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Who Is Talking?
Discovery?
How does it work?
How can I use it?
To download
Before you start
Phonics vs Whole Language
Why a Patent?
Is RTR an invention?
Just an experiment?
Plans and Hopes
Shareware Agreement
Final Words
References
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Final Words
Will early reading damage your babies? I hardly think so. It will simply enable them to read the EXIT sign, or the label that says "Poison", or to pick up their favorite books and get the story on their own.
It will empower them,
even if they don't learn that word for many years yet. They will know that they can use books, instead of fearing them. They can be like Rikki Tikki Tavi, and run and find out.
Will early reading make intellectual giants of your babies? I wish it would, but I doubt it. Does the power of speech suddenly turn a two-year-old into Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln, producing oratory for the ages?
I do hope you're not expecting that! Early reading, like speech, simply gives your child a communication tool. Also, early reading will give insurance against failure to learn reading later in life, at age six or seven.
Early reading will permit your child to operate nearer to his or her maximum potential, whatever that potential may be.
In case you hadn't noticed, I have spoken throughout of early reading, NOT early writing.
It is a great mistake to link reading with writing,
as is so often done in school. Writing is an entirely different skill than reading. Writing requires far more hand-eye coordination, and far more planning - a longer attention span, and the ability to simultaneously think about the message and the details of the words, their spelling, and how to make the right marks. It is most sensible not to try to teach even the letters until baby's scribbling shows that sufficient control has been developed.
We are trying to match the learning opportunity to the ability here, not to force something unnatural.
Writing can wait.
While it may not turn children into intellectual giants, RTR should help prevent them from being stunted by poor instruction or some other bad experience in school.
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The current URL is http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~parsonst/finalword.html
This file was last modified 18-Nov-2001
To get in touch, email me:
 parsonst@ihug.co.nz
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