Teach Your Baby to Read

I finally found some time to write about this. As you all know I use the Glenn Doman's Reading Program with Maimoonah to teach her how to read, and I am writing this post in request of some sisters who wanted to know how I use this with Maimoonah and what is her progress so far. What I am going to write here is 100% my view and how it has worked with my daughter. Please do keep in mind I am not by any way saying that this is the best method to teach the children to read. I am going to only share my experience with my daughter and how it has effected her Insha Allaah! Every child is different and every house hold is different. So please see what is better for your child and facilitate the correct learning methods Insha Allaah!

To know about this program you must read the book "How to teach your baby to read". But to get a brief idea you can click here and here and read Insha Allaah. I advise all of you to read the link first before continuing to read here Insha Allaah, so that you have an idea of the program.

Basically this is a program they developed for brain damaged children and later after they saw the results they thought if the brain damaged children could read well using this program, then surely normal children could do better. This was the gentle revolution.

Ok, now that you have read how to do this program let me tell you first that I did not stick 100% percent to the instructions given. For example I did not use flash cards. I printed out each word on an A4 size paper and put them into a binder. Also I did not stick to the sessions according to the book. Rather I showed her words from the ring binder may be three times a day some days and may be more or less on other days. I did not stick to sessions. According to her moods I just flashed the papers. Also I did not remove any words from the binder rather Maimoonah wanted to read all the old words too, so had to keep them all. I started this program knowingly after reading Glenn Doman's book when Maimoonah was 2 years and 5 months, but I have been doing this with Alphabets and few words since she was 1 year old. So first I showed her about 100 words through the binder and after that I started writing on the whiteboard. I used to take some words from a book and teach her those words for the week, then I gave her that book to read with me and she could identify the words and was able to read the whole book.

I have not used any pictures nor videos nor DVD's for this. Lately I used the Power Point Presentation, but Maimoonah mostly learnt through white board and my writing. I use to teach her in print as well as writing. After she learns words from the white board I type the same words on Yahoo Messenger and she reads. When I first started this programe I never asked her to repeat anything, but later she would insist that she wanted to read and now she reads masha Allaah.

I used to always think how would she know if she had to read the word when it is all in upper case (Glenn Doman says write the words as you see in print, meaning write in lower case and write the first letter capital when it is a proper noun etc etc), but masha Allaah now she is able to read the upper case words too. I guess when they grow they can understand that both are same , Allaahu A'lam.

I have not taught her phonics but I taught her the letter sounds before I officially used this program. She knows the letter sounds but I do not think she uses that to read, Allaahu A'lam.

Maimoonah always loved to read and I have not seen her stressed or bored with this method. when I know she is losing interest I just stop.

The main issue with this method I think is that you have to be consistent and keep providing lot of reading materials. If you lose consistency they may forget and you might have to start all over again. And do not just flash words only. When they are able to read few words try making small sentences and a small story books with few words. I prefer not to have pictures at the beginning as I noticed the concentration is on the pictures and not on the words. So I avoided pictures. But now Alhamdulillaah she learns to read through books so pictures do not distract her.

Give lot of praise from day one. It goes a long a way throughout the program. Alhamdulillaah they feel so proud when they have accomplished a small mission. Reward them a lot and show lot of love and praise. Please do not get frustrated and you will only get frustrated if you ask your kids to repeat. I know you will want to do this to test them but do not do. Patience! You will see the reward soon Insha Allaah!

As much as possible include the child's name in the sentences. The kids love to read something to do with them : )

I used to think that Maimoonah is sometimes reading through memory and also reading without comprehension. But I used to change words and write some silly things like this sometimes to see what she does!

So she actually laughs before she reads aloud, or she will ask me why did he get lost? So I knew she knows what she is reading!

The Cons (what I see)

• You have to keep track of the words you have taught
• You need to be at it
• You need to take your effort
• If you are not organized its difficult and you may confuse the child
• If you leave the programe for some time the child will forget and you might have to star all over again

The Pros (What I see)

• Organizing does not take a lot of time
• Its a stress free learning for the child as well as the mother
• Since you are starting at an early age you have no deadline to meet
• it is not time consuming
• you do not have to write out a whole curriculum for this :)
• The end result is achievable at an early age if you have started early
• You do not have to waste your time teaching children to read when they are 5 or 6 years. You can spend time in actual learning by then Alhamdulillaah!
• Children develop self esteem when they are able to read.
• And you do not have to spend anything much : ) (I have seen there are packs for sale with flash cards, dvds, audio and all that now, but I prefer this simple method of writing :)

So it has been a year since I started this with Maimoonah and Alhamdulillaah I am satisfied with her progress. And now she learns faster too through books. Since she reads books now the words keep repeating and it makes it easier for her Alhamdulillaah! But I think there is a long way to go! And need consistency throughout bi idhnillaah!

This is what I could think of for now. If I have not answered any of your questions please do leave a comment and will answer Insha Allaah! Hope and pray this will benefit all of you who are interested Insha Allaah!

PS: Masha Allaah this has become a nice discussion so far with some nice comments. Sisters please do participate and let us know your experience as this would help all of us bi idhnillaah!