"Hey! I wanted to share the link to Zoe's new video of her reading the Kit #7 Love and Learning Dictionary. You have seen the videos of Zoe reading at 22 months with Kit #1 so now I want you to see how much she has progressed. At age 4 1/2, she is reading at a first grade level and comprehending. There are even some words that she is now reverse spelling. (I spell the 3 or 4 letter words and she tells me what the word is). I can attribute this to using your program since she was 4 months old. Thanks for making this program available!" Suzanne Wingard



"We purchased the Love and Learning Kit for our daughter, Kaysia, 3 months after her 3rd birthday. At age one, she was already identifying letters and by 2, she had started some sight reading with a different program, but with not as much success as we would have liked. She was very good at talking, but had not yet started speaking in sentences or walking yet. Kaysia was also not much of a TV and/or movie watcher at the time as they never seemed to hold her attention for long, so I only purchased the first kit to see how she would respond. Well, the movie entranced her, and she must have asked to watch it about 5 times straight by saying, "Again!" every time it had ended. By the third week, Kaysia was already reading about half of the words in the first kit! Her teachers could not believe it. We purchased the rest of the kits and introduced them as she became familiar with each one. Now, only 7 months after using the kits for the first time, Kaysia has mastered all the kits from 1-4, reading new words in just a few weeks. She can now ask for things by saying, "May I have." She can count up to 30 and identify all numbers up to 20 as well as all upper and lower case letters. Kaysia has even memorized ALL of the letter SOUNDS, colors, shapes and body parts such as chin, cheek, and head. By the end of her school year, she was the ONLY child out of her whole class, with and without disabilities, that was able to read so many words. Now Kaysia asks to watch the movies everyday and knows and asks for each one by name. It is truly amazing to see how much just a few minutes a day has done for her academic and communicative skills. My advice to any parent, regardless of what their doctors, therapists or teachers say, is to expect more out of your child. You never know what they are capable of until you try, and Love and Learning is an amazing way to start pushing that envelope!" Ryan, Delaina and Kaysia



"Dear Joe and Susan, I wanted to thank you for creating this program! We've been using Love and Learning with Zoe since she was 4 months and I am so proud to tell you that at 22 months, she can tell me the sounds of almost all of the letters in the alphabet! She can also read several of the words in Kit 1 (either by signing the word, verbally speaking the word, or showing me on her body!) She isn't interested in TV at this time, but she LOVES watching the videos in Kit 1 and 2!! I video taped her reading her Kit 1 alphabet book and several of the words in the Kit 1 books. You can view it through these 2 links…" Suzanne Wingard

Blog Mosaic Moments has a new entry about Love And Learning

New Article about Love And Learning in the Detroit Free Press

"When Nick was 3 and 1/2 years old, I purchased the first 3 kits of Love And Learning and followed the directions faithfully. Within 3 months he was reading all the kits, so I ordered more kits and by the time he was 4 and 1/2 years old, he had mastered all of the kits and was now reading other books. At 5 years old, I am so impressed by his reading that it amazes me still. But your kits offered our family so much more than just reading. They taught us how to teach Nicholas, and that with hard work he can learn. He learned many of the preschool concepts and therefore was able to understand what was being taught at the church preschool. He tells me what the weather is and does simple addition. I am a better advocate for him and a better parent because I now know how capable he is. We still watch the DVD's occasionally and will continue to do so throughout kindergarten. I think this is a great program for any child and I would highly recommend it. Thank you for taking the time to create this program and continuing to develop new ones." Kathy



"Dear Joe and Susan, Just wanted to tell you that our 3 year old son is doing so well. He has been doing your books and tapes for almost a year and a half now. He is very interested in books and letters and numbers. People are amazed that a child with Down Syndrome can know that much already. He sight reads a few words from your books and other people can understand what he is saying. I think much of this is due to the fact that when he does Love And Learning the words are broken down into smaller parts so he can say them correctly. We just ordered kits 5 and 6 and I am excited to see how he does with them. Thanks for all you hard work to make this program available to other families." Love, Tonya, Jonathan, Rachel, Jordan, and Jacob Harwood







"Dear Joe and Susan, I just wanted to write and express my thanks for your program. We started using it last August, after our son, Jonathan, turned 2. He has tried to say things all along, but recently (at about the 10 month mark) he has showed major recognition and can either sign or say most of the words in the first two kits. The therapist who works with him says that the dendrites in his brain are making connections and every thing is now coming together for him. It is so encouraging and you have saved me a lot of time from making the things you already have. It really has helped reinforce and give him a jump start to learning. Many folks are shocked that he can sight read, can identify 12 letters and sounds of 5 more, knows 8 colors, and is now saying some numbers." Thanks again, Tim, Sherry & Jonathan Cheatham





"We received sets 3 & 4 two months or so ago and our 12 year old, Clare-Marie, is enjoying set 3 very much. She seeks me out to read the books to me every evening. She is taking a new interest in all our story & library books lying about. It is so gratifying to see this development & interest of Clare's blossoming as we are a reading and homeschooling family. The teaching of the alphabet & reading had been very slow going for Clare over the years. But your wonderful kits have changed all that! And I've found that when I am having a busy day, Clare can watch one of her learning DVD's by herself and have her reading skills re-enforced when I don't have time to do much school with her. At first I was afraid that the kits wouldn't be as effective for my daughter, for she has a late start using them. So many of your letters are from parents who found the kits when the children were babies. But I have found that my daughter is getting so much pleasure out of them and so much good; self confidence, her speech is becoming clearer, and her general interest in school work has grown tremendously. And all this without a struggle....These kits are worth every penny! Clare loves to do her school now and joins her brother & sisters in studying & reading. This is very sweet to see, after spending so many years of struggling with trying to teach her reading from much less effective materials. May God reward your family for your efforts in sharing this learning method and bringing so much joy and accomplishment to other families." Mrs. Cheryl Danz





"Hi Joe and Susan, I have a four year old, Grace, with Down syndrome. She started the program at 12 months and at 22 months, she was reading 13 words. Now I have lost count. She is the only one reading in her peer group, typical children and special needs children." Thanks so much, Laura Davis










"Dear Joe and Susan, I just had to write you an update on our daughter, Isabel, who is now 3 1/2. Not long after I wrote last year, we purchased Learning Kits 5 and 6 and began showing them to her. Shortly before her third birthday, we started to notice that Isabel was reading things other than her Love and Learning books. She began reading words everywhere we went--on the cereal box at breakfast, signs along the road, on grocery bags, etc. Many of these words were not ones I had ever taught her. So I began getting her beginning readers from the library and was amazed that she could, indeed, read them! Everyone has been amazed at her reading--educators, therapists, friends and family. Last week, we went to a Joni and Friends Family Retreat for families with special needs. They wanted Isabel to read name tags for the talent show! :) Whenever people have asked about Isabel's reading, I have told them about your program. Thank you for giving Isabel this opportunity to have a special ability that will help her learn and bring her much joy all her life." Rebecca and Milt Jones



"We ordered kits one and two for my four year old child that is autistic and non-verbal. After two weeks he was making one word requests! He loves the part of our morning where we read his books, and already knows his alphabet! God Bless you. Your system has helped him make the connection between speech and actions (asking for things gets results) The other day I accidentally left the books out, which is foolish of me because he thinks paper is as good as bubble gum... Anyway, when I heard him in the living room, I went out to rescue the books and instead found him seated on the couch reading, out loud, the kit two books!! Sometimes he would turn the page, get a confused look on his face, skip ahead, check the picture, flip back and say the word. He went through all four, and set them down carefully before walking off. Thank you so much!" Amanda Mills





"Hi, I am Stephanie, mother of Megan who is 2 1/2 and also has a little something extra...DS! Your DVD's have made a big impact on my daughter Megan's life. She has the first two DVD series memorized and can sight read from the books, can identify letters of the alphabet when shown and can tell you the next word in the movie before it happens. I am truly amazed and feel like this has made a positive impact on not just Megan's life but her entire family's since her younger sister is benefiting from it too. We watch the #2 video everyday and your two girls remind me so much of my own. Here is a picture for you to enjoy. Thank you so much for what you have given to me and my family." Sincerely, Stephanie Bissol





"Dear Joe and Susan, Just a quick note to say how pleased we are with all of the kits. A real life gauge for its success is that our Caleb gets to attend the mainstream Kindergarten reading group because of his excellent reading skills. He regularly attends the PPCD (Preschool Program For Children with Disabilities) which services children from ages 4 - 7. The teachers and para-professionals are continually amazed at his current mastering of the English language. Thanks so much for all your long hours of labor for the benefit of so many families!" Many blessings, Paulette Carson







"I am so very excited to say that my son, Mychal, now almost 4, is reading the alphabet!!! He is also able to read several of the words from Kit 1. This is the greatest gift that my son has received, the gift of being able to read. I am also so proud to report that the 2 year old that I adopted last May, who has Autism is also learning from your tapes and books. My heartfelt thanks go to you for making my son's furtues so much brighter, you are a blessing to our special children. Thank you again for a brighter future for my sons and for me. Love and Learning is a gift that has far reaching effects that will be shared always. I have mentioned this program to all of the therapists and to various people that I feel can benefit from the gifts of Love and Learning." Sincerely, Jill Mather




"We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the Love and Learning Program. We have been using it with Jared, our three year old son. He has made great strides not only in his reading skills, but also in his ability to speak. Jared knows the alphabet, numbers to ten and can read/speak most of the words in levels 1-4. His learning seems to thrive on the visual component of the program. Additionally, Jared is able to apply his learning as he recognizes letters, numbers and words in print in other contexts. He continues to WOW us as well as everyone he meets. THANKS AGAIN!" Nathan and Annette Bowen






"Dear Joe and Susan, We have purchased the first two Love and Learning DVDs for our 2 year old daughter with Down Syndrome, and we have had tremendous success. Her therapists can't believe how well she can identify words and letters and how great her attention span is. She can sign and vocalize the words in the booklets, and it is unbelievable to watch her in action. Your program is a true Blessing, and people are constantly amazed when they see Chloe vocalizing and signing the words in your booklets. The DVDs have been priceless in Chloe's speech and reading development, and the Love and Learning program is truly a priceless asset that will assist in our daughter reaching her potential." Kurt and Margie Kondrich - Picture by: Picturesque Photography & Gifts






"Our daughter Colleen, who has Down syndrome, began using the Love & Learning program when she was three years old. Six months later, she began reading and signing several of the words in the alphabet program. As you might imagine, this amazing ability came as a great and wonderful surprise to us. It was also a major turning point in our daughter's life. Colleen's ability to read at such a young age dramatically changed our perception of her cognitive potential. Prior to this achievement we had believed the general "professional" prediction that Colleen would likely be very delayed in her ability to read and talk. Because of her great success in the program, we now know without a doubt, that our child has an unlimited potential for learning. Our daughter entered kindergarten with a reading vocabulary of approximately two hundred sight words. This accomplishment was a direct result of our consistent, daily practice in the Love & Learning program and a proactive change in our expectations. We will always be grateful to the Kotlinski family for developing such a fun and effective early reading program and for sharing their knowledge with other families." Diane Hample



"Dear Joe and Susan, I have three boys - and my youngest, Garrett, was born with Down Syndrome. As I was researching about D.S. I found your website and quickly ordered your first kit. Garrett has been watching the ABC and Horse videos and reading the books since he was 6 months old. He is not quite one and a half - and the part of the day he gets most excited about is when he watches his Love and Learning videos ( and of course when he plays with his brothers ). He is just starting to sign consistently and his second spoken word was "eat." He says it each time we get to the "eat" page. It was SO exciting to see him putting this together. I can hardly wait to watch his vocabulary take off. THANK YOU for these kits and your dedication to helping children with Down Syndrome. Thanks, again!" Jenny Fitzgerald



"Dear Joe and Susan, I wanted to write and thank you so much for your wonderful program. Our daughter Isabel is 2 years 6 months old and has Down syndrome. We started her on your reading kits a year ago on the recommendation of a friend. About 5 months later, she began adding a lot of new words to her vocabulary and we quickly noticed that most of them were from Kits 1 & 2 reading videos. Right away, we ordered the next two kits! Now, Isabel recognizes almost all the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 1-10, counts up to 10 and can read almost all of the words in the books for kits 1-4. Her language development has benefitted so much from your program--her speech therapist calls her a "text-book case" and is very pleased with her progress. Isabel loves your products and daily asks to watch the videos and read the books. They have sparked her interest in letters, sounds, words, numbers, and shapes. When she started OT 4 months ago, it helped that she already had concepts and words for lines, circles, and other shapes. She has always loved books and we are thrilled that she's well on her way on the road to reading. Thank you again for making these wonderful products available to help our sweet little girl and so many others." Rebecca & Milt Jones



"Dear Joe and Susan, Thanks so much for the learning kits! Sam has learned so much from them. He turned two only three days ago and he is reading all the words from the first kit and most of the words from the second kit. I have told many other mothers from our family support group, Manasota Buds, about your kits and they have been amazed at the progress Sam has made. I have also been amazed and completely delighted. May God bless you for the richness you have brought to our lives through your kits." Sincerely, Lisa J. Brode





"Dear Joe and Susan, We love your literacy materials. With very little effort on our part, our son Simon who has Down syndrome and is delayed in many abilities, is ahead in reading ability compared to most children his age. He can read all the words in Kit 1, and most in Kit 2. His speech is really being helped as he practices all the speech sounds along with the videos and uses words from the videos to express himself. He is mainly using two and rarely three words together; but last month he surprised us by expressing a desire on his own initiative by saying, "May I please have book?" He generalized from the sentence in Kit 2, "May I please have milk?" I have written Kit 1 and 2 words, similar size as those in the booklets, on a Magnadoodle, and he is able to read them in that format, too." Judy Cole



"My son, Jacob, (now 4 1/2 years old) has been using the Love and Learning tapes since January 2004 and is now able to sight read over 100 words (he was able to sight read the first series within 1 1/2 months!). Your system has definitely helped Jacob read and understand language/word structure. Even though he does not talk yet (and uses sign and a DynaMyte augmentative computer), he does understand words and constantly amazes us. Thank you for such a wonderful program!" Heidi Moore





"At 10 months old while attending Christopher's Early Intervention class, his Service Coordinator/Teacher introduced us to the Love and Learning kits. She put the ABC video in for us to view. Immediately the video captured Christopher’s total attention. Towards the middle of the video my boy started to squeal with delight. His little arms and legs were thrashing to and fro with excitement. As his mother, I started to laugh and cry because what you don’t know is that prior to this event, Christopher rarely made a sound or rarely had a physical response to anything! So of course I knew I had to have this educational tool (the Love and Learning series) for my son. I consider this method of learning to have been one of the major building blocks of learning in his young life. At 21 months of age Christopher started recognizing the alphabet (upper and lower case). Within months he rarely made a mistake with the alphabet and was starting to incorporate the sounds of the letters too. By 30 months of age he was reciting most shapes, colors, animals and animal sounds, body parts and number 1-10. At 3 years of age Christopher was reading many words. By 3 ½ years of age he can read almost every word from Love and Learning kit #1 through #7. He reads a lot of words out of age-appropriate books. It is so Amazing!! (a word from Kit #7!) The first Love and Learning computer program we ordered was in our home no more than one week and is being used by Christopher with excellent success already. We are so proud and so blessed to have him and our other son, Jonathon, in our lives. Thank you and your family for all your hard work to make things easier for our family. I continue to promote the Love and Learning program to everyone I meet!" The Kukowskis - Jon and Marilyn, Jonathon and Christopher
Christopher is featured in the 2005 Beautiful Faces calendar. Learn More



Karlie: Reading at 4 The DS Source of Western Massachusetts - May, 2004

"Karlie started Love and Learning when she was four years old. She was the only one in her pre-k class that could read!! Imagine that. Love and Learning, created by parents Joe and Susan Kotlinski, is a multisensory approach for teaching language and reading development to young children, starting as early as infancy. The program uses audio tapes, video tapes, and books to teach reading. Each part of the program teaches the same information ( letters, phonetics, and words ) in a clear format. The program consists of seven kits plus computer programs. Karlie was basically non-verbal before we found Love and Learning. Within a month, her vocabulary blossomed with approximately 25-30 words, and she continues to improve her skills every day. We are now on the seventh kit and Karlie ( now five ) has learned her colors, shapes, numbers, letters, days of the week, months, and is starting to learn how to add. This program uses a lot of repetition, which I believe our kids need. It has been so amazing to see Karlie’s vocabulary grow so quickly. Joe and Susan Kotlinski agree that sign language or picture communication is still helpful, and they don’t steer you from it. But I have found that I couldn’t have touched on as many areas of life with sign as this program introduces. Joe and Susan Kotlinski have a child with Down syndrome and, I believe, have created a program that everyone should hear about." Lisa Forrest



"Our daughter just turned 3 March 20th. We bought all the kits from you when she was 1. Savannah has been reading the books from kit one since she was 16 months old. She can recognize all the upper and lower case letters and read all the books provided in kits 1 through 4. We are now working on writing our letters. Savannah is very verbal and speaks very clearly. I was surprised to read in her IEP evaluation that she has a 500+ vocabulary. We wanted to share our excitement and encourage anyone considering Love and Learning. Our typical 12 month old daughter also enjoys the videos and books, we cannot wait to see the progress she makes as well. Thank you so much for all that you have done, we really appreciate what Love and Learning has been able to teach our daughters!" Melissa and Chris Rainier



Jamie's Story: Reading at 2
Featured in the National Association For Down Syndrome Newsletter - January, 1998
"I have an 18 month old beautiful little boy with Down Syndrome who is now reading, thanks to Love and Learning tapes. He recognizes over a dozen words. We are so proud of Jamie and we have told all our friends with children about your tapes. Jamie's speech therapist is convinced that the children who view your tapes have a much broader vocabulary.- Lisa Roland. (Update - 8/8/98) Jamie is now 2 1/2 years old and can read all 500 words in the six kits."




"Dear Joe and Susan, My husband Michael and I have twin girls named Abigale and Emma. Our little Emma was born with Down syndrome. When our girls were only six months old we purchased the entire Love and Learning set and began using it right away on a daily basis. Your program provided a powerful foundation in teaching our girls language and reading skills. Now, just before her fourth birthday, Emma is easily reading several hundred words (I really have lost count)! I am a true believer that every parent should use the Love & Learning program. The results of using your program are multi-fold. It not only helped teach Emma to read, it gave her self confidence and pride too.

The Love & Learning program helped to reinforce our belief that anything is possible with special children. Emma is main- streamed in a preschool and at three years old, she and Abby were the only two children in their class that were reading! This astounded another mother of a classmate, who is a professor of education, so much so that she asked me if I'd be interested in doing a documentary film about Emma. We are now in the midst of making the documentary called EMMA'S GIFTS. Our central focus is to challenge society's negative preconceptions about the abilities and gifts of our children with special needs. We would love to be able to include your Love & Learning program in our documentary as it has played such an important role in Emma's discovery and learning of language and reading. It opened a whole new world of possibility for us. To find out more about the documentary, you can visit our web site at www.endlesshorizonproductions.com

Thank you for being so devoted to your own children that you developed such a wonderful way of teaching them reading and language skills. For going beyond your own family and sharing these techniques with others, your efforts are sincerely appreciated. We are forever grateful to you both."
Much love, Mitzi & Michael Corrigan



"First I’d like to say a big thank you for your continued hard work and dedication on the Love and Learning program. Joshua is now 4 years old as of Dec. 15, 2001. Just a little bit of an update on his progress with your program. Of course as you already know, he has known his alphabet before he was two years old and was sight reading 50 words. Now he can sight read over 250 words, spell 75 words, something I added to his program along with the words your program has got him started on in spelling. He reads the entire My Big Book from Love and Learning. I had him read the three stories out loud in front of his teacher as well as counting by 5’s and 10’s and he can read all the sentences in the back of the book. He can also answer the questions in the back of the book. His teacher just couldn’t believe what she was seeing and hearing. Her mouth dropped open and she said, 'Sandi, you need to show Joshua off to the world.'" Sandi Blanchard - Sandi's complete letter



"Our son Lukas was four years old when he started the "Love and Learning" program. He is now fifteen years old and reads very well. His teachers and speech therapists are amazed at his reading and speech skills. They are very interested in your program. Lukas has gained self confidence and enjoys reading. He loves to go to his room and read without any prompts from us. We are hopeful he can train for a job in which he can use his reading skills to his full potential. It is hard to express our gratitude for your hard work and devotion in developing this program and sharing it with others. You have made such a difference in Lukas' life." Sincerely - Fred and Joan Wheatley

"Dear Joe and Susan, I am very happy with your materials! My son is autistic and 5 years old. He has limited verbal ability and poor auditory processing. Because you slowly enunciate each word, your audio/video tapes have been successful for my son. He can keep up with the words and pictures and therefore retain them. He loves the accompanying picture books and follows along with the video. Just yesterday he brought the books to me, hopped in my lap and flipped through each page, saying every word phonetically (just as you do on the video) and then said it all together! My husband walked in on this scene and was cheering to see him verbalize so well. Right then my husband gave me the money and said to purchase more materials for him! Your efforts to make this educational tool are very much appreciated!" Stephanie Aldridge

"We started using Love and Learning with Allie when she was about two years old. Today, Allie is 10 1/2 and she is reading 1st and 2nd grade readers with excellent comprehension. While she stumbles over some of the words, she invariably sails through the "Love and Learning" words in her books. The program has also been wonderful for her speech, since she talks aloud when she hears the words on the tapes.

Last week, we received the two new software programs and Allie has been playing them incessantly! She loves the personalized screens, and the interactive games on the first CD. But her real love is the crossword puzzle section on the second program. This is her first introduction to crossword puzzles, and she's so proud of herself. The clues rotate, which means that she has to think each time she does the puzzle. And the puzzles are a 'big girl' activity that puts her on a par with her older sister." Sandy's complete letter

"Dear Joe and Susan, Shiva loves the videos and books. He can read most of the words (about 50) from kits 1 and 2 and sign some of the other words. Here is a picture of Shiva on his second birthday. He is 2 and 1/2 now. Thank you once again for the wonderful learning kits." Jana and Sara






"I just wanted to write a short note and tell you how well my daughter, Anna, is doing. I started the Love and Learning series when she was 12 months old. Now, Anna is 21 months old and she is READING!! I am amazed. She knows almost all of the words from both kits 1 and 2. She will either say the word, sign it, or show me before I even say the word. Her Speech Therapist can't believe how well she is doing.Thanks so much for taking the time to make this program, keep up the great work!" Michelle Lang

"Dear Joe and Susan, We introduced our son Zac to Love and Learning when he was fifteen months old. Zac turned three years old two weeks ago. He now knows all the words in kits 1-4 and can count to ten and say the letters of the alphabet. Our younger son, Scott, just turned a year old. Scott is more delayed than Zac was, but he too has started the Love and Learning program. Scott has vision issues that make focusing difficult, but he does watch the videos. We will continue to teach our boys to read and to tell anyone that will listen about Love and Learning. Thank you for giving us so much to be hopeful for. I draw so much strength from that fact that while Zac is delayed, his reading abilities far surpass his age." Kimberlie Jones
Kimberlie's complete letter







"Dear Joe and Susan, Christine is doing wonderfully in grade 8 this year. She has come along way from the days when she was using the tapes (starting when she was 2 or so). She has been a fluent reader for many years now. I still promote your "love & Learning" tapes as I am convinced that they were the foundation of Christine's strong reading, writing and language skills!" Sincerely, Beverly Pupols

more letters from parents

Questions call: 734 744 7601 (Joe and Susan Kotlinski)

We would also like you to know about a very special artist

"I Am An Artist "- the story of the Painter Michael Johnson.

I paint what I see. First with my eyes, then with my imagination. If my painting makes people happy, then it is a good painting.

In The Woods(watercolor)