We all want our children to do well in school as well as in life, but sometimes trying to reinvent the wheel only makes life harder. I have had the flipchart and cd in my home for about 5 years now. My two youngest were in preschool when we started. I have to say that even now, they love pulling out the cd and listening to it as well as sharing the flip chart with younger cousins. Let me share a little about the system in the authors words:
The letters of the alphabet are abstract symbols with no real meaning until someone attaches a name and a sound to the symbol. Unfortunately, the names are abstract as well. For instance, the letter A is described as two angled lines converging at the top with a small horizontal line in the middle connecting the two converging lines. Confusing? Wait, it gets better. Now this symbol is given a name. That name is “A.” Why is this symbol called A? And why does A look the way it does? These are difficult concepts to explain, especially to a child. Now add the fact that the symbol of two lines converging at the top with a small horizontal line in the middle connecting the two converging lines and that we call “A” makes the sound “aaa” (among others).
Lost yet? Now, try to explain why A makes the sound that it does! The answer is usually, “It just does.” No wonder so many children struggle with beginning reading.
Learning a new concept is best achieved by relating the new material to previously learned concepts. The Amazing Action Alphabet is so successful because it takes the abstract alphabet-with its shapes, names, and sounds-and presents it to the learner in terms based on knowledge that most children already have and understand. Children recognize animals at a very early age. The Amazing Action Alphabet takes the already familiar look of an animal and bends it into the shape of an abstract letter. Now the shape of the letter is no longer abstract because the animal, which the child recognizes, makes the shape of the letter. This gives life to the letter, so it is no longer just black lines and circles on white paper. Once the child recognizes the letter as an animal, it makes sense to give it a name. And the name of the animal is the name of the letter; for example, the name of the alligator is A.
Now that ea
ch letter has a name and the child can easily recognize the animal in the shape of a letter, an amusing story gives a legitimate reason for why the letter makes the sound that it does.
Then we combine this with an approach that lets children see, hear, and do, engaging multiple senses and learning styles into the most powerful method for learning and retention we know. Experience has shown that children almost instantly catch on to this method of learning. The recall that a child will exhibit for identifying letters with their corresponding names and sounds will astonish anyone who uses this program.
To find out more about these great learning tools check out the website!
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