BrillKids Forum

Sometimes I find it hard to explain to people that we are teaching K to read.  Teaching a baby this young to read/do math etc. is not a well known concept so people often think I'm joking (or crazy).

Has anyone else had this experience and how do you deal with it.
  

I just don't tell anyone. No one believes me or they think I'm crazy. It's too difficult to explain to people.

You're right - they do think I'm crazy -  &  I've been very selective about who I've told.  I would love to share though.

I have told some people and they do not believe me until they see Andrew reading!  My family was actually against it because they thought it was 'unnatural' to have such a young kid reading...if they only knew.  Andrew is old by some standards! lol   He is 2. Then they have actually join LR.

Yep, that's why we spent so much time and effort on the For + Against and Why Teach Your Baby To Read So Early articles!

In the beginning, I naively assumed everyone would love to know about it and be excited about teaching their children, and was shocked when I encountered people who were so against it!

Yeah, I just don't really tell anyone because, like you said, most people will either think A) you're joking or B) your crazy. It's hard sometimes because you're so excited about what you're doing with your child and it's like the lot of your life, so just keeping silent is difficult, but most people think you're crazy when you tell them your two-year-old can do division.

As Doman says "The trouble with telling people things that are unbelievable is that they don't believe them." Sadly, most of our culture is still in the dark ages about babies' abilities, and most people still want to believe that babies aren't capable of much more than smiling and making dirty diapers. The other problem you run into is that a lot of people ignorantly equate early learning with child abuse. They think that it's harmful for little kids to learn, just because our culture still believes that a preschooler's lot in life is to play dress up and watch TV.

Oh well, I just figure that they'll figure it out eventually that you're really not crazy and little kids really can learn. Like last year when we went on a tour to the White House my sister was amazed that Hunter knew who all the portraits of the Presidents were. Or your baby unexpectedly demonstrates that he really can read. Or do math. Or knows butterfly species. Or recognizes a painting by Van Gogh. It'll come out eventually, and when it does no one will deny the legitimacy of it all.

However, in the meantime, it sure is hard keeping silent.

However, I do love spreading the word via my blog, and talking to other moms online on these groups. :)

Elizabeth

worldsbesteducation.blogspot.com (http://worldsbesteducation.blogspot.com)

Yeah, isn't it wonderful that we have this community--where we can talk to other parents and educators who know and agree with what we're doing? A couple of weeks ago my partner told me that he was telling some family members about all of the early learning stuff I'm doing with Gabriel. His father, who went to school for psychology and understands about the growing brain, thinks what I'm doing is wonderful. But his brother's girlfriend, who has a 7 y/o, started acting really skeptical and jealous and actually left the room when he said Gabriel could do the sign for milk. I told him that is why I don't tell people anything. One day, when my son is making all A's effortlessly and loving school, they will ask what I did to spark the love of learning and natural brilliance of my son, and I will tell them. Then maybe they will believe me.

Hi, explaing to others is nonsense. I have tried to convince two of my friends who also have babies that babies can learn to read at very early ages. They are not convinced at all, and they are the opinion that babies must simply play and that as they have told me they will have time to learn in the future. I have not mentioned this topic again with them, I don't feel at all comforatble talking of the topic to people who are against it.

Yep  :)
We started the Teach your Baby to Read programme when Glenn Doman brought it out - I was using it in 1966 (ish) and after criticism from friends I ended up not trying to explain - just said that it was a good game that Ian loved and could play finding the cards. As he learned to read more and more words, I tended to keep quiet about it :rolleyes:

Its odd because the same people who criticised our efforts at early learning were very quick to tell me that THEIR baby could tell cereal packets apart - and knew which sweets were in different packets - could identify makes of cars etc almost as soon as they started to talk - but they didn't see that as reading - same as they didn't seem to realise that they were being language teachers from their baby's first breath  ;)

In fact - I have come across adults who seem to think that babies just play - and that they don't learn anything until they are 5 or 6 and start formal education. My DH and I have both heard parents saying "I have (x number ) kids and I'm not a teacher - thats what they go to school for."  :clown:

I found that sending my mom to the FAQ page at the Native Reading site worked well. It's at http://www.nativereading.com/faq.html.

She came away convinced and enthusiastic, whereas before she was very skeptical. Native Reading was my way into early reading for my kids. I only found out about the Domans after. I think Kailing's approach may come across as less confrontational for some people than the Doman's. I particularly think his analogy between reading and learning a second language in the first chapter is persuasive for many people. (It's also online: http://www.nativereading.com/introduction.html)

That's how I explain it to people anyway, I explain that, properly taught, learning to read early is like learning a second language early.

Still, people can get really competitive about how their kids are doing in comparison to others. It comes from a good place -- everyone wants to do right by their kids. But it can lead people to reject new ideas that challenge the way they've already done things. Expecting a parent of an older child to be positive about early reading is especially unlikely. They just feel like they missed the boat.

Because of this, parents of newborns, or those pregnant, are the most likely to be receptive. I also think there is an "unsolicited advice" reaction sometimes, people just don't want to be told how to do things sometimes, especially when it comes to raising kids. Especially face to face. So, as far as sharing the idea is concerned, I think giving a pregnant friend Native Reading or the Domans' book is sometimes better than talking to her about it. Doing things a bit more indirectly lets people feel like it is their idea, instead of yours. I'm not totally sure why this can be such a big factor, but it is.

Glad to hear it's not just me having trouble explaining & like pp said at least we can share ideas here.

jtg - Does your baby really wear glasses?

I'm just glad that both my sisters have found this site and are actively involved in the forums otherwise I'm not sure I would be able to explain this to anyone.  I've shared it with several parents but only 2 of them actually thought it was really worth trying. 
I also took the Your baby can read videos to daycare and she was a bit skeptical but I convinced here to try it and all the kids love the videos and ask for it.  I've now had 3 of the parents ask about it and they've said they will be checking out Little Reader so they can do reading at home!  It's amazing that so much of believing is seeing!

kmum, both my kids have perfect eyes (so far at least). I, however, am nearly as blind as a bat without contacts or glasses. Hopefully it's not genetic. The pic is just one of the defaults that you get when you are too technically inept or lazy (or both!) to upload a real picture!

what i noticed is that, when i share information about early education to people who are single or who have kids but doesnt know anything about early education -- i get the "you have to joking" reactions. however, when i try to talk other moms with babies into doing early education with their children, and ofcourse share this site and all the wonderful things i've learned from the moms here -- they tell me its too much work. or they don't have the time to sit and teach their kids using the pc or even just flashcards... its frustrating really. and i dont feel the need to show them what lila can do now because of all the things i've learned here so fas as terms of early education..

i feel so relieved.
i am so glad that i am not the only one.
i get those crazy looks and i feel so stupid after ive tried to explain early reading and get that strange look. the one that says yea we believe you, not!
i love this website and i am glad i found it when i did

jtg - my lo does have glasses - little red ones in fact! That's why I was curious.  I'm also too technically inept to upload a photo to show you but dd sure looks cute in them.  Most of my family needs glasses, but she is the youngest.

it is really so. some of  my friend tells that I'm wasting time. others ask me whether my child is brine injured???????
 
most people ask about the dot cards. they says that how a little baby can understand maths using dots. some ask me to use different colors  and make it colorful while others ask me to use different pictures such as one cat, two ducks. some people ask to wait until she can talk.

they never understand the importance of teaching and dose not teach their baby 

I think your friends are probably just not aware of these methods.  There are quite a few examples of this method working if you look around on this site.  I must admit that I had never heard of teaching babies this much  a few years ago & thought it was a little hard to believe at first.

I haven't tried explaining this to anyone. My own parents know I am teaching my daughter but they tuaght us as kids themselves so understand the concepts. Other than that I am telling no one - its just easier that way.

I think part of the reason I am not telling anyone is that I cannot see any results myself yet because I am not testing and my daughter isn't showing me she knows anything and another part is that my parents themselves got into a lot of trouble when they said things about teaching my sister when she was a baby - the reactions they received from teachers and school psychologists were extremely negative and I do not want that. My sister is also teaching her daughter a lot of things and already feels that the playgroup she is in is unable to cater to her child and may be treating her child unfairly because they may feel she is being precocious.

The key thing to emphasize is that our children are having fun when learning.

Also tell them it's a complete myth that:

- babies cannot learn skills such as reading (tons of evidence to show the contrary)

- babies don't like to learn and have to be forced (use your own child as an example)

For more discussion on this, see:

http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/why-teach-reading-early.php

http://www.brillbaby.com/early-learning/for-against-early-learning.php

Don't waste time trying to explain. No one will be convinced.
I taught my older boy to read only when he's about 1 year old (didn't know of early reading back then). We spend nights reading about 4 books for a start and it went on for about 3-4 months. I wasn't too convinced that he was able to understand a single word that I read about but I just continued. He would sit on my lap and patiently waited for me to read to him.

One fine morning, I opened my eyes and was just laying in bed. What caught my eye was my boy was actually sitting very still and was flipping the pages of the story books that I've read with him. He was flipping page-by-page and running down each word though he wasn't making any noise as he couldn't really speak then. I was like :ph34r:
And I never looked back, we quickly increased the amount of books to 8, then 12 and 16 every night. He could already pronounce words like 18 months.

I usually tell my hubby that I'm doing my 'training' secretly and the results will show when they attend school. Hehe.

Haha that's how I feel most of the time! I think to myself, "Sure everyone thinks I'm crazy now but just wait till he gets older. No one will be criticizing us then!" lol

I totally understand how all other moms feel!  I live with my in-laws and my mother-in-law always criticized what I did, especially when I showed my baby (at that time she was only 8 month) flash cards!  She said "how come you just make her learn at this young age????"  I did not try to explain as she just didn't understand and won't understand anyways!!

Hi

I have gone through this experience many times, but u know, they realised their mistake, and rather started encouraging their kids at early stage.

Just  call them and make your child sit in front of Brillkids, and the movement your kid will start tell every thing he learnt in billkids, i they will appeciate your efforts.


Seema........

Hi,
I tend not to tell others about the learning activities that I do with my son during the day. I wish this was not the case as it would be nice to share experiences, but people can really be very judgemental. Ethan is my first child (5 months old) and I have learned very quickly that absolutely everyone has an opinion about how you should be raising your child. It has gotten to the stage where I now find myself hiding the math dot cards if we are going to have visitors!

My mother in law did happen to see the cards one day and asked me about them so I told her a bit about the program. She did not tell me I was doing anything wrong, but she did look at me like I was crazy and said that I should be careful as some parents can take educating their child too far.  My family has also said that I am being mean for not letting Ethan watch television like "The Wiggles" as he will missing out. I really don't think that young babies get together and discuss what they saw on TV the day before. I have also had family members say that if Ethan is too intelligent by the time he attends school he may become an outcast. I find this kind of comment disturbing. Do they mean that we should make sure our kids are dumber just so they can make friends at school?  If you teach your child to have good values, not brag about their abilities and help them to develop emotional intelligence, they should not have any such problems.
 
Now if someone makes a comment, I just tell them that every time I am teaching Ethan something it is done in a fun way. I do not try to push anything onto him if he is tired or irratable.  It is no different than playing a game with a toy (which seems to be socially accepted). He loves all the activities that we do together. Kids love to learn and would much rather the love and attention of a parent (regardless of what is shown- book, toy, flashcards, little reader, the trees outside...) than just being sat in front of a television set. 
I just want to give Ethan every opportunity to reach his full potential.

It sounds like you are having many of the same problems as the rest of us. Just know that you are doing wonderful things for your son, and he will greatly benefit from them. We are all here to support you!

The only people who knows about my 'secret training' other than my hubby, and my parents.

It's good that they didn't laugh at this idea like my MIL did. When I first told her that I'm sending my boy (1.5 year then) to brain-enrichment program, she was like :blink:, 'why waste the $$?', 'how do you know that the baby's learning?', 'babies will not remember what they learn'.

My MIL is a 15-year experience nanny. She felt that babies this age should sit in front of TV and watch the programs, so that they can keep quiet. If they are noisy, will need to take the pacifier, so that they can keep quiet. Afternoon naps for 2 times for 2 hours each, so that she can complete all her housechores and they can keep quiet. If they try to baby-talk, she will make a really fierce face and signal to them to keep quiet. That's why, all the babies she taken care of are all VERY QUIET. I've seen all her techniques and it scares the h*** out of me.

Almost quarrelled with her when I refused to let her take care of my 2 boys. Think the reason's obvious why.

Winth, what's that brain enrichement course called?  :)

Hi nohayo,

it's called Shichida Method.

Yes, I don't tel anyone about our program.  My parents are aware of it only on a very superficial level.  they have seenthe word and dot flash cards and Blasie has impressed them by reading some of his words.  But I know that the remainder of my friends, family and co-workers would say I was hot-housing my son.  I would rather avoid their disapproving looks so I keep it private although luckily my husband is 100% on-board.

We have a new article on BrillBaby designed for anyone having difficulty explaining to others why they are teaching their baby/child to read. It's called the Top 8 Myths of Early Reading and you can find it here...

http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/top-myths-early-reading.php

You might also be interested in the pages on BB dedicated to the scientific research into early reading - go to the Promise of Early Reading and Early Reading Can Prevent Dyslexia (part of the Why Teach Reading Early? article)...

http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/why-teach-reading-early/early-reading-promise.php

http://www.brillbaby.com/teach-baby/why-teach-reading-early/Page-7.php

I'm sure not many critics would be aware that the more severe form of dyslexia (the one that doesn't get better as you grow up) is actually caused by environmental not genetic factors.

Neither are many people aware that children who learn to read at three or four remain ahead of their peers who learned to read at a later age for as much as eight years!

So you can try the softly, softly tack first ("She enjoys it," "It's a game we play") - and if that doesn't work, him 'em with the science! ;)

Maddy

I have learned to not share what I am teaching my children not because they don't believe me but because then later they start testing my children.  I have to tell them to not test my children but they still do it behind my back.  I wish I had not told anyone that I was doing the doman method because of the testing issue.  Just something to watch out for.

It is hard to be involved with something so important yet not be able to tell people about it. I love this website because there are moms out there just like me. I find it amazing that there are so many people on board with this kind of program because in real life, I haven't found a single person beside my husband.

I have chosen to mainly blog about my experience because I know that my coworkers and some family members will not agree with me. They would probably go as far as to say that I am damaging my child and that it is some kind of child abuse. Little do they know that my child smiles and begs for more words, is learning new things every day way beyond what would be expected of a two-year-old, and spends more time with his full-time student and working mother than probably most children.

I have started LR with my three-month-old while doing the presentations with my toddler. Derek loves them! He tries to talk to the screen and makes more movements. Because of this, I know that he is finding enjoyment in participating with his older brother. Who could ask for anything more?

This discussion was recently brought up on the December birth board on www.pregnancy.org
People are totally against any type of early learning. It is sad to see.

http://www.pregnancy.org/bulletinboards/showthread.php?t=492620

It is sad to hear that people are so against early education, but I have been blessed to have very supportive people in my life who even if they don't fully understand it, they respect what I do. I have shared what I am doing with a few family members and on one occasion a stranger and that was because my 1 year old read the word yellow out of a book I showed him and she overheard and asked if he said what she think he said:) Even though I have received nothing, but positive responses from other, I would still continue teaching my son regardless.....my son LOVES it and so do I.

Happy Teaching Everyone
Keep doin what you're doin!!

When my first daughter was 1 i came accross Doman's work and hoped to get into a program with her and have her reading by 2- I shared this with some people who were not supportive and sadly let the notion go- couldn't shake it and have finally begun with her at 4 years old- if you're new at this be careful who you tell- even people I thought would be so encouraging were skeptical- it was such a downer for me- I've become more protective of our teaching time and not really explaining it unless someone asks and i usually say it's an early learning program and leave it at that.  they think I'm doing baby einstein or something lol!  I'm not solidly into it yet so I'm not comfortable defending it yet. just my 2 cents

Few years ago, I used to give surprising looks when someone used to tell me that they have started teaching maths or computers or other development programs to a very small child, since I never came across such things. Neither did my other family members.

But subsequently I found, learnt and started many development programs for our children, though many didnt approve or laughed at the back.

But I dont blame them, because at some point of time, I too did the same. Its the circle / group to which you belong to, that can guide you to the right things.

I've faced the same negative feedback from others about teaching my 4 month old to read. Its a shame that you end up keeping something so exciting to yourself. My husband and I have also been using EC since she was 6 weeks and don't feel comfortable telling anyone about it.
But its ok, as long as we know she's happy and were not forcing her to do anything. I'm glad I found this forum for support and info. Happy reading to all.

I don't plan on telling many people either.  I am really glad to have found this site, too!  I haven't met anyone else in person who is doing this, and when I tell people that Bri is already reading, they look at em like I'm a crazy mom. lol Then they change the subject.  So, I don't plan on bringing it up.  It's kind of sad, though, because it should be something that is common place, not abnormal.  If only more people knew about the possiblities when they start to help develop an early love of reading, math, etc.!

I taught my daughter to read using YBCR, Doman, starfall, and lots and lots of books.  She's now 34 months, and I'm no longer actively teaching her because she can pretty much decode almost anything.  Materials designed to "teach reading" are too easy at this point -- We just read lots and lots of books. 

When we were in the teaching phase, I mostly kept it under my hat because I read what other people said on other discussion sites, and I knew it was something controversial and I didn't want people testing her.  I made the mistake of telling my mom -- who used every opportunity to "test" her and show her off -- this really, really bothered me. 

So now I have a not-yet-3-year-old who can read -- and it's really really cool.  Its a source of great joy for our daughter and our family...but I still don't like to mention it.  Sometimes,  people do notice, and we've told a few close friends.  It seems to freak people out... Either they're jealous or they think my daughter is a freak... or that we're too  "pushy"... I don't know; I get bad vibes from some people.  I'm not sure if I should try to explain how or why I taught her, or if I should say, "she just picked it up." and change the subject.  I don't want people to get hung up about it.  Her reading is just ONE part of her; there are many other things that make her beautiful, and unique.   I'm glad I found this forum to meet other people who have very young children who enjoy the ability of reading. 

I liked reding your story, Jeimy34! :)

He guys,

Even my own parents & brother are against it but I just over rule them & I am introducing my 3 1/2 months kid for an early learning schedule slowly.

I am pretty confident once my girl stays ahead of all the childrens her age everyone would stop there criticism and join.

Anybody out there don't just stop because others feel that we are over burdening a child. Stop only when the kid gets bored I am pretty sure kids in the early stage would be interested & intrigued by new things.

Malathi

I have made this mistake too. One of my friend is a school teacher and has a daughter same age as my son. After I joined this forum couple months back I was so amazed...there were so many things that could be done. I told her about this forum and early education options. She listened to the whole thing quietly and said so what's next for your son? phd before 5?   :ph34r:

From then onwards, we always kept it under the hat :)

The problem I've had with telling others about what I'm trying to do is that then they expect Joel to "perform" for them, which is not really the point. He doesn't usually like to do things "on demand", so it can be frustrating. I just say "sorry, we're not supposed to test him."

I feel very lucky because my husband supports me 150%  :D which is the most important person to have on your side when you start this journey. My mom is totally on my side too after she saw it only takes a few minutes here, a few minutes there. At work, my good friend loves the idea and she gets excited with everything I tell her, my boss just laughs at me and pretty much thinks I'm crazy  :tongue: My otehr fiend at work only knows about the crawling track that I want to build, he thinks is not neccesary, but anyways is going to help me to build it. One of my best friends got so excited that is doing some ppt presentatiosn with her son and is convincing her husband to get YBCR. My other good friend doesn't have kids, but she thinks is great and will probably do it once she has kids. Now, we have a couple that is very close to us, our babies are only one day apart and that is a different history... they just came over for dinner and saw all the labels we have around the house and just didn't say anything, then he saw on my night table the book "How to teach your baby how to read" (in Spanish), got curious, wanted me to translate the title for him, once I did, just silence... I'm not sure who felt more unconfortable.

Anyways, we decided not to tell most people, because that, it just gets unconfortable and let's be honest, you don't want anybody criticizing your parenting decisions :nowink: . We made the decision and nobody is going to make us change our minds. We kind of test people to see if it is a conversation topic they may be interested on.

I'm kind of curious because two of my aunts and my uncle are coming for two weeks, so there is not going to be a way to hide it. I would have two stop what I'm doing and I'm not willing to waist my baby's time. So we'll see...

Joha, I'm glad that your husband is so supportive. That really does make a huge difference! :)

I would have been like buddy, learn how to read Spanish! ;) Just joking. It gets really frustrating when people don't understand or flat out disagree with you.

This entire experience thus far has kind of been like what I experienced with pumping. People (even the nurses who I work with who you would think would be 100 % for breastfeeding) were against the idea of exclusively pumping. My first born wouldn't/refused to breastfeed so this was my only option if I wanted to give him my milk still. Everyone pretty much thought that I was nuts when I told them after they would ask questions like "How's breastfeeding going? What kind of formula does he use? blah, blah, blah...." It got so bad that I would just almost lie to people and say, "Yeah, I bottle feed." This was half true, but there was sure a lot of preparation that went into making that bottle of milk that no one knew about. Oh well, people aren't really interested in doing what is best for their children if it takes TOO much time or effort.

I love this website because so many parents feel the same way about spending the best time that is possible with their little ones! :)

purplefungi,

It's soooo funny, I had to pumped too because I got mastitis (3 times  :( ) so acroding to the lactation specialist my breast traumatized  lol and didn't produce what my baby needed. Anyways, people are always quick at judging even though they don't know the details behind the history. So I guess as long as you are clear what you want to do, you'll be in good shape, even though it would be so much easier if people just try to understand why you are doing what you are doing.

Pumping is no fun. I got the craziest look from the lactation consultant when she asked my breastfeeding history with my first born when I was in the hospital after having my second baby. She asked me, "You pumped for how long?"

It was such an upsetting thing for me to not be able to feed Dirk (now two) the normal way. I felt like such a failure at the most basic level. Luckily, Derek (4 months) breastfeeds without any problem, and I only have to pump when I'm at school or at work.

I got the entire breastfeeding thing from everyone. My mom wanted me to feed Dirk my breast milk for as long as possible. My husband was happy with whatever I wanted to do. The people at work were totally against breastfeeding/pumping and couldn't understand why I didn't just give my baby formula like everyone else.

On the other side of things, a lot of people just assumed that I formula fed my baby. I got a nasty mom at Kindermusic who said to me, "I breastfeed my babies!" when she saw me feed Dirk in the waiting area. I never did tell her that there was breast milk in the bottle. I don't think that she would have cared. Some people are true breastfeeding purists (that's what I like to call them).

Arrggghhhh, people!!!

Even I had this experience ... If anyone sees me feeding my baby with a bottle they right away come to a conclusion that the baby is formula fed & start criticising what they don't understand is that there could be genuine problem or the milk in the bottle is breast milk.

As a mom i think i know what is best for my baby then others ... so i try not to take these criticism into heart even though it hurts ....

It's pretty sad that other people are SO concerned in a mean kind of way about what other babies are doing.

There are very real reasons why some mothers can't breastfeed and this is coming from a lactivist! It's a very personal decision that should be honored either way by other parents.

OMG! I totally understand how you feel!!! (That is why I love this website so much!  :yes: ) My mother-in-law was here for a week and I just kept pumping and all she could say was "maybe it's not ment to be" >:(  For people that wanted to breastfeed, like us, and it wasn't physical possible, it is very hard, emotionaly, but people don't understand that. They just assume, you are a bad mom  :tongue:

That was the exact kind of comment that I would get. I'm still depressed about not being to breastfeed the regular way with my son. I tried my best. Every two weeks or so I would try and see if he would "magically" learn to breastfeed. He did once at six months for about a minute (he had the most suprised look on his face) and then never again. I don't think that people underestand that you can be sensitive or have depressed feelings over a lost relationship such as the kind that that a mother and child would have with breastfeeding.

Are you still pumping? There is a great board for pumpers on pregnancy.org. They helped me a lot trying to get through the first year of pumping. ShanaRN on there is the best!
http://www.pregnancy.org/bulletinboards/forumdisplay.php?f=110

BTW, I totally think that you're awesome for trying your best! :)

Hey this is why I like this website very much ... People exactly understand what you are experiencing & under going ...

Hi all
I do not explain this to anyone other than my partner and my parents.
My mum went through the same experience when my brother was little. Mind you, what she did with him was nowhere as close as what I intend to do with my daughter, but she taught him to read, showed him a lot of art and he was on the computer at a very young age.
People do find out, though, when the kid is a bit older (at Christmas time when the 3 year old reads out loud the name written on the present) but they usually assume he/she is smart, not necessarily that Mum showed them flashcards every day :-)

It is tempting sometimes to ask people if they do stimulate their children. There is a mum at the playground whose daughter, not even 2, speaks in two languages at an amazing level. She will say things like "Here's is a little girl" or use the past tense, and her mum talks to her in a very quick and mature way. I noticed she counts to her when she jumps, that sort of things and would love to know what she does...

I accidently slipped out one day that I was doing flash cards with my daughter as I was used to being around people who understood. Big mistake...the person I was talking to got really serious and said, TIMEOUT!! even signing it for greater understanding  >:(

She said that I should be teaching my child nursery rhymes and games like 'pat a cake'. She also said that I should cut pictures out of magazines with the word on them?? I was just thinking...well...whats the different between that and my flash cards which have the word and a picture on back?

I was not given a chance to explain how much my daughter loved it, and that I was playing games with her, I can do more than one thing. I play nursery rhymes with her, read lots and lots of books with her, let her watch one educational dvd a day, for no longer than 30min, and most of all she loves it. The attention she is getting from me, and the chance to use her brain.

I will not be telling anyone again :(

Luckily my hubbie is with me...although I dont think he believes but he is giving me the benefit of the doubt :D

The problem that I have the patty cake and nursery ryhmes is that they are just as hard as anything else to learn. And why are children just limited to those things? Who said? It's all about what is culturally and socially acceptable.

Since I can't hug you to cheer you up, there is some good karma to you my friend!   ;)   I used to get depressed about it and cried here and there, my heart still aches sometimes, but there is nothing I can do about it, if there was I would have done it  :yes:  I'm a good mom (I think so) otherwise I wouldn't be doing all the early learning (which some of those people that criticize us wouldn't do because is very time consuming, even more than  pumping  lol ).
 
Thank you for sharing the website. I hope I don't need to use it with my next baby.  :nowink: I'm not pumping anymore, my breast went into a deep depression and never recover, so instead of getting better they got worse. :closedeyes:  I stopped pumping about a month and a half ago.

Keep it up my friend, we are doing the best we can and we sure love our kids a lot!  ;)

Woo-hoo Karma!!! ;)

You don't live that far from us compared some of the people on the board! :)

That's still a long time to pump. Give yourself a big pat on the back. I stopped pumping when I got pregnant with my second. I tried to continue, but I vomit pretty badly so it was impossible to maintain lactation.

There is always hope for the next little babe, like you said. In my situation, my second is breastfeeding with no problems whatsoever. This is night and day with what happened with my first.

My mother-in-law said that I hurt so much about not being able to do certain things with my oldest because I do care so much for him because if I didn't, I would not have such intense feelings.

I totally agree with the bits thing. It's very time consuming, but I think that pumping for so long was great preparation for this kind of learning method. :)

I agree with you. It's okay to sing a nursery rhyme to a baby, it's weird to sing a song which 'he cannot understand', it's okay to read books to them, not to show them individually written words, it's okay to show them books about animals, not to show them quickly on a piece of cardboard etc etc.

Its true, what is wrong with showing your child words and pictures on a flash card, when it is socially acceptable to read a book with the same words and pictures...

I don't even understand some of those nursery rhymes, and some of them are not about nice things at all like Ring Around the Rosey.

I luckily have had mostly positive responses. My parents taught my brothers and I early (not with Doman but she taught us to read). She homeschooled my brother until he was done highschool. They are very open to the idea and know how exciting it can be for children to learn. My in laws thought I was a bit strange until they saw her doing her cards and laughing away. Then when she started say what was on her card such as ASIA they were amazed. Now they tell eeryone about their Genius granddaughter.

That is really neat and encouraging! :)

I don't know how my in-laws would react, but they might be something like that. My mother-in-law is in Turkey, currently.
I haven't been brave enough to show them what I do with the boys.

Send her a video of the kids reading a book once they can and their jaws will drop.

Hee, hee!

Dirk (two) read the word, "checkers" my husband said yesterday while I was at work. He's never been taught this word. That would have been great to get on film and send it Turkey! :)

My mother and some of my relative have told me that my son is too young to learn how to read.  But that for sure will not stop me.  So far my son has learned a few sign languages and I'm going to start him with LR very soon.  :D

yes, we should keep it uP!!

It's funny, when my son was very young, my mom and her mom were talking about babies reading before they were 3. I think my grandma saw a kid on the news or something. I said, "Gabriel will read before he is 3", and my mom basically said yeah right. He has been reading almost all the YBCR words for a few months now, but I don't tell them that!

It will be our little secret! :)

So I just wonder why you hide it? I mean if you think it's wonderful and so does your child why are you afraid of what someone else thinks?

Who cares what someone else thinks. They live neither your life nor your child's.

Where will they be when your child excels in life?

I guarantee they won't be sitting back saying "well she ruined their lives by teaching them early."

They are more likely to say " child's name, learned to read before he was even two isn't that amazing!"

It's because people are mean and hypercritical. For instance, my coworkers would eat me alive at work if they new what I was doing with my children.

It's a very sad thing, especially when such great things are accomplished with the child's best interest in mind.

Yeah, people who don't do it don't understand. I went on a weekend trip with my mom when Gabriel was about 7 months old. He was just starting YBCR and had been doing LR for about a month. I brought my laptop and did all his lessons with him, plus some paper flash cards that I brought. My mom told me I should just let him play and I explained to her that he actually liked doing the lessons with me more than playing. I just got the feeling that she didn't agree with what I was doing, so I decided not to tell her anymore. I do mention some things from time to time, but she has no idea of the extent of what we do. She did get very excited when he read his name, but little does she know that he can read so much more!

Oh, and then there is the sign language. She is impressed that he can sign so much, but she once told me that I should focus on getting him to talk instead of sign. Wow, I talk to him all day long. I read to him. I show him my mouth when I form words. I make sounds and say words when I sign. There is not much more that I can do to get him to talk other than go to speech therapy.

One day it will all come out and she will be thrilled, but it will not be anytime soon. I honestly gave up trying to explain myself and justify everything a long time ago.

nhockaday,

I know how you feel. This weekend I was at a women's retreat and all the moms were talking about homeschooling and education and how we should let kids be kids and I just sat there with my mouth shout. I just kept thinkg.... just if you guys knew. Sometimes there is no point to start a discussion when people have clear ideas of their parenting. It is even worse when you are the youngest with only one child  :rolleyes:

Sorry I just reread my post and it sounded rather harsh. I didn't mean it that way at all. I can understand not wanting to share with nasty, judgemental peole I wouldn't either. 

I guess I am lucky that I haven't encountered much negativity but then I don't know anyone in town except my inlaws. lol

I am not sure what kind of reaction I would get at the La Leche league group or homeschoolers group.

Same as 'rock a bye baby' i used to sing it to my daughter out of habit to put her to sleep but i would change the ending - and down will come baby cradle and all...didnt like singing about babies falling out of trees.

Yes, I totally forgot about that one.

That one totally makes me depressed the same way that I get when I see a mother lose a baby.


I wish that I could be more open about it especially if it might help other people who could be interested. It's such a taboo thing to teach a baby or toddler about other things than the colors, shapes, alphabet, and numbers. People automatically assume that a person who would teach a baby other things than that are robbing the baby our of their playing time. Most people would probably say that this kind of early education is unnecessary.

the same thing happens to me  :)
ed

For many years, "experts" have convinced the public that it is best to teach a child to read between the ages of 5 and 7. We were told that the baby's brain is developing, so we assumed that meant the baby's brain is not developed enough to comprehend reading. I have to admit when I first saw the videos, I thought it was a trick. My toddler is 3 years old. I started using Your Baby Can Read about a week ago. He is already reading half the words. I mix the words up to make sure he is not just memorizing the order of the words from the book. I randomly show him the word cards. He is actually reading.

I have the Brillkids lite. I hope to buy Brillkids Little Reader before the month is up. I think combining Your Baby Can Read with BrillKids is wonderful idea.

That's really good! :)

I was talkin to a school teacher a while ago about teachin my baby myself, i couldn beleive how offended she got! i think people suffer from resentment, maybe they were not taught young and suffered. i was taught to read as a baby and i know how important learning is.

Why should she be offended?  If you work with your kids, then the teacher gets mad.  If you don't work with your kids, then the teachers get mad and say it is the parent's fault for not working with the kids.  They have sent parents a clear message that they cannot handle their classrooms and that if parents don't hold up their end of the bargain kids can't be educated.  Well, if the education is my job anyways, then I'm going to do it my way, and if I choose to start earlier rather than later then so be it.  They say they want a blank slate, but when they actually get blank slates who only know themselves by the nickname Lil Man and are barely potty trained, they are like "Hey, I can't work a miracle!"

Just saw this area...

I started using GD Reading with my eldest (now almost 17 years old) and had SO much fun with it. My MIL who had never ever heard of such a thing was the best help... she spent hours cutting posterboard for me so I only had to fill in the words, make the bits, etc. Saved me a lot of time!

My own mother, who had taught both my brother and I to read before kindergarten (just by reading to us nonstop) was more skeptical, which I thought was odd.

My dad was embarrassed by the whole thing. We were out with really close friends of the family (they would have been my guardians if my parents had passed away when I was a child) for dinner and Alison was rattling off words off the menu and so on (she was about 2-1/2 ish) and the wife asked, "Is she reading already?" Because of who it was I just beamed and said, "Oh, yes, she reads very well." My dad actually said, dismissively, "Well, she can read SMALL words."

I lost it... I grabbed a paper napkin and a pen and wrote "Hippopotamus"... she read it...  "Refrigerator"... she read it... (I'd have written a sentence if I thought the napkin was up to it!)... I turned to my dad and glared at him and said, "Little words, really?"

Anyway, for the most part I have learned over the years 1) I don't need to tell everyone everything and 2) if people do find out and they are negative, that is THEIR problem, not mine.

Alison is not quite 17, going into her junior year of high school at a specialty charter school for pre-veterinary students and is in all ways a bright and well-rounded girl. She is sweet, gentle, and loving and sees the inner beauty in everyone. She thinks math is FUN and her teachers adore her (she was homeschooled until high school and would have remained so if she didn't have the strong desire to become a veterinarian and had the opportunity for this specific school).

Keep up the good work, moms!

That was truly inspirational! Wow! :)

Yes, thanks for sharing.

yes,that's was nice...



I tried not to tell to much about reading activity/early education with my babies to everybody,I only share with my husband,mom,MIL and of course to brillkids forumer if my babies achieve something,whether they can read, can sign,can understand instruction or can do activity that some kid can't do it at their age.I don't want people think that I am promoting my baby.people will get annoying.unless they need some help or a guide or they are open minded,I am glad to share the method with them.

There is no need to explain any one any thing when they see a 2 year reading that is proof right there. But never tell
unless the other person is on the same page as you.
My Husband does not believe in this neither does my own mother. So once i realized that I never told tem any thing now there is proof my toddler reads about 30 words. But cannot say them very clearly but I havent told them anything. Once my toddler is reading on her own ,they will see it.
Remember seeing is believing!
Never care about others!
#1 rule

it happened to me in the beginning, i feel so excited to educated my baby when I was knew that I'm pregnant.I felt so excited to buy a book to read for my baby inside the womb and so many thing I want to do and my hubby is some kind of not understand and think that is unnecessary!!He simply claimed that baby can't understand and it was wasted.Luckily now,things had changed,I had approved that baby is love to learn and they able to read even they just are baby,My husband was impressed and now he is more helpful teaching my baby to read..
 :)

seeing is believing  :biggrin:

I usu leave this explaining part out to avoid dispute.
It is like religion, if u choose to believe in it, go for it. If u don, let it be.

Many of my friends believe in sending their children to enrichment/ baby gym classes (leaving them in the hands of professional they thought), it is probably the trend in my country. They were like, u mean u never send her to any class :blink: !!!

Well, i had witnessed a baby who had attended the most acclaimed baby gym in town but not motivated to even crawl an inch to reach her own toy; a 3-4 year old toddler who tears up a book because he doesnt know it is meant to be read.

Luckily, my parents who taught me to read & write early (with just a simple chalk board then) had given me the motivation to go on with the early learning with my little girl at home. She had a larger list of speaking and reading vocab than any of the kids who had attended classes. We go the neighbourhood playground and she had no problem interacting with the older kids.

Thank you for all the inspiring stories here! Will keep up with what i am trying to do now! Let's read, baby  :blush: