Kester Braille

Kester Braille by Louise Johnson
Review by Margaret Mary Myers

Would you like to start teaching your child to read - using braille? If you homeschool, these books would be an ideal place to begin. Or if you are a teacher of the visually impaired who has learned Braille, but you don't have a lot of experience with it yet, these books could be very helpful for you in teaching your students.

You don't need to have prior knowledge of braille in order to use these books, which enable you to teach your children both Braille reading and Braille writing. The Teacher's Guide provides all the information that you need, including how to teach your student tracking. All you need is the books, a few minutes a day, and a Perkins braillewriter (which - as a homeschool parent or as a teacher - you can probably borrow through your state resource center).

Even for an older child who already knows how to read in print, and now must learn braille, I feel thse books are worthwhile as a starting place. They helped me get my then-nine-year-old started on Braille after he experienced vision loss.

Level One introduces the letters of the alphabet and beginning sounds. Level Two introduces three-letter words with short vowel sounds, writing sentences, and the numbers 0 to 20. These books are one of the best buys you are going to get...both as far as the cost and as far as getting your young child started on the road to literacy. Visit the author's website for more information.