New iPad Sight Word Books for Early Readers and Children with Down Syndrome

Atlanta, GA, September 08, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Canister, a design studio near Atlanta, GA, has begun releasing a series of sight word books created specifically for early readers and children with disabilities using iPads. The books are authored by Stephanie Meredith, a professional writer and college English instructor, and illustrated by her ten-year-old daughter, Kate.

Kate's Sight Word Books were originally created for Kate's older brother, Andy, a bright-eyed boy with Down syndrome. To keep him interested in reading, Kate illustrated whimsical pictures to give Andy context clues, and their mom wrote the stories using words Andy was learning.

Stephanie Meredith says, "We noticed that even though Andy was working very hard with flashcards to learn his sight words, he was struggling to read them in context. So Kate and I started creating these books for him using the common nouns and Dolch sight words. As he started reading the books, he began reading more quickly and understanding how the words fit together. Kate's pictures also helped significantly with his comprehension and, most importantly, made reading fun. So we thought we'd share the books with other children like Andy who are learning to read."

Research shows that learning to read sight words is particularly helpful for children with Down syndrome and other children with special needs who tend to be good visual learners. Evidence also suggests that reading progress has a positive impact on spoken language for children with disabilities. Books on the iPad also provide the added benefit of speeding up reading for children with fine motor delays because they are not slowed down by turning the pages of a book.

This collection uses sight words, common nouns, and basic phonics to build early reading skills. The sight words come from the list of 220 Dolch sight words, starting at the pre-primer level. The last pages of each book include a list of the sight words, phonics words, and common nouns featured in the book so that parents and teachers can reinforce learning with additional sight word apps, phonics apps, and flash cards.

The first set of Kate's Sight Word Books will include 10 books and focus on the pre-primer Dolch sight words, common nouns that can be found in popular reading programs, and basic consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) phonics words. The first two books currently available are "The Apple Sight Word Book" (http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/apple-sight-word-book/id557211732?mt=11) and "The Find Sight Word Book (http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/find-book/id554439223?mt=11)."

The books can also be found on iTunes or in the iBookstore. iBooks is a free app available on the iPad and contains an expansive library of books, like Kate's Sight Word Books, available for purchase and free download.