eReading Pro

I guess I will jsut disseminate my NDSC conference information in small bits, since I can't seem to find the time to sit down and digest everything all at once.

Anyhoo.

One of the workshops I attended was about reading- specifically the eReading Pro program.  I went in as a skeptic...I knew a little bit about it- flashcard based, amazing stories of 3 year old readers...blah blah blah.  But what about comprehension and phonemic awareness?

After the presentation I was hooked.  It completely made sense to me.  The premise is that Children with Ds are visual learners, and are strong with memorization skills.  So, learning to read through the traditional letters make sounds, sounds make words, words make sentences...doesn't work as well.  Part to whole is MUCH more difficult for our kids to grasp than whole word recognition.

The phonics part will come later, and the comprehension part is addressed through the words that are targeted (they are functional every day words).  It STILL goes against every teacher-grain in my body, but I have to remember that Chase's brain works differently...and we have to think differently to address his needs.

I think it is absolutely worth looking at...and I might have bought the program and will be trying it out with Chase ASAP :)