We introduced our son Zac to Love and Learning when he was fifteen months old. At that time Zac could only say dada and go. Zac loves your books and the videos. By the time Zac was 2 1/2 he knew at least 85% of the words in kits 1-4. At that time he could read more words than he could actually say. When he saw the body part words he would point to them on himself and a lot of the animals he would make their sound instead, some words like apple he even signed early on.
Zac turned three years old two weeks ago. He now knows all the words in kits 1-4 and can count to ten and say the letters of the alphabet, he can also recognize all the letters by sight. When he sees a new word he often gets the beginning sound right. We just introduced kit 5 at the beginning of the month and he knows about 20 of those words. He knew the word snake the first time he ever saw it. Each night we tell Zac it is time for "books and a ba-ba." My husband gets him a cup of milk and Zac goes to the book drawer a choices the two books he wants to read. He just looks at the word printed on the corner of each cover and can decided from that which book he wants.
We keep one of the videos at my parents' house. Every time we visit, the first thing he does is climb up in their big leather chair and says Polar bear, polar bear. Lately he has also become interested in other videos put still none hold his attention as well as his reading videos. Also, he is much calmer when watch his reading videos compared his other children's videos.
Recently, I was holding Zac by the pool waiting for his swimming lesson to begin and he started to say "towel off towel off." I turned around and saw a sign that read PLEASE TOWEL OFF BEFORE ENTERING. I was amazed he was able to pick the two words he knew out of the middle of a sentence and read them even though they were written in capital letters. Lately, we have been writing his words on paper, with letter magnets, and even with bathtub crayons. He reads many of his words this way and can even pick his words out of children's story books.
Zac was just evaluated by our school district for the first time. I had to complete a standardize test about Zac. The test had a section about speech and language covering skills form birth to eighteen years old. Due to Zac's reading abilities, he had scattered skills to the seven year old level. The lady administering the test keep trying to tell me the difference between being read to and reading. Finally, I pulled out a book and let Zac read for her. Zac's case worker then told the lady from the school district that it will be a difficult task for them to find an environment that will meet his needs while still challenging his intellect. We joke that Zac needs a school for gifted and talented children with special needs!
Our younger son, Scott, just turned a year old. Scott is more delayed than Zac was, but he too has started the Love and Learning program. Scott has vision issues that make focusing difficult, but he does watch the videos. We know our efforts will pay off just as they have with Zac.
We will continue to teach our boys to read and to tell anyone that will listen about Love and Learning. Thank you for giving us so much to be hopeful for. I draw so much strength from that fact that while Zac is delayed, his reading abilities far surpass his age.
Thank you again,
Kimberlie Jones Mother of Zachary and Scott
California
