High-Tech Head Start

One-year-old Jayden Lim settles down eagerly for his flash card lesson.

Lion. Tiger. Elephant. The words and pictures zip by, yet he is transfixed by them.

But mum Irene Ng has no stack of cards in her hand. Instead, she wields a TV remote control.

She’s not alone. Many parents YP spoke to are turning to high-tech flash cards, or new media options like DVD- and computer-based programmes that are designed to teach little ones how to read.
Irene, a 32-year-old piano teacher, finds that they make learning more fun and stress-free for both mother and child. She started when Jayden turned one three months ago.

“I just have to put in the disc and lesson begins. I don’t have to worry about fumbling with the cards and not showing them fast enough,” she shares. “It works well for Jayden, who can recognise long words like caterpillar and hippopotamus.”

Read the October 2009 issue of Young Parents to find out what parents and experts say about high-tech flash card systems.