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From: rwh@aesat.UUCP (Russ Herman)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: Better Baby Institute
Message-ID: <393@aesat.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-May-85 21:18:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: aesat.393
Posted: Wed May  8 21:18:36 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 8-May-85 21:28:19 EDT
Organization: AES Data Inc., Mississauga, Ont., CANADA L5N 3C9
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I too purchased the math and reading kits of the Better Baby Institute.
I confess I haven't been terribly diligent about their utilisation, but
I have made observations similar to Mark Horton's.

First of all, the kid *does* like to do the activities. He also asks
"Let's do dots" or "I want words". Those aren't the only times I
interact with him, so it's not that this is the only way he can get me
to spend time with him.

When I first looked at the dots, I was concerned about the issue of
pattern recognition. Consequently, I rotated the cards 90 degrees at
each presentation. Not at all surprisingly, he didn't seem to get the
hang of it. His grasp seems to be about three - then he has to count,
and still won't accurately if they're randomly strewn objects.

As for the flashcards, I was pretty ambivalent about them, since I have
strong leanings toward a phonics approach. Joel learned the alphabet
before starting with the cards, and then was taught sounds to associate
with the letters. This is consistent with the "Sesame Street" approach
(which I beleieve is the REAL key to early reading in today's kids). As
a result, he has NO difficulties with font changes (from Doman's cards
to books to the C-64 character set to ...). I wound up making my
own flashcards of words that were meaningful to him (toys, favorite
foods, animals) rather than using the kit.

On the issue of testing, I think I know what Doman is getting at, but
I don't agree with it either. However, in the beginning, my "testing"
was pretty subtle, running like 

	1) present word
	2) pause a few seconds
	3) sound initial syllable
	4) pause a few seconds
	5) sound next syllable
	6) go to 4 until done

Eventually the kid is going to say the word, even if he's just
repeating it after I've said it. Then, PRAISE. Also, I'll stop in the middle
of reading to him and ask him to sound out a word occasionally. Having
had a brief introduction to CAI, I came away with the idea that learning
and testing should be intermixed, not separate steps.

Unfortunately (?), neither Mark nor I have been sufficiently rigid to
do it exactly by the book. Has anyone else tried, and to what degree
of success? As well, I confess to skepticism about flash cards to
teach the kids paintings, flowers, etc. etc. - too close to the useless
clutter knowledge of my school days.
-- 
  ______			Russ Herman
 /      \			{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!aesat!rwh
@( ?  ? )@			
 (  ||  )			The opinions above are strictly personal, and 
 ( \__/ )			do not reflect those of my employer (or even
  \____/			possibly myself an hour from now.)