Review : See Me Read.
“See Me Read™” is a method that was developed by a mom, who found her son showed early signs of wanting to read. Some of early reading signs include :
- understanding that words have meaning
- sees that words and sentences are read from left to right
- can hear specific sounds in words.
These are just some of the signs, for more signs, you can click here to check if your child is ready to read.
When No.1 was a toddler, I wasn’t paying too close an attention to his reading skills, as he seemed to have a speech developmental delay. Whilst I read to him many stories everyday..and we sang quite alot of songs, I didn’t realise that I could have easily taught him how to read at an early age. Now, that he’s almost 6 years old and will be going to Year 1 (Primary) next year, it looks like he’s got a lot of catching up to do (at least that’s what I thought!).
Having an opportunity to create a kit from “See Me Read™”, I was hoping that he’ll be able to ‘catch’ on some of the words I’ve used. Each “See Me Read™” Kit has personalised pictures of him and/or his home and family, with its’ relevant words. That way, it focuses on the whole-word method of reading instruction, it provides repeated exposure to familiar words that children encounter in their daily lives.
A Complete Kit (as shown above) includes :
- 1 set of flash cards
- 1 Level 1 Book
- 1 Level 2 Book
- 1 Writing Pad
- 1 set of Personalized Labels
Creating your own kit is a fairly simple process, but you do need your own digital camera. With it, you can take pictures of your child on a chair, or at the table, or his home. Under each pictorial card, there would be a descriptive sentence to help your child relate each word to the item. Once I received the kit, I got to ‘work’ straight away with No.1, with the Level 1 book…and to my surprise, he already knew all of its words. Perhaps it was the pictures that helped him. So, I decided to test him, by just showing him the words. Lo and behold, he does know how to read. It really looks like this Mama hasn’t been paying attention to him at all! Yikes!
Then, we read the Level 2 book..and this took awhile for him to read. He found new words and luckily, he wasn’t perturbed by them. Instead, he brings out this book to read every night. He still hasn’t mastered reading this level yet, but given that it’s just been a few days, that’s ok.
Although my eldest son could read all the words on the cards, I could still use them on my second child, the 3 year old.. So, again, the two of us, spent a considerable amount of time reading it. Although it had his elder brother’s picture on it, I felt that No.2 was able to read and relate some of the words to the pictured item.
I think one has to ensure proper pronounciation of the words, so that phonetically they can hear it..and then recognise the words through the alphabets. With this type of new personalized learning product, I think it is easier for the child to ‘read’ the words because of the pictures. The visual aspect of it does help the child recognise each word perfectly. Although it’s meant to be educational, it is pretty fun and exciting for my kids to see their cute lil faces printed in the cards.
That being said. when ordering it, and taking the photos, it’s best you try to take very good photos. They have tips and tricks on how to take better quality photos, here. Plus, there is a promotional code you can use (BBCP0001) that will get you free shipping and handling (in U.S only), worthed $8.99! This is a very good learning/reading tool to start with, for parents who want to instill a love for reading. I’m so glad that my two kids have been finding books very fun. Especially the elder one, whom I struggled with, initially. He seems to whizz through books now!
I’d like to thank Parent Reviewers and See Me Read™ for giving this enriching experience and opportunity for my kids to learn!
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WOW! This is a very nice product! YOu’re so lucky to get this review.