introducing digital learning to Rynus for the first time

Remember the famous set of Leapfrog "Tag reader" Books? Being a huge Leapfrog fan family, I couldn't believe we didn't invest on a "Tag reader" pen, but I did borrowed this set of books from my sister when Renzo was 3. And "Casey cat has a hat" is probably the first book Renzo managed to read independently when he was 3+.

So, in less than 2 months time, Rynus is turning 3. Of course I would not miss my chance to put my precious little one to a test, yes, a reading test, just to see how he fares in terms of reading. Again don't get me wrong, I am not interested to compare Rynus with other kids, not even his own brother, it's just a reality check to help me understand him better and see what I can do to help him learn how to read on his own.

He could repeat after me with no problem, but when I pointed at simple rhyming words like "cat", "hat". "bat", etc, he couldn't recognize any of them though he has learned the concept of such rhyming words from Leapfrog "Word Caper" DVD. I am extremely patient with kids and I am extremely good with my phonics (I am not boasting but I learned my phonics well since young and my skill get reinforced after I had Renzo, LOL) . So I am very certain Rynus' "inability to read simple words", has nothing to do with my "high tolerance level", nor "strong knowledge in phonics and blending words". It's pretty obvious that my conventional way of teaching him to read by breaking down the words into syllables and sound them out, is just not working for Rynus! All this while we thought that's the way we taught Renzo to read when he was young, but, we could be wrong.

It took me less than 3 minutes to decide on the next course of action. I went straight to download a simple spelling app onto my android phone, leaving Daddy Chan in shock because he knows that I am not in favor of letting kids hold on to mobile devices. I totally couldn't stand kids with their eyes glued onto digital screens at dining tables so although Rynus is hard to pacify when he's outside, I've never resorted to iphone/ipad. Renzo used to spend a lot of time on ipad educational apps when he was 1.5 - 3 years old, and I had to remove ipad from his daily routine when he started to get hooked onto ipad games after he turned 4. So for Rynus, from day one, I made it very clear that he's only allowed to watch educational DVDs on TV, and that's it.

But this time, I realized my own expectation of getting Rynus to read based on a good book for young readers, doesn't seem to be too realistic and feasible. You might think I am asking for too much from a 3 years old. But in all honesty, I know my kids well and Rynus has mastered his 26 letters and their phonic sounds for at least a year, with my experience in coaching Renzo, I am very optimistic that by now, Rynus should be able to read, well at least simple words like "cat", "hat" and "bat" should not be too challenging for him after a few rounds of practicing. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way and that made me think again, about how Renzo learned to read when he was at this age?!!

The answer is, maybe, just maybe, spelling is the foundation that helps kids to read independently. That's just my thought because through spelling, they get to break down words to first, middle, and last sound (for basic 3 letter words), and blend them together to spell it out, which in essence, helps them to read those words eventually. And the fact is, Renzo has spent at least 6 - 10 months purely on spelling 3 letter words. Here's a video of him doing it on ipad when he was only 1 year 10 months old.

So, for the very first time, Rynus got to experiment a mobile apps. It didn't take him long to figure out how to use a phone though he was struggling a bit with the touch screen at times. He has not really grasped the concept of middle sound and last sound, I can tell he's doing very well with his first sound. I mentioned in Renzo's blog before, most kids learn the concept of first and last sound before they could figure out the middle sound. For now, I only allow him to play with this app for 10 minutes a day, if, and only if he asks for it. Here's a video of him doing his spelling and victory balloon popping!

I have to admit that maybe in this modern era, it's just inevitable to expose kids to modern technologies, and it's even possible that many kids could only absorb well through such kind of digital interface and digital learning. Rynus was bouncing off the walls when he spelt his words out and got rewarded with a balloon. That's something he doesn't get through holding on and reading from a physical book. But of course we are still putting in efforts to read to, and read with him. Over the past decade, the use of technology in children’s education has exploded, and there are now literally thousands of tablet and smartphone apps created to help kids learn in more interactive and entertaining ways. The debate about using apps for educational purposes is still ongoing, but despite any supposed drawbacks for children, I do see the benefits in digital learning so for now, we are just going to introduce educational apps gradually to Rynus' learning routine, of course with proper control..