[blindkid] correct terminology

[Carol Castellano]

Arielle makes good points .  Kids learn to read by shape and to write 
by dot number.  It's also important to make sure that the child reads 
what he writes!  Otherwise he could just learn dot numbers and not 
learn how to read the letters!
Carol

Carol Castellano
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nopbc.org

At 10:01 PM 7/11/2010, you wrote:
>Hi Marie and all,
>
>I learned Braille when I was Jack's age, and first I want to say
>thanks for having him learn Braille now! Unfortunately,
>Braille-literate children are the minority these days.
>
>To me the four ways of describing the letter B that  you mention are
>all pretty much the same, and I wouldn't worry about these fine
>distinctions. What is more important is that Jack gets the hang of how
>each letter feels, and knows which dots to push to write the letters
>with a slate and stylus, Perkins Brailler or Braille notetaker. I
>don't know exactly how print is taught to children, but I think kids
>learn to recognize whole letters rather than reducing them to their
>component lines, circles, etc. He will need to know the dots for
>writing at first, but eventually he should be able to recognize and
>write the letters themselves rather than thinking about the specific
>dots involved. I know the dots for each Braille character, of course,
>but I don't consciously think about the dots when I am writing
>Braille, and when I read Braille I generally recognize whole words at
>a time rather than individual letters or individual dots.  Just
>remember that Braille literacy isn't all that different from print
>literacy-just something to think about. Good luck!
>
>Arielle
>
>On 7/11/10, Carly B <barnesraiser at gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is how I heard it described, and it's been super helpful for me to
> > think of it this way:
> >
> > Think of "unzipping" the Braille cell through the middle from the bottom to
> > the top, then pulling each unzipped side out lengthwise. So dot one is the
> > first key on the left. Dot 2 is the second key on the left. Dot 3 is
> > the third key on the left. Dot 4 is the first key on the right. And so on.
> > The middle key is the space key.
> >
> > I hope that helps!!
> >
> > :) Carolynn
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 7:00 PM, holly miller <hollym12 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Along the same lines, does anyone know of a printable cheat sheet to use
> >> with a perkins?  With the cells in a straight line rather than 3 next to
> >> 3.
> >>
> >> Holly
> >> aka Hank's mom
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>
>
>--
>Arielle Silverman
>President, National Association of Blind Students
>Phone:  602-502-2255
>Email:
>nabs.president at gmail.com
>Website:
>www.nabslink.org
>
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