Some parents believe that flashcards help their kids to recognise words and eventually read, even when they are as young as 6 months. My own in-laws believe that when a child is constantly exposed to the words, they will memorise these words easily and recognise them in no time. The younger they start, the faster and easier they will learn. I've tried flashcards on Irfan but Ive never been consistent and it wasn't easy for him because he was an extremely active baby who just wouldn't sit still to even look at the flashcards. My in-laws made their own flashcards for Irfan and spurred by their determination, I tried my best to do the cards with him, even though he was walking around. But I knew, he wasn't interested in them and the last thing I wanted was to force anything on him.
It wasn't fun for him and I have broken my own rule; learning has to be fun..and obviously the flashcards wasn't fun for him and I felt horrible forcing him to read like that. So I put them aside (but seeing the flashcards made by my in-laws always made me feel a lil guilty) and stick to things he enjoyed and loved. Obviously, flashcards wasn't suited for him and sitting down looking at flashcards was just not his learning style. A kinesthetic learner like him needs a different approach altogether.
Eventually, he learnt to read. He is beginning to read fluently now and his reading journey had a lot to do with phonic games and less of word memory. And one day after googling on the net, I bought the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) series and he was hooked. I know during my time, most kids started on Peter and Jane series, but personally, I find them a lil boring (ok, a LOT boring actually!). The plot is not imaginative, far from creative and does not encourage the desire to read at all. For ORT, Irfan was so motivated to read out every single word because he wanted to find out what happended in the story. Isn't that the ultimate purpose of reading? An interesting story encourages any kid to be self motivated to learn to read. And there are so many activities you can do with your child as an extension to his reading for example, coming up with a different ending to the story, role play etc. He loved every story in that book and enjoyed the illustrations too because there are so many hidden details which you can discuss with your chid.
So I strongly recomment ORT to any beginner reader out there, but of course the key is to first know your child and find a perfect material for him/her. It worked for Irfan but it might not work for another kid. Of course, its definitely worth the try.
Having said what I said abut Irfan and flashcards, now Alisha is a totally diffrent ball game. When she started counting around 10 months, I googled in you tube to see what other kids at 10 months were doing and how I could help further her learning abilities. I came across many lil babies aroung 10 to 18 months being able to "read out" words from flashcards. I found some ready made flashcards on the net (powerpoint format) and tried a few on Alisha, just for fun. Credits to BrillKids.com for the ready made slides. She sat through all of them and even wanted more! She didnt even budge from the seat until I ended the ppt. I was surprised but excited at the same time. Unfortunately I wasnt consistent because of the usual reasons; busy at work, home blah blah... But I guess we did it often enough coz one fine day, when I ran through the slides, she was able to remember all of them! I was quite amazed.
Unfortunately again due to other commitments, we did not extend these ppt flashcards and make new ones. She is constantly asking us to show her the cards. She had already learnt all of the cards we taught her and right now, Im finding time to do more, but i have to admit, I have not progressed much.
Here's a lil video of her. Ive always wanted to capture her in video since she learnt the cards 3 months ago (when she was 17 months) but didnt manage to. Finally managed to catch her on camera today. You'll see in the video that she is a lil cheeky, she often says "The End" in the middle of no where. Initially I took it as a cue that she is no longer interested and so I will stop the slide, only ending up to her protesting and insisting that I restart.
And since she was in the mood to show off to the camera, she went on to count from 1 to 14..something Ive been wanting to capture in video since she started a few months ago.
I guess the important thing is to always remember that every child learns in their own way. Once we find their learning style, it is easier to move on from there. Ive learnt that from my own 2 kids. What I have also learnt is that with every child, the key is to spend time with them and get to know them well. From there we will roughly have an idea of what will interest them, excite them and use it to map out their learning plan. Alisha picks up things very quickly by listening and watching ( auditory and visual learner) while Irfan needs to be engaged in hands-on activities to learn. As parents, what we can do is to harness these styles and create a fun and exciting learning environment so that they can reach their full potential. And of course, constant praise and motivation always, always works!
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