:wacko:
just wondering how do you get your child to read- my son is 21 months and i was wondering how do you teach him to sit down. I have made sight word flash cards, and i have gone over them a couple times today but my son reallyisnt interesteed- but it may be cuz i made the flash cards- anyways i just found this sight so if anyone has any tips let me know, id appreciate it!
Try Little Reader!
Definitely try Little Reader - I found showing pictures after the words on Little Reader held my daughters attention well.
With my daughter I have tried a wide range of techniques to hold her attention as she is very active. Here are a few of them (all done with flashcards)
Sticking words onto the object they name - they will see the word often then and will not have to pay attention - its just pointed out to them regularly
Teach words that really interest your child and particularly ones which involve a favourite object (eg my daughter loved to grab her teddy when I showed her the word teddy and more recently I have shown verbs I know she can likes to do)
I made words and covered them in contact so that they can be dumped in the bath during bath time and then read them to her during the bath - they can also be wetted on one side and stuck on the tiles this way and my daughter loves dumping them under the water.
Try jumping onto the words as you read them to make it a game.
Flash the cards very fast and then pick your child up and swing him around - eventually they come to associate the flashing sessions with a fun physical moment after its over (this worked for the maths cards with my child)
Play peek a boo while showing the words - hide behind the word card and jump out as you read it
Get your childs favourite toy animal to “read” the words too - and make sure the toy is really interested when you do so.
Do a walk outside and show him the words as you see the objects or do the action (eg show him a tree and show him the word at the same time)
Get his toy truck to deliver the word to another excited adult in the house - and make sure you read it before it gets put in the truck and when the truck gets to the next adult.
Stick a new word on the wall in the same place every night and show it to your child in the morning - they learn that there will be a new word there every morning and eventually go there themselves to find out what the new word is and ask you to read it to them (well that is the idea :))
Basically keep it fun and exciting and your child will enjoy it. Good luck and welcome to the forums.
will the above also apply for a 36 month old toddler?
Yes - any techniques to keep it fun will work. Doman does suggest that you move more quickly from single words to meaningful sentences when working with slightly older children and on to books as fast as you can - children at 36 months are far more interested in stories than children less than a year old as they follow the story line well.
I have started very short stories with my daughter even though she is only 16 months old and it is holding her attention better now - I use Little Reader to write the stories with words she knows and that way I can have stories containing only about 20 words at a time (I pull pictures off of Google images to illustrate them)
When teaching my sisters child (she’s 32 months old) we found that making up funny sentences with the words she knew worked well too - “The cat has a banana on his head” for a simple example.
Again start with what they like - at around 24 months the only words my niece wanted to read were her friends names and the people she knew around her - great, she learnt about capital letters that way.
Great ideas Tanikit! K to you!
twoAngles, I’m sure Tanikit’s ideas would apply to a 36 month old toddler, too. Whatever makes looking at the words more pleasureable.
I also read online an idea to get (make) cardboard boxes (sturdy ones) and write words on each side. The child can toss it and you read the word that comes up on top. I found some square, study boxes at Dollar Tree and Contact Paper-ed words to the sides (I figure I can change the words that way, if I want). I made one box with verbs and one with nouns. So, we throw them both, then do the action. (Like, “Tickle foot.”) My 16 month old son likes it at short bursts. I think it would work even better with an older child.
These are all great suggestions and worth trying. Also, if you have the extra money, YBCR is a wonderful resource. My daughter (20mos) has gone off the videos a bit since I got Signing Time, but still loves the cards and books that came with the set and asks for them daily.
Here’s the link to the set I purchased:
http://www.yourbabycanread.com/default.aspx
Oh, and btw, it works! After about three months, my dd was showing me the words in ASL because she couldn’t say them. I’m sure she knows more than I’m aware of - she’s very selective at this stage about what she wants to share with me. Little Miss Independent - yea!
Another thing - don’t worry so much about him sitting down and “paying attention”. It’s amazing what they pick up when they seem to be absorbed in something else!
Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions! Karma to you all :D.