[LRUG] [Jobs] Teach Your Monster to Read: Small agency / team required to help us scale up

Thu Jun 12 00:45:56 PDT 2014

Interesting discussion. Anyone aware of studies in that area? I was
discussing that topic intensely with my wife a few years ago. Our daughter
is now 7.
In Germany for example school doesn't start until the age of 6 and only
runs from 8 am to noon or 1 pm. So German kids learn reading later and
spend less time in school but eventually catch up. So I'm not sure if
starting age per se matters but I agree that if all your peers start
learning with 4 and you don't you are naturally behind.

On 11 June 2014 23:57, Richard Drake <rdrake98 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Great report.
>
>
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>
> On 11 June 2014 23:02, Ronny Ager-Wick <ronny at ager-wick.com> wrote:
>
>>  I just heard about Teach Your Monster to Read via the original post,
>> and immediately put my 5 year old son in front of it. He's in exactly the
>> right stage, knows most of the sounds already, can read some words, and
>> loves repetition! To provide some real user feedback from someone in the
>> target audience, this is definitely a hit! He liked it right away, and
>> completely forgot that I closed his cartoons on YouTube to show him this.
>> This game is really very well made!
>>
>> To continue the OT discussion. My experience is that *when* a child is
>> mentally ready to start reading varies greatly, but it doesn't matter. The
>> final outcome is not given by the starting age. The all learn it
>> eventually, and because interests come and go, an early start does not
>> necessarily mean they'll be better 10 years later, and vice versa. But when
>> they're ready, I see no reason to deprive them of material. As they not
>> only tolerate, but even enjoy repetition up to around 6-7 years old, it's a
>> huge advantage if they start learning to read before that, as it involves a
>> lot of repetition. When the can play a game like this and learn at the same
>> time, why stop them?
>>
>> I totally agree with the balance sentiment. I have let my children play
>> with computers from a very early age, but I don't use them as a way to keep
>> them quiet (trust me, they're far from quiet!). They cycle, play with
>> sand/soil/mud, play games outside with the neighborhood kids, etc.
>> Computers and tablets and the like give them something else to do when they
>> can't play outside, as they don't have TV (good riddance!). Plus, if you
>> can manage to keep them from watching YouTube all day (which is almost as
>> bad as TV, bar the passiveness of just sitting and receiving), they also
>> might just learn something useful!
>>
>> Other feedback; the generated passwords are a bit complicated for small
>> children to type by themselves.
>>
>> Ronny.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/06/14 20:59, Rory Sinclair wrote:
>>
>> I don’t see why its an absurdity - many kids start primary school at 5,
>> and reading and writing are fundamental skills to learn in early years.  If
>> the kid is ready to take on reading (even very basic stuff, eg the word
>> ‘Ball’ beside a picture of a ball, etc) then why not?
>>
>>  My eldest son was reading at 3, and is now 8 - his primary school
>> teacher says he’s reading at the level of a Primary 5, although he’s in
>> Primary 3.  I don’t think there’s any sense in trying to prevent
>> development - if he’s ready, he’s ready.  My youngest is 3 now, and doesn’t
>> have nearly the same grasp of reading yet, but its absolutely not something
>> i’m concerned about.  He does, however, have an intense fascination with
>> things like iPhones and iPads, which I think is something perhaps to
>> ration, though not actually prevent.
>>
>>  Cheers
>>
>>  --
>> Rory Sinclair
>>  Head of Technology
>> ASMALLWORLD
>>
>>  On Wednesday, 11 June 2014 at 12:21, Hakan Ensari wrote:
>>
>>   This is off-topic, but do you want to teach your monster to read at
>> age FOUR? Do you even want them to sit in front of a computer screen at
>> that age?
>>
>>  My son is in pre-school (Lauriston, anyone?), and we're having to deal
>> with the immense absurdity of an public educational system that thinks it's
>> priority to teach five-year-olds to read and write rather than have them
>> play, make things with their hands, socialise and generally get settled.
>>
>>  Sorry for flaming. Consider it customer feedback, assuming your real
>> customers are the parents who are freaking out why their kids are not
>> liking phonics and have yet to make the leap to a Steiner school or some
>> other private refuge.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11 June 2014 09:45, Antonio <antonio at teachyourmonstertoread.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Hi everyone,
>>
>>  We have developed a product called Teach Your Monster to Read, a
>> BAFTA-nominated educational game which helps 4-6 year olds practise the key
>> first stages of reading.
>>
>>  http://teachyourmonstertoread.com
>>
>>  It's a free game, and has been funded by a literacy charity founded by
>> Peter Usborne (of Usborne Publishing).
>>
>>  We're growing year on year, and we need some support in keeping our
>> Rails-based server side component up and running as we scale up.
>>
>>  I'm looking for a small company or team that has some specialism in
>> supporting sites in this way.
>>
>>  I've put further details in this Google Doc. If you're interested, see
>> my contact details at the bottom of the document (please do this rather
>> than reply to all obviously!)
>>
>>
>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jh_PMIb8geFtQbTpn1GrD5oA8g3phRgTzqTIKDlpTTE/edit#
>>
>>  All the best,
>>
>>  Antonio
>>
>>  --
>> Antonio Gould
>> Producer: Teach Your Monster to Read
>> http://teachyourmonstertoread.com
>>
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