Where to start with 22 month old? All hints, tips and advice gratefully received

[seastar]

Hi everyone

Well, I have been avidly reading posts on every thread and I have learned so much from you guys. It is incredibly inspiring to read about the effort and success you and your children are experiencing. I am eager to join you in this EL adventure but I'm not sure where to start. Help please!

My daughter is 22 months old. Her language is quite well developed (although maybe not compared to the children on here!) I attribute this to using sign language with her from 3 months of age. She has shown an aptitude for learning other languages and she asked for me to read her "special books" (Irish, French, Italian & Spanish Usborn First 100 word books).

I have always tried to use lots of language in my interactions with her, using descriptive commenting as I go about my activities. I have also read to her every day since she was born and she adores books. So much so that her preschool teacher asked me if I was teaching her to read. Well, embarassingly, I was quite smart in my answer, lecturing her about reading readiness etc. However, the conversation piqued my interest and I decided to do some research. Well, all I can say is that I owe her teacher an apology! I had never even heard to children under 5 reading, not to mention reading in several languages.

I have since read the Doman Reading, Maths & EK books and I am both impressed and daunted in equal measure. My husband and I both work full-time, I am studying and I am also pregnant so I am trying to figure out what I can realistically fit into my short time with my daughter.

In order of priority, the areas I would like to target are:

Reading
Languages - English (mother tongue), Irish (we are Irish and I am hoping she will attend an Irish-speaking school), French (I spoke this in school), German (my husband spoke this in school), Italian & Spanish (neither my husband nor I have any experience with these languages)
Maths
Knowledge
Music
Swimming

I realise that this is a long list but I want to give her every opportunity as she has shown me that she can learn anything I take the time to teach her.

I have tried the LR and LM trials. My DD loves LM, but she gets bored during the multi-sensory lessons on LR. That said, she has been crying for "WORDS" and "Maffs" since my trial ran out so I think I will buy both.

I just received YBCR DVDs today, along with Baby Signing Time and Signing Time Volume 1. She LOVED Baby Signing Time and asked for it repeatedly after watching it for the first time. She was less interested in YBCR, although she did watch all of it. She adores music and we try to include some classical music in her listening - the current favourite is Beethoven's Wig. I can read music and play piano, recorder and tin whistle and I would like to pass on a love of playing music to her.

For those of you who have read to the end of this long post, thank you! My questions are:

 - Where should I begin with a child of 22 months?
 - Is she too old to benefit from YBCR? From the other posts I have read, it seems to be geared towards younger children.
- Would I be better off concentrating on LR instead of spending 7 months completing YBCR?
- What should my daily schedule of EL activities with her look like?
- What would be the most useful resources for me to invest in? (I have a small amount of money that I can use for this purpose)
- Do any of you use Tangrams with your little ones?

I should also say that I am concerned about how much screen time she has as she does not watch TV at all, although she loves to look at Sesame Street songs on my husbands iphone.

I would greatly appreciate any hints, tips and advice you may have to offer. If I can be of any help in return, please let me know.

[mybabyian]

Welcome!  I know just how you feel for wanting to give her every opportunity.  It sounds like you are doing an excellent job already.  I am a stay at home mom to a 15 month old boy and I don't think I could do all that you have on your list even though I am with him all day.  I would narrow down what is most important to you especially in the language area.  I am teaching my son English and Spanish.  I speak Spanish as a second language (English is my first) and my husband and in laws speak it as a first language. Eventually I want to do Chinese too but haven't started yet.  I want to get through the LR content first.  What keeps me from doing more is considering the quality of what he will learn.  The other day I downloaded Arabic lessons on LR, but then I thought when am I ever going to have time to teach him this and how important is it really to me?  If you attempted to teach six languages to a child at once how could you dedicate enough time to achieve adequate fluency?  Yes, children are capable of learning six languages, but they need constant exposure unless you hope to just teach some vocabulary. 

That is just how I view it for my son.  Do what you think you can, but don't stress yourself out over it.  Sounds like she is doing really well already. 

As for YBCR or LR I would go with whichever she enjoys more.  I doubt she is to old to benefit from YBCR, but I haven't used it.
 

[Tanikit]

It sounds like you have done a great job with your child up til now and she sounds like she is doing well.
I am also impressed that as a child psychologist you have changed your mind about early learning (my mother taught my sister to read at age 2 and came up against a lot of problems with child psychologists when they tried to recommend that other people taught their babies)

I have not used YBCR with my children so cannot comment on it though I have read posts by many people who have used it with older children and they did gain a lot from it. (I think DadDude used it with his son around the same age as your child is now)

As for LR I have found it extremely useful for both my first and second child. There were times when my older child was more and less interested in it and times when I had to make new categories for her myself rather than just show the curriculum to keep her interest, but the programme is extremely versatile and for that reason alone I would recommend it. My one year old does not have the concentration to get through an entire session yet, so I just show her til she is no longer looking and then stop - you can always repeat it later. If they want more you can always show more and if your daughter doesn't want the multi sensory part then just show her the words for now and every now and then try to introduce the multi sensory part again.

I would probably begin with reading too for your 22 month old child by showing some programme or even flashcards doing two sessions a day - the sessions are short so screen time should not be a problem.

As for a daily schedule everyone has to sort that out for themselves according to what you can fit in. Your first priority should always be that the child's basics needs are met - nap and food before early learning as they cannot learn if hungry or tired. And then its up to you. With my second child I usually show her LR in the late afternoons as mornings are spent homeschooling my now 4 year old. With a newborn in the house things also must look different, but it all works out as you go along and see what works for you.

I have used tangrams and shape puzzles with my older child (not yet with the one year old) and she does enjoy playing with them and making pictures.

[seastar]

Thank you for the replies!

@mybabyian:
First of all, I should clarify that my list is my long-term goal. Right now, I would be very happy to just get a reading programme up and running. My DD is constantly asking for maths so I will do that too as she seems so interested.

With regard to languages, at present I am simply trying to develop her vocabulary though French and Spanish songs and Irish, French and Spanish vocabulary books  as I have no idea how to teach to the level required for fluency, particularly as I am not fluent in these other languages. I have been reading threads on here and people seem to recommend Little Pim and Babybit - is there anything else I should look into?

We are working on swimming in a half-hearted way, taking her once a week, which I know is not enough but it's what we can manage at the moment.

I will probably get SoftMozart once she is around 3 as I'm hoping I'll have a handle on her reading & maths programmes by then.

Also, I will be taking 11 months off work beginning in June so, even with a new baby, I feel I will have more time to dedicate to EL (fingers crossed).

@Tanikit:
Funnily enough, years ago, I had planned on using flashcards etc once I had children but somehow turned against it. I guess because of the stereotype of pushy parents, which I know now is not true.

I will check out DadDude's posts to see how he got on with YBCR with his son at that age - thanks.

I think you're right that I should just show my DD the words part of the LR lessons to keep her interest and try her with the multisensory again in a few weeks.

I will make some flashcards this evening as she seems to prefer that to YBCR for some reason. Every time I put it on, she asks for "Baby Sign Time" over and over again! For this reason, I'm breaking YBCR up into lots of sessions of a few minutes each instead of watching it all in one sitting.

I think I'll order the tangram set that aangeles uses with her daughter - Tangoes Jr. as I have always loved tangrams myself.

[mybabyian]

seastar, I probably should have realized that is what you meant.  Sometimes I see on here all the things people do with there kids and I just don't know how they do it. 

[nee1]

I will check out DadDude's posts to see how he got on with YBCR with his son at that age - thanks.

1.   Yes, I highly recommend that you check DadDude's posts. His son was 22 months when he (DadDude) first discovered that babies and toddlers could be taught to read. So, you are not alone.

2.   In addition, read his FREE book on how he did it at: http://larrysanger.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/How-and-Why-I-Taught-My-Toddler-to-Read.pdf.

3.   And check out the baby reading articles (where he gives progress updates on his boys, etc.) at his blog: http://blog.larrysanger.org/2010/12/baby-reading/.

[iwini]

The link and the suggestions are really very informative.

[seastar]

I have just printed out DadDude's essay so hopefully I will get some ideas there. Thanks a million for the links!

[seastar]

Well, I printed and laminated DadDude's first set of cards today - thank you DadDude! I tried them during dinner and after dinner with no real interest from my DD so I dropped it. I tried once more during snuggle time before bed with great success. I think the difference was that she was calm, with no distractions and I showed them more quickly than I had earlier in the day. Fingers crossed tomorrow will go well too.

YBCR is not going well - she only wants to look at the songs. I think I will experiment with time of day again and also showing it in her bedroom as opposed to the living room where she is surrounded by toys.

I'm half-way through DadDude's essay and it makes for very interested reading. I was getting a bit panicked thinking that I had missed the EL boat so I was thrilled to hear that he started teaching his son at 22 months also. If we can have even half their success, I will be very happy.

[nee1]

Well, I printed and laminated DadDude's first set of cards today - thank you DadDude!

Glad you've found DadDude's Fleschcards useful. 2 wonderful members of this great forum have converted those cards into powerpoint files:

1.  See  the files of  'annisis' at http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=38125;pg=2 and http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=38125;pg=1. Check her files with 'Flesch' in its title.

2.  Another member 'GloriaD' has done a similar thing. See http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=4872. See her files with 'phonics' in its title.

3.  And DadDude has developed a FREE phonics software (called Reading Bear) based on those cards. Link: http://www.readingbear.org/

[seastar]

thanks again for the links. When I first looked into reading bear, I saw that it was recommended for ages 4-7 so I closed the website without reading down the page to where it says it can be used for baby reading. It looks great.

By the way, I've been trying to find Flesch's original list of words organised by phonetic rules but all I can find is his list in alphabetical order - could anyone point me in the right direction?

[nee1]

When I first looked into reading bear, I saw that it was recommended for ages 4-7 so I closed the website without reading down the page to where it says it can be used for baby reading. It looks great.

By the way, I've been trying to find Flesch's original list of words organised by phonetic rules but all I can find is his list in alphabetical order - could anyone point me in the right direction?

1.    Reading Bear can be used for all ages. And it is very good. I've read once where DadDude said he was using it with his 14 month old. Try it on your child and see if she likes it. The software is based on the Fleschcards, plus some more stuff.

2.   The complete Flesch word list can be found on Don Potter's education pages: http://donpotter.net/pdf_files/fleschphonicsexercises.pdf

3.   And FAR BETTER than Flesch words are words in the book called 'Remedial Reading Drills' by Hegge and Kirk published in 1936. Honestly, this is the best list of phonetic words groupings I have ever seen. And this is the EXACT book that Flesch used to teach his Johnny. On page 24 of 'Why Johnny can't Read', Flesch said: ``Fortunately Dr. Harris hit upon a phonics book that was enough in most cases to bring those unhappy children up to par in their reading. (The Hegge-Kirk drills are what I finally used with Johnny. I’ll come back to that book later on.)''

Don Potter has retyped Remedial Reading Drills by Hegge-Kirk and gives it FREE on his website: http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Remedial%20Reading%20Drills%20-%20Margin.pdf

4.   By the way, the website of Don Potter (from which all the above resources are drawn) is EXTREMELY good for all things phonics. It has lots of free phonics resources, lots of materials on Flesch, etc.  Link: http://donpotter.net/education_pages/
 

[seastar]

That's exactly what I was looking for nee1, thanks!

[nee1]

That's exactly what I was looking for nee1, thanks!

You're welcome.

[aangeles]

Hi seastar,

For French and Spanish, you can start off by letting her listen to music CDs while in the car or as background music while she is playing. Here are the ones my daughter loves:

French:

Baby's First Words in French: http://www.amazon.com/Babys-First-Words-in-French/dp/B003MY7RCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307644078&sr=8-1

Songs in French for Children:  http://www.amazon.com/Songs-French-Children-Various-Artists/dp/B00005CEP5/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b

Un, Deux, Trois: http://www.amazon.com/Deux-Trois-First-French-Rhymes/dp/1845076230/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b

Little Pim French Bop

Music That Teaches French: http://www.dololanguages.com/French/MusicTeachesFrench.htm

Spanish:

Baby's First Words in Spanish: http://www.amazon.com/Babys-First-Words-in-Spanish/dp/B003MY7RH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307644124&sr=8-1

Jose Luis Orozco's books with CDs:
De Colores: http://www.amazon.com/Colores-Other-Latin-American-Songs/dp/B00000AG6C/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Diez Deditos: http://www.amazon.com/Diez-Deditos-Ten-Little-Fingers/dp/B00000AG67/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b
Fiestas: http://www.amazon.com/Fiestas-Vol-6-Jos%C3%A9-Luis-Orozco/dp/B00000AG68/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1307641226&sr=1-1

Whistlefritz CDs:
Cha-Cha-Cha: http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Learning-Songs-Canciones-Infantiles/dp/B003SJGS6K/ref=pd_sim_m_6
A Bailar: http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Kids-Bailar-Jorge-Anaya/dp/B0018STM7A/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b

Little Pim Spanish Bop

Music That Teaches Spanish: http://www.dololanguages.com/Spanish/MusicThatTeachesSpanish.htm

When she gets a little older or when you feel she is ready for it, you can add on children's audiobooks in French/Spanish. Depending on where you live, check out your library first for these resources, also for Signing Time and Little Pim DVDs, as I have seen most of these in our local library.

Hope this helps! 

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