Hi,
I've been offered the Glenn Doman book "How to teach yopur baby to read".
My son is now nearly 11 months. I alreay sign with him. He loves it and it facilitates communication a lot, especially in a tri-lingual environment.
I am not very much into "pushing" the babies. I think they should just enjoy their childhood. But this book (as well as some common sense) is very clear that learning is a great joy for babies.
I'm not sure if I should try it or not. IT seems to be a lot of controversy on the issue. My 2 major concerns are:
1- Does it work? (and create a even happier baby)
2- If it works and the baby reads early, does it create tensions or problems when he later on enters the school?
Has anybody tried the Doman method? Would you recommend it?
Thanks
Geranska
I ended up not using this method (or any other).
My little guy will turn 3 in May. He loves "reading" (which basically means either that I read to him or that he tells aloud the stories in the bookds we've already read together.
He knows his shapes, colors, ABC and sounds of the letters and counts to 29 (all in 3 languages).
He shows a strong will to read, but I won't "push" him or teach him.
What I do is taking easy books at the library or books such as "Pat the Cat" that teaches phonics while reading the story. But no classes, no flash cards, no homework or activity books, not any formal teaching.
I persoally wouldn't do it. I have read some research that indicates that children taught to read early actually read less than those that start later (like at 6 or 7). Unless they initiate the activity - really initiate it themselves. Also, age at which you learn reading has nothing to do with intelligence - any normal person can learn to read at anytime - it all depends on whether it is important to them to read.
Hi G.,
Babies don't need to read. They need to explore their physical environment and figure out how the physical world works, they need to play and interact with other people to learn how people work. The only reading they need is when you read to him for fun, closeness, and the music of language. Kids who read early do not have an advantage over children who read later, once they are all reading, at about age 6-7. We confuse verbal ability with intelligence. There are many intelligences. The kid who doesn't read until 7, maybe a math whiz or a physical genius. Let you child explore many things and his gifts will present themselves. Most of all, have fun.
Chere Geranska,
I highly recommend you read this book: The read aloud handbook by Jim Trelease (http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/)
He explains how children learn to read but more importantly how they learn to love to read. Children love to please parents so they can learn to respond to flash cards and other exercises and they loose interest if the parent is not there to give them feedback.
They are not truly ready to read until well after age 5. Take your time and read this book. It also comes with a list by age of recommended books which is also in his website.
I grew up with 3 languages (spanish, french and english) and have loved reading since I was a little girl. This helped me with spelling and grammar. I was never pressured to learn to read. My mom was a montessori teacher for 20+ years and she encouraged us to explore our interests when she saw that we were ready. If you start too soon, you may end up with the opposite result.
Bonne chance,
A.
I had a conversation with my daughters' pediatrician about this not too long ago. Yes, it's possible to teach a baby to read, but why would you want to do so? Studies have shown that this won't make him into an exceptional student later on. He'll eventually even out with his peers.
In Sweden, where there is the highest literacy rate in the world, they don't START teaching their kids to read until about age 6. That's because kids brains haven't matured enough yet to be able to truly read, and learn written language.
If you want your son to have fun learning, try photos of family and friends and places. Let him get mastery over his gross motor skills by climbing, throwing etc. That's what he needs to be putting his energy right now, not reading.
I think you are putting too much on your baby.. He's already going to know three languages.. learning to read them all may be hard because of all the differences so why put all that pressure on a baby.. The best way to teach your child to read is to read to him daily.. he's responding to signing too so that's a lot.. just read to him.
