| Q. Why are the pictures separated from the type? Shouldn’t the type be next to the illustrations?
This is one of the most effective features of our materials.
When typically developing children learn to read, close juxtaposition of the visuals and the text serve to assist the child in learning to associate the word with the visual concept. When children with special needs, that is, children who learn differently, begin to read, focus is very often a challenge. Research and practical experience both indicate that, in the case of children who learn differently, close placement of words and pictures can actually delay reading because the child is easily distracted from the text and focuses instead on the picture. Since ease and speed of learning are two of our primary goals, we place the text and illustrations on separate visual fields unless we are teaching a concept (colors, numbers, etc.)
A secondary benefit of this visual separation is that memorization of a story (vs. true reading of the text) is avoided. If a child is reading a page of text and the illustration of that text follows after a page turn, the educator knows that the child is actually reading, not memorizing or guessing.
Q. Why is there so much white space in your books?
Because creating materials that are high-focus is a top priority for us. Anyone who has worked with an easily distracted child can relate to the high value of using materials that sharpen the child’s focus and hold his attention. Providing reading books that not only focus the young reader’s attention on only one thing at a time, but also hold that attention through clarity and removing distractions, is of paramount importance for us. That attention to clarity is also why we use double spacing between each word, and extra spacing (or “leading”) between each line of type. We make things easy to “see,” easy for the brain to recognize and retain.
Q. Is it important to follow the instructions for using your materials?
Following the instructions we include with each book makes all the difference between quick success and moderate progress. The materials are the door to the child’s reading; how you use those materials is the key which unlocks the door. We give instructions, for example, on using the Fast Flash method of teaching sight words. One mother wrote,
“My daughter is 8 and has Down Syndrome. She’s in first grade and has been slowly learning sight words for a year. On Sunday, I read your instructions and started “Fast Flashing” the words for the book Spaghetti. By Tuesday, she said the words before I did when I showed her the cards--so I gave her the book. She read it...she loves it!!!! Thank you. Is is so exciting to find something that ‘turns the key.’ And we have certainly learned a new way to use flash cards!“
Q. Why are the flash cards so large?
The jumbo cards were designed to maximum the brain’s ability to grasp, recognize, and remember the words being taught. The visual pathway of a child with developmental delays is more immature than that of a typically developing child. Beginning the learning process with large letters makes the brain’s task much easier. Once that visual pathway becomes better traveled as the child accumulates an ever-growing foundation of sight words, the size of the flash cards can be rapidly reduced to a standard size.
Q. Why is the Fast Flash method so important?
Years of hands-on research done by the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential yielded, among other things, the gem of realizing that the brain more easily retains such visual information as sight words when they are shown rapidly rather than slowly, as is typically done. Recognition is rapid and retention of the information is much enhanced. Is is natural to question this approach, which is only recently becoming well-known and practiced; our response is, “Just try it.” The proof lies in the results.
One auxiliary benefit is the fact that the pace is so fast and the child’s attention so captured with this method that even the most distracted child can stay on task for the 2 or 3 minutes spent on the initial teaching time. As a child’s logographic/sight vocabulary grows, and as the visual pathway becomes developed, the child naturally becomes more invested in and capable of sitting for longer teaching periods.
Q. What else can I do to speed my child’s reading progress??
No matter which reading methods you select, you can greatly hasten your child’s progress by making the flash cards for and then teaching his/her “hot topic” words. Hot topic words are those which relate to the child’s personal world: favorite person, pet, food, activity, etc.
This is most effective when you use those hot topic words in conjunction with a homemade book, so that the learning of the words is immediately connected with the concept of reading something highly meaningful to the child. Once you choose the topic, write a simple and short text featuring the hot topic words (see our Step One Picture Books for a model of text writing). Make the flash cards and create a book, using photos taken specifically for the book, or use pictures from magazines, etc.
Pattern your book after the format of our Step One Picture Books (“Spaghetti, “I Want Pizza,” etc.), and you can’t go wrong. Be sure to laminate the pages before having them bound (both can be done at any office supply store), because, know it or not, you’re creating a treasured keepsake that your child will value for a long, long time.
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