When babies are learning to understand spoken language, the first 50 words take many months to learn. Once babies understand around 50 words, they typically have learned how to learn words. In other words, the baby has learned that objects have names and that specific names go with certain objects.
When babies learn the written form of language, a similar process is occurring. Babies learn that spoken words have a visual shape. For most children, the first 50 written words also take many months to learn. For many babies it may take a year or more to learn the first 50 written words, but once the baby has learned these words the child has discovered how to learn written language. The rate of learning generally is much faster after the first 50 words. If the baby has already learned to read at least 50 words, she or he can often remember new words after seeing them only a few times. To help your baby, repeatedly show the words from Volumes 1 and 2. We’ve included about 50 words in the first two volumes. Show (and say) the same words on word cards, in books, on paper, on whiteboards, and anywhere else.
Our daughter is enjoying the program very much. My wife and I only have one question:
Do we also show ALL the flash cards twice a day?
Is it better to show them all, or a group of 4 or 5 one week, and then rotate the words the following week?
Please advice!!
Hi Martin,
You do not need to show all of the words to your child each day. For
beginners to the program, please show a smaller number of words (maybe five to ten cards) over a period of time, then gradually add new cards. If you are starting with a baby, then you will show the same cards over a longer period of time before adding new words (a few weeks) than if you are starting with a toddler (a couple of weeks) or preschooler (a week or so). Please look at the instructions for each
type of word card for ideas on how to use them. Keep adding new cards as your child continues with the program. Once your child has learned around 50 words or so, then she will likely learn the words at a faster rate. Occasionally, review all of the words, but you want to
focus on a smaller number of words for most of the sessions. It is
important to sometimes go through the words very quickly instead of
taking a lot of time with each word. In both of the following examples
you would be showing your child the word for one minute, but the first approach will work better. I call this a Fast Words Game.
Approach one: Show your child a word 60 different times for an
average of one second — for a total time of one minute. This is much
better than the second approach.
Approach two: Show your child a word one time for one minute. The
total time is one minute. Please do not use this approach.
If you are going through the words at a fast pace, it doesn’t take
long and your child will get many repetitions. For example, if you had
six different words and showed them for one second, then your child
would get to see (and hear) each of the six words ten times. For
children who don’t understand the meanings of the words, it is
important to show what the words mean most of the time.
Please remember to be animated and have fun!
Dr. Bob Titzer