[blindkid] Teaching Braille to your children?

Wagner, Gail Katona Y wagner_g at aps.edu
Fri May 13 19:47:06 UTC 2011


Just FYI - some ideas about beginning brialle. Merry-Noel is a neat lady!
Gail

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Merry-Noel Chamberlain
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 7:21 AM
To: blindkid at NFBnet.org; (for parents of blind children)NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Teaching Braille to your children?

Ann,
For very young children, here are some ideas I use to teach Braille to beginning young students.  As parents, we are our child's first teacher.
 
Activities for Pre-Braille
Merry-Noel Chamberlain, MA, TVI
 
Lots of Dots:  Learning My ABCs (APH)
            When coloring in this book, I place the coloring pages on a screen board so the student is able to feel his/her coloring more tactually.
 
Squid (APH)
 
Create letters using a small 6-count muffin pan.  I try to use different objects for a week or so.    One can usually find erasers that are age appropriate and of interest to the child.  For example, if the child likes Clifford, I use little Clifford erasers.  I also like holiday themes such as pumpkin erasers for Thanksgiving.  
 
It is important to start teaching the dot numbers.  For this, I use finger puppets.  It seems that small children understand that people live in certain ‘apartment’ numbers so with the finger puppets, I say that Mr. Lamb lives in Apartment #1 and Mr. Chicken lives in Apartment #2.  For this game, I’m not creating letters – rather, I’m focusing on learning the numbers of the dots.  Then, we play a game that Mr. Lamb wants to visit Mr. Chicken in Apartment #2.  Then, we move from that to removing the name the name to Mr. Lamb went to Apartment #4 to find Mr. Chicken.  I’ll have the student put Mr. Lamb in Apartment #4 and ask, “Is Mr. Chicken there?”  We’ll do this several times – mixing up the puppets.  
 
If the child is having trouble with this, I have another box that has the 6 compartments like a Braille Cell.  In the box, I have sticks that have one through six objects on them.  The student counts the objects and places them in the correct location in the box.  The sticks that have only one go in the top left – while the sticks that have 6 objects goes in the bottom right, etc.  This helps establish the dot number locations, as well.
 
I continue to make the cells smaller.  Starting with the small 6-count muffin pan down to as small of a cell I’ve collected over the years.  Items I’ve used include:
            - small 6-count trinket box w/ lid found in hobby stores.
            - small 6-count paint holder at hobby store.
            - Jell-O 6-count egg containers found in thrift shops these days. 
            - Toys – cupcake, egg shape containers 
            - Toy muffin pan found at antique shops.
 
Pop-a-Cell (APH) – create letters back and forth
PegCell (APH) – create words back and forth.
 
Find a book that has six buttons on the right side that make sounds.  Some have seven or so.  Seven is okay so long as the seventh one is larger and above or below the six.  These books can be found anywhere, Walmart, drug stores, etc.  Many of these books have the six buttons like a Braille Cell.  If you can get it Brailled, great!!!  The print on the book shows pictures of which button needs to be pushed as the story is read.  Instead of the adult pushing the button, say the dot number of which button needs to be pushed.  For example:  “I was so J when I jumped across the yard.”  The J face button may be dot number 2.  So, it would be read aloud as follows, “I was so ‘dot 2’ (child pushes dot 2 for the delightful sound) when I jumped across the yard.”   
 
Play dough – The student makes a snake and then presses it flat.  Uses a stylus or peg toy to press holes in the play dough… this strengthens the hand and introduces the slate & stylus.  
 
Crafty play dough that gets hard/like foam.  (Target, Walmart)  Together make a Braille cell and little balls to fit into the cell.  Make little valleys in each cell hole to help contain the ball from rolling out or use a strip of play dough to divide the dots in the cell or both.  Make other things with the play dough, too.  Use a flat rectangle or square to create a picture and apply little balls to make their name in Braille.  (Don’t forget the capital sign!)  
 
Twister Braille – Use the Twister game and create letters with the body.  You can either cut the Twister board to make a Braille cell, or get Hopscotch Twister and create a tactual Braille cell.  For numbers or Braille that use more than one cell, use stuffed animals or toys to help.  With Hopscotch Twister, you can create several Braille Cells.
 
For more Braille ideas, go to: http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr27/4/fr270416.htm
 
Merry-Noel
 
 
 

 


--- On Thu, 5/12/11, Anne Ward <inland2wards at att.net> wrote:


From: Anne Ward <inland2wards at att.net>
Subject: [blindkid] Teaching Braille to your children?
To: blindkid at NFBnet.org
Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 3:12 AM


Hi, all,
I am wondering how many of you parents took an active part in teaching Braille to your children, and, if so, what system/textbook/whatever did you use to achieve that?  I've been asked to push our state into providing a certain text for parents to check out through the Braille and Talking Book section of the state library.  I am not sure that the specific text is the way to go, it seems a poor choice for teaching very young children, but at least it would be A tool to provide.  The text in question is APH's Braille Series 1992.  Some alternatives seem a bit pricey, but a better choice for teaching young children.  Myself, I used Just Enough to Know Better to teach myself, but my son's vi teacher taught him, and a very slow process it seemed at the time.  If any of you have any recommendations, please let me know.  I can think of more than one young family that would benefit from this idea, but am not sure of the text to be recommended,  with the
 best bang for the buck, if I can come up with the buck (don't think the library has the buck in these times).
Thanks for any input you can offer me.
Sincerely,
Anne Ward
_______________________________________________
blindkid mailing list
blindkid at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/owinm%40yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
blindkid mailing list
blindkid at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/wagner_g%40aps.edu


More information about the BlindKid mailing list