Saturday, September 11, 2010

She Knows all her ABC SOUNDS!

Three weeks home from China with my 3.5 year old, I decided to practice what I preach in my preschool... put your kid in front of Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD for two weeks straight, and your kid can learn all their ABC's and sounds.

Well, this is true for normally developing children, children who speak English as a second language, and even for delayed children (children who don't seem to remember ANYTHING I teach them). But, would it work on my daughter who has been currently diagnosed with severe cerebellar atrophy.

RESULTS: After watching the DVD every day for 2 1/2 weeks... only being home from China for 3 weeks, Gabriella knows all but 3 sounds. She does not yet seem to know the names of the letters.

If I show her the capital letter on a flashcard (or say it), she can make the correct sound for all the letters except "Dd", sometimes "Jj" and sometimes "Vv". Not sure why those sounds are not cemented into her brain.

If I could change Leap Frog Letter Factory, I would have Tad teach the lowercase letters... because that's what the kids see when they read books. Other than that, it's a phenomenal tool.