{31 for 21} Homework: Seven.

For the most part, life with a child with Down syndrome is "more alike than different."  One difference is the amount of support kids with disabilities, including Down syndrome, receive starting at birth.

(I have a pretty big support team.)

Because Ellie has Down syndrome, she has therapists come to the house twice a week to work with her on her cognitive and gross motor skills.  I love her therapists.  They make me happy, and I feel blessed to live somewhere with wonderful early intervention programs.  Each week, Ellie has homework from her therapists, so her opinions of them vary with the difficulty of "baby school homework."

(How about we skip to recess?)

This week, Ellie's homework is: pivoting, kneeling, taking objects out/putting objects in a shallow container, and making noises during meals.  (I make the letter sound for the mouth position Ellie is in.  For example, when she presses her lips together after eating yummy prunes, I make the /m/ sound.)

Although Ellie doesn't always like to do her homework, I like having specific developmental tasks to focus on each week.  Ellie would rather perfect her sitting or practice her army crawling skills.

(Check out this sit.  The grass underneath is kinda uneven, I'll use my arms.)

(Falling forward.... uh-oh!)

(This homework is hard, I'm leavin'.)

The tasks Ellie completes aren't any different than what typically developing kids will do during playtime, but because learning new skills will take Ellie longer and present a greater physical challenge, we are more deliberate.

Yesterday, I failed to post on the blog topic of the day, which was "One thing I love about having a child with Down syndrome." I'll tell you know now, I love the celebration when Ellie reaches a goal.

PS. Linking up at And Then She Snapped and Rub Some Dirt On It.