early learning a plus!

[zoe22]

I know there's been a lot said about advantages of early learning on this forum, and it's a huge concern for a lot of us here, wondering what would become of our kids in school if they learn early. Well I'm just going to say a few things to possibly encourage those of us still a bit skeptical.

I have a 5.5 year old who started reading at 4. He's now in reception year (kindergarten) and well above his peers,  so instead of struggling to keep up with his school work, he has time to do other stuff, we go swimming, he's learning to play the piano (by himself!), he's learning another language, he enjoys playing loads of computer games, He does a lot of Arts and crafts - basically things he really loves. His self esteem is solid cos he gets praised a lot by his teachers and by us, even by strangers who can't believe his reading abilities and his ways of reasoning, he is confident to answer questions in class His friend in the same class is still trying to get the hang of sound blending and basic maths so obviously has to work thrice as hard. Now that i know I don't have to worry much baout teaching him 'school' things, I concentrate on teaching him other things that really matter in life and not necessarily taught in school eg money management, religion.

and to address the question - won't they get bored in school - absolutely not. He completely enjoys going to school. He likes the fact he can always put up his hands when questions are asked. He participates in school work, and he has a great teacher who gives him a bit more challenging work. He has loads of friends, cos he's not a nerd, he's a very smart boy that knows lots of things about lots of things which is what we're all trying to achieve by teaching our babies early.

I'm really glad I came accross brillkids, I always wonder how much more my son would have had if I started earlier than 4years. so please don't let anyone talk you out of teaching your baby. I have a 4month old daughter now that i'm teaching and I'm so excited about the possibilities. Ps- no one in the family apart from my husband and I know I'm teaching her - they'll just discourage us, they'll see the result in due time!!

[PY]

Good job mom!!!
Congratulation...yes we do everything for our kids, just for them to be happy and better everyday!!

[anjie]

Hi...
I am happy I stumbled upon this thread.  This answers to a thread I started:
http://forum.brillkids.com/general-discussion-b5/how-do-early-learners-fare-at-school/
I am happy for you zoe.  Like you we also keep early learning schedule to ourselves. Good luck with your younger one.
anjie

[KL]

THanks so much for sharing, zoe! That's wonderful!

[KUAngie]

Zoe,

That's great about your son.  Can you tell me what type of teaching you started with him at age 4?  My daughter is 4, and I've started to do the Doman style flashcards.  It is a struggle to keep it words she is interested in.  And she likes the computer ppt with pics better- she lovesstarfall.com too.  What kind of math teaching did you do with him?

I've got a 15 mo old who doesn't like to sit still.  I really wish I would have known about this when he was an infant.  I would have flashed him cards during his marathon nursing sessions!

Angie

[zoe22]

unfortunately, I didn't know about the Doman method when I started teaching him, but I happened to stumble on 'hooked on phonics' (www.hop.com)so I taught him with that. It teaches phonics as the name implies and it starts from the elementary levels of blending.It teaches simple words initially like fat, cat, bat, then goes on to words like bit, kit, sit, after every stage there's little books your child can read, and a sticker chart as a reward system, so it's encouraging for the child to actually be able to read a book so soon! It really gave him a good foundation. There're also some flash cards that teach words that don't follow the normal phonetics. I guess it's not a right brain teaching material, but it worked really well for my son, and within a very short time, he was reading fluently, and then I started to introduce him to non-fiction books for kids at the library - space, anatomy, animals - whichever he was intersted in.

With my 4month old, I'm doing the Doman method, but I'll also incoporate the phonics when she's older if she doesn't figure it out herself.

Hope it helps.

[Kimba15]

Thanks Zoe22. It is great to hear a positive story.

[Suteja]

zoe thanks for that story
I have started with the Doman method and at times feel if it is helpful at all..as i started when my daughter was 4 mths old. Now she is 8 and though I was not very regular...I can't say if it is working.. Will wait n see

[purplefungi]

I love hearing about your story, Zoe!

[patience]

Thanks for sharing your story!! I didn't start with my daughter until she was school age, but I did find ways to supplement what she was learning in school.

[zoe22]

Suteja, I also sometimes wonder if all I'm teaching my 4 month old is working, I do signing with her and also reading, haven't been consistent with maths though. sometimes I wish she could show me somehow that she knows what I'm showing her. But I believe it's working, her face lights up sometimes when I show her something new or something she likes. I notice she liked when I show her things she's familiar with, for eg, I did a ppt presentation abt 'my family' and put our pictures, she kicks furiously when I show it her and when it ends, she kind of looks at me with a dissapointed look on her face, like 'is it over already'! she shows interest in some things more than others, so that confirms to me she's enjoying it and hopefully she's learning it. Gosh, I'm going to REALLY have to resist the temptation to test her later on though!

Thanks Purplefungi, I love reading your stories too!I actually kind of look for your posts -I'm like, what's she doing with her 4 month old now, to make sure I'm doing the right things!

Patience, that's great, it's never too late, the earlier the better, but then as long as you're doing something, it makes a huge difference.

[purplefungi]

Zoe, you are too cute! It's neat to be in contact with another parent who has a four-month-old!

I've got no idea if I am doing things right. With my four-month old I can only tell that he is happy by the rapid breathing, cooing at the screens, and moving his arms and his feet everywhere. I'm unsure of how much he actually retains, if anything. It makes him immensly happy, though. Only my brother can make him THAT happy (it might have something to do with my brother's braces, though )This being said, I'm going to endure the program with him. Who wouldn't want their baby to be so happy?

This week I'm going to make huge hand-written cards for him instead of using LR. I want things huge. I just go done watching part of How to Teach your Baby to Read that I got from Amazon so I'm completely excited. I don't think that it will be too time consuming to write in big red letters 200 of the most common words since they will be similar to the one's used by his older brother. I think that a good time to show the actual physical cards to my four-month-old will be when I change his diaper. So far the diaper changing process has been a happy time, and he is my captive audience for those brief minutes. It will also offer a nicely spaced time period between showing words and math.

****
With my two-year-old it is hard not to test. I really want to know how much he is picking up even for the simple reason of knowing how fast to go. For some things it is obvious to me that he understands. This includes actual written words that he already knows the meaning to the word or object such as, "star, dog, eat, no, park, outside, house, and etc.), but for showing him pictures of new objects like "lithium, screwdriver, bengal tiger" I've got no idea. He just stares blankly.

I have a feeling that he undestands the written words because he gets really excited. He almost has a "heehhehee" quality about his body language and his eyes light up. I have tested him once, and he went straight for the right card. There was no guessing. I do ask him other questions after I show the words, but they are related to the words and not testing specifically if he can pick out the right word. Last night I asked him [r/t the word "park"] "Do you like going to the park?" and "Do you remember going to the park last week?" I then told him, "I liked going to the park with you. We had lots of fun. I was so proud of you when you went down the big boy slide. You're growing up so fast!" About the words "blanket" and "white" I would ask him, "You have a white blanket, don't you?" "I see your white blanket. You also have a white pillow! Do you put your head on the pillow when you sleep?" Then we both put our head on the pillow and pretended to snore. I think that these are the times that I will remember most about raising young children.

Starting so late in the game compared to other people presents some challenges. I have to wait to show my toddler reading and math when he is ready. Between meltdowns, and diaper changes, and snack times, and so forth I have to make sure that things stay joyous. There have been days when it would not be good to show him anything. If his allergies are bothering him or if he is teething, forget Doman.

I have started Dirk, my two-year-old, on actual paper words. I like having a combination of both because some days he wants to be on the computer, and on other days he wants nothing to do with it. With the paper words (printed from Little Reader, folded, and laminated) I can take the words where he is and interrupt his playing, or we can snuggle in his bed together and go through a set. Dragging my laptop around would be too much hassle. He wants words the most when it is time to go to bed. Talk about manipulation!!!!! Toddlers are great at it! In bed we put different words together. Last night it was "white blanket", and "no food." You aren't supposed to put two words (couplets) together until after 200 words are shown, but he seems to understand.

Eventually, he wants to play with the words, but at the same time, he really look at them. It's hard to tell if he just wants to goof around or if he is bored with them. Physical cards can also be a problem because the laminated cards can also act as musical instruments. Sometimes he just wants to spread them around the room. How fickle is a toddler!

Math has been hard. We haven't gotten past ten. I don't think that he gets the dots. He has such a blank stare about him. Sometimes he'll point to them and go "1, 2, 6, 2, 2" to the individual dots like he is trying to count them. As for knowing that a group of six dots is "six" I doubt that he understands, but who knows since I haven't tested him on it.

No one really knows what we do at home, either!

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