Too many DVDs?

[JakieMummy]

HI, I am new to all this. I bought everything with good recommendation. BrillKids Math, Music and Reader. In addition, i also got YBCR, YBCD, Speekee, Sparkabilities, right brain education and Wink to Learn (chinese) DVDs.

I am just random showing to my son. As there are too many, i need any advice from anyone how to go about it. Also, i forgot to mention i am working mom and my son is in DC.

So anyone who have similar experience to share?

[Mela Bala]

Hi JakieMummy,

I understand your dilemma completely.  I will share our current schedule but as a stay at home mom my situation differs from yours.  I remember you mentioned that your nanny is not able to operate a computer so I would draft up a schedule of the DVDs for them to show throughout the day.  Then you can show your son the lessons on the computer.

In the morning we do LR English and Mandarin.  Customized little math files according to his progress.  Then we practice drawing by repeating the lesson from tvteacher on the sidewalk, driveway, windows, big boxes, art table, art easel etc.

In the afternoon we do Wink to Learn Chinese and Spanish

Early evening we do The Gentle Revolution Picture Dictionary.  Little Musician

After evening outside play we do Little Reader English and Mandarin.  Tweedlewink

During free playtime when I am cooking or cleaning I play other educational DVDs or CDs

My son is older and has already seen alot of the early learning DVDs but every now and then I play them for a review.  When I was overwhelmed with ALOT of different DVDs I would rotate them out.  I would show him one DVD about three or four times before moving on to the next.  Your child will soon start letting you know which one they want to watch.

I know it seems like alot but the lessons are not that long and during the DVDs if he has seen it more than a couple times he plays with his toys while listening.
Some days we get through all the lessons, some days we only get through some and some days we do none at all.

[Mandabplus3]

Yep that's ALOT of DVDs
You don't need to use all of them at once. YBCR and YBCD and be used one after the other. Once you finish YBCR then switch to YBCD.
A couple more tips to try. Gt a portable DVD player. Use tweedlewink as you put him down for a nap or put him to bed at night. Snuggle up under the covers and watch it last thing together.
Use the same portable DVD player to watch a DVD every time you need to travel in the car. We get through over half of our screen time during trips to and from school and sporting activities. My children can locate all the countries in Europe purely from watching DVD clips in the car. They also watch language and science DVDs in the car and documentaries also. It is otherwise wasted time that we put to good use, learning. I do put the DVDs onto a memory card or stick because we lost too many to scratches in the car.
Consider doing focussed time on one or two topic areas. Perhaps use all the DVDs that teach reading consistently for 6 months than cycle out the ones you have finished and add in another topic, say languages?
It sometimes seems like a lot but it isn't uncommon to find average kids watching cartoons for 2 hours strait! Or even longer. Make a conscious decision how much time you consider acceptable and split it up throughout the day, deciding which DVDs you want to prioritize.
Some of the programs you have are only a short amount of time, LR, Tweedlewink, LM and Music so they seem like a lot but actually require little screen time. I have had a computer that took longer to boot up than it did to play the lesson!

[Kerileanne99]

I agree, it is absolutely impossible to play all the DVDs available for the programs you want to teach! We are quite selective about how much time is spent watching DVDs, and I would wager to bet that we actually have a good deal more than those you have listed...
We rotate them constantly, and show them in sequence, a few days at a time, and of course as others have told you, many of the programs are designed to show one at a time. 
I have rarely encountered anyone working on multiple DVD-based programs that actually follow the prescribed schedule recommended by the company!

Ad definitely, definitely don't worry about them actually sitting down to watch it! They will absorb an incredible amount just by having things on in the background as they play. especially with languages. When we are cleaning, playing, down time, we usually have language DVDs or CDs playing as background.  This gives them, and you!. An 'ear' for the languages.

Also, don't worry about squeezing everything in.  It does sound daunting, especially when you read posts about what other parents are doing! I am always inspired by what/how other parents manage with their LOs, but the truth is NOBODY manages to get in every program, every DVD, every lesson, everyday!

It is funny, but when we enrolled in a pediatric nutrition seminar to make sure we were doing everything humanly possible to ensure our toddler was exceeding nutritional guidelines(she has food allergies and we
are vegetarians!), one very important and wise statement was made.
"especially with toddlers, it becomes extremely difficult to achieve every dietary and nutritional standard at every meal...do your best, but try to think in terms of a full day, or even a week: is the overall nutritional goal met over the longterm?"

With EL, I think this applies as well! Focus on the course of a week, or even a month! There will be days that nothing EL-wise gets accomplished, and days when you will feel likenthe best/ most efficient mom in the world! It's all about the overall input and finding ways to make it work for YOU and Your family!

Also, the best part of having things on DVD is the flexibility to show just a few minutes at a time!

[IrisGranstedt]

I have loads of DVDs teaching mandarin, english and Swedish but I never follow the recommended schedule neither. I normally show him 2 dvds a day when I need to get some job done and I will just put on two random ones e.g. YBCR and wink to learn at the level he was at for a couple of days, and then the swedish dino one and babies learn chinese for a few days afterwards. There haven't been any fixed schedule, I just do it base on which one is handy at the time! My LO seems to be picking up everything like a sponge anyway so I guess I didn't feel like I need to follow any fixed schedule to get things in the right way.

However, I must say that he didn't really give me any indication that he's learning until around 15 months. Just patient! Also I was a bit more strict with the no testing rules in the early days. Nowadays he just seems to love (and very enthusiastic at) being asked so I just have a better idea what he knows and what he doesn't know.

[Krista G]

What a lovely problem to have.  You are sure to have lots of variety?  Definitely show certain dvds at certain times and then rotate them.  You want variety but it is repetition that makes it all click.  Maybe a certain time of day for certain videos.  My rule of thumb was to show them at lest 15 times before introducing a new one (for that series).  Then we would review and add.

[nee1]

What a lovely problem to have.  You are sure to have lots of variety?  Definitely show certain dvds at certain times and then rotate them.  You want variety but it is repetition that makes it all click.  Maybe a certain time of day for certain videos.  My rule of thumb was to show them at lest 15 times before introducing a new one (for that series).  Then we would review and add.

Krista, please is there any reason why you show each dvd at least 15 times before moving on? I asked cos I've been doing a lot of reading-aloud and dvds with the child. And each time I would wonder how many times to play the dvd / read the book before moving on. The suggestion to show them at least 15 times, did you read about it somewhere? Thank you.

[nuria2012]

Hello friends! I would like to do a collection of good DVD/CDS...(English) Any recommendations??? My baby is almost 6 months. She loves LR.

What I am doing?
_ Cartoons
- LR
- Lullabies
- Reading
- Signing

- Resources:
     - LR
     - Flashcards
     - DVD (Learning to learn)

I want to begin to follow a schedule. My baby is almost 6 months and I think it is the right moment. Besisdes of this, she has to use her correctio only at night. She is happier now. She loves LR. How much time did you spend with your baby in this age? Generally I use two sessions because my baby likes LR a lot. Three sessions would be too much!
Although I have experience with teenagers  I have to learn to teach babies. It is something amazing. 

[Krista G]

nee1,

The reason I say 15 times is based on Doman's recommendation to show words a total of 15 times before moving on.  He has you show flash cards 3 times per day for 5 days and then switch.  I use the same rule of thumb with the dvds.  Of course, the videos they like we watch more than that, but it is good to alternate and add new stuff so they keep on learning.  This is the formula I used with DVDs, books and flash cards.

[Mandabplus3]

Nuria, the absolute best DVDs in my opinion are the tweedlewink DVDs. They are incredibly expensive, but I can honestly say they are worth every cent. Worth even more the younger your child is when you get them! They hold an incredible amount of information.
After that I would put mathtacular pretty high but you don't need it until 2.5 years. Then if you kiddies aren't reading preschool prep phonics and sight words.
My kids would all vote Magic School Bus as the best DVDs ever invented.  Good from age 3.

Krista G, I probably show each video on a similar pattern, but slightly differently. If it is completely new information I leave it on the iPad until each kid has seen it 15-20 times and they all start finishing the sentences  If it is revision information or information building on what they know I give them between 3 and 10 views depending on the amount of new information. I find these repeated viewing are for LEFT brain recal purposes. If I need them to remember the info and be able to tell me about it we watch it repeatedly. If it is an imput the info session then 1-3 times is plenty. The younger the child the less I would repeat the videos. But I would cycle back through them later, to strengthen the connections. at least with DVDs it is easy to revisit the information later.

[nee1]

Thank you so much, Krista and Mandab, for the explanations. I get it now, and I'm going to use that recommendation too. Thanks again.

Question please:
The Tweedlewink lady says information should be shown 1 - 3 times for right-brain learning. Does this not contradict the Doman prescription? She says not to repeat the information many times, but I do wonder at that recommendation. Everywhere I read about kids and learning, it is always recommended that parents repeat, repeat, and repeat the information until it sticks.  I understand about not over-repeating so that the child does not get bored, but do you think her recommendation of 1-3 times is enough for mastery of the material? I remember some stuff from Dr Jones' comments on Daddude's memorisation thread, where he talked about spaced repetition - the 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, .... etc., rule.

Will repeating material cause a bridge from right to left brain? If yes, how will the child master the material then? Thank you for your insights.

[Mandabplus3]

Well tweedlewink is very right brained stuff. I would follow their recommendations ( or similar) for kids under 3.5 but repeat it again a number of times as the child ages. Once they start to show some left brain tendencies, then aim for mastery through repetition.
I don't know if repetition causes the bridging, but there are so many things to flash to them while they are young, you can easily save the repeating until you run out! 

[nuria2012]

Mandabplus, I have found a website where the CDS that you have named appear, are they four? Could you say to me why they are so good, according to you? I think that I could buy the first one and if it works the second and so on and so forth.
Oh, I have no idea where the first website was, I have found another website. Is a reinforcement of LR? Your conclusions could help me. Thanks in advance.

http://figur8.net/baby/2009/05/18/right-brain-kids-tweedle-wink-dvd-series/

[Mandabplus3]

Nuria, I assume you mean the tweedlewink DVDs? They are completely different to LR. They offer ALOT of information in each DVD. They do contain some words which may repeat from LR, but they contain different phonics, artist studies, poetry, world information, science.....it's a lot of info. They also teach speed-reading and eye tracking.
They are quite expensive, but you will likely find them good value. If you look on utube you can probably find a video of a child watching tweedlewink. Tweedlewink DVDs are very different from anything else I have found and are very relaxing for children to watch.

[nuria2012]

Thanks Mandabplus,
I have seen the video of the CDs on the web. They are interesting, but aren´t they, perhaps, difficult for babies? I have found this website.
http://www.rightbrainkids.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage5/product_id,191/category_id,25/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,26/  I have to find the total price. I will have into consideration.

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