Reading Bear is live!

Early Learning Teaching Your Child to Read
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Forgot to put the press release here. Here it is!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Larry Sanger
sanger@watchknow.org

Reading Bear, a Free Online “Systematic Phonics” Tutorial, Launches
Resource Edited by Wikipedia and WatchKnowLearn Creator Larry Sanger

October 31, 2011 – An innovative, systematic phonics tutorial, free to all, made its debut online today. Reading Bear (ReadingBear.org) was unveiled by its Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Larry Sanger—best known as co-founder of Wikipedia—after nearly a year of development.

The site is a nonprofit project of WatchKnowLearn (WatchKnowLearn.org) and supported by an anonymous benefactor via the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi (CFNM.org). This benefactor has a long-standing goal to use technology to better the education of poor children.

Reading Bear is the first free reading site online that takes students systematically through all—not just a selection—of the main phonics principles, using innovative multi-media presentations. The presentations are a novel hybrid of videos, PowerPoint presentations, and ebooks.

“Highlighting text as sounds are pronounced and using lots of examples and visuals allows students to infer phonics rules naturally and painlessly, without inflicting worksheets or unnecessary jargon on them,” Sanger said. “I think their pronunciation will improve as well.”

About 50 presentations are planned and should appear in the coming months. These will give the Reading Bear treatment to over 1,200 words and introduce all the main phonics rules.

Unlike some phonics programs, Reading Bear focuses heavily on word meanings. For each word, the presentations show a picture, a sentence, and a video, all helping to explain the word’s meaning.

Each presentation comes in seven different versions, the longest being around 15 minutes. Among the optional settings are videos of the word spoken as they are displayed and read.

The project was supported by a generous in-kind grant of media from Shutterstock, Inc. Volunteers from around the world also helped edit the content.

The project had its start when WatchKnowLearn’s benefactor saw a video of Sanger’s son, then four years old, reading at a very advanced level. He asked Sanger to create a free online reading program.

“Reading Bear is a digitized version of the flashcard method I used with my son,” Sanger said. “While it is mainly intended for kids learning to read at the normal ages of 4-7, the simplicity of the program has allowed me and others to use Reading Bear with younger children.” The flashcards Sanger used with his son are available free on his blog (http://www.larrysanger.org/reading.html).

What’s up next for Reading Bear? “I hope to use it as a platform to create a free multimedia encyclopedia for little kids,” Sanger said. “I’m amazed at what tiny tots are capable of learning.”

Related items of interest:
• Introductory video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzQa1dRR7kQ
• About page (includes Credits) http://www.readingbear.org/About.aspx
• Getting Started (includes Q&A) http://www.readingbear.org/GettingStarted.aspx

Items of personal interest:
• Blog post: “Why build a site that teaches children to read?” http://larrysanger.org/2011/10/why-build-a-site-that-teaches-children-to-read/
• A video of my son reading at ages 2-4 (Reading Bear is a greatly souped-up version of the flashcards I made for him, starting at age 22 months) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIu8BGFqMm4
• My essay on “baby reading” (from last December) http://larrysanger.org/2010/12/baby-reading/

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I LOVE IT! I have saved it in my Favorites and I am planning on using it with my little girl, thanks so much for doing this!!

Great job!!

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OMGoodness! Great job Larry!! I just registered an account for my 6 year old. He is reading at a grade 2 level, but I’m hoping this will be a fin way to fill in any gaps that maybe left.
And when my little one comes next Spring, I’ll plan on using this program. What is the youngest age you feel this program would be appropriate. I mean obviously the quizzes would not be appropriate till the child can communicate which answer they want to select, and that’s if you want to introduce testing early.

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I really don’t know. I showed the first presentation many times to baby E. since he was 7-8 months or so. He wasn’t that excited about it until just the past month or so–at age 12 months. Now he “asks” for it multiple times a day. On the other hand, he didn’t start getting excited about YBCR until the same age (which he also “asks” for multiple times a day). I’d be curious to learn how (with what age) others use it…

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We are using Reading Bear with a 4 y/o, 3 y/o with DS (though she is not interested in phonics but loves the pictures), and a 15 month old. We been working on letter sounds and Flesch exercises in LR with the 15 m/o. When the 4 y/o uses Reading Bear, he watches with interest. We’ll see how much he absorbs phonetically when he is talking better. The 15 month does recognize about 30-40 from LR so far. He consistently recognizes animals and instruments. I have to say that in the last week or so of using Reading Bear the 4 y/o is making great strides. Not so much is what he can decode, but how fast he can decode. That may be Reading Bear or it may be that the Flesch Exercises are doing their part. Or both.

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This is a great job. I am using it with my DS on and off. He is not too excited about it right now, but he watches it. I am sure that with increased frequency, he will start to like it.

DadDude, would it be possible for you to convert your presentations in this format (either for free or for some cost). Your book-like presentations are too informative and I am sure kids will start liking it when it comes alive through multimedia. Thanks once again to you and to the anonymous.

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Sonya: thanks for the report. H. also was able to decode very quickly at an early age, and I also chalked it up to our using “Fleschcards.”

arvi, thanks for the report as well. Baby E. (now 13 months) didn’t start really getting into Reading Bear until around his first birthday. Now, he asks for it a couple times a day! Definitely, the first or second time through, Reading Bear may not be so compelling at first, especially for babies (though my impression is that some kids love them right off the bat. But with further repetitions they start becoming more so, as with baby books.

As to converting presentations, that’s the whole plan. I initially designed the system not for the reading tutorial but for my presentations, but I was asked to do the reading tutorial first. :slight_smile: It’s going to take time to finish the reading tutorial, and frankly, I need a vacation! So my presentations may not appear on Reading Bear until, say, next summer.

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Hello Larry,

Are you planning to add more lessons on Reading Bear? My son loves Reading Bear.
I let him watch the review lessons again and we already finished our second rounds. :smiley:

Thanks,

Elle

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I’m almost done collecting content for 15-20, with a mid-January deadline looming. You should see the next set within a couple weeks at most!

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That’s such a wonderful news.

Thanks very much!! :slight_smile: