1. January 27, 2016
I am writing this letter in support of Robert Stacey, the creator of Reggie Rapasaurus. In May, 2015,
Mr. Stacey made a wonderful presentation relating to literacy to our graduate students in the
Department of Learning and Teaching. He brought in musical instruments, and through his
demonstration with the puppet Reggie, he sang songs that he had created for children. After each
song, he explained how the lyrics of the songs were carefully selected to enhance children’s literacy
acquisition, either by the use of repeated vocabulary words, or the introduction of specific learning
concepts, and even through the incorporation of hand gestures as mnemonics. He noted that he had
constructed these songs with input from an early childhood education expert. He engaged our
students by teaching them a few lyrics and having them participate in sing-alongs. I believe that Mr.
Stacey’s music through his songs and the puppet Reggie is an excellent tool to help young children
to acquire literacy skills in a fun and engaging way and demonstrates his unwavering support for
literacy.
Sincerely,
Maya Kalyanpur, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Learning and Teaching
University of San Diego
DEPARTMENT OF
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Mother Rosalie Hill Hall
5998 Alcalá Park
San Diego, CA 92110-2492
P: (619) 260-5938
F: (619) 849-8159
http://sandiego.edu/teach