Introducing… our first Teach Me Too ambassador!
To kick things off, we are pleased to introduce Che, our first ambassador for Teach Me Too! Che and his family will be sharing their experience of using the Teach Me Too project and telling us more about their lives. Celebrating the ups and the downs that life can bring.
Che is a lovely 4-year-old, and he lives at home with his mum, dad, brother Albie, and dog Jackson! He also happens to have Down’s syndrome, but this doesn’t stop him! Toni, Che’s mum, says: “He has been through so much and works so hard to achieve his milestones. He is funny and cheeky and makes us laugh out loud every single day. He is strong minded and full of energy. He loves life and is extremely sociable. He loves a good party and dancing and all the things that most four-year-olds love including going to soft play and to the park. He is mischievous and into everything, he leaves chaos wherever he goes but we absolutely love this about him. His smile is infectious, and his hugs are so squishy and warm that everyone wants one. He is a huge Peppa Pig fan and loves nothing more than jumping in muddy puddles just like Peppa! He really is an inspiration to us all and we love him more than anything.”
We all know how much joy our little ones bring into our lives, but we have all been through some challenges too. Particularly with the medical problems that can come along with Down’s syndrome and the concern this causes. Toni shares her experience from Che’s early life after they were delivered a postnatal diagnosis.
“Che was born in September 2019 after an uncomplicated pregnancy. On arrival Che was whisked away from us with no explanation. When we got to see him a few hours later we were told that it was suspected that he had Down’s syndrome. We were also told that he was a very sick little boy due to a hole in his heart and various other medical problems at the time. We feared the worst and were surrounded in so much negativity that our world was turned upside down. We didn’t know if Che was going to be ok and we feared what his and our futures would be like. I remember crying lots and grieving for the baby that we thought we were getting. For the next six months we were thrust into hospital life becoming new parents and nurses all in one go. We became Che’s biggest advocates as we supported him through both a bowel surgery and heart surgery and numerous complications.”
“Looking back at when Che was first born, I wish I had known what we know now, how amazing our little guy is and how he makes us proud to be his parents every single day.”
Che has been using Teach Me Too for around 6 months. Che’s mum Toni says this has been a key part of his development, using our resources and specialising them to work for Che’s learning needs.
“We have been focussing mainly on the mathematics but have taken ideas from the language videos and literacy videos to use within our daily routines and activities. He really likes listening and watching Lucy. He is an extremely visual learner and gains a lot from just watching the video first and then we join in using our own resources at home. The use of Makaton within the videos is also really helpful for Che as this is his main communication method.”
When it comes to using our resources, we always recommend that they’re personalised to the needs of the learner. Toni is an expert at this, using our resources alongside others and her own teaching to develop Che’s learning routine.
“As a parent I often watch the videos to gain ideas of how to introduce a new topic to Che. The videos also allow me to see the best ways to teach Che based on his learning profile. The videos are also a good way to plan in which topic we will focus on each week.”
Che has been making incredible progress.
“We try to do a bit of work with Che every day and he is doing well. He knows most of his phonic sounds although can struggle to pronounce them due to his hearing loss. He can recognise numbers 1-5 and some to 10. He knows his 2D shape names and most of his colours. He has a good understanding and lots of vocabulary. He mainly uses Makaton for communication but does use some single words and short phrases. I believe Che’s progress is due to us using resources like the ones provided by Teach Me Too and following the DS learning profile from an early age.”
“We love seeing him learn something new and are so excited to see him become the first ever ambassador for Teach Me Too. We can’t wait to share his learning journey with others.”
Learn and Thrive is so proud to be supporting Che’s learning journey and those of so many others like him.
We’d love to take on new ambassadors to share more about your experience with our resources! If you’re interested, you can contact our Digital Marketing Officer, Laura, at comms@learnandthrive.org.uk.