone gets a piece of that wonderful delicious apple pie! Everyone deserves a taste of the pie of knowledge!

Because of Mariah's articulation errors and language delays, she isn't always able to come home and tell me what she did at school. The first couple of emails that Mr. Allagood sent to me was a clear indication that things were now moving in a more positive direction with better collaboration and communication between school & home. He was willing to work with me and accept me as a parent that needed better school-to-home communication. He was able to accept me as an equal partner in educating my daughter. Together we were partners in helping Mariah learn as much as she could this school year.

When your Child has a teacher that refuses to have a simple conversation with you and keeps putting off a parent/teacher conference and you have tried all you can to make things work, when weeks have gone by and it's becoming more and more strained....it is so overdue time to put in for a request for another teacher that will! That was WHY I had put in for an immediate teacher change request. Mariah had originally started the school year out with a teacher that refused to talk to me and wasn't willing to be even a little bit collaborative. If some teachers are not going to even try to have any form of communication or any type of collaboration or provide the simplest back and forth collaboration, then it is obvious that something has to change. Requesting for a different teacher is not something a parent expects to have to do, it's not expected that a teacher will ignore you or put you off, but when it does...don't wait more than a month!  It's not fair to you as a parent of a student and it certainly isn't good for your Child, especially when they may be the only student in that teachers classroom that has a significant learning challenge! NO PARENT should be put off by a teacher when a parent wants to be involved in their Child's education. Parent Involvement is the big buzz word today....so what happens when a teacher doesn't do their part in nurturing a good 'involved parent' partnership? Put in for a request for a new teacher!

Mariah was thrilled to be in a NEW classroom with more of her classmates she had been going to school with since Kindergarten. Some of the students in her new classroom attend the same Girl Scout Troop she does. It was all good once we switched to a new teacher that was willing to include me in my daughters education, by keeping me informed about how and what went on in the classroom. I am an involved parent ~ I want to be able to help my child be successful in school ~ I want to be able to have a good working relationship with my Child's teacher or teachers. The classwork and the homework assignments that started coming home now were more in-tuned with my daughter's abilities and what I had been hoping to see! I was now able to begin to focus on a good school year, instead of being disappointed at how things had been turning out for the first 2 months of her 5th grade school year!

Mr. Allagood was willing to provide a quick written email everyday, he gave me little snippets of her school day and what the lessons were about and how he included Mariah into the lessons and what or how he had her work on things, what student helped her that day. Now that I was getting FEEDBACK coming home from school thru Mr. Allagood's emails everyday, there was absolutely better communication about what she did while in school each day. I was now able to see the big picture of what she was learning at school. The words she would try to say and the conversations we would have while riding in the car to her after-school daily activities & appointments now made better sense to me! Mariah was excited about the things she was learning, she wanted to share with me all the new things that were being talked about in school! She wanted to tell me about the friend that helped her in class that day. She loves school and wants to do well and learn new things and do her best! My daughter has dreams and goals of working in a Vet's office as a Vet Assistant or a Vet Tech. She knows she needs to do good in school....she's motivated to do well in school!

I asked for a set of classroom books to stay at home. To finally have a school text book to follow along with the daily lessons at home certainly made her homework much easier for us figure out and to do. Mariah is a visual learner and was able to take me to the exact pages and show me the pictures of what she worked on that day at school. The homework assignments made much better sense once we had a copy of the textbook at home! Mariah was now able to actually SHOW ME what she did at school. The excited look on her face when she would share with me during our homework session what the class talked about and what she learned that day in school are moments in time I will not forget! Her trying to explain things to me became easier because now we had the schoolbook! Now...we were all on the same page!!

With a quick little email coming into my INBOX everyday with a little snippet of Mariah's school day and how she was included or how the lesson of the day was accommodated for her to get a piece of the pie....made Mariah's 5th grade school year an absolute delight! It was such a simple thing for a teacher to do....to communicate and share with me how my girl did at school. Of course I looked forward to getting my daily email from Mariah's teacher everyday! 


I knew Mr. Allagood was going to be a wonderful teacher match for both Mariah and myself because in the 10 years with both my Children attending this same school, he would always say hello to me, even though neither of my two Children were ever one of his students. Mr. Allagood is a natural and does a fantastic job of being friendly to ALL students and to ALL parents he sees on campus. Mr. Allagood loves being a teacher ~ and it shows!

Thank you Mr. Allagood for all you provided to me as an 'involved parent that wants and needs to be involved' in my daughters education. Your daily "little snippet" emails helped keep me in the loop of what was going on in school everyday. Mariah has told me several times over the summer...."Mr. Allagood taught me that!"

.....THAT IS A SIGN OF A GREAT TEACHER!!

HaPpY April 1st Fools Day!

This is no joke! HaPpY April 1st Fools Day!