Welcome to See and Learn Online

See and Learn is a range of teaching programs designed to help young children with Down syndrome

See and Learn teaching programmes are designed to help young children with Down syndrome. They offer families step-by-step guidance and resources to support their child's early development at home. They can be also used in early education services and to support speech and language therapy. Developed by Down Syndrome Education USA and Down Syndrome Education International (DSE), the See and Learn programmes offer practical, targeted and evidence-based approaches to promote the development of language, reading, speech, memory and number skills.

See and Learn includes four programmes - See and Learn Language and Reading, See and Learn Speech, See and Learn Numbers and See and Learn Memory. The first steps in the language and reading program and in the speech program are now available. Further steps in these programmes and steps in the memory and number programmes will be published in 2013.

Available steps

Four steps are now available in the See and Learn Language and Reading programme:

See and Learn First Word Pictures is designed for children who are at the first stage of learning language. It contains activities and resources to help children learn 60 common first words using pictures. This step also prepares children for learning to read by helping them develop their visual skills through matching and selecting activities.
See and Learn First Written Words provides activities to teach 16 familiar written words and 34 phrases containing two 'key' words. See and Learn First Written Words is designed for use with children who have completed See and Learn First Word Pictures (children who understand more than 50 single words and who are able to match pictures).
See and Learn More Word Pictures uses visually-based matching, selecting and naming activities to help children learn 55 new words that are common in early vocabularies. See and Learn More Word Pictures is designed for children who have already completed See and Learn First Word Pictures. It is designed to be used at the same time as See and Learn First Written Words.
See and Learn First Sentences provides activities to teach 'sight' reading of 16 new written words (supplementing those introduced in See and Learn First Written Words). These written words are then used in four books illustrating a variety of sentences with three 'key' content words. Sixteen sentence cards with matching photos will help your child get extra practice reading, understanding, and producing sentences with three 'key' content words. The types of sentences illustrated reflect the types of three word sentences that are typical at this early stage of language development.

Two steps are now available in the See and Learn Speech programme:

See and Learn Playing with Sounds provides the resources and guidance necessary to give children with Down syndrome the extra practice they need for listening to sounds, hearing the differences between sounds and producing sounds in isolation.
See and Learn Putting Sounds Together provides the resources (sound cards and picture cards) and guidance to give children with Down syndrome practice at blending sounds together.

Evidence-based guidance and resources

Each step includes a guidebook, record sheets for recording progress and planning, and the materials (e.g. picture cards) to support the activities recommended in the programme.

The See and Learn programmes provide guidance and activities that are consistent with the available scientific evidence about how learning can differ for children with Down syndrome and about how to adapt teaching techniques to better meet the children's needs.

The See and Learn programmes are being developed by leading researchers and practitioners with extensive experience of supporting children with Down syndrome and their families.

Down Syndrome Education International has conducted groundbreaking research and pioneered new teaching techniques for over 30 years. The charity is widely recognised as a leader in scientific research, support and resources helping improve educational and developmental outcomes for children with Down syndrome.

Print editions

We produce readymade printed editions of each step, conveniently packaged and containing everything needed to get started.

These can be ordered from our online stores in the US and in the UK.

Digital editions

We used to offer an online edition for free. Regrettably we are no longer able to do so.

Updates

Announcements about new steps in the See and Learn programmes and the new digital editions will be available on this web site. They will also appear on our news feed (RSS) and in DSE's email news.