Posted on 03/10/2008 1:03:36 PM PDT by BGHater
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A month ago, when I got an e-mail from a Lubbock mom who told me her 16-month-old baby could read, I didn't really take it seriously - especially when she told me it was her first baby. But after a few weeks and a few more e-mails, I decided to meet her and see for myself.
Elizabeth Barrett is now 17 months old. She looks and acts like most babies her age, but her mom Katy says, "She can read sentences. She can read more words than we can count."
So we watched as Elizabeth pulled out her favorite book, climbed in her favorite reading chair, and looked at pictures.
Katy, a speech pathologist who is married to Michael, another speech pathologist, told me that most people don't believe their infant is a reader.
"The joke is that since we see kids with language problems, we think anybody with normal language skills is a genius. But as time goes on, it's harder to deny that she's exceptional," said Katy.
Aside from reading books every day, play-time means mom writes down a word on paper and Elizabeth figures it out.
When we asked to see what Elizabeth could do, Katy wrote excited on a piece of paper and said, "Elizabeth, what does this say?" Elizabeth said "excited" and waved her hand over her chest. Katy explained that Elizabeth not only read the word, but signed it as well.
Katy is convinced that sign language helped launch her daughter's reading skills, partly by watching shows like "Signing Times" on public television.
"What's this word?' she asked. "Bear", answered Elizabeth." Yes, it said bear.
But we still weren't convinced. So I asked if I could try it. I wrote down the word ball.
"Ok, Elizabeth. What's this word?" I asked. "Ball", she said. That's when I nearly fell over.
Next my cameraman, Brandon wanted to try, so he wrote down the word banana.
"What's this word, Elizabeth," he asked her. "Banana", she said. Indeed, it was banana. That's when Brandon fell back and said, "I am very impressed!"
So we played "stump the baby". I picked up a magazine, opened it somewhere in the middle and randomly pointed to a picture of a plate and the three words underneath it. "What does this say?" I asked her. Elizabeth said, "How to eat." And she was right.
So we kept at it. "What's this word?" "Family", she said. "Can you read this one?" "Good", she answered. "Ok, what's this?" "Night", she said. Every time, she was right.
It was obvious, Elizabeth talks like she's 1, but she reads like she's 7. So what does her doctor think? Dr. Steve Stripling, Elizabeth's pediatrician, says at 14 months he saw her sight read the word avocado.
"I was floored", he told me.
The Barretts say they weren't trying to impress the doctor when they showed him what Elizabeth could do. It was more important for them to know that she didn't have some condition, like autism.
Dr. Stripling told me, "Elizabeth does not appear to be autistic at all. It looks like this child is going to be completely normal and, likely, will be a great resource for humanity, being as smart as she is."
What a relief to the Barretts that they can quiz Elizabeth on dozens of words but still enjoy playing, laughing, watching TV, and many other activities. I listened to Elizabeth read words like happy, puppy, penguin, vegetable, and kangaroo. That was impressive enough, but apparently, she's inherited her parent's love of music as well. When her mom wrote down Led Zeppelin, Buddy Holly, and the Beatles, she said those words too.
Again, Katy reminded me that it's not bragging rights, but a call for help, that brings this family to NewsChannel 11 for this story. Dr. Stripling also told me he is very glad they are showing people what Elizabeth can do. The reason? When the parents contact major medical centers for advice on how to challenge their little girl, nobody calls or writes back. Because they don't believe what she can do. Dr. Stripling says since seeing is believing, maybe the right people will contact them after seeing this story.
Katy told me, "We just want to know what to do with her next. We want her to be challenged. We don't want to hold her back," Katy said.
Just for fun, I scribbled one more thing on a piece of paper and held it up for Elizabeth to read. "Tonight Show", she said. That's what it said, and I have a feeling that's exactly where you might see Elizabeth the next time she's on TV.
"Signing Time" is distributed by American Public Television. It airs on KTXT, Channel 5, at 8:30 on Sunday mornings. For more information on the program, (click here).
Since this story originally aired on NewsChannel 11, many stations from around the country have called us wanting to broadcast this story in thier markets. We have learned that the Today Show has made arrangements to fly Elizabeth and her family to New York to be interviewed on Friday, March 7th. They have set Elizabeth up with a specialist from New York University.
You are write.
We belonged to a spirit-filled church here.
Most at our church are home schooled or in private school.
That is how it happens.
Repetitive memorization and always phonics.
I used to think the same thing, but then I wondered... People's learning curves seem to plateau at a certain age. People learn new things their whole lives of course but not as quickly as when they're young. If you've managed to get to a fairly high level before you hit that plateau, because you've been ahead of others in your age group, couldn't you be better off--at least with regard to intelligence--as an adult? I'm a firm believer that hard work and persistence can overcome IQ, but still, any advantage is a good thing to cultivate.
My eight year old can go to the potty all by herself. Sometimes she even flushes.
One of my daughters in law took her child out of school because all they wouold do (Missouri) was let him read out of encyclopedias in study hall. They said he had ADD but he was a gifted child and bored out of his skull with regular schoolwork. She homeschooled him and also his three siblings.
A lot of our kids are either homeschooled or go to our Christian school. Not all, but enough of them. They’re good kids! I hate to see them in a public school but the one in our village isn’t too bad. I graduated from it and I turned out okay but it wasn’t during these times either.
The only reason she is there at this moment, is because
she is a social child. She loves people.
We may put her in a Christian Private School here.
I wish we had done this before Junior High.
I wish one of mine had. He used to play outdoors when he was ten and not come in to poop. I cured him of it when I made him wash out his pants. I never minded cleaning up after him as a baby, but at ten, no way!
As you state, hard work and desire determine more about most people's successes than does "intelligence". I know a few "book smart" dolts, and I also have personally met people who are very successful (one on the Forbes richest list) who don't come across as super-intelects.
I wanted my granddaughter to come to our school but her parents wouldn’t let her. I even offered to pay for it. Sigh. I hope you can put her in a good Christian school. It’s well worth the money.
It is hard because she loves to please. Her teachers
love her. They always send home notes of how she contributes
in class.
Sometimes, I think God has placed her where she is.
Sometimes, I ask God why, and he says just to be patient,
she is doing his work.
“I cured him of it when I made him wash out his pants”
LOL, Ditto.
-PJ
Hebrew, Russian, English
“That is how it happens. Repetitive memorization and always phonics.”
but the accomplishment of the 2 1/2 year old son of my nephew was - then - pure memorization, and no phonics
he could not read independent words or even say what sounds belonged to each letter
he had simply memorized the tale that is spoken for each picture-page of each story, from listening to his older brother read it for him
even so, his ability for that precise detail of trained memorization was impressive
That, is what I am saying.
We did phonics and memorization with out daughter. Heck, we
read Dr. Sues when I was pregnant.
If a 2 year old can read back from memorization, it is
quite a feet.
I think that we forget exactly what is going on at that time.
Sorry that you missed the inherent sarcasm tags.
I always say/type “what about socialization” sarcastically, because it is the number one thing the ignorant bring up when we tell them we’re homeschooling.
I bring up phonics because that is what I learned to read
with. My husband too. So naturally as we read to our
child, we stressed and exaggerated sounds, over and over.
We read just specific Dr. Seuss books. “Cat in the Hat’
and “Mr Brown Can Moo, Can You”?
She learned the sounds from phonics but she memorized the
books.
I once dated a woman who was tutoring her employer’s son. He was, I believe, 7 or 8, and they thought he was an incredibly good reader because he could “read” all of his textbooks to them. But when he read to her she noticed that he was not always actually paying attention to the page, and was sometimes actually “reading” the next page before he’d turned the page. The first things she did was give him something to read that he had not had read to him, and he simply couldn’t do it. You could read anything to him just once and he’d have it memorized, but he couldn’t read anything on his own.
The most important part is to help them sound out the words
and then to recognize them.
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