Teaching Baby To Read Blog
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Teaching Your Baby To Read in Two Languages
Many parents that begin teaching their babies to read want to expose then to more than one language. They also want to know when they should begin a second language with their babies.
Babies are able to learn many languages simultaneously. Each language has its own melody, which is very distinctive to babies. They do not get confused or mixed up if you speak to them in different languages or even if you teach them to read in different languages. AS a matter of fact, it will never be easier for your baby to learn languages than it is during the first five years of life.
So how do you go about teaching your baby to read a second language? Here are some suggestions.
- Introduce a baby reading program to your baby with your main language for about a month before you add a new language to your program. This allows you to get familiar with how you will teach your baby and give your baby time to learn some of the patterns of the language. It will be easier to begin a second language once you have established your routine with your first language.
- Use different color fonts for each language you are teaching. This is just in the beginning months that you need to do this. For example, use a red font for English, and a black font for Spanish and a green font for Chinese.
- Show your baby materials in only one language per session. Show your baby English flash cards in session one, Spanish flash cards in session two, and so forth.
- Begin teaching your baby as early as three months of age.
- Expose your baby to music and DVDs in the languages you are teaching.
- Follow the same Guide to Teaching Babies to Read for each language.
For materials to teach your baby to read in English check out www.monkisee.com.
Book Review - The Giant Hug
Are you looking for a great book to read to your children? You might want to check out this book that we recently discovered.
This book is definitely on our favorites list. And at the end of the book, why not send your own hug to those you love?
How Early Can I Start Teaching My Baby To Read?
I recently had this question from one of our customers.
Question:
I just purchased the Monki See Baby Reading Kit for my 8 week old son. Do you know an ideal age to start an infant on a baby reading program? I've heard of people beginning as young as 3 months. Should we wait until he is 3 months?
Answer:
I began my baby reading program with my son when he was 2 1/2 months old. I was so excited to get started that I didn't wait. Three months is the age that we generally recommend, but as long as your son's visual tracking has developed you can begin. That means that he can track an object, or your finger when you move it about 10 inches from his face to the right and the left. As soon as he has that ability, you can begin a baby reading program. Since he is small, I would make sure the materials are fairly close to him. For example, to view the flash cards you can put him in a bouncer seat and hold the flash cards about 2 feet from his face so he can see them. It is best to face him so you can see where he is looking. You can also lay him down on the bed and show him flash cards, anywhere that is comfortable for you. To view the MonkiSee DVDs, again I would either hold him on your lap, fairly close to the television so he can focus on the screen, or in a baby seat of some sort so he is facing the television sitting up. You don't want him lying down and learning to read sideways. It is also important to interact with the videos. If they are teaching him his body parts, touch those parts for him as he is learning the. This will help him make connections between the words and the objects he is learning.
I started with my boy watching the videos once or twice a day. After a month I changed to a new video but still had him view the first video once or twice a week. I began using flash cards at about 3 1/2 or 4 months old. I would show him flash cards after his diaper changes, two to three times a day. Since your boy is young, you have a great advantage. At that age they are so excited to be stimulated and learn to read that you can show them lots of materials and they just love it! I would show my little guy between 15 and 40 words at each viewing. He loved it. At 12 months he began reading words out loud, at 18 months he was reading sentences and at 2 he was reading books. It is so amazing and wonderful to see these little creatures thriving with some stimulation. You can see Joshua reading here.
He would probably enjoy the Memoflix DVD as well. You could show him a few categories at a time and see how he likes those. Since it contains 80 categories of words you have a lot of selections to choose from.
For more information on how you can teach your baby to read check out our
Guide to Teaching Babies to Read.
Teach Your Baby to Read With Memoflix Apps
You can teach your baby to read 800 words with the Memoflix Phone Apps. They aren't actually Apps, they are MP4 files that are designed to play on mobile devices. The Memoflix files currently have 80 categories equaling 800 words with pictures and sound files so you can teach your baby to read anywhere.
The price to get started using the Memoflix Phone Apps is ridiculously low. For only $9.00 you get all 800 words and pictures. Even better, if you purchase the Memoflix DVD containing the same files you get the App Files absolutely free. Teaching your baby to read has never been easier.
What Apps do you like?
You can find out more at www.memoflix.com.
Monki See on TV's 19 Kids and Counting
Someone sent me an email today and told me that Monki See was on last night's episode of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting with the Duggar family. It looks like the Duggar's, who home school their 18 kids enjoy using Monki See to teach their little ones how to read. The show was featuring home school and they showed several of the little ones watching Monki See. It was too bad they didn't mention the name of the video, but thanks to our Monki See fans we found out all about it.
If you are a Monki See fan what is your favorite part of the videos? My favorite part is the song "Does your nose look big..."
You can click here to check out the Monki See Baby DVDS.
When Teaching Babies to Read is Phonics Taught?
A woman on my Yahoo Groups posted this question, which is a very common question that deserves an answer.
Question
I'm just wondering, when you teach a baby to read, are they being taught to memorize words or are they actually being taught phonics? In my opinion, unless you learn phonics, you don't truly know how to read.
Answer 1
Children who under 2yo nearly always need to be taught using the sight word method. However, if they are exposed to enough words in that manner they can intuit the rules of phonics and be able to read any word they are presented with. My 7yo daughter is a case in point. I taught her from 3mo to about 2yrs via sight word flash cards. From 2yrs to 4yrs we played a lot with words. She now reads anything with ease except for college level books.
The beauty of the sight word method taught in this manner is that children figure out the rules of phonics all by themselves which is the best way to learn something!
Children who are older than 2yo can be taught with straight phonics or the sight word path to phonics. I have tried teaching 4 year olds with phonics. For us, it was difficult. If I could rewind life knowing what I know now I surely would have started all my children on the sight word path to phonics reading program when they were babies. - Laurie Mom of 10 kids
The beauty of the sight word method taught in this manner is that children figure out the rules of phonics all by themselves which is the best way to learn something!
Children who are older than 2yo can be taught with straight phonics or the sight word path to phonics. I have tried teaching 4 year olds with phonics. For us, it was difficult. If I could rewind life knowing what I know now I surely would have started all my children on the sight word path to phonics reading program when they were babies. - Laurie Mom of 10 kids
Answer 2
I as well taught both phonics to older children and sight words to younger children at a preschool in Japan (it was exclusively in English) and found that for the most part, the younger children who learned sight words were better readers, spellers, and excelled in reading aloud quickly and with comprehension. The older ones who got their phonics had to take the words apart rather than simply know what they were. We didn't have much success with them, but their parents insisted on the phonics regardless of what we said.
Both groups were reading, of course, but the younger kids looked like they were having fun and enjoying the stories - the older kids looked stressed about the words themselves.
All reading and learning is at the core memorization - but that doesn't mean it has to be rote. Children build up a foundation of information and then learn ways to grow that base on their own.
As a teacher, I highly recommend sight word teaching, and plan on teaching my own daughter this way as well (due in 4 weeks!!) from birth. - A.T.
Both groups were reading, of course, but the younger kids looked like they were having fun and enjoying the stories - the older kids looked stressed about the words themselves.
All reading and learning is at the core memorization - but that doesn't mean it has to be rote. Children build up a foundation of information and then learn ways to grow that base on their own.
As a teacher, I highly recommend sight word teaching, and plan on teaching my own daughter this way as well (due in 4 weeks!!) from birth. - A.T.
Click here for more information on How to Teach Your Baby to Read
How Many Words Should I Teach My Baby To Read At One Time?
When I read Glenn Doman's book How To Teach Your Baby To Read 8 years ago, I got a little caught up in the details of how I was supposed to go about teaching my baby to read. I began by making hundreds of word flash cards so I could begin teaching my baby to read. The book recommends that you start with 5 words per session. They suggest that you start with one set and show it three times per day. You continue to add sets of words until you have 5 sets, or more if you are really ambitious. You will be taking cards out each day and adding cards in each day.
What I discovered after a brief period of this flash card frenzy was that 5 flash cards at one time is not a magic number. It is simply a guide. In reality, this would never work for me. I think most parents are like me in that respect. I want what is best for my baby, but we need to be realistic about how to accomplish it.
I never stuck to the 5 words at a time rule. Well, let me rephrase that, I only followed it if my children were losing interest with a set and I needed to shorten it. My 5 month old would easily look at 20 words in a set three times a day. I followed that up with a word book that taught 20 words as well. Each session usually consisted of teaching 40 words at a time. While that might seem like a lot, it worked for us. My babies loved the time we spent viewing materials several times a day. All in all we may have looked at materials for a total of 10 minutes per day. Some days we did less and somedays we did more, but we always had fun.
When you begin to teach your baby to read you can start with 5 cards, just to gauge your baby's level of interest. If they are still attentive after seeing 5 words you may want to up it to 10 words or 15 words. Just make sure you are always having fun. Instead of retiring words and adding new words I just changed out my stacks of materials each week. This worked extremely well for us. The fondest memories I have of my babies' childhood are the moments we spent playing and learning.
I have put together a video tutorial of all that I learned during this fantastic journey of teaching my babies to read. You can view it at A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read. When I first began I had so many questions. This comprehensive guide will show you exactly how you can teach your baby to read and it answers all those questions you have when you first start out. I wish it were available when I began. 
Using Flash Cards to Teach Your Baby to Read
When you begin to teach your baby to read you will probably use flash cards. I strongly recommend that you do not let your baby handle the flash cards. First of all, the flash cards are made of paper and if they are torn they can become a choking hazard to your baby. Also, once you let your baby handle the flash cards, you are no longer in control of the mini reading sessions. Third of all, you will not be able to move quickly through the cards and keep your sessions short and sweet.
In order to maintain control of your flash cards you can place your baby in a bouncer seat and stand in front of them with the cards. You can also place your baby in a high chair for your reading sessions. You may want to show your baby flash cards while they are lying on their back. You can hold the cards above them, out of their reach, so that grabbing of flash cards is not an issue.
Make sure you always present your materials in an environment that is peaceful and without distractions.
Click to learn more about how to teach your baby to read with flash cards.
Monki See has 4 sets of baby flash cards available that you can use to teach your baby to read.
Babies Learn to Read Fast
When you first begin your baby reading program you will need to show your baby a word between 15 and 20 times before they master it. However as you work with your baby, you are strengthening the connections in their brain. This means that through exposure to words and written language your baby is learning the patterns of the language at the same time. When you first begin teaching your baby to read the written language is completely foreign to them. After a few months on a reading program your baby will be able to pick up new words at a much faster rate. This is because you are exposing them to phonics even though they are learning to read using the whole word method. Your baby is picking up the sounds of the letters and will master new words at a very fast rate.
In the beginning you definitely want to show the words many times, but as soon as you notice that your baby is capable of learning new words after only seeing them 2-3 times, you will have to pick up the pace of your program. You can also introduce short phrases and sentences to keep it interesting for your baby.
When my baby was 2 years old he would pick up new words after the first viewing. I would go to show him the words again and he already knew them. It helped that he could speak and tell me what he knew, otherwise I may have bored him to death. It wasn't long after this that he was reading words phonetically that he had never come across before. It happens at different times for different children but it is certainly magical when it does.
Do you have your own story to share? I would love to hear it.
If you want know more about how you can start your baby on a baby reading program check out www.monkisee.com. Monki See teaches babies to read through their fun and entertaining baby DVDs and baby flash cards.
How Many Times Should Babies See Each Word?
When you begin teaching your baby to read with flash cards you will want to show them each word between 15 and 20 times. This is the equivalent of showing them a set of words 3 times per day for 5 days or 2 times a day for a week. I have found that the easiest way to remember to how many times I have shown my baby a flash card is to make tally marks on the back of the flash cards. I find this helpful because sometimes midway through a set of flash cards the baby loses interest and we need to stop. Making tally marks is an easy way to keep track of how many times we have viewed each word card.
Another way to keep track of when you should switch materials is to choose a day of the week as your starting day. Show your baby the materials all week and then switch them out for new ones on the same day each week. Do you have any tips for keeping track of material swapping? I would love to hear them.
I would bring out new materials every Sunday and we would look at them all week. We usually looked at learning materials 5-6 days a week. Each week I would put away the materials we had covered and bring out a new set. Sets would include baby flash cards, word and sentence books that I made, dot cards to teach math, and encyclopedic knowledge cards. We didn't always do everything but we always had a steady dose of new words. That is the part of the program that we were the most consistent with.
All programs can and should be adjusted to suit you and not the other way around. Teaching your baby to read should be fun.
Click her for more information about How to Teach Your Baby to Read with Flash Cards.
Monki See has a line of flash cards and DVDs to teach your baby to read. You can view them at www.monkisee.com.
