Getting family involved

[Kimba15]

I was just wondering how many of you have family involved in your child's early education.

My family know that i am signing to my baby girl but i am reluctant to let them know of anything else that i am doing. I have told some of my friends that i do not let my dd watch tv except YBCR and they think im being unfair to her.

When I asked what on tv can she be possibly be missing out on most did not come up with a decent argument?

Has anyone else had negative/positive experiences?

[fatima786]

its wonderful to have supportive people around but teaching reading can seem strange to many.

my family dont live near us but we chat often. i have mentioned that Sa'ad is learning to read but not too much because i know that my excitement can be mistaken for bragging. my mom is quite supportive of my efforts and encourages me to teach my child.

TV hasnt been an issue for me because we all know of the negative effects the tele can have. one thing ive realised though is that i cant influence another on the way they choose to raise their child. we are all different with different ideas of what we want out of them. most people respect how i raise Sa'ad i guess mostly because i accept their way.

people do find a child not watching cartoons on tv weird but a friends child told me that he couldnt wait to watch "joey" the sitcom and hes only 5. therefore i dont want my son to channel surf or watch anything without me there. he only watches reading dvds and little einsteins

[texaslady22]

My family is great, but they're not 100% on board with early-education Doman-style. They think a child should run around and play and jump.

I started a blog so that they could see his progress, and that's really helped our family members to understand us more. At the very least, they know everything we're doing and how hard we're working. (Plus, they get to see lots of cute pictures and videos).

At the same time, though, I had to understand that my family just wanted to have a normal relationship with our son. When we went to see Grandma and Pop, I would pack up the flashcards and encourage them to do them with him. Now, I don't. When he goes to their house, he plays with toys and walks around outside with Grandpa, and that's learning, too. So I had to adjust my expectations a bit and they had to adjust theirs.

I've never kept anything we're doing a secret, however, as I think as many people need to know as possible!!

[nhockaday]

I don't really tell anyone. I went on a weekend trip with my mom and sisters several months ago. I brought Gabriel's flash cards, YBCR and LR. They didn't get the whole flash card thing, and I gave up on trying to explain. Now I just don't tell them about it at all. They will sign with him if I show them the signs, and they think it's cute that he can sign some of the signs back. I also told my mom that Gabriel can read a few words, and she thinks that is cool. I haven't told my dad or grandparents. I can just imagine what my grandma would have to say about it.

As far as the whole TV thing. I really hate trying to explain it to Gabriel's dad's family. They all raised their kids on TV, and they think it's ok for a baby to watch it. Not my baby. It makes me very mad when we bring him over there and they let him watch it. Funny that most of them are lazy, overweight and hate to read.

So it's basically just me, and me alone, who is teaching Gabriel.

[THen]

Yes, I know what you are going through.  When my first was little we hardly ever had the TV on.  We'd read to him or play (I didn't know about early education then).  My aunts (we have a close extended family) thought I was weird, and that my boy was deprived.  When I didn't take him to watch Harry Potter when he was 2 or 3, they thought I was crazy.  Then, when we didn't buy him a Gameboy when he was 5-ish, they bought him one.  

But now that he is older (almost 13), they like the way he has turned out.  He likes to read, he can still play "pretend" with his brothers, and doesn't know about all the sins in the world.  (Oh, we explain things when we need to.)  He is kind, responisble (for his age) and respectful towards others.  We also chose to homeschool and they thought that strange, but they know that my boys are doing fine accademically.  My family no longer gives me "advise" on those issues.

They probably think I'm crazy for starting to teach my baby to read, but they aren't criticizing it.  I think they figure I'm just weird.     I haven't asked them to do cards with him or anything, but sometimes my boys will take them books and ask them to read to them.  They like it when the boys ask. 

My dear husband and I talked and decided early on what we believed would be good for our family.  Having that vision has helped us (even when we were criticized).  We still have a good relationship with our family, and thankfully, they like the way the boys have turned out so far.  

[fatima786]

it is important for both parents to be on board. my husband kliked the idea of us teaching Sa'ad to read and once he saw the effect on him it made him even more eager.

trying to explain to others is another story. most people politely listen which makes me feel silly. now that my son is older however im hoping it gets easier to make others see that there are ways to raise a child other than the tv

[linzy]

My husband is on board with the idea, but I do most of the planning/implementation.  As for my family I don't talk about it too much.  They are vaguely aware that I show Blaise flashcards and my mom even showed off to her sister how he could read 10 or so of them one time.  But I don't think they are aware of the bredth of our program and if they were I'm sure they would think I was "hot-housing" him and being a crazy controllling perfectionist. They already think it's wierd that I insist he eat with utensils, stay seated for the whole meal and keep a napkin on his lap (all of which he does willingly).

[Kimba15]

My husband is involved with the signing and YBCR he likes the idea of Sophia reading early becausewe both love reading so much. You should see our book collection  it is huge.

I'm not explaining anything else to my friends im going to quietly continue what i am doing with Sophia and teach her things so when she grows up the more options she will have and she I want her to have the confidence wihin her self to pursue her dreams with gusto.

I remember when I was young and my mum doing dot to dot books with me and she used to proudly show me off to her friends that i could count to 100 by the time i was four and I do not look back on that time as I forced to do anything I enjoyed it and sometimes everynow and then I still do.

Family are funny things aren't they!

[kmum]

My dh & family will help if I am specific & tell them to "Do this while I am       away/busy."  They just don't think to do any thing themselves.

I also don't tell the grandparents everything we are doing.  They know about the crawling track we used & some of the fine motor stuff, but I don't think they would understand learning to read at this age.

[fatima786]

i find i have a similar prob with my husband. he wont willingly pick up the cards. i have to tell him. he hasnt reseached any new ideas but i guess that is how we are. he worries about the safety issues and waking up at night one time of the two.

he hasnt changed a nappy in about a year but he shops for clothes now and then and takes baby to the zoo. we each have our own responsibities but i am going to delegate a bit more to him.

[Tanikit]

My parents and sister know what I am doing with my daughter - at the moment my husband and I are separated and have been for some time - he only found out what I have been doing this weekend for the first time, but he seldom will comment on anything anyway, so I do not know what he thinks (hopefully just that my daughter is a very happy, active and balanced child)

My sister is teaching her own daughter though slightly differently so we had discussions about it but neither of us will tell the other what to do. My parents taught my sister to read before she was 3 so they are enthusiastic about it, but this is their first time seeing a child who cannot speak being taught to read, so its a little different there too.

I do not ask anyone to do anything for me though even when my daughter is left with my mother so I can work. Since they have all taught a toddler before I figure they will know how to teach her other things too and she can have different stimulation from everyone.

My daughter is very active and spends a lot of her day doing physical activity - she actually needs the intellectual stimulation to give her a break from her wild play.

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