[blindkid] slate and stylus

[Aaron Cannon]

Hi Penny.

My first response to your idea of teaching your daughter the slate and
stylus is, please do!  I had a pretty good education in braille and
O&M, but if I could change one thing about my instruction, it would be
how much work we did on the slate & stylus.  Maybe sacrifice some of
those endless hours spent learning the Opticon (it probably seemed
like a good idea at the time).

Don't worry too much about confusing your daughter with the slate.
However, it can't hurt to be a little careful in how you talk about
the slate & stylus.  Get her to think about writing on the slate as
just going the other way.  She's not writing backwards letters, she's
writing the same braille letters she's used to.  She's just writing
them going the other direction.

I know it's just semantics, but sometimes it can help.

Of course, the best way for her to learn the slate & stylus is for her
to use it.  Here's an idea you might try when she gains a little
confidence with using the slate & stylus:

When you go grocery shopping, have her write out your shopping list on
the slate & stylus before you leave home.  Then, take her with you to
the store, so she can read it to you as you purchase items.  She can
(quite literally) scratch off each item as you put it in the cart.
She'll probably like it better the more you can rely on her to know
what to buy next, rather than double checking on your own copy of the
list.

You might also "accidentally" forget to tell her something that needs
to go on the list, until you are away from home and in the car on the
way to the store.  This could help her learn first-hand the usefulness
of such a tool.  After all, as you noted, the brailer is not very
portable.

In fact, any situation you can think of where she can help you,
whether you need the help or not, by using the slate & stylus is
great.  I loved it when my mom did things like that with me, and I
think most kids like to feel like they're doing something to help.

Good luck.

Aaron

On 5/14/11, Mary Donahue <braille at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> Hello Merry and everyone,
>
>     I'm getting good ideas from your message about teaching the slate and
> stylus, as our Chapter Braille class will be starting next month. If anyone
> else has any other ideas, please keep them coming!
>
> Mary Donahue
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Merry-Noel Chamberlain" <owinm at yahoo.com>
> To: "(for parents of blind children)NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List"
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 11:36 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] slate and stylus
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Penny,
>> One very important thing to remember are the dot numbers for each letter.
>> When writing on the slate one must know the dot numbers and realize that
>> the dot numbers are the mirror image of the letter when it is read. To
>> start with the slate and stylus, sometimes I use the following that you
>> can get through APH.
>>
>> Pop-a-Cell – create letters back and forth
>> PegCell – create words back and forth.
>>
>> Also, to gain some practice before actually getting to the slate and
>> stylus, I've used play dough. I have them make a long snake and then press
>>
>> it flat. Using the stylus or a peg toy to press holes in the play dough
>> from the right to the left.
>>
>> Another thing to do is place a sheet of Braille paper on the carpet (or
>> get a carpet square from the store) and use the stylus to poke holes
>> through the paper - all over the place - willy-nilly - then turn the paper
>>
>> over and discover how many letters were made. This activity does NOT
>> involve the slate...
>>
>> As they get better, I use the sentences in THE SLATE BOOK to practice - I
>> like to have someone read them to a student and myself as we compete to
>> complete the sentence the fastest with the least amount of mistakes.
>>
>> Oh, and I don't use the word 'backwards'... I use 'mirror image' or
>> 'flipped'.
>>
>> Above all - HAVE FUN!
>>
>> Merry-Noel
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