Teaching babies to read

Notes from How To Teach Your Baby To Read by Glenn and Janet Donan

• Don’t bore them. Testing bores them. Children love to learn but they don’t live to be tested. If you repeat too often a test that he already has passed, he will become bored and will tell you he doesn’t know or give you an absurd answer.
• “If the child doesn’t want to play at any time during the learning process, put the whole thing away for a week or so.” The same applies to adults.
• “The cardinal rule is that both parent and child must joyously approach learning to read as the shower game that it is. The parent must never forget that learning is life’s most exciting game—it is not work. Learning is a reward; it is not a punishment. Learning is a pleasure; it is not a chore. Learning is a privilege; it is not denial.” This should be said for all learning and probably the hardest to uphold.
• “The one mistake a child will not tolerate is to be shown the same material over and over again after it should long since have been retired.” It bores them.
• Actual steps:
  • Single words
    • Simply hold up the word Mommy, just beyond his reach, and say to him clearly, “This is Mommy.” Give no more description. There is no need to elaborate. Permit him to see it for no more than one second.
    • It is best when showing a set of cards to take the card from the back of the set so that you can glance at the word from the back and put your full attention on your child’s face.
    • Do not ask your child to repeat the words as you go along.
    • Do not bribe him or reward him with cookies, candy, or the like. They are a meager reward for such a major accomplishment, compared with your love and respect. Hug him and tell him he is very good and very bright and that you are very proud of him and that you love him very much.
    • The first 15 words should be made up of the most familiar and enjoyable words around him. Eg names of immediate family members, relatives, pets, favorite foods, objects in the house, and favorite activities.
      • Then: Home objects, possessions, food, animals
      • Then: Actions (e.g. jumping) Could do the action and say “daddy is jumping”, then get the kid to do and say “you are jumping”, and then show the word “this word says jumping”
    • Remove one word from each set that has already been taught for five days and replace the word with a new one in each set.
    • In summary, you will be teaching 25 words daily, divided into five sets of five words each. Your child will be see in five new words daily or one new word in each set, and five words will be retired each day.
    • Avoid presenting consecutively two words that being with the same letter, such as hair and hand.
    • Add words whenever your child expresses interest in them
  • Couplets
    • Divide the couplets into two sets of five couplets each. Show each set three times a day for five days (or less). After five days, retire one couplet from each set and add one new couplet to eat set. Continue to add one new couplet to each set and retire an old one daily.
    • Colors (flip over to reveal the color)
    • Opposites