It has been 10 years, and tons of Readers young and old are rocking the planet! Let’s formalize some of the concepts and reign in the masses while we discuss exactly what we are up to these days.
Game Zero, not Oh, is designed to let the new reader using any language, become familiar with the alphabet, punctuation, and numbers. One symbol at a time without caring about what they are or mean. In this game they will be so excited every single time they find one of their Uppercase, Lowercase, Numbers, or Punctuation pairs. They will learn to find them all over road signs, magazines, newspapers, books, etc. This is basic pattern recognition but also it is preparing the mind for these types of associated data sets by simply the symbol.
In a month or a year, they are ready for game one, but no pressure. They are developing the skills they need to
do so many great things. Their mind is growing faster than their coordination that is developing so put the mind to work. It is a strength of the mind and needs to be excited early. Perhaps for those older kids it can be kicked back into gear. So kick the can and get to it.
They are noticing words, sentences, and so much more as they look for certain symbols. The passive learning is massively advantageous. They are thinking, and gaming, and learning! Perhaps they will one day recognize the patterns of for instance a chess game whose summary of positions can be improved or reduced. They can also go back and spend another bit of time on letters they do not remember the first time around. This game is cathartic, relaxing, takes you back to maybe 1 or 2 years old, it is meditative.
Use the alphabet song to allow them to realize that
each letter has a name in the song. However, at 1 or 2 they do not need to know the names of the symbols or anything else. They don’t even have to speak, but they might want to alternate hands so that they do not wear out one arm. Don’t ask me how I know.
It is the simplest and most effective start ever, and builds a foundation of excitement, discovery, and confidence. Keep good light, and take breaks and even naps. It seems when the mind is developing it gets a bit full in one meal of learning and just has to nap. It’s something like. Have Fun! Those words they are seeing all the time will be like old friends by the time they start reading them.
Game 0:
Random Match
Show the child a letter with one index finger, and then search for a match with the other. Perhaps they cant find a match? It’s a loner type of symbol? No problem. Start over with another random pick maybe using the other hand? They instantly have success, and every time get fired up.
They are cracking the code! They are playing with books, they are learning the letters and words without even knowing it. They are noticing sentence structure and paragraphs. Later they will recognize words they have passed so many times.
Mark off the letters you find matches for, when you are so good it at that you are thinking about going to the next game. No rush as I didn’t know the names of the letters until I started talking at 2! My mom asked what I was doing? These are the same I told her. She told me that is a ‘C’. I was in shock that they had names! Cracking the code! Oh Yes. Get fired up! They will be selling IPOs and going public in highschool. Seriously, if we can just cut the success rate of the naysayer knee capping treacherous negative influences.
There are 3 year olds winning summer reading programs and even joining Mensa! We have lowered the bar and age for learning intensely complex systems simply. We are thinking critically and analytically while just trying to find letters.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee
Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj
Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo
Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy
Zz.
(Try to draw the letter in your notepad.