What about moving "teaching babies to read" to next levels?

[Bystre deti]

According to Glenn Doman and his book "How to teach your baby to read" we are only on level 1 (or level 2 with 2 words files) in teaching our babies to read - one word written with big letters followed by another one word written with big letter etc. What about moving to the next levels in teaching as he advise in his book? Are we going to use this program to teach our babies to read also less or more word sentences? And what about the last level - reading picture books - using this program? What do you think?

[nhockaday]

I hope you understand that this is not the Doman method. This is a wonderful tool for getting your child started, but you cannot expect it to follow his every word. It is a separate entity. While they do praise and follow the Doman method, it is their own spin on helping children get started. There are limitations to a computer program. It is up to us, the parents, to decide how far we want our children's education to go and to continue it on our own.

[Bystre deti]

I think it is much easier to do these steps with computer program than without. I think it is about creating two words Word files, later on three words Word files and later on short sentences. Using or not using pictures with it? It is up to everyone. Word flash is enough for teaching reading. If we can find relevant pictures, even better. And what about storybooks? I think there are plenty of e-books available on the internet. We can just cut the pictures and add short sentences to acompany the pictures and create short story.. I think this program is just great tool for this. I can not imagine to create and print everything manualy.

[nohayo]

hmmm I agree that while this program does not follow the Glen method to the letter, it would be nice (if possible with the programming and stuff) to have those options pupisek was talking about It would add to the program in my opinion.

Otherwise, little reader still has so much untapped potential with the existing features even without that addition  We need to explore those a little more

[KL]

Ok, a few points:

1. Little Reader was designed to give you flexibility to allow different teaching methods for reading.  It allows you to do it Doman-style, as well as multisensory style like the Your Baby Can Read DVDs.  It also has more features and functions which is meant to enable you to do even more than those methods, especially when you see version 2 . (but can't tell you the details here otherwise I'd have to kill all of you. )

So, ultimately, you can use Little Reader to follow just Doman's method, or other methods.  Having said that, I do not think there really is a "Doman method" that is carved in stone.  I keep saying (and you will hear me keep saying) that a lot of it needs to be flexible, depending on how receptive your child is to a certain thing.  Similar to what Nikki said, do not feel you must be bound by 'rules', because ultimately, there are no rules, only guidelines, which are variable and flexible depending on you and your child.  As Doman himself keeps stressing, YOU are your child's best teacher, and YOU know best!

2. Regarding the main point that Martina pointed out in the original post, Nohayo is completely right that Little Reader has "so much untapped potential".  Absolutely.  And it was designed that way!  What we are creating is a TOOL to allow users to express their own creativity, or share the creativity of others.
So, of course we intended Little Reader to be used for creating not just single words, but also couplets, phrases, short sentences, and even story books!  In time, we will also be creating these materials too (actually, some are already under way as I type!), and the amount of stuff you can get Little Reader to do is virtually limitless!  It's just a question of time.

Now, the great thing is, you don't even have to wait for us to get those materials done - you can do it yourself in the mean time! And we absolutely encourage you to do that, and try to reward you for it.  But if not, then you can trust that we will get round to it in time!

Right now, we're still focused on getting the TOOL finalized, and after that, we will put more focus on creating more content for it.  In the meantime, I hope that users will take the initiative to create more content for Little Reader.

I think later on, I'll make a thread about what sort of things you can do with Little Reader, to help you all get your creative juices flowing!

[lawrencelb]

Word flash is enough for teaching reading. If we can find relevant pictures, even better. And what about storybooks? I think there are plenty of e-books available on the internet. We can just cut the pictures and add short sentences to acompany the pictures and create short story.. I think this program is just great tool for this. I can not imagine to create and print everything manualy.

Dear Pupisek,
I feel compelled at this point to encourage you to also consider the countless benefits of using actual books when discovering learning with your child.  Little Reader is an amazing program that provides a wonderful addition and terrific opportunities for your young one to learn about and experience the written word.  However, I would imagine (from everything that has been said/written by KL in this thread and in others)  that the creator of this system (forgive me if I am overstepping or putting words in your mouth!!) would agree with me that children need more than just experiences with a computer program to acquire knowledge.

Helping a child to gain print awareness (which is an essential pre-literacy skill) happens in countless ways every day.  Pointing out symbols and words in their everyday environment (think road signs, business icons, words on the cereal box, words on their clothing) is a fantastic way to help children become aware that symbols (and therefore words) carry and convey meaning. 

Children also learn so much about how "reading" happens from how real books are handled and talked about.  Early on, infants learn about directionality - that how a book is held carries meaning for them - how a book is opened, what side is the front/back, which ways is upside down/right side up...and so on.  Depending on the language the book is written in, children learn about whether the words/characters are read from "left to right" or "top to bottom"...

Just a personal example...my children knew at an early age how to "right" a book.  That is, if I handed them a book that was upside down (or if they had picked it up backwards to them)- they would turn it quickly so that it was "right side up".  This was certainly an important part of book learning...

In an attempt to not "run on at the mouth", I will finish this post up.  I would love to have additional discussions (at some future point) about other important elements that have to be present for a child to learn about reading and to learn how to read.  How individuals learn language (and reading is certainly language - it is comprehending language in its written form) is enormously complex and so fascinating - it is why I love what I do...and there is still much to learn.

Thanks for reading my thoughts and thanks to everyone for great discussions - it is so great to know there are so many parents out there who are seeking to do their best to help their children learn!!

[nhockaday]

Those are some great points lawrencelb. Karma point to you.

[nohayo]

I  love what you said too, Lawrencelb ! Personally, as you said, I would also want to teach my children to read from books I mean, now that you can get lots of stuff online or on your computer, kids who don't read books and realize how different they are from the computer are missing a lot, in my opinion 

[Lappy]

I must say Leanna, your post was beautifully composed and very well written! Props to you just for that!

I would agree with you that although the computer is a wonderful learning tool, it still doesn't replace the value and learning that one can be had with reading a book - learning how to read from right to left, holding the book right side up (directionality) are all essential parts of learning language, and I believe that holding a book in your hand also provides a tactile part of learning about life that can't be replaced.

I personally wouldn't say I am an expert on anything, but also adding in my experience growing up, I have loved the innovations given to me as a child by the computer (my first CD-ROM encyclopedia, interactive learning games, puzzles and mind teasers off the internet) but I also remember the inner joy I feel when holding a book, flipping through its crisp pages and leaving much to my imagination.

As for Little Reader - of course I have to agree with KL haha - the software IS intended to do SO MUCH MORE than just teach single words.  As shown in one of your default categories (Hey Diddle Diddle) Little Reader can also display whole sentences and rhymes - stories are not even beyond reach!  You can do so much with Little Reader, even choosing to attach music if you like or narrate whole stories if you have to.  Just having the basic functions (attaching pictures, audio, video) gives you so much leeway for creativity, you can teach anything - language, math, even sign language if you like!

As a last note, I am very happy that our forums discuss these sort of things, and we are very fortunate to have everyone here who is so willing to lend their ideas to everyone so that each of us may learn something new.

Cheers!

[Bystre deti]

I agree with everything that was said here. I will explain in more details MY point of view.
I am from Czech republic, my native language is not English, English is not spoken around me, there are no English native speakers in town where I live and not so many people I meet speak English. My daughter was born in Florida and then we moved back to Czech republic because all my and my husband's family is here. But still we want our daughter to speak English. We are trying to find resources to do so.
I have been reading CZECH to my daughter since her birth every day and she loves books. I was just wondering if I could use these program for teaching her (and may be other people teaching their babies) English as her second language. Firstly because it is so difficult to find good English books around here and secondly because I would like to expose her to native English speakers and different accents.
So I one hundred percent agree that it is much better experience to cuddle with my daughter in my bad and read together some nice book instead of sitting in front of computer with her. It is just a tool to extend possibilities what and how to teach her something extra....

[KL]

I would imagine (from everything that has been said/written by KL in this thread and in others)  that the creator of this system (forgive me if I am overstepping or putting words in your mouth!!) would agree with me that children need more than just experiences with a computer program to acquire knowledge.

Absolutely! Little Reader is not designed to replace anything, but to complement everything else that is available.  Well, perhaps the only thing it might really displace would be powerpoint files, but other than that, I would recommend that we give children as much variety as possible!  So, don't give up your real flash cards, your DVDs, and certainly don't give up reading 'real' books!  Each has its role to play, and each is different enough to give our child a different 'twist' to learning, and the more the merrier!

And yes, Martina, I know you didn't mean differently, and it's quite obvious now with your explanation why using Little Reader to teach English would be especially more useful for you because of the pronunciation files (for us it's like using LR to reach a foreign language like Spanish - Spanish flash cards and Spanish story books aren't going to help much! ).

anyway, going back to the original point of this thread, as mentioned, stay tuned for more 'advanced' content, but in the meantime, please help us by producing such!

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