How To Teach Your Baby To Read
This is a monthly post on 'Book Review for Parents'. Every 1st week of the month I will post review of the books that I have read with regards to raising our children. My previous posts were:
Jan - Raising Musical Kids
Feb - Lynn's Money Adventures
Mar - Appreciating Your Child
Apr - How To Teach Your Baby To Be Physically Superb
Most parents think the 1st 6 years of a child should only be about play. Afterall, the children have many schooling years ahead after 6. Try reading about Glenn Doman’s early learning philosophy may change your thinking. Reading this book has changed my perception of babies & their potential. I realised how important it is to take advantage of the child's early years when their mind is like a sponge.
Babies came to the world in a 'blank sheet', they actually love to learn. The more they learn, the more confidence they gain. Ask any child who could speak whether they would like to be an adult. Most likely you will get an affirmative yes! They will tell you this is because adults know a lot of things. This is already a solid proof that children yearn to learn. But, they also need to play. So it is our duty to make learning an interesting play for them.
The book has a clear description of the Glenn Doman teaching method, telling you exactly where to conduct the session, how to make the flashcards, the specifics on the duration & the frequency of flashing them. The book also has a detailed explanation of rules that are the basis of the Glenn Doman philosophy. Understanding & following them are crucial for the success of the program. Most parents feedback that the method won't work on their children. After some prompting, that was usually because they did not follow the instructions specifically.
Many parents hesitate using Glenn Doman's method because this method is a whole word approach. These parents swear that phonics approach works better. I can attest to that because we used both.
When I started teaching AJ to read at 13-month old, I used Glenn Doman's whole word approach. He took it very well. I carried on with this method until he was about 3. By then he was able to read sentences & I hand made all his reading books.
After that, the father started teaching him phonics. He took phonics like fish to water because he has somehow acquired the skills of deciphering the sounds of the alphabet through the 2 years of training in whole word approach.
Jan - Raising Musical Kids
Feb - Lynn's Money Adventures
Mar - Appreciating Your Child
Apr - How To Teach Your Baby To Be Physically Superb
I came across this book & all the books written by the author in Dec 2007 when AJ was about 1 year old. When I started reading it, I fell in love with it immediately. What I love most about this book is that it stresses on the importance of a parent's duty in teaching her child. While all in the enrichment market for kids are crying out to you to send your little one to their centres to learn this & that, this book has this tiny voice that speaks to me, "Teaching your child is your responsibility."
Many parents ask, "Can a baby really read?",
"Why bother to teach your baby to read? Ain't they supposed to enjoy playing instead?"
Most parents think the 1st 6 years of a child should only be about play. Afterall, the children have many schooling years ahead after 6. Try reading about Glenn Doman’s early learning philosophy may change your thinking. Reading this book has changed my perception of babies & their potential. I realised how important it is to take advantage of the child's early years when their mind is like a sponge.
Babies came to the world in a 'blank sheet', they actually love to learn. The more they learn, the more confidence they gain. Ask any child who could speak whether they would like to be an adult. Most likely you will get an affirmative yes! They will tell you this is because adults know a lot of things. This is already a solid proof that children yearn to learn. But, they also need to play. So it is our duty to make learning an interesting play for them.
Teaching your baby to read will cause your baby’s brain to grow (active stimulation). Brains grow with use just as muscles do. Babies’ brains are developing faster in infancy than they will in later childhood since they have a greater ability to adapt. Children learn language skills faster & easier in infancy so it is easiest to teach them to read as babies than at any other time.
Reading is 1 of the most important skills a parent can teach a child. Learning to read can be fun for babies & toddlers. Learning to read puts them permanently ahead as proven in controlled studies, & it influences many other aspects of a child’s life in a positive way.
Reading is 1 of the most important skills a parent can teach a child. Learning to read can be fun for babies & toddlers. Learning to read puts them permanently ahead as proven in controlled studies, & it influences many other aspects of a child’s life in a positive way.
The book has a clear description of the Glenn Doman teaching method, telling you exactly where to conduct the session, how to make the flashcards, the specifics on the duration & the frequency of flashing them. The book also has a detailed explanation of rules that are the basis of the Glenn Doman philosophy. Understanding & following them are crucial for the success of the program. Most parents feedback that the method won't work on their children. After some prompting, that was usually because they did not follow the instructions specifically.
Many parents hesitate using Glenn Doman's method because this method is a whole word approach. These parents swear that phonics approach works better. I can attest to that because we used both.
When I started teaching AJ to read at 13-month old, I used Glenn Doman's whole word approach. He took it very well. I carried on with this method until he was about 3. By then he was able to read sentences & I hand made all his reading books.
After that, the father started teaching him phonics. He took phonics like fish to water because he has somehow acquired the skills of deciphering the sounds of the alphabet through the 2 years of training in whole word approach.
 |
| The 1st cards that I have hand-made |
 |
| Hand-made couplet words flash cards |
 |
| Hand-made phrases booklet |
 |
| Hand-made story book |
I was very glad that we chanced upon this book early & started AJ on Glenn Doman's reading programme when he was 13-month old. After 2 months of coaching, he was able to read some words. I have a video of him reading at 18-month old. You may click the link here.
For parents who have no luxury of time to make those cards, you may purchase ready ones at Glenn Doman Singapore. They also have seminars & workshops periodically which you may attend. You may contact them at 6456 3526 or email them at enquiry@gdbabysg.com
* This is not a sponsored post.
Yah.... Such potential. Too bad I didn't read about all these until my youngest . Oh well . And even with youngest , he was being Dolman trained without me realising it much until later. Tankfully though. So he was already reading before One . Sooooo effortless !
ReplyDeleteIt's a great joy for a child to start reading early. You have done a good job as a mummy!
Delete"Wink to Learn" DVDs are a really good shortcut to Dolman-Style Flashcards. And follow the same rules. That's what my boy was watching. That's why he could show that he could read by the time he was 10mths old. Both EL & CL. I tried other languages without much success, so guess it's really easier with languages that we can bring to life in our community instead. Even Malay was a failure for our family since we don't speak it.
DeleteYes, I heard about it. I'm not a person who advocate babies & tods to watch TV or tablets/phones until they are 3 & up.
DeleteYou are right, we need to use the language frequent enough to improve on it. But what was learnt is not forgotten. In the future, should your children be exposed to Malay more frequently again, they will be able to master it faster. :)
Most parents only object more to the TV programmes the kids watch. Haha - so showing 10 words for 2 mins repeatedly and repeated 7 days in a week. I couldn't care less. They are "flashcards" afterall. *hehe*
DeleteIf everyone is as discipline as you, then I do not see any concern here. But, usually it is 一机在手， 爱不释手. I cannot deny the fact that it is a super digital nanny.
DeleteThe "‘Look as well as Guess"’ system fits fast learners, slow learners and people with even the smallest trace of dyslexia are in a massive disadvantage. These types of clever and frequently talented children are tagged ‘"restorative"’ simply because of an undesirable system of teaching. If you want to increase your child ability then the blog teach children to read is best. Thank you for this nice article
ReplyDelete