CHASER TO THE MAGIC READING FLASHLIGHT

Wow. There was such a great response to last week’s blog that I decided to do a follow-up.

Why? Because I posted the blog on several DS Facebook pages, and I want to pass along some of the great reader comments so that everyone can read them.

Connor and His Magic Flashlight Pen

First of all, the “mystery mom” surfaced on one of those pages: Kristin Fish. Kristin was the creative mom I met at the NDSC Conference who used the flashlight pen with her son Connor and had such great success. So here are two short videos (14 seconds total) of Conner using his power light, his Special Reads flashlight pen. He’s reading two of the picture books from my Special Reads Pre-Primer Bundle, Spaghetti and I Want Pizza!

CONNOR PIZZA                         CONNOR SPAGHETTI

For those readers who missed last week’s blog, Conner was in a “terrible mood” and refused to read any books until Kristin pulled out the magic flashlight. Then he sailed willingly through all 5 Special Reads picture books!

That blog really fired up parents because it’s such a simple and appealing solution. It also flushed out more information:

• One reader wrote that using a small flashlight for reading has been recommended by the NACD (National Association for Child Development). The NACD is headed by Bob Doman, Glen Doman’s nephew [Glen Doman and his Institute got many of us started years ago with his book “How To Teach Your Baby To Read.”] Hey, if the NACD recommends it, you know it’s got to be good! The NACD has a long track record of being tremendously successful in helping our children with DS achieve their highest potential. Check out their site, nacd.org, because they now have a Down syndrome “microsite” there.
• Vickie, a teacher, wrote, “I just ordered a box of finger flashlights for my classroom and then saw this post. Now I am even more excited to see if they will help my students with their focus in reading.” Note from Natalie: Though I prefer using a pen flashlight because (1) the child with DS has better control, and (2) many of our kids would totally object to a strapping anything to their fingers, just search for “finger flashlights” on Amazon if you think that could work for your child. And mixing it up with different variations on the theme is always a good idea anyway; it keeps learning fresh.
• Another reader, Lisa, wrote, “One teacher I know uses plastic glow-in-the-dark Martian fingers for the kids to help keep their place in the book when reading.” (Again, search Amazon).
• One mom, Anna, wrote, “Yes!” to the idea. “My daughter is legally blind and we’ve done this to change things up! Works wonders!”
• For children who tend to rush through sentences and run words together (or skip some altogether), the flashlight helps them focus on each word.

The many other responses to this blog were so positive that I’ve decided to include a Special Reads flashlight pen (like the one Connor is using in the videos and picture) with every Special Reads order from now on. And when someone orders the big “3-in-1 Bundle” on my site, they’ll get two pens (because they’re going to need it!)

And if you just can’t find these pens anywhere and don’t need any of my Reading Bundles (which includes a flashlight pen), shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do to get you one.

Thanks to Kristin for the adorable videos of Connor…

Flashlights at the ready? Get set, go!

www.specialreads.com