Zach reading at 22 months
I started using Little Reader when Zach was 11 months old (this was the time I discovered the BrillKids website). It has been part of his daily routine since then.
Ever since Zach was still in the womb, I would read to him and listen to classical music. When he was a baby, I cheerfully read to him as often as I can.
At 11 months, I discovered the Brillkids website. I was so amazed and inspired by Felicity's reading abilities and thus my passion for early childhood development and learning began. After two months of showing Little Reader (supplemented with printed flash cards, Doman, YBCR, Tweedlewink, Signing Time and Babybit), Zach started sight reading about 20 words which escalated to about 100 words by the time he was 15 months. At 18 months, he could identify and recite the letters of the alphabet as well as enunciate the sound of each letter.
At 22 months, he knew over 500 words and also began to articulate the words he sees whether in Little Reader, printed flash card, whiteboard and even the billboards and posters. At 27 months, he began to read early readers books by himself (without me pointing to the words). At 28 months, he could well identify over 1,000 words and started reading Children's Classic Stories, I Can Read series, Step into Reading series, Bible stories, Dr. Seuss, and a range of books. He practically devours every book in his "library." I am amazed that at times he reads unfamiliar or difficult words by sounding each letter and decoding them.
Now at 32 months, Zach has progressed from reading words to phrases to sentences to stories and now to chapter books. He basically reads anything and everything. It's funny that I even caught him reading a newspaper and magazine. I'm very happy that he loves to read and his comprehension is very good as well.
I thank Little Reader for playing a huge role in helping Zach read at a very young age. It is indeed a brilliant early reading software program. With its well-thought out and comprehensive curriculum, my son learned various concepts and subjects and how to correlate words and their meanings with pictures.
Little Reader was a big factor in helping him read words, phrases, sentences and stories. The multisensory part of Little Reader, which is a great way to stimulate right brain learning, contributed largely to his ability to recognize and read words because of the visual, auditory and kinesthetic stimulation he obtained from it. It encourages him to read at his own pace and allows us to interact and create stories about the words, pictures and videos that he sees. It not only developed his reading skills but his verbal skills as well.
The Pattern Phonics section is another part which he particularly enjoys (even though there are no pictures) because he reads the words by singing them out. The way in which the words are presented enabled him to better understand how to decode words and learn the connections between letter patterns and the sounds they represent. The sheer volume of files contained in Little Reader also served as his practical reading tool and vocabulary booster.
The versatility of Little Reader makes it so simple and easy to use. The daily curriculum makes it all the more convenient so I need not think of what to show my little one. All I need to do is press play and the lesson for the day is already set. With multimedia options, learning is more interesting and fun. The weekly lesson update helps me to know what lesson my child will be learning for the week and what other topics I can show him.
I love Little Reader because I am able to download and show my child a wealth of topics or subjects that pique his interest and not worry about doing physical flash cards anymore which can be a bit of a stretch. I like that I can personalize the lessons and make use of the voice recorder and picture editor to make it more entertaining for my little one. Little Reader is truly multi-faceted as it is also a great source for teaching different languages. Learning has never been so stimulating and exciting as with Little Reader!