A website for new readers!

I recently visited my oldest sister in Vancouver, Washington.  She has five grown children who have so far given her seven grandchildren, with an eighth on the way.  The oldest is five years old.  So I'm watching all of these babies playing and doing what babies do, when 2 1/2-year-old Donnie walks up to me and starts placing alphabetic magnets beside me and telling me what sound each letter makes, without flaw.  I kept quizzing him on them, thinking he maybe only knew a few, but he gave me the correct sound of all twenty-six letters!  Having taught a lot of first graders, I was blown away to know that a 2 1/2-year-old was already sounding out letters that many six-year-olds struggle with!
Then my niece Beth brings up five-year-old Jack, who is not yet in kindergarten.  She wants him to read to me a new Dr. Suess book that he has never seen before.  After coaxing the shyness out of him, he begins reading this book, without flaw, words such as "marvelous" and "Mulberry".  He is reading with inflection and undoubtedly reading well above the required level that first graders are expected to be reading before they pass to second grade!  Rather than being painful to listen to, it was delightful, to the point that it brought tears to my eyes!
Wondering if this child was a genius, I began questioning his parents, who told me about a website they started him on when he was two years old.  His two-year-old sister is now using it.  It is an interactive learning site and children apparently love it.  Please check it out and let me know what you think. 

http://www.starfall.com/

~Dave

Using technology in teaching

It is clear to me that technology is a necessity in teaching.  Unfortunately, we face the barrier of budget difficulties in establishing a good base for the use of the most modern technologies.  In fact, newer teachers, who are most likely to want to use these new technologies are facing the challenge of even landing a job in the public school system.  If schools were funded without limit, newer teachers would have no problem finding a teaching job.  They would walk into a classroom full of all of the most modern in technologies.  Each student would have access to a computer and the possibilities of exploration in the techno-world would be endless.  The children of this generation would have advantages in the learning process that we could not have even dreamed of when we were in the public schools.  It is my belief that the schools and the districts that can invest in these technologies and use them effectively will turn out students who are most prepared to take on the leadership positions of a world advancing faster than most districts are prepared to keep up with.  If we want to keep up with the Indias and Chinas of the world, we need to make the investment now. ~Dave

My first blog

Welcome to my blog site!  I am learning about blogs and their effectiveness in communicating with others.  It is likely that I will use this tool as an educator in communicating with my students, their parents and my fellow educators.  Please respond to my blog!  I would love to hear from you so I can experience a new method of communication.  Thanks! ~Dave