UK/ USA Exchange

[Kerileanne99]

Absolutely! Thanks Mandabplus3 for pointing that out! I just assumed when you said you had done the trial that you had access to a desktop computer already...Slashtop works great for us because we have already have a desktop with LR and LM uploaded onto it.  You also must have a wireless router...
Also, just a note of caution if you haven't read my recent pots! I am JUST getting started with BrillKids, LR and LM! Other than being able to share my experiences here as a fellow newbie, the others here are a veritable fount of wisdom!
That being said, I have had over two years with YBCR, YCCR, Baby Signing Time, and Signing Time.  We also use the IPad a lot. A has nearly ten pages of baby/toddler/child apps, both free and paid, with many more that we hated or outgrew, so I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what to avoid, at the very least
We have also tried a handful of products, like the synthetic phonics program so popular in the UK, Jolly Phonics, and have gone through a ton of Montessori products.
We have the Righstart mathematics program, have just ordered JonesGenius, as well as the Singapore Math and Science books and we LOVE the MathStart books because anything we can learn while reading is a a bonus in our house! Science seems to be the big theme in our house at the moment. I got A a set of wooden periodic table building blocks for Xmas and we are using an app to explain them to her and have 'element' searches around the house...and Daddies 'lab'! Actually the office next to the lab with a large glass window!  Daddy smashed various objects after dipping them in liquid Nitrogen last weekend, and she is hooked!

Anyway, hopefully this gives you an understanding of what we are doing right now...
What does everyone think of a separate App thread? I have no clue what exists for Android, but if It exists for the IPad, I have probably looked at it or tried it...as I am in a wheelchair and seem to have quite a few bad days, we save IPad time and new books for 'cuddle time' in mommies bed..I don't want to say, oh, Mommy isn't well and has to stay in bed, so right now we pass it off as a special treat...dreading the day that doesn't work anymore!

Tlyoung- Thanks for the reminder about military post! I am actually medically retired from the Army, so have kept my ID card...I have friends stationed around the world so this is an excellent money-saving idea!

[seastar]

Hi Mandabplus3 - thanks for the info. I did know that about needing a separate laptop but I had been considering buying one specifically for EL instead of using my one that I also need for work.

As a matter of interest, would you guys recommend getting the highest memory on the ipad - I'm researching the options here and I'm not sure what one I should go for.

PS Have you seen the Usborne Beginner Books Series. They are excellent for EK - great info & illustrations. I received 'Sun, Moon & Stars' in the post this morning and I am thrilled with it. I am just about to order the 'Solar System' one. I also just figured out that when ordering on www.bookdepository.co.uk, you can click 'biographic data' to see whether it is the US or UK version.

[MummyRoo]

Hello from the UK

My son is also 2, so I'll have some thoughts about things to do and resouces online. Check out the website toucanlearn.com, which is linked to the Uk Early Years guidelines. It is very activity-based, so I'm not sure if its what you're after.

For books, I would recommend thebookpeople.co.uk (great for really cheap books) but I don't think they ship abroad. It might be worth looking for next time you're in the UK, though.

We love the Usborne Phonics Readers (set of 12) and Farmyard Tales (set of 20, I think) - both sets just grab my son's attention. We also have a set of animal books by Oxford called Wild Reads which are great for EK.
 
A gorgeous book set teaching basic physics principles (light, sound, motion) is by Geoff Waring and published by Walker books. They are about a curious kitten called Oscar, and are titled Oscar and the... Cricket/Bat/Moth/Frog.

Of course, the classics like Winnie the Pooh and Beatrix Potter should never be overlooked!

If there is anything specific that you're looking for, let me know!

[Mandabplus3]

My iPad is the second level of memory the one in the middle. It is only just now telling me memory is getting low and I have pages and pages and pages of apps, literally hundreds! I am a bit of an app junky i should delete some my friends all come to me to play on my iPad to find the best educational (free) apps for their kids. So truth out now I think if your computer is half decent you really only need the cheapest iPad and I would buy two cheap ones over one expensive one any day! Buy a bigger memory if you intend to load your videos or DVDs onto it. In theory YBCR and monkey see could be played on iPad.....   also I think the 3G option is a total waste of money ( this comment could be relevant to Australia only?) if you get a wireless router or if you have wifi Internet at home you will almost never use the mobile Internet 3g option and if you need it, most places you go have free wifi access. Mc donalds, indoor play centers, shopping centers, basically every where except public transport. I have yet to find an early education app that needs Internet to work ( oh maybe starfall? Not sure). Also I would consider essential a screen protector sticker, and a cover that protects the screen when not in use. Never leave the iPad on the floor!!! Rule number one in our house! O on the floor of the car. Every one I know who has had to buy a new screen had had it trodden on. The covers are much cheaper on eBay and the one that automatically turns off the iPad when the lid closes is awesome

[Kimba15]

Leapfrog use a lovely english accent with their toys (well that's how they come in Australia)

Book depository ships world wide for free and you can by a lot of the usbourne books from them.
 
You can't over look Enid Blyton not an English childhood with out her in it.

Does the BBC sell any of there children's programmes and ship to you?

[MummyRoo]

Talking of BBC programs - they have some great series on DVD which would be worth getting.

We loved their Frozen Planet series this winter - my son couldn't get enough of the penguins and polar bears! Lots of interesting information for parents, too!

They did a Human Planet series which was really good, but I don't know how interesting it would be for young kids. CBBC had Little Human Planet - a series of 5-minute clips about how children live around the world which would be perfect but I don't know if its available on DVD.

Another favourite in our house is the Walking with Dinosaurs DVDs, but although my son isn't bothered, there are fights and potentially scary bits that you'd want to check out first.

I know there is also a Blue Planet (life under the sea) series, but haven't seen it myself, though I've been meaning to get the DVDs.

Amazon UK sells CDs and DVDs of CBeebies (baby BBC) programs (which I can't say we watch much of, so I can't recommend them for quality - the 'Something Special' series teaches British Sign Language)

I don't know about shipping abroad - could you get things sent to someone in the UK then forwarded to you in the US?

[seastar]

Kerileanne99 - Daddy's lab sounds like a lot of fun! I never would have though of a periodic table blocks set - amazing!

Do you like Jolly Phonics? It is widely used in schools here in Ireland too but I haven't looked at it in years (I used to be a teacher).

Your maths curriculum seems fairly extensive! I don't know where to start with that. I was thinking of getting LM but I'll look into those programmes you mentioned before I do. I'm also getting Tangrams - one of my lecturers in college used to say that if you let a child play with a set of tangrams for an entire year, they would learn far more than in their regular maths classroom.

You're right about the need for a separate app thread as it could take over here - there's probably one on here already so I will do a search once I get the ipad (yipee). Great tips re which ipad to get too - thanks.

MummyRoo - those books look great. I've ordered the usborne phonics & farmyard ones & all the Oscar ones. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Kerileanne99]

MummyRoo-
I think you might be my daughters favorite person of the day!!!
We have the entire USborne Phonics reader set (except for some strange reason 'Ted's Shed', which we have yet to find in paperback!). But I had a look on TheBookDepository, and truly think she will go absolutely MENTAL for the USborne Farm set.  I ordered them for her this morning and can't wait to see her reaction!  Thanks SO much for the tip as we cannot seem to get enough animals at the moment, especially hens! (What's that all about!?). She even has a life-sized, stuffed pet hen puppet that MUST go everywhere with us...needless to say, we get some extremely strange looks...(she adopted this phase after reading a book called "Where Do Chicks Come From?"', one of the Let's Read And Find Out Science series...if you haven't seenc this series, take a look...nothing better, in my opinion at leat, than books geared toward science...pun intended... 

[Kerileanne99]

Seastar-
Math curriculum is extensive, but we are only doing bits of each right now, and JUST started--at her demand.  I hadn't actually thought about doing a more formal maths program with her at this age, but it came from her.  She is one of those kids that does really well with a warning...if you suddenly up stakes and want to leave quickly, serious tantrums ensue...if you say, "okay, A, five minutes and we have to leave...Okay, A, now we have to leave in four minutes...etc...she will say, with a mock sad face,"zewo minutes left, time to go!"
One day I was doing this and I had just given her her four-minute warning...she informs me that soon she will have just three minutes, then, two, then one, then zero!  She was desperate for number and time...I bought a MelissaandDoug wooden clock to teach her the time, we transformed a stainless steel timer into "Mr. Dinger" with the help of some doll shoes, a doll hat, a bow tie, and some goggly eyes...

But the masterpiece has been "Tooth Brush Math"...so kiddo is teething molars and will do just about anything to avoid a toothbrush in the mouth!  We. Have tried everything from songs to daddy reading a favorite book whilst tooth cleansing is occurring!! Desperate, I bought a cloth chart and put number squares, 0-100 on it. Basically a hundreds board, with red numbers for even numbers, black for odd numbers, purple fo fives and tens...so every night while Daddy scrubs, momm, in a highly animated comical fashion, points at numbers with a spare toothbrush and counts as fast as I can...I mention counting by fives and tens and ones, even and odd, by twos, you name it...she loves it and after THREE days can count to 100!
For flossing time, the Abacus comes out and mommy makes a fool of herself counting on chart whilst A frantically moves beads...
Might feel incredibly idiotic if A hadn't suppressed me whilst driving in the car by counting to 100 by ones, then by tens when she thought nobody was listening!,,

So the point is, I bought these programs because she seems to really want a maths challenge, and we are already well on the reading path...and most importantly, we did a lot of math prep work first...if I was starting out, I would stick to reading programs with home spun math. I think she understands the concepts and ideas I am presenting because she has learned reading And vocabulary FIRST, as well as a love of learning...

One other thing starting out...before I had even heard of BrillKids, I was copying a page of an ongoing strory, a tracing sheet, activities, and animal facts for A everyday.  She goes mental for the post, so hubby puts all of the days activities in the mailbox when he heads off to the Uni.we go out to get it and the newspaper, and she FREAKS!  It sets the tone for the day...the point is, your LO might not be crazy for the post, but if you find a way to make her daily reading appeal to her personally, she will beg you for it...even whilst in the UK for Xmas, with no mailbox, we had to show her how mail comes through the slot directly into the house.  (I thought she was going to wet herself! ). And hubby was not thrilled to have to troop from back door to front door at 3 am while she was adjusting to 6-hour-time difference Don't quite know why he was complaining as he got to go back to bed!

So far Jolly Phonics haven't really appealed to her...

[lois1]

Hi, I'm a Scottish ex-pat just starting out on the early learning journey. Have appreciated all the comments & thanks for all the British material & ideas you have mentioned. Looking forward to choosing what will suit us as I definitely want to pursue British rather than North American educational material.

Also thank you for more ammunition as to why we "need" an ipad

Re: sign language. I have found it very useful as a bridge between Eng & Sp. This is completely my opinion, as I have no idea what my 15mo thinks about it He would have picked up Spanish anyway but I just theorise that it must make it clearer in his little mind when mummy makes the same sign for drink & bebida...

[Korrale4kq]

I am Australian in the US, married to an American, and that makes my son half Australian.

Are there any Aussie-centric apps for the iPad?
My sister has been collecting an array of children's books to send to me. And my mum has sent me a play school DVD for when my son is older.
I just don't want my son to miss out on his Australian heritage.

[Mandabplus3]

Hmm I never stopped to think about that Korrale but I probably should! The world is so small now a days with Internet and online purchases... Rading eggs is very popular in Australia for 2-7 year olds learning to read. It's an online computer based phonics program.it has text books and first readers to match the program,.  If you sign up using reading eggs.com.au I think you will get the Aussie spellings. It's not free but is value for money. They have it worldwide now. Play school DVDs are a great idea. I shall check out my apps and get back to you. and have a litlle think on what else we have...

[seastar]

So the point is, I bought these programs because she seems to really want a maths challenge, and we are already well on the reading path...and most importantly, we did a lot of math prep work first...if I was starting out, I would stick to reading programs with home spun math.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I think I'll take your advice and just try to incorporate more maths into our everyday activities. I found some great ideas on www.earlylearningathome.com also so I am planning to try a few tomorrow.

[Kerileanne99]

Oh, wowSeastar!
Did I only just notice you are expecting or did you just update CONGRATULATIONS!

[Kerileanne99]

Okay Seastar-
So one thing I wanted to say about our ongoing discussion of maths programs...we are doing little bits and pieces from many maths programs as I explained before, and we seem to incorporate math into SO many things as if I use the words "that's math!" she stops what she is doing and wants to see more...but, like I said, we have done A LOT of math playing...
So it was with great trepidation that I bought LM about 10 days ago...I have shown her Doman math dots for about two weeks prior, but because of her age didn't feel like we were having much success...she seems to only want to hold them and play with them...but we combine it with LR, and of course, her Friend Hen is DESPERATE to learn how to do read and do 'maff''.   I truly wasn't sure what benefits, if any, we would get from it because of her age and because we have done so much other math. I don't even know if it possible to learn to subitize that quickly, maybe all the prep work just came together for her when she started watching LR, and maybe the last few days are just a fluke!

Just in the last two days or so, there have been four or five occurrences when she has amazed me...lt seems like she is actually subitizing!  Surely it doesn't happen so quickly! Maybe she is just counting really quickly and I can't tell...I just don't know... today, she wanted to go through all of her books looking for any that had hens in them...she wanted to read hen books to her unfortunately illiterate stuffed hen! So I began pulling books off her shelf that had birds and hens...(oddly enough, she rejected any that she remembered only had birds,but no hens, even if we had not read the book in a very long time...kids memories are phenomenal!) so I made a big pile, then she laid them all out...I really don't believe she counted them that fast, but she said, "Mommy, I want to read ALL FIFTEEN hen books!" I had to actually counted them, and she was dead on So did she just guess, and mommy wanted to read more into it?  Maybe.  But that is several times she has been dead on, all in different circumstances...Don't quite know what to think right now, BUT...
The program only takes a few minutes to do, fits right in with LR for scheduling, and offers a little break for her..she seems to enjoy it...
So revising my earlier opinion, especially since you are going to have another EL coming on board, I would try to fit in LM if at all possible! Try to do as much hands on, fun math with your kiddo, but I really think it was a breakthrough for A!
If money is an issue for LM, and I can definitely sympathize if you are trying to start with many new EL tools/programs plus saving for new baby You might try making your own cards...the Doman book on how to teach your baby math explains in depth, but it basically just involves 11x 11 poster board and a ton of little red dot stickers...and time!

Also, we bought LR at the same time, and if you haven't done the whole trial, I was very pleased at how well YBCR fit in...I worried that purchasing LR would be too repetitive for her, that she wouldn't see anything new and it would bore her...DEFINITELY not so...SO many more words than YBCR!  I think I would still do both as it definitely gives more options and fits so well together...

Anyway, my two cents, no that I sound like a walking ( or wheelchair-riding!) advert for LM/LR!  I swear I didn't intend it to be so, but I am very excited!

Has anybody else started with LM when their LO was older like mine (24 mo when started Doman Math/LM), and did you see fast results? Am I just being hopeful? Or do you think that watching LM just made it 'click' for her? She could already count to 100 by one and by tens, and had some exposure to an abacus, but still... Maybe she has just gotten really lucky a few times...I will have to keep watching.  I don't actually try to test, she just seems intent on numbers...any thoughts here would be much appreciated!

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