Remember learning your alphabet? A song helped make it possible.
Now, a video designed to help children with special needs learn to write is incorporating songs creating a big hit for children of all levels!
Children and Learning Problems
A learning disability is a lifelong condition that causes an inability to understand or be taught spoken or written concepts. It can affect the ability to take in visual or auditory information or to process or remember the information. Some children can remember what they have learned, but have difficulty expressing the information (due to language problems or a motor disability).

The organization LD Online® estimates 15 percent of Americans have some type of learning disability. Some of the most common forms include dyslexia (problems understanding written words), dyscalculia (difficulty with math and math concepts), dysgraphia (difficulty with legible handwriting), central auditory processing disorder (problems processing and understanding language), non-verbal learning disorders (problems with visual-spatial orientation, coordination and body cues) and language disorders (difficulty understanding spoken or written language).

The TV Teacher™
Children with learning disorders often have a hard time learning like their peers. Susan Ellis had a son, Ryan, who was having trouble learning to write the alphabet. He couldn’t follow the writing motions being shown by his Occupational Therapist. Yet, Ellis noted, Ryan could easily mimic the actions he saw on his favorite videos. So she started recording her son’s therapy sessions. The recorded videos were a success. Within about ten minutes, Ryan had started to write to his letter C's.

Ellis then worked with Ryan’s Occupational Therapist, Marnie Danielson, to create a professional video using fun props and a chant to show how to write each letter of the alphabet. The program is called, “Alphabet Beats.” Five minutes of instruction are devoted to each letter. First, the letter is presented in a picture frame. The writing motions are demonstrated, using a chant to reinforce the motion. The letter is next written on a chalkboard. Finally the letter is written on a piece of paper. A second video in the “Alphabet Beats” series provides instruction on writing lower case letters.

Learning by watching and mimicking the actions on a video is a technique called video modeling. Research shows it can be a very effective technique for children who have trouble following traditional teaching styles. Ellis says the videos provide extra reinforcement for children because they incorporate multiple sensory pathways for learning. The videos were developed for home use, but are now being used in traditional school settings.

“Alphabet Beats” videos are distributed by a company called, TV Teacher™. They are available on DVD for $35.00 each or $64.99 for the set. Preprinted workbooks to accompany the videos can be purchased for $4.49 each. TV Teacher recently released a third video, called “Strokes, Shapes and Scenes.” This video teaches basic strokes for drawing, shape recognition and shape drawing. The video also shows how to use basic shapes to create many other pictures, like houses, trees, people or bicycles, encouraging children to think more abstractly.

AUDIENCE INQUIRY
For information on the TV Teacher™ videos: http://www.tvteachervideos.com

For information on learning disabilities: LD Online®, http://www.ldonline.org/
Learning Disabilities Association of America, http://www.ldanatl.org/
National Center for Learning Disabilities, http://www.ncld.org/
BIBLIOGRAPHY