I made this video by way of a progress report to see where we are at right now. My children are not the product of any one reading program, rather their abilities are the result of Glenn Doman's teachings in his book "How to Teach Your Baby to Read".
You can never have too many children's books. Over the years we have collected reading materials from various companies as well. You don't have to go all out like we have to be successful. I'm just an early learning junkie. :) The following all contribute to their reading skills. This is not a comprehensive list, nor do we faithfully follow any of these programs religiously. They are just a good place to get your feet wet. This list is not meant to intimidate or overwhelm, but rather to serve as a reference for those looking for reading materials ideal for babies/toddlers/preschoolers. We also read a lot of books.
We also have homemade materials we draw from, such as Flip-up Cards and Bits of Intelligence.
For my older kids, we are simply finding materials at their level and read with them. Patrick and Helen still do their formal reading with me. Helen's favorite book this year was "The White Sea Horse" by Helen Cresswell. Peter reads on his own and I periodically check in with him, ask him about the story-line, who the characters are, and clarify anything that may be confusing. His favorite book this year has been Charlotte's Web.
Early learning has really made regular school so much easier!
By the way, I made the text portions of the video using VideoMakerFX
I am so excited to tell you about this program. Intellectual Baby is a company that has grown so much in recent years and I finally took the plunge to see what their reading kit is all about. See why I chose to buy it now in this post. Now it's time to get down to business. :)
First of all, I LOVE the flashcards. This reading kit comes with 200 solid, glossy cardstock, full-color flashcards. One side shows the word clearly in large, non-serif font using lower-case letters. The other side shows a full color picture to demonstrate the word, as well as a small grey word for parent's reference, as shown in the video. I love these flashcards so much that henceforth, whenever anyone asks me how to teach a tiny child to read without any screen time, I will tell them to read Glenn Doman's "How to Teach Your Baby to Read", as before, AND to purchase these flashcards to save them from a lot of work. In fact, the cost of making the cards if you're going to print out pictures on the other side would be more than buying them from MonkiSee, so unless you want to clip pictures from magazines from the thrift store and you've got more time than money, this is the way to go. Alone the flashcards from the kit are $85, or $17 for each set of 40. I am so glad that this resource is available for parents now. My baby Ruth, (13m) especially loves the cards and I enjoy being able to show her words during our downtime, like in the car, and even while I nurse her. I love watching her eyes light up when I pull them out.
Second, the books. The first thing my husband said when he saw them was, "Wow, these are really high quality". He was impressed by the classy layout of the pages that show the words isolated from the pictures, as well as the idea of using pictures of the leading puppets, Howie and Skip, on a colored background. He commented on how simple and intuitive they are, and how effective that kind of simplicity can be. I agree. Patrick was especially delighted to read the books because Skip is his favorite character out there. Alone the books retail at $12 each, or $24 total.
All of this talk about the physical aspect of the program, when the DVDs are the best part, especially if you are looking to buy a reading program for the first time. The physical materials drew me to the program because I needed them and I already have Your Baby Can Read and Little Reader, so I didn't NEED the videos. But each of these companies that I love, each showing they have been influenced by Glenn Doman in their own way, are unique. They have their own special way of approaching the material, and it's nice to have variety. Rest assured that I love the DVDs. So let's talk about them.
Volume 1, Baby's First Words:
This is the first MonkiSee DVD I purchased several years ago. If anyone else is in the same boat, I am happy to report that it has been updated. While I loved the poetry and puppets in the first version, as well as how beautifully words were defined and illustrated in video and song, it wasn't my favorite for teaching actual reading. The reason for that is because each word was only shown once. They showed the word "Baby", then showed what it means for up to a minute without seeing the word again. They only read "Baby" once during the entire film. As a result, we watched the full video occasionally, but mostly used it for the slide-show clip that shows. Again, this DVD has now been updated. Now you get to see the word "Baby" several times while they define it, and so on with every word in the film. I am thrilled with this change. Hey, the original Signing Time videos were redone after the company grew. I believe in second chances. It's part of growing up. :)
Volume 2, All About Colors:
In this volume Skip bemoans that he while he would love to paint a rainbow, he doesn't know the colors, so his big brother Howie helps him. In addition to the basic rainbow colors and brown, black, white, grey and pink, Skip also learns indigo, silver, gold. My favorite part of all of the MonkiSee videos is Krista's rich use of poetry. I am amazed at her ability to pen little poems and ditties for such a variety of subjects, as her spectrum of videos have shown us. It's cute poem after cute poem all the way through all of them. For example, a PART of the color red shows her children eating licorice while we hear, "Licorice is red, licorice is sweet. Licorice is my favorite treat". Or while we see beautiful flowers in the breeze we hear "Purple flowers, dainty and fair, make me want to stop and stare". Krista told me that she loves to read books with poetry to her children and it naturally extended into their videos. I suppose I should read more books with poetry! All of the videos are rich with them.
Volume 3, All about Shapes:
Skip gets a box of shaped cookies from his grandma that he shares with his brother Howie and Olivia as they teach him how to identify all of the different shapes. Skip learns circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, diamond, heart, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, star, and crescent. One thing I love about these videos are the little references they make to the benefits of reading. For example, "These old books are rectangles that sit on the shelf. I can read one of these books by myself." There are also lots of interesting facts squeezed in, like "This bolt head is a hexagon with six sides around. They are stronger than nails, pound for pound." The video ends with an original song, "Shapes are Everywhere", a review of colors and shapes combined, and a slightly awkward scene where Howie and Skip politely say goodbye because they need to get rid of us before they can eat their cookies. haha.
Volume 4, Around the House:
Let's face it, this one is my favorite. Bar none. Why? There are three original songs, "Around the House", "Door Song", and my favorite, "Tricycle Song". These songs are really cute. This is the perfect time to introduce DaVida. The four oldest Guerrero daughters have started their own guitar band and it's been fun for me to watch them grow as their talents have increased. I love seeing family bands and singing groups, partially because that is my dream for my family some day. I would love to help my children do that, if they are willing. Let's just say that I have a soft spot for homeschooling families that draw closer together through their music. Their talents are beautifully showcased in this volume. My four-year-old told me she wants to learn how to play the guitar after watching this movie.
Action Words:
So, if I'm allowed to have a favorite, I'm also allowed to have one that isn't my favorite, and this is it. My kids love it. It's one of those movies that the kids love and the parents put up with because the kids love it. The film is centered around an action song. It's very repetitious. It's a good exercise film for them. They love to do the actions. So in one room we have little kids laughing and interacting with the film, while mom is rolling her eyes in the other room as the song gets drawn out a little longer as each new set of action words gets plugged into the song. Then again, one time I came in and did the whole song with the kids. When you actually do the actions while you listen, I guess the song isn't so bad. Olivia's enthusiasm is really cute. The rich vocabulary and poetry is present like in all of the videos. I can like a movie (I really do like it) without it being my favorite. Besides, even the Hokey Pokey can get old if you're not standing in the circle.
Each of these five videos are $20 each a la carte.
MonkiSee Music DVD:
This is a special DVD they recently put together that has the music of the videos in one collection with follow-along words so you can sing them karaoke style.
MemoFlix Video Flash Cards:
These are such a rich resource! If you have read "How to Give Your Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge", you will understand the value of exposing your children to "bits of intelligence", otherwise known as flashcards. But they aren't just flashcards, they are "bits" shown in categories that help babies to make connections. It's nice for them to know that blenders, waffle makers, and microwaves are all kitchen appliances. That bricks and concrete are both building materials. That acrobat and abacus both start with A. There are hundreds and hundreds of these words, divided into categories, and organized in a user-friendly menu so you can find what you are looking for. I LOVE the MemoFlix videos. So much time was put into making these. They're better than flashcards at home too, because there are often sound clips shown with the pictures, so you can hear what sound a snake makes while you see the picture after the word, and so forth. Volume one is full of categories like "Mammals I" and "Christmas". By "full", I mean three pages to dig through and choose from. There's a lot of content here! Volume two is for the letters. See a rich variety of words for each letter. Volume three is for consonant blends, including "ch", "ph" and "sh", as well as "kn", "wh", "sw", and common combinations like "st" and "cr". Volume four is for word families. This is for words that end the same, such as "ore", "ug", "ack", and so forth.
Guide to Teaching Your Baby to Read:
I already touched on how this film helped me teach my oldest, Peter, to read in my first MonkiSee post. In short, there are a lot of books out there (not just Glenn Doman's book, there are older ones like Winifred Stoner's Natural Education, and newer ones like Timothy Kailing's Native Reading) to help you teach your baby how to read. If you didn't want to use a pre-made program and just want to do it on your own, or you simply want to understand why and how it works, I would refer you to one of these books. But if reading isn't your thing and you would rather "wait for the movie", this is it. Krista does a great job. She has a lot of experience and she brings her own tips and tricks of the trade to the table.
The MemoFlix and Guide DVDs are $50 on their own.
All of these are really worth the money individually, so to get everything I've reviewed thus far for $140 is a real bargain in the "Baby Reading Kit Plus". You can add their two newest DVDs, "Animals at the Farm", and "ABC Roundup", as well as two more sets of flashcards if you get their complete reading kit, which is $185.
Animals at the Farm:
This was bar-none my 2-year-old Patrick's favorite Christmas present last year. This video is especially filled with interesting facts about animals. Howie has been reading and he's eager to share what he's learning. Cats can run up to 30 miles an hour. Ornithology is the study of birds. Donkeys have incredible memories. I'm kicking myself for not taking advantage of a special opportunity that was available for this film- MonkiSee fans submitted high quality videos of their children either on a farm, or dressed up as or acting like a variety of farm animals. My parents have a farm 20 minutes away and I never got around to it. :( But rumor has it that they will be making an ocean animals movie in the future with the same opportunity, so if you want to potentially jump on this kind of an opportunity in the future, it may be there if you subscribe to her newsletter.
ABC Roundup:
The first time I watched this video, I thought it was really cute and well done. That was about it. Then our family signed up for Netflix and I finally had an opportunity to watch "Leapfrog Phonics Farm". Now I'm not out to get Leapfrog because I thought it was cute, overall. But watching that film made me realize how spoiled I've become with the high-quality programming we have chosen, and what I have come to expect from an educational children's film. There's good, better, and best. I only mention leapfrog by name because it is a very popular series that is widely acclaimed for it's educational value. I will call it "good". But I couldn't help but compare them since they were two new alphabet videos for us watched in the same week. Leapfrog shows us a funny "Noisy Newt". First of all, newts aren't noisy, but it does show us the sound an "N" makes. In ABC roundup, we see three examples, one of which is a real video clip with a Nuthatch bird (new vocabulary for Mommy, I admit), complete with the bird call, as we hear "'N' is for the Nuthatch, nibbling nervously. He grabs a chunk for his lunch, and then the Nuthatch flees." ABC roundup explains the three different sounds an "X" makes, and how "K" is silent in "KN", among other phonetic variations. My children love ABC Roundup, and they giggle every time they see the Monkeys going ballistic trying to catch floating letters. I love the original music, and as always, the poetry and rich vocabulary introduced to my children. I will call ABC Roundup "best". What makes the video all the more endearing is knowing that it was primarily made by one homeschooling family. What an amazing family project!
Full Disclaimer: I purchased the reading kit at a discount as they took into account some of my previous purchases through the years. It was a purchase I chose to make because I needed the cards and I wanted to give MonkiSee a full review on this blog of my own accord. I was also given a free copy of ABC Roundup and the two new flashcard sets to review. I was not otherwise compensated for my review, and my opinions are fully my own. :)
This post is long overdue, but this last week we purchased their full reading kit so I am prepared to give the full inside scoop, and I am so excited to tell you about this reading program. This post is a little history of my relationship with Krista, how we have watched the company grow, and why I finally bought the complete program and couldn't be happier. Full review of the product coming soon (it's taken me awhile to get through all of the material. Wow, 10 DVDs!), so I decided these should be separate posts.
When I first started our early learning journey, I was determined to do it without the help of a package. I wanted to be frugal, I wanted to make materials myself, and I was reluctant to spend any kind of money on a fancy program. My oldest, Peter, was my guinea pig. I found and read Glenn Doman's books before he reached his first birthday, and I found a wonderful yahoo group (which is no longer very active), and I was on my way. I made bits of intelligence cards, worked with my son, and overall our learning program was a success. He was a smart little cookie. Except, he couldn't read, which was the early learning skill I wanted to give him the most. His third birthday rolled around and he still wasn't reading, and I was feeling discouraged. I know that may seem strange to the average citizen, but let me put things into perspective by stating that I was/am actively participating in online communities where the average success begins at 1, and even 9 or 10 months. Videos were shared of 2-year-olds reading full books, and not just by random people on the internet, but by individuals who were becoming my close friends. I realized that it was time for me to step back and re-evaluate my approach. Part of the problem was that I was trying a phonetic approach where these mothers were doing a whole-word approach, but part of it too was that they had purchased/utilized better tools to get the job done.
One of my friends that I especially looked up to was/is Krista. Shortly after my son's third birthday, she made a post about her youngest daughter. She had picked up reading a little later than her siblings, but had recently made a breakthrough and was picking things up quickly. She shared this video to show her progress.
This particular video was so very inspiring to me. It made me realize that it wasn't too late for my Peter to be an early reader, I just needed a different approach. I was able to acknowledge to myself that I wasn't a failure because he hadn't picked reading up yet. This video gave me fresh courage and determination to find success.
Shortly thereafter we purchased "Baby's First Words", and while my toddler daughter liked it, Peter simply didn't. Maybe it was because he was in the older-limit of who the videos were designed for. Maybe it was because many of the words were drawn from Glenn Doman's recommended starting point and thus were similar to the words I had already shown him and he had grown bored with them. But whatever the reason, Peter was my top priority at the time, not Helen. (This particular DVD has been redone, and the new version is much better.) So we looked at our options. They were different then than they are now. The BrillKids reading software didn't come with books. MonkiSee was a younger, smaller company. I didn't want to rely too much on screen time and Your Baby Can Read came with cards and books, so we chose YBCR. I felt a little guilty posting my first success video because I didn't want Krista to feel bad that I hadn't chosen her package (silly, I know, but a woman thinks these things), but she was the very first to congratulate me and share meaningful commentary. Krista is very excited and passionate about early learning in general, and she has always offered support regardless of what products a family is using. When I stop and think about it, this makes sense to me especially in the context of knowing that my family's success cannot be attributed to any one product, but to the symbiotic use of all of our resources and our overall learning environment. " 'Do you think John would like a book for Christmas?' 'No, John already has a book.' " Still, praising programs that do compete with hers takes character and I love her for it. I know many people like myself who have all three programs and like me, they love all three. But I digress.
Peter soared through the YBCR materials, but he wasn't reading books independently. That transition was something we needed to do on our own. I relied on three sources to figure that process out. First, our fantastic local library, second, Glenn Doman's book, and third, Krista's video "A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read." I've been watching the MonkiSee company so long I bought it as a digital download before it was available on DVD. If you don't want to read Doman's book, watching this video is the way to go- many of the principles are demonstrated well and she brings fresh ideas to the table. Part of my problem in making my own materials is I spend too much time creating durable materials designed to last all of my children. While those materials are still in our family's library, the time involved in making them QUALITY limited the QUANTITY I could make. Krista's homemade books and materials were simple, effective, and so easy to put together. I looked at those books and realized that I could easily replicate them at home, and I did! So even though Peter didn't learn to read with the MonkiSee materials, MonkiSee was indeed still instrumental in his ultimate success.
Meanwhile, Helen and Patrick were learning to read, enjoying the Your Baby Can Read and a couple of MonkiSee videos alike. Helen largely learned to read with Peter at a slower pace, but Patrick has been in a class all his own. He was an infant when we purchased YBCR and was often present, but being a baby, I also regularly showed him the "Baby's First Words" video. As soon as he was old enough to voice his opinion, he showed a strong preference for MonkiSee. I am friends with Krista on facebook and between that and her signature on the BrillKids, he sees Howie and Skip (the starring monkeys) often, and without fail, he not only points them out every time he sees them, but also requests to watch the video. His favorite Christmas present last year was "Animals at the Farm." (Thank you aunt Crystelle!) He adores the characters. Helen quotes the poetry in the films, and has picked up a few nuances in her speech like "I don't know why, but I _____" and "I try to ______ with all my might."
So my kids love MonkiSee, and it was time for me to reevaluate our reading program. Here's where my family sits. Peter (almost 6), is reading on about a 5-6th grade reading level, has recently started reading chapter books like Lego Ninjago on his own. Helen (4) is on a 3rd grade level, and Patrick (2) is on a 2nd grade level (my best guess, my kids have not been tested.) So these three have their foot in the door as far as reading goes, they just need a library card, which leads me to my daughter Ruth (13 months).
Overall, I have collected a nice library of early learning tools to teach her with, and she has been already exposed to much. The conflict I have run into is that, well, I'm a busy mom, and even with my resources, the thing I need to do is balance my time with my all of my children and their unique educational needs, not to mention that without fail, they seem to want dinner every night. I'm finding that our screen time needs to balance out as well. While we love to play outside and explore nature, and they have plenty of free play time, I shamelessly admit that we also use technology to aid our learning, including screen time. We have one portable DVD player and one laptop. The computer is used for our BrillKids products, for piano, for Netflix and YouTube, for StarFall, and other educational learning games. There are so many things I would like to do every day and sometimes it is hard to fit everything in. While the daily Little Reader lessons do happen, and I maintain that it is enough to teach a baby to read, the bottom line is, the more you do, the faster they will progress, and the more they will learn.
I think that OFF-screen learning should ideally happen too, which again is why I originally went with Your Baby Can Read. At the time, they had the best physical materials to supplement the DVD reading instruction. The only problem is, those materials didn't hold up. It's not that the materials were not made of high quality materials, but rather their design could have been better. Children are used to turning pages left to right, so the page-size lift-a-flap books tore easily and have been taped and re-taped, and often sit in our book hospital instead of the bookshelf for handy use. The pull-out-cards were also very appealing to my children, but they bend too easily, and then tore. They're mostly gone. This leaves me with the beloved teaching cards, which I have used and loved much, and they're still here. But they are words only, and only teach reading. I know all too well that babies not only love pictures, they learn better when they understand what is being taught. If you had never seen a tricycle before, the word would be meaningless, but with a picture, you instantly understand the concept of "tricycle" and are more likely to retain both the vocabulary and the reading ability. Seeing a tricycle in use is even better, but that's not possible in an off-screen flashcard session. Seeing a picture is a grand reward for tiny children. I wanted physical materials that I can use with Ruth while the other children have their screen time, while driving, or simply during our down time, and I have not seen anything on the market that compares to the value and quality of the physical elements in the MonkiSee reading package.
Don't get me wrong, the 10 DVDs looked great to me and my baby gets screen time too, but ultimately it was her reading cards and books that led me to take the plunge. Sure, Patrick was absolutely thrilled when he saw the movies and I'm confident that the poetry and rich vocabulary will benefit Helen and Patrick immensely, but ultimately this purchase was for Ruth. I know I have never been so well armed to give an infant reading success. What a lucky baby!
In a previous post I reviewed the Little Reader software, which is the meat and potatoes of this program. It was $150, and for $100 more, you can get the Deluxe version with the physical products I review in this video. We have been using Little Reader for a couple of months now, and we are seeing some amazing results. I love the convenience of the software. It takes much less screen time to do Little Reader then it did to watch DVDs, while being more effective.
The story books are very cute. They are my favorite part of the whole program. The start out very easy, but even the easy versions are stories. Children know the difference between readers and real story books, and these books have the feel and quality of the real thing. In the first video, you can watch my 1-year-old read one of these books. This was 2 weeks after we got Little Reader, and it was his first book. However, he already knew his sight words from "Meet the Sightwords", and most of the animals from "Your Baby Can Read". Learning individual words is fairly easy, but putting it all together for story reading was one of the most challenging parts of teaching my oldest to read. This becomes even more challenging when you consider that my little boy is still speaking with 2-4 word sentences. In essence, he can read better than he can talk. Reading full sentences has really helped him with his speech development. The BrillKids Little Reader storybooks have made that process of reading full books easy. The practice from these storybooks has helped my 3-year-old expand her reading abilities, as well has develop her confidence to do so.
Here is more detail about what is included in the Deluxe package.
I know that I have posted a lot about BrillKids lately, and I'm about to do it again. They are such an amazing company and I really love them. Today I'm going to tell you a bit about their charity arm.
I have been reading some of Glenn Doman's books again, and one of the things that struck me more this time around is how it is largely the middle class that is engaging in these programs. Why? Well, largely it is because the rich have a sense of security of knowing that their children will have an excellent education, so they don't think about things like early literacy as much. The middle class are the ones who can afford to look into these kinds of programs, have the time to devote to it, and a myriad of other factors.
But what about lower income families? The ones who often don't know where their next meal is coming from? Sadly, these are the children that often struggle in school, who don't have books in their homes, and are caught in the cycle of poverty. As I have learned more about early learning, my heart goes out to these children especially. They have as much potential for greatness as any other group of children, but the opportunities to get the education they need for that is often hindered. Sometimes the doors of opportunities are completely taken away.
Give a man a fish, and you give a man a meal. Teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.
For this holiday season, instead of giving a poor child a doll or a toy train, what if you could give a small child the gift of early literacy? For less than the price of a candy bar, a state-of-the-art reading software program (in my opinion, the very best reading program out there), can go into the home of a small child in need. Parents of these children will be empowered to give their children so much more, and all they need to do is push play. Imagine what it could do for one of these children. Instead of entering school far behind their peers academically, they could start ahead, already knowing how to read. Imagine how they would embrace life's opportunities if they felt they were good at learning, instead of knowing they were behind and giving up.
I truly think that this is one of the best opportunities I have ever seen to lift a small child up and give them something truly delightful, something that can change their lives. I have been using this software with my own children, and I can attest that they love it. So many tantrums have melted into delight when I tell them that it's time for Little Reader. BrillKids has generously given this charity full rights to distribute the software to the Early Education for Every Child Foundation, who in turn are making a big difference as they distribute this much-needed software to the children who love it most.
I feel so passionate about this cause that, not only am I donating to it myself, but I am throwing in a little extra incentive for you as well. If you pledge $10 or more on their donation website, then I will give you a free copy of my "Beginning Rhythm" e-book.
Here is how it works:
1. Pledge at least $10 to this fantastic charity
2. Come back here and "purchase" the e-book through my online store. The product is free, and I'm going through the honor system. Please be honest and don't abuse the trust I have put in humanity in the name of helping these children out. I like to think that people are good. :) You will need to include your e-mail address. I don't have a newsletter, I'm not sure why there is a box for that.
3. In the event that the charity doesn't "tip" (but it will, I'm sure), you can either enjoy a free e-book for your efforts, donate to www.eeecf.org, or donate $10 to a charity of your choice. Do what feels right to you.
Here is a nice little documentary to tell you more about BrillKid's charity efforts in the United States.
I really love Your Baby Can Read, as I have blogged in the past. I was very happy this morning when I found Dr Titzer's letter on facebook. (dated Aug 17th, 2012). I think it is worth sharing here. I have been on an emotional roller coaster over the recent lawsuit, and trying to contemplate how this could happen in our country. There were no outraged customers that wanted a refund, instead there were thousands of happy, even passionately supportive customers that have rallied to Dr. Titzer's defense. I have been hopeful that they would still be able to sell their products internationally, and this letter confirms those plans. As a result of the lawsuit, many good, hard working Americans have lost their jobs, and those jobs have essentially gone overseas. I hope the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is happy now. Dr. Titzer is proud to be an American and would have liked to have kept his business on American soil, but Early Literacy is an important message, and he is sharing it only way he legally can. I will always be grateful to his company and his products for what they have given my children. Please allow me to share Dr. Titzer's message:
Dear Your Baby Can Read Facebook Fans,
First of all, I want to sincerely and openly thank each and every
family who shared success stories here or elsewhere and I thank the
customers who defended us while we were not defending ourselves. Some of
your words of support came when attacks were coming from many
directions and it made this time easier knowing I had the genuine
support of so many famili
es who have actually used the products.
I want to thank all of the former employees of Your Baby Can for their
years of dedicated service while YBC had the rights to Your Baby Can
Read from September of 2007 until August of 2012. These employees were
devoted not only to their company, but also to the program. We had many
competent, hard-working employees who lost their jobs through no fault
of their own. I also want to thank the initial management team who
believed they could make the world a better place by helping babies
learn. Thank you for spreading the program to so many families who would
not have taught their babies to read without your vision.
Finally, I want to thank the people who allowed our tiny company to
regain the worldwide rights to the products. We will stand up to the
people and organizations who brought down the company because this is
much more than a business to me. We believe our programs provide some
tools and some ideas that could help children around the world –
especially in underprivileged areas.
Your Baby Can Read is
probably the most-studied baby video in the world with at least a dozen
studies looking at aspects of the program. All of the studies show
positive results for babies who have consistently used the program. We
will not be silent on issues surrounding early literacy. We will provide
studies, explain everything more clearly, and outline the theoretical
reasoning behind Your Baby Can Read. We will be creating websites with
scientific information where parents and other interested parties can
look at all of the data and decide if babies should be learning the
written form of language at the same time as other aspects of language.
The Infant Learning Company is a small, family company that flourished
from word of mouth sales for more than a decade. Our little company is
happy to have the rights back and we remain dedicated to helping
individuals advance through early literacy and infant learning.
We are excited about the opportunity to communicate with you more
directly! The next few months will be especially busy and we appreciate
our customers continuing to help each other with personal comments
related to their use of our program. We look forward to having Your Baby
Can Read available again soon outside of the US, then eventually in the
US as well.
*edit* The two week trial for Little Reader is a 14-day trial, AND the first two weeks worth of material.
Here's a little of our back-story: (Skip if you have already been following my blog)
It all goes back to Glenn Doman, and my discovery of his book, "How to teach your baby to read". It changed my life! I read it when my oldest was less than a year old, and I became very enthusiastic about the whole process. I made lots of flash cards and got started. But then a few discussions with others as I discussed the whole-word method, and with my own prejudices against it, I decided to try a phonetic method instead. If you are curious, you can see what we tried and why I think it didn't work in this earlier post: http://www.professional-mothering.com/2011/01/phonics-for-toddlers.html
A year and a half ago, we purchased Your Baby Can Read. We love their program, and are so very sad that their company went under last month due to legal battles with a company that didn't like them. I wrote a tribute to YBCR, with a home video of my children reading.
I maintain that you don't have to have a fancy program to teach your baby, toddler, or preschooler to read. Doman's method has worked for thousands of parents. Companies like YBCR, BrillKids, and MonkiSee were designed to help parents with his method, but you don't need their products to be successful. You can buy index cards and write a bunch of words on the blank side, and show them to your child and joyfully tell them what the word says. Start with words that have special meaning to your child, like the names of family members, or parts of the body. Make labels and tape them around your house, so that the computer is labeled "computer", the couch is labeled "couch", and so on. Read lots of books to your child and make a habit of running your finger under the words as you read. Play games where you make labels for a group of toys and show your child the word. Ask them to get the toy that goes with the card. There are a myriad of games and activities like that that will make learning to read fun for you and your child. I have outlined some of my favorite reading resources in my Reading Update.
Where we are now:
Recently my husband asked me "So what's next for Peter?" What a profound question! He still needs to learn some basic skills like how to write, but he is on a fourth-grade reading level, and is accomplished academically in many other areas. Now, at age five, he is ready for desk work, and he is the trailblazer in our homeschooling journey. I know that I need to spend a lot of time and effort to help him excel, and that's where I want to put my efforts this fall. What an exciting time this is for our family! Peter is not gifted, he has just had access to an early learning education. It has been a joyful experience for our family. His three-year-old sister wants to read books like him, and she is progressing rapidly. Even our 23-month-old is well on his way to learning how to read.
All of this without Little Reader.
So why do I come to it now? Well, I watched their recent promotional video and saw a few things about it that I really liked.
I now have four kids ages 5 and under, and I simply don't have the time to devote to teaching my younger kids to read that I did with my older two. This program is a ready-made curriculum and all you have to do is push "play" two times a day for five minutes as you sit with your little child. I don't have to remember which flash cards we have seen and what's coming next.
When the reading sessions are at the computer, the baby can't eat the flashcards. :o)
This program also incorporates Doman's philosophy of teaching Encyclopedic Knowledge. These reading lessons will increase my children's vocabulary and their awareness of the world that surrounds them. Now that I have the program and have previewed upcoming lessons, I know that my own vocabulary will increase as well. Have you ever heard of a durian? Maybe, but I hadn't. Then again, vocabulary never was one of my strong-points.
This program is comprehensive and finishes with your child reading simple books. "Your Baby Can Read" was fantastic for teaching my oldest how to read more than 100 words. But then what? While there were a few phrases in YBCR, and Peter could read several individual words, I was on my own to make the transition to reading actual books. We have a fantastic library here in Logan with books like Thomas the Train and Diego the Animal Rescuer. Those books were highly motivating for Peter, but we had to make that transition ourselves. Doman's book was instrumental in helping me accomplish that. In little reader, Doman's recommendations are built in. It goes from single words ("cup") to couplets (two words like "pink cup"), to short sentences ("I drink from a pink cup"), to actual books. The 25 books that come with Little Reader are a new development, and my children will be reading them by the time we finish the course. (The Little Reader books weren't available when I chose YBCR over LR).
Doman has great ideas, but his books can be overwhelming. Take what he says with a grain of salt! He tells you to make a chart with all of your word cards, rotate words in and out which requires tracking, and to make several homemade materials, which takes a lot of time. Parents have succesfully taught their children to read doing a small fraction of what he suggests in his books, so you don't have to do everything. However, Little Reader does all of that work for you (ALL OF IT), and you only have to push play. That's not part of their sales pitch, in fact I don't think they even mention Glenn Doman, but I have read most of his books, and I can plainly see that Doman was the inspiration behind it.
I'll be honest, I'm not a very good salesperson like my father. We have dabbled with the idea of a few multi-level marketing companies in our family, and I told my husband that I just couldn't do it. I may recommend my new blender, or green cleaning supplies to you if I love them while our kids play at the park, but I just can't see myself trying to get you to buy them. I'm very uncomfortable with that.
But! Early learning is a passion for me. (The name of this blog comes from Glenn Doman's admonition to become a Professional Mother). I would love to spread the idea that babies can read, they do read, and that they love to. That's a reality for my family, even if there is a lot of hype in the promotion videos. If you come to one of my "house parties", my goal will be to show you how you can accomplish that for your child. I'll show you our bracciation ladder and crawling track. I'll show you our home-made cards and manipulatives. I'll show you our "Your Baby Can Read" materials, and how they work. I am only wishing to sell you on the idea of early learning itself. I have had several moms come to see our materials already and it was really fun for both of us. I didn't have anything to sell.
Simply put, I would love to help others experience the same joy that I have had with my children. Truly, that is what is motivating me. I'll show you how to do it for a few dollars if you're willing to put in the time to make the materials yourself. The Logan library has Doman's "How to teach your baby to read", and I have two personal copies that I would love to lend to you. If "Little Reader" is a good fit for your family, great. I get a commission, and you get a 10% off coupon code (BKAFF13180). It's a win-win. If I'm going to recommend this product anyway, and the only way I know to help you save money on it is by being an affiliate, then this route just makes sense to me.
But I'm not going to try to sell you a premium product ($250) if it's not a good fit for you, especially when I know from my personal experience that you can teach your child for much less. If you are curious, you can come to my home and see how Little Reader works, or better yet, download their 2-week free trial and see for yourself.
In Summary
I love BrillKids. I have been an active member of their forum of 93,000+ members for a few years, and the other parents there are so inspiring to me. I love Little Math and Little Musician too! I'm just another mom on the crazy parenting journey. I've found an amazing tool to give my children early literacy, and it has brought a lot of joy to my family. I would love to answer any questions you may have, and if this is something you want for your children, I'll help in any way I can. Let me know if you want to do a playdate with me!
It has only been a year and a half since we started using
YBCR. You can see where he was then
in this earlier post. He
has come a long way since then. After he
finished the YBCR program, the “Your Child Can Read” videos helped further his
progress, but at that point we had our foot in the door. I made a few home-made books, like the “Krypto”
book in the film, to help with the transition from single words to
sentences. This gave him confidence in
his ability to read “real” books. He
also loves Starfall.com, so we bought a set of their beginning readers. Most of our reading program since has
consisted of reading a lot of books from the library.
Helen has had access to the “Your Baby Can Read” videos
since toddler-hood, and usually watched the videos with Peter. However, I was focusing my attention on
helping Peter first, and have only recently started working with her. My program with her has been more of a mix
between YBCR, Monkisee, and “Meet the Sight Words” from Preschool Prep.
The latter is a new addition to our library,
and while I was skeptical at first, it has proven to be a valuable
asset. Peter learned sight words on his own quite
easily just from context. I never “taught”
them to him specifically, in other words.
There’s no real need for it.
However, in Helen’s case, knowing the sight words has been her road to
reading. Almost every sentence has at
least one word that she knows, and usually more. This has given her
early confidence. I suppose her reasoning is, “I know half the
sentence already, just tell me the other half and I’m good to go!” When
our family does scriptures every night,
she reads a verse. We point to every
word, and she reads the ones that she knows.
When she doesn’t know a word, we simply say the word and she repeats
it. We read a lot of story books this
way as well. Helen doesn’t like the
flash-cards as much as Peter did (he loved them). Her program is to
watch the videos, and read
a lot.
Patrick is 22
months and is also becoming a young
reader. He knows quite a few words from
YBCR, but is more excited about sight words. He likes to point them out
when we read. If there is a book with a dog, he will point
to the picture of the dog and say “dog”.
He can read “dog”, but he won’t point to the word. Instead, after
pointing to the picture, he’ll
point to the word “like” and say, with as much enthusiasm, “like!” It’s
really cute. He knows more than 50 words.
In closing, I wish to again express my regret that “Your
Baby Can Read” has closed its doors this month.
I feel like we are losing a lot of our freedoms in this country, and
this event is a testament to that. Many
of their products are still available on Amazon.com and Ebay, so if you are at
all interested I would think that now would be the time to buy before they sell
out. I hope that the Campaign for a
Commercial Free Childhood doesn’t go after the other early learning companies
out there. Some of the alternatives to
YBCR are as follows:
Monkisee
I
have only purchased the first DVD, so I don’t have a lot
of experience with this program, but my children love it. There are
cute rhymes and puppet shows, which
I really like. The only thing I don’t
like about Monkisee is that there isn’t very much repetition in the
video. You see the word once, and then
have a cute mini-lesson to understand the vocabulary. There is a
flashcard track that
helps, but the repetition isn’t built into the main video. However, if
you had her reading program, you
would have the flashcards with the pictures, and using these cards would
more
than compensate. One thing I really like
about Monkisee is that it uses large red words, as recommended by Glenn
Doman. Red is an attractive color for
very young babies. The volume 1 DVD also
uses the words Doman recommended starting out with. I also bought her
"Teaching Babies to Read Guide", which was helpful, especially if you
haven't read Doman's book.
Starfall.com
We have a family membership, and my children LOVE it! About 8 months ago, I asked Peter what helped
him learn to read the most. His answer
was “The man in dext.” Huh? It turns out he meant the main index on
Starfall. We also bought their beginning
reader books, and the kids really like them.
It’s completely free, and was created by Larry Sanger. Sanger co-founded Wikipedia, but left when it
started hosting pornographic content.
His son Henry was an early reader and has been an inspiration to our
family. Much of the content on Reading
Bear was in part created by other parents, and I even helped a little. It has more of a phonetic approach, which
is helpful if you are starting with a 3+ year old child.
I have been a member of the online community for a couple of
years now. There are a lot of parents,
as well as early learning experts that frequent the forums. It’s a great place to go for advice for
teaching many subjects to young children, not just reading. Things like foreign language, music, art,
math, and music are discussed regularly, and if you don’t see what you like,
you can start your own topic. The forum
is free, and it’s a great place to start.
I have also been eyeing their Early Reader, especially after watching
their recent promotion video. It comes
with 25 books! I also love the idea of
working with customizable software. I’ve
done a lot of that on my own, but it’s a lot of work. If you have a nice budget to work with, I
think Early Reader would be the way to go. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing though.
In spite of all the other products we already have, I want this for
Christmas...
I have no experience with the Leap Frog videos, but we have
a neighbor who learned to read while very young with the help of Leap Frog
videos, specifically the word factory one.
I vouched for the “Meet the Sight Words” videos in my post,
but they have other products as well, including books. Apparently there are a lot of libraries that
have these videos.
I’ll put a plug in for him whenever I can. His “How to Teach Your Baby to Read” book is
what started it all for me. My
philosophy for early learning changed when I read that book, and the very name
of this blog (Professional Mothering) came from his charge to become a
professional mother. His books tell you
how to make your own reading materials for cheap, as well as giving tips for
creating homemade books and flashcards.
Then
of course you don’t NEED a program at all to teach your
child to read. Library books have
ultimately been the bulk of our whole reading program. Spending lots of
time reading to your
children teaches them the “why” for reading in the first place. We want
them to love books! When something clicks in their heads that they can read to themselves, nothing can
hold them back. I love watching my
5-year-old read to his younger siblings.
He loves it, and they love it too.
Peter is not limited to looking at pictures when he is interested in a
book. He can also learn what the text
around it has to say. He can learn about the things that he is interested
in. He LOVES to read.
On July 16th, 2012, Your Baby
Can, creators of the “Your Baby Can Read” and the “Your Child Can” series, was
forced to close its doors due to legal battles with the organization “Campaign
for a Commercial Free Childhood”.
CCFC argued that babies can’t read,
and accused YBCR of false advertising.
Although they have no proof of this, reading experts who witnessed
babies reading from this program gave their opinion that the children in the
YouTube videos were not really reading, but were only memorizing the
words. Furthermore, CCFC pointed out
that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend television or movies
for children under 2. Such was the
foundation for their case. “Your Baby
Can” still strongly believes in their products, but could no longer fight the
legal battles.
As a parent, I think I’m smart
enough to decide for myself what products I will buy for my children, and judge
whether or not my child really learned to read from Your Baby Can Read.
I attest that they can read, and
I was very happy with my purchase. If I
was unhappy, they would have given me a full refund. In a free market, parents(the consumer), not
reading experts, would decide whether or not the product worked for their
family. If the product was not good,
consumers would stop buying it and the company would have folded on its
own. However, YBCR was immensely
popular, and the company grew.
It grew a lot.
It is only because of the legal
battles that it was forced to fold. I was
very sad about that when I heard about it.
My journey in trying to teach my children to read began almost when my son was born. I was learning about elimination communication, and saw in passing a comment made by a parent that the reaction people have to EC is similar to that of teaching your baby to read. What?!?! That started a new searching frenzy that led me to Glenn Doman, the yahoo group
Glenn Doman's writings as applied in our home have made such a big difference for our children. But the one fundamental part of the picture that was lacking was in our reading program. After a discussion about the importance of phonemic awareness and some of the damage that can be done with whole-word methods, I decided to focus on phonics from the start. At first, everything went well- my son learned his ABC's, and read a few simple words, and although that was great, I wasn't seeing the results that were typical for parents who were teaching their younger children to read.
The difference? The whole word method! Phonics was often taught later, but it was always the whole word method that got the feet in the door. It makes sense too. When a child starts putting two words together in a sentence, it is a major milestone. Tiny children have a hard time remembering more than one thing at a time, and so when sounding out the word "C-A-T", by the time they get to the "T" they have forgotten about the "C". At least this was my experience with my oldest son. He was so excited about the letters, that he struggled to think of them in the context of a word. By applying the whole-word method first, they learn about words first, they learn that the GOAL in reading is to know what the word is, and then the sentence. Perhaps I am reiterating myself, but to sum it up, I have come to be a believer in the whole word method first, phonics later. You need both to become a truly proficient reader.
The problem is, I was burned out. The idea of reading lessons for my son was a bit stressful to me, because Peter didn't enjoy most of our reading sessions. Every time we started, he would be eager enough, but soon he would become frustrated and avoid it all together. So we would wait a month and try again. Meanwhile I eyed the Your Baby Can Read program and fell in love with the interactive books and cards that come with the videos. So I sold my college textbooks (the ones EVERY vocalist should have in their library, but since I chose to be a professional mother instead…) and came up with the money to buy the whole program. Let me tell you, I have an extreme lack of buyer's remorse! It works! And the best part of all is that my children love it. They are eager for the movie, they request the book and cards, and my 3-year-old son has started bringing me his toys and asking that I help them to learn to read as well (giving him more practice. SWEET!)
How the program works for our children
In less than two weeks, we are already starting to have success. The video above is not anything amazing. He's not a whiz-kid, and I don't expect anyone to watch the video and think that he is. The point of the video is to say "This is where we are, and it's working for us". I am tickled pink with the progress that he is making, and I am so grateful for a program that has jump-started our reading program and put us back into gear. The best part of all is that he LOVES it. He now wants to know what everything says, he is brimming with confidence at his ability to learn, and he is eager to continue the journey. He can't wait for me to get out the Volume two materials, but he has to wait… I was a little bit worried that he might be too old for this method, but he's not. Life is good.
On a side note, has anyone noticed their child having a harder time with serif fonts? I read somewhere that they do, and you can see it in this video. He usually reads "elephant" just fine.
The program is working for my 22-month old as well. She isn't reading as many words as Peter, but she is reading. Then again, she isn't really talking as well as he is either. All of the vocabulary words in the movie have become some of her favorite. When I hum the theme song to YBCR, she gets excited and starts to dance. I am trying to teach her to read as well, of course, but I am focusing on Peter, and will show the videos at his rate first, going back to fill in the gaps with her later.
As for my 4-month-old baby, when he's awake he gets the reading sessions with the other kids. He is usually very attentive to the movie until it gets to "Twinkle, Twinkle", at which point he decides that breast is best. He usually watches the tail end, and loves that part too.
Application in our home
We're doing the whole program in our home. We watch the videos after breakfast, and at night. At bedtime the lights are out and the kids get to sit on "the big bed" to watch it before they go to sleep. They do not know that we've moved "lights out" time up, and they think that they get to stay up later. It is a win-win situation, and there are no distractions.
The pull-out cards are viewed when do go through our school box, the book is read during every story time, and the parent's guide flashcards are shown randomly, but at least once a day. It has been really helpful for us to connect our reading sessions to things that we were already doing.
Thank you, YBCR, for creating such a wonderful product. Whatever it is you did, you nailed it. We love the new release, and we look forward to using the Your Child Can Read videos when the time comes.
While I know that there are successful methods of teaching phonics for toddlers, we didn't have incredible luck. I made these videos nearly a year ago and have been hesitant to share them because his progression past the point shown in these videos has been very slow. My husband told me that I am not doing myself any favors by only showing my website what works in glowing terms, and he's right. It is actually kind of refreshing to admit that I am not perfect, that everything I do does not work, and to simply say, "That's okay." These videos are a year old when my son was 23 months. He knew all of his letters and recognized a few words. I taught him the sound that the letters make instead of the actual names of the letters. Now at 35 months, he knows all of his letters and recognizes a few words. Sound familiar? Our phonics for toddlers program had some successes, but overall the progress stopped after he learned his letters.
At a homeschooling convention, my husband went to a workshop that talked about how the human brain works, and how we build our memories. The average number of things that an adult can remember at the same time is seven. That is actually why our phone numbers are seven digits. For a baby, the number begins at one, and grows from there. This is why putting two words together in speech is one of the milestones that pediatricians look for. Even though the lecture was not about teaching phonics for toddlers, suddenly the reason why phonics was not working for my little boy clicked in my mind. Phonics is better for older children because they can remember more than one thing at once. They can remember "c" while they are reading "a", and they can imply "ca" while they read "t". Babies can't, but they can learn "cat" as a whole word. It is only one thing to remember. This is why my son was able to learn his letters so quickly, but struggled when we went past that point. Parents who are successfully teaching their babies to read are largely using the whole-word method.
My phonics program
Be that as it may, I taught with phonics, and I wish to share what we did. We started with the alphabet, and it worked great. I bought a Melissa & Doug Upper & Lower Case Alphabet puzzle and worked with Peter a lot. He loves puzzles, and by doing a puzzle that made him focus on the shape of the letters, he learned them much more quickly. Starfall teaches phonics for toddlers in their free interactive website. We use it a lot, and we love it.Another thing that I did is make an ABC poster. I bought red capital letter punch-out cards from the dollar store and glued them on a 22" by 28" poster. I was expecting a new baby any day when I made it, so on the other side I made a black and white checkered poster to help her visual development. That is part of Doman's How Smart is your Baby? program, and I just throw it in as a side note. I then laminated the poster, and as you can see in the video, it is a good thing that I did. This poster is a "toy", and it has undergone a lot of stress and survived. I took these pictures of the poster when it was more than a year old. Whether your methods use the whole-word or phonics for toddlers, I suggest that the materials need to be durable!
When I decided to teach my son with phonics, I chose to use Sidney Ledson's methods. Before I tell you how it didn't work for us, I do wish to say that his methods of phonics for toddlers have worked great for many people, and the two-year-olds who go to his schools nearly all learn how to read. I highly recommend his books, not just for reading, but for math, science, writing, and memory development. We have taken much of his advice in our home and had success with it.
Ledson's methods begin by teaching a few letters and then immediately beginning to read simple words with those letters. In his different books, he actually outlines a different order to present them, which is a little weird. However, he consistently presents "The Egg Game" as his chosen way to teach phonics for toddlers. In the video below, it was a success with my son because we only used letters. When we first introduced words, he did alright, but when we added more, he became confused and frustrated, so we quit for awhile.
We started again, and quit again in a somewhat frustrating cycle. Meanwhile his education continued in other areas, and we kept his knowledge of the alphabet fresh. Sometimes it was a little refreshing to me when Peter would point out a letter on a sign and people would comment on how great it was that he knew that. I would smile and thank them, but in my mind I would think "Yes, but he can't read yet..." It feels good to publicly admit it on a site so dedicated to early education. My 35-month old is not reading yet, and it's okay! The moral of the story is, Don't compare yourself to others, or you children to other children. With all of the technology we have, it is easy to find videos of babies reading. Remember that this sample is drawn from the whole world! It proves that babies can learn how to read. That's all.
I am grateful for the advice I received at this point from the yahoo group Teach your Baby to Read. Many of the parents in this group have been very successful, and I have been inspired by many of them. They suggested that I try Engelmann's famous book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I tried it, and my son loved it for the first week, but at two-and-a-half, he was too young for it I think. I made videos for him of the first few lessons, and it drew him in for an additional week, but I couldn't keep up with making the videos, and he seemed to tire of them as well. Then I tried scanning in the words in the order that Engelmann suggests, and used them in the egg game. Pictured here, I used a technique suggested by Sidney Ledson where I put a sticker on the left side of the word to help my son remember to read from left to right. He believed that phonics for toddlers should be as intuitive as possible, and this really helped. The combination of these two programs actually worked for almost a month, but as more and more words were presented, he became discouraged and we quit again.
Conclusions
I have to conclude that I do not recommend phonics for toddlers. This past year I have somewhat put my daughter's reading lessons on hold while I focused on her older brother, without much success. Now I'm going to give myself permission to forget about phonics for toddlers, but will readdress it when my children are older, if needed. Many parents with children who read as babies say that they intuit the phonics rules when they learn with the whole-word method. I am going to focus on the whole-word approach for both of them now. Maybe a year from now our update will allow me to share a bit more success. We have done well with teaching him to read music, however. I have outlined what I have done with him in my e-book, Beginning Rhythm for Preschoolers.
Yes, here is another website asserting that you can teach your baby to read. There are many out there, and I did much searching to get to where I’m at now. My journey in early reading actually began when I reading forum posts for elimination communication. They were talking about telling people about choosing to do teach your baby to use the toilet is akin to telling them that you’re teaching your baby to read. It’s almost a taboo subject, one the “experts” advise against, and is a decision that is likely to make your child a nasty little genius, or give him learning disabilities when he goes away to school.
I was intrigued, and began searching for as much information as I could. I already knew that I would be the one to teach my children to read, because I’ve always wanted to homeschool my children. Indeed, in courtship, I was very firm that I would be homeschooling my children, and was fortunate enough to find a man who had already decided that it was something that he wanted to do.
To make a long story short, I found Glenn Doman’s “How to teach your Baby to Read”. I was hooked. I then discovered the how to teach your baby to read yahoo group, an online forum which has inspired me, helped me grow, and shared in my joy of teaching. It’s a wonderful community, where I have truly formed friendships online.
And so I began teaching my son to read. In the beginning, it was a bit discouraging because I did not know if he was learning anything, but I kept working. Then, when he turned 19 months, he read his first word. The word was "baby" printed with magnetic letters on our fridge. At that point, he also recognized his name, and was becoming more solid with his letters. Instead of teaching him the letter names, I focused on their most common phonetic sound, and he started identifying them much earlier. At 19 months, he knew A, B, D, F, M, O, P, S and T, although he often mixed F and P up.
When he was 20 months, he could identify all of his letters. He had also grasped the concept of reading left to right, and could blend letters. For example, I would point to a word like "fig" and say "f-i-g", and then he would say "FIG!". He also knew baby, Peter, dad and mom by sight.
We've given him a lot of exposure to the alphabet with Dr. Seuss's ABC book, a wooden alphabet puzzle he does all the time, alphabet magnets on our fridge, an alphabet poster, starfall, and the ABC zoo game from Fisher-price's website. At first he just banged the keys in the baby version, but now I show him where the letters are on the keyboard and he pushes them in the toddler version.
Now at 25 months, he is reading several words, and is very solid on his letters. He continues to amaze me as we continue our adventures in reading. Here are some of the materials that I’ve made to help my children learn to read.
I have made several flip-up chart with rhyming words, and his attention span for these has been great. I used A.P.P.'s phonics files that he shared with the yahoo group to get words and pictures. For example, one of them is for at, using the words cat, mat, rat, and bat. At the bottom are the letters "at". We read the words and then he lifts the flap up to see a picture of it. I printed them on construction paper, glued the pictures on (which I had printed on white paper so the picture would look nice. I then laminated them and used velcro stickers to make them stay closed. It was a bit of work, but Peter really loves them. My cost for these was about $0.40 apiece. He often pulls these out and independently plays with them. He sees the word, and with a little effort, is awarded with a picture.
