SENT LAST 17 DECEMBER 2011 Back to BrillKids.com

Early Learning Expert Dr. Richard Gentry joins the BrillKids Blog       Dr. Richard Gentry Joins the BrillKids Blog! We're thrilled to announce that Dr. J. Richard Gentry will become a contributor to the BrillKids Blog! A former University professor and elementary school teacher, Dr. Gentry brings to BrillKids over thirty years of experience in the field of early education. He is also the author of many books including Raising Confident Readers: How to Teach Your Child to Read - From Baby to Age 7. Dr. Gentry joined the BrillKids Foundation team earlier this year to help with our "early education for every child" mission. Now, he will also be contributing his thoughts on early childhood education on the BrillKids Blog. Expect to read new blog posts from Dr. Gentry soon! Please make sure you subscribe to our blog in order to be notifed of the posts! By way of introduction, we took the opportunity to conduct a written interview with Dr. Gentry for the benefit of BrillKids members. Read the Full Interview   Subscribe to the Blog   Some excerpts from our interview with Dr. Richard Gentry:   How did you first come across the concept of baby and toddler reading, and what were your first thoughts about it? I've studied beginning reading for over thirty years and have written books about how very young children learn to read in school. Although I knew many children learned to read as babies and toddlers before entering school, there is little research on 2- and 3-year-old readers and I had not worked with them, so like most reading professors and researchers, baby/toddler reading was an academic blind spot. After being invited to write a book for parents about raising readers, my first thoughts were "Get to work!" I had waited too long to investigate this important topic. It took me three years to write the book! Was there anything that surprised you about the subject? Almost everything I learned surprised me - there were new discoveries about beginning reading with great potential for the reading world. The work I did with parents who were successful teaching their babies and toddlers to read opened new doors to my thinking. I learned that babies learn to read differently and more easily than children who learn to read in school from formal instruction and that the most important aspect of early reading was interaction with loving parents and bonding. I'm convinced that baby/toddler reading has long-term positive effects on children such as better facility with language, building intelligence, and boosting academic success in school. Read the Full Interview   Subscribe to the Blog       Join BrillKids on Facebook!       Like our products and what we do? Follow us on Facebook! We'd love to connect with you!       You received this email because at some point in the past you either bought one of our products, signed up to our mailing list, or drunk some of that 'special' tea we slipped you. If you'd like, you can unsubscribe by clicking on the link below. Share the love!

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