Hello from the USA! My story, EL plan and book list shared below. :oD

[Evelyn2108]

 Hello Everyone,

Oh my goodness, this site is the most wonderful place.  I found it about two months ago thanks to DadDude's manifesto on teaching his baby to read.  Here goes, my BK story and my plan for teaching my boy.

My boy just turned 9mo.  Our early learning adventure started at 4months.  I decided there was no way to go back to my very fast paced job, I would stay full time at home with my boy (for now).  Around that same time I realized that my boy was cranky... then it occurred to me "I think he is bored?!".  So I started researching how to play with my son and ended up on some occupational therapy websites.  Eventually I stumbled across DadDude's "Teach your Toddler to Read" book on Amazon.  I'm so glad he published it there, because I doubt I ever would found it otherwise.  Immediately following reading that article I ordered the full YBCR kit, and bookmarked the BrillKids website.

About two months ago (my son was ~7 months at this point) I finally got back to the BK website and started surfing around. I noticed there was a forum for math and thought to myself "whaaaaaat, math too?".   .   Needless to say I've now read through a huge chunk of the brillkids website and the quality of the discussions, the passion parents have for teaching their kids, it's totally inspiring.  

I'm putting together an early learning plan for my boy, but it's so hard to decide with so many options out there!  My son is loving everything - so far, so good!

Here is my plan so far!  
YBCR - started when my boy was ~7months, doing 1/2 a dvd per day instead of the recommended 2x per day.
LM - started when my boy was ~8months, doing the recommended daily plan.  He LOVES it.  He flaps his little arms whenever I turn it on, so cute!  
LR - started today!  So far loves it.  
LMu - I did a trial a while back, but didn't order it because my son didn't like classical music excerpts and wasn't very engaged in the clapping.  Now I'm thinking I'll add it as he did really like the solfege bits, and skip the other parts.  We can always repeat the program when he's older, I'm sure the clapping will get very exciting for him in a few months time.
German - this is my husbands native language.  We've decided to do OPOL - one parent, one language.  I have no formal materials other then my husband talking to my boy.  Have heard good things about LIttle Pim, but am concerned about introducing too many left brain activities at this stage.  Will be looking through the items users posted here on BK for german language.  So sad that LR isn't available in German.
Mandarin - going to add this in the very near future vis a vis LR.  Also, there is a mandarin immersion school 2 blocks from my home, so thinking about hiring a native speaking teenager to come by for an hour before school and play with my son a few days a week.  That would be so awesome!  And I could do yoga in the next room!!!  Win for both.  
Tweedlewink - would like to add this as well.  Please see my post in the secondhand forum.  I'm trying to get my hands on a secondhand copy, so if you are reading this and you have one, please PM me!  I'd like to buy it stat.  I've read that a lot of kids don't like TW, so would like to start sooner then later and also would like to get secondhand so if it doesn't work out, it doesn't hurt my pocketbook too bad.  My other option would be just to buy the first dvd solo on the TW website...

And that's the plan for now!  Sounds like a lot, but will be continually adjusting to my son's preferences.  I wanted to add signing time/baby signing time as well, but the videos are so long, I just don't think its a priority.  

I've read a few books, prior to finding out about EL I read:
Nobody Ever Told Me or My Mother That - Everything from Bottles and Breathing to Healthy Speech Development - by Diane Bahr:  It's an incredibly detailed narrative of all the changes your baby goes through in their first five or so years of life in order to learn how to eat, breathe, etc...  Tons of detailed exercises on how to facilitate each step.  It wouldn't be at the top of my list as a regular EL parent, but you have a child with DS, or if your child is having difficulties in any of these areas, would totally recommend it.  

Young at Art - by Susan Striker.  This woman is hilarious.  He basically says that letting your child color in a picture of Santa Clause is a kin to killing his creativity for life.  She is so harsh!  But I really enjoyed this book.  I've noticed some threads on BK about teaching your child the arts, but haven't researched it yet.  Will read some more on this topic that put this book in the broader perspective.


Post Finding out about EL I've read:
Doman:  How to teach your baby to read, how to teach your baby math, and the one on raising a physically superior child.  Two months ago, I didn't like flashcards, but now I realize two things 1) my boy likes them, 2) despite all the warnings against it, at the beginning I definitely went too slow and repeated too much.  I liked his physical ideas, but there's no way we can fit a brachiation ladder in my apartment.  Also, since I didn't start with this exercise when my son was a small baby, I'm not sure how to adapt it to get him started.  I am teaching my boy to swim (this was always in the plan, even pre EL) but am just doing regular swim classes.  

Native Reading - Robert Titzer:  got some good ideas about how to incorporate word games into everyday play.  Nothing earth shattering here, but some fun ideas.  

The Nurture Assumption - by Judith Rich Harris:  Really raised my awareness at how much influence peers have.  Important considerations for raising an EL child who might not as easily fit in with his peers.  The thesis is to be taken with a grain of salt (here at BK we all know how much influence parents DO have).  

That's it!  So many things on my reading list, when will I find the time?  I'll post my planned reading list below, if anyone has any comments or anything to add, please let me know.

This post is well long enough.  Looking forward to being an active member of this forum, learning more from you all and sharing my son's progress along the way.  

Evelyn

Reading list:
Montessori (actual books TBD, I'm looking for best "games" and toys to play with my son
Talking from Infancy - by William Fowler:  Soooo expensive as it's out of print, but so intriguing!  Need to find out from PokerDad if its still worth my time given my sons age.
Growing up with Three Languages: Xiao Lei Wang
Hold on to your kids - by Gordon Neufeld:  Looks like the antithesis to nurture assumption

The dumbest generation - Mark Bauerlein

Go Diaper Free - Andrea Olsen (but I think it's too late for EC by now, and maybe better things to focus on.  It kills me now though every time I see my little guy pooping his diaper, maybe I can just do EC when he is obviously about to poop?  Arrrrggghh, another thing I need to read up on, no time!!!)

Ok, very long post.  Ending now.  

[MarthaT]

Welcome!

[PokerDad]

First, welcome!

Second, great post!

Thank you for the book list. Hold on to your kids looks interesting, I will probably read it! Seems like my kind of book.

Is Native Reading the book by Timothy D. Kailing? I had never heard of it, but just looked it up by title and that's the one I found. Robert Titzer is the creator of YBCR and has done more for getting EL out there than anyone.

The Dumbest Generation is an excellent book! It's very well written all the way around. He doesn't come out and say flatly that technology CAN'T lead to a higher quality education, only that so far it hasn't and actually seems to harm education. Even though I use technology A LOT in the Poker family (computers, videos, tablet, etc), I do not disagree with the author at all.

For baby signing time, I'm in the minority around here. I think the program is great, the videos are well done, are educational in many respects (beyond just some signs), and the songs are catchy. We still sing "it's time to eat, eat, what a treat" and Cub is now 2.5 years old! With that said, I didn't emphasize the videos and only played them sporadically. I focused on acquiring oral language vs signing language. No, the two are not mutually exclusive, but with language, the more complicated you make it, the more it will slow you down some (at least in the SHORT TERM). If I wanted my child to have ASL as a second language going into adulthood, I would have emphasized it. Pretty much every other EL parent around here will disagree with me and advocate baby signing ardently, and will disagree with me about it somehow slowing down language acquisition. I don't think it matters much and parents should do what feels good to them. The bottom line is at 9 months old, why start then? Your child is ready to start acquiring words voraciously!

For EC, start wherever you are! Certainly you can catch the poops if your child gives you enough sign.

As for Nurture Assumption and "The thesis is to be taken with a grain of salt," I get where you're coming from with that. I think you're correct. For those that haven't read the book nor followed the thread I made about the book, the major thesis can be summed up as "Parents basically don't matter."  At least, that's how people viewed it, and summarily dismissed it. No one wants to hear that they do not matter. But the thesis is more nuanced than that. At the core of the thesis is that we, as people, are influenced by others around us. I personally think that is a biological mechanism that stays with us our entire lives. The social setting around us will ultimately determine the values and mores that we adopt as people. That's a fairly massive determinant in who we become! Children in our society are systematically removed from the adult world that their parents occupy and are put into a special homogeneous environment called SCHOOL (and then of course the other areas where this group clusters). I don't mean to put it all on school. I think these forces apply in the adult world as well, it's just in the adult world, deviance is more tolerated and the influence isn't nearly as strong. For a child, their peer group IS THEIR ENTIRE LIFE.

I recently saw a talk by sociologist author Charles Murray where someone in the audience asked him of his opinion of Nurture Assumption. Charles had to admit, sadly, that he could not dispute a single thing in the book but that he'd like to believe, as a parent, that somehow parents matter.

If you homogenize (I call the social blender) and do what everyone else does, you will likely get a product that is like what everyone gets. Society homogenizes. That's not to say diversity doesn't exist, only that society acts as a force to blend people and reduce diversity.

EL is so outside the norm that one can hardly say an EL parent "doesn't matter" 

[Evelyn2108]

Thanks for the welcome!

RE Native Reading:  Whoops, yep, meant Timothy Kailing.  DadDude references him a few times in his "Baby Reading" paper.  The book doesn't have a ton of new information for someone well read on the topic, but what I liked is that he gives some ideas for games to play, he also talks about early signs of reading.  Games were helpful for me, as I am not so creative.     Toys he recommends to incorporate words as games into everyday life are:  foam bath letters, alphabet blocks, wooden letter trains from Vermont, magnetic words with the picture of the word.  He recommends that you spell the childs favorite words and name, play hide and seek with letters, have your child make up nonsense words and try to pronounce them (fun and they learn phonics), using music and song, etc...  His biggest emphasis is on pointing to words while reading. 

RE Signing Time: Agreed, I think at this point I'd rather use screen time for other things.  I'm also little concerned that if he gets hooked on signing time other things like LM and YBCR will seem too boring by comparison.  I would much rather watch that darling "eat, eat, what a treat" song then YBCR any day, so I can only imagine how my son would feel. 

Re NurtureAssumption:  That's a great summary of the book, and really captures the thesis, thanks!  It will probably stick with me better now.  Regarding your comment "In the adult world, deviance is more tolerated", not so sure about that.  The whole time reading that book I kept thinking of these mommy groups I've joined and how the same forces are at play.  I'm just as susceptible as anyone.  In fact, part of BrillKids is to share ideas, but also part of it is to give identity.  LOL, even your comment above re Signing Time the forces are at play.  Yes they are stronger for children, but my sense is that they don't weaken for adults as much as we think they do. 


 

[Korrale4kq]

Welcome Evelyn!

For Montessori I can't recommend this book enough. There is a digital  format and a hard copy. The digitalis is nice because it has all the links. The hard copy I like because I can sit and peruse it for ideas. I think when I bought it it was able to get both copies in a deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Help-Preschooler-Build-Better-Brain/dp/0615455530/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421093595&sr=8-3&keywords=John+bowman+Montessori

This is the website for the book.
http://www.montessoriathomebook.com/Home.html/

[lois1]

Hi Evelyn, lots of us just happened upon this site & are so glad we did! EL is a fabulous key to a bright future. Have fun!
Lois

[Evelyn2108]

Thanks for the welcome Lois and Korrale4kq.

Korrale4kq, thanks so much for the montessori recommendation.  I'm guessing the physical book would be more helpful?  Looks like there's lots of images.    People reviewed it as quick with easy household items. My kind of book! 

[Kerileanne99]

Sounds as though you have a pretty well-rounded list to work from:) and I say that as someone who used virtually everything on it with my own LO, who is now FIVE...and am busily pulling together materials for the birth of our son in April. It is going to be so much fun, and so interesting to see how the same materials work for a second child. The scientist in me begs for replication.

A couple of things:
ASL via Baby Signing Time and Signing Time...how much time you devote to it, I think, largely depends upon what you plan to do with it in the future. There have been some other benefits, which I will attempt to lay out.
We did ASL with Alex from infancy, so there is a bit of a difference between that and starting it at 9 months. We still use it, and have every intention of continuing as an additional language/skill. One of the most beautiful benefits was that we were able to 'see inside Alex's mind' because she could sign sentences long before she could speak. This, for us, also meant that she could tell us what she read before she could speak the words!
We also use ASL as a kinesthetic bridge between languages for purpose of vocabulary. So she will sign the word and then use the word in whatever language. It really seems to help.
Some of the benefits seem to be in terms of fine motor control. She was a very early writer and still has really great penmanship in both print and cursive. The neuropsych team who did her evaluations believes that the physical act of signing, especially precise finger-spelling, was a large contributing factor. At one point I read a study about fine motor skills and origami--if you want to improve penmanship and strengthen little hands, origami works wonders. It is possible that ASL did the same thing:)
Spelling-Alex (who turned 5 in December), is quite a great little speller and hopes to compete in high-level spelling bees. She has been through 6/7 levels of the AAS program, which takes to to post HS spelling levels. When she spells orally, she tends to finger spell against her leg. She says she 'sees' the word this way. In reading through spelling bee materials it turns out that this, or similar physical helps is employed routinely at the higher competitive levels!
All that being said, I would not say we devoted a significant portion of time to it. She did watch the videos (they have the printed word on the screen so double as reading practice), and we just incorporated the signs into our day and when I read to her. I never really included them into our regular EL lineup.  If you aren't interested in taking it much further, it may well be time better spent on other EL activities:)

The other thing that jumps out at me: math.
When Alex was tiny, I went through a huge realization. When you look at how much time is devoted to things like literacy (even though it was hands down the best gift we gave her!) and how much time is comparatively spent on math, it is no wonder at all that it becomes almost an after thought in many circles. I became a bit fanatic about introducing Alex to it...it helped that she seemed to LOVE numbers and beg for more, but there is so much you can do. Even at 9 months. I highly recommend that you start with the very practical book 'Marshmallow Math' to see fun ways to begin incorporating into your lifestyle. Our math work has paid off huge dividends. I have a child who loves math. She currently goes to a Montessori preschool 3 mornings per week, primarily because I needed a rest during this difficult pregnancy. Next year for Kindy she will have to be completely homeschooled...but on Weds she goes to the 4th-6th grade classroom to work with their math specialist!

I also second Korrale's mention of the Montessori materials for the very young, and the book she referenced was very helpful in teaching ME to incorporate fun hands-on EL into day-to-day.

If there was one other book I would recommend you read as part of your EL program, it would be Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck. It is phenomenal, and may just give you a life-altering perspective on how to approach EL, parenting, and your own outlook.

[PokerDad]

I concur with Kerileanne99. Great post 

[Evelyn2108]

Korrale4kq:

Thanks so much for the Montessori book recommendation.  I ended up getting the digital format (horray for instant gratification) and am happy with it.  I can see how having both would be nice though, it would make a good coffee table book.  Am really pleased with this book.  I've looked at a bunch of Montessori books in recent weeks, and am glad that I didn't buy any of them.  This one is very well laid out, covers a broad range of topics and has lots of easy ideas.  I like all blindfold activities for the senses, and simple things like the spice matching.  I also appreciate that the books discusses some of the pricier Montessori materials (ie rods, steps, etc...), so you have an idea of where to start investing if you want to go down that path. 

Montessori is so interesting.  It's very mainstream, and I've certainly heard a lot about it in passing from parents in the past.  I wonder to what extent the philosophies and principles are applied at the various preschools.  I'm tempted to do some preschool tours to snuff it out (and also get ideas).    .  Some of the things I've been looking at online are videos of 9month old babies sitting at little tables feeding themselves and drinking out of an open glass.  I was pretty proud of my boys table manners until I saw that!  Anyways, just thought I'd share some things that have been top of mind.  Thanks again for the book recommendation. 

[Evelyn2108]

Kerileanne99,

Agreed, wonderful post! 

On the topic of math, YES, it is so super important.  After reading the whole Moshe Kai thread, my eyes were opened to the possibilities.  Of course, there wasn't much discussion on that thread in particular regarding EL math, but there's lots of other information on this site.  I did buy a copy of marshmallow math.  I think my biggest challenge in this department is having the patience to teach counting.  It's slow going and the results aren't as exciting.  But it is so incredibly important, I don't want my boy to struggle through math like I did.  Math is fun! 

Do you have any favorite ideas for teaching a nine month old?  Pokerdad recommended Starfall numbers, and my little guy really enjoys that app.  I like LM, and parents I respect said they feel their kids got good "number sense" perhaps due to using it. However, something else is needed to really reinforce those basic of counting to ten and 1-1 correspondence.  Right now I've just been doing counting as part of our play, and we have a few counting books (ie beginner bugs book by David a carter). I need to start doing some simple counting with matching objects though (as is recommended in marshmallow math and the Montessori book mentioned above).

BTW, CONGRATULATIONS on Alex's achievements in math.  That is incredibly WONDERFULL!!! 

On the subject of signing, I am frustrated that we missed out on introducing this topic "fully" earlier.  Before knowing about EL, signing was always in the plan (it's faaaairly mainstream).  However, instead of introducing Signing Time,  I did signs myself as part of our day.  I also had a cd with some songs that I memorized so I could sing songs with the signs.  Unfortunately, signing alone without an association with the object didn't help much.  At that time I didn't want to show any video due to the AAP recommendation of no TV before two.  Bah hum bug.  So my boy knows milk and more and not much else.  It would have been so wonderful to have had him signing in full sentences like your daughter, and that is very interesting about the fine motor skills development.  I have about thirty signs in my repertoire, so am going to continue using those because it's habit at this point.  I like the point you make of using signs as a bridge across languages, so it might be useful for that.   

Thank you, I'll put mindset on my reading list.  I feel that in my life I've gotten very far not by being the smartest or the best at any particular subject, but simply because I had drive.  I've been wondering how to instill a sense of drive into my boy, and if it's even possible... It looks like this book is right up my alley.      

[nadja2112]

Hi, Evelyn --

Thank you for the thoughtful post, and welcome! (I'm new here, too, also from the USA, and just like you I have quit my job to stay home with my son!)

Thanks to this thread, I have just added "Young at Art" (thanks, Evelyn) and "Help Your Preschooler Build a Better Brain" (thanks, Korrale4kq) to my reading list. Oh, and have you been able to figure out if the Fowler program makes sense for an older baby/toddler? My son is 15 months old, and I'm trying to figure out how I could help him with his articulation.

I've had very similar experience to what you're describing with regards to ASL! I was inspired after watching "Sign with Your Baby", but didn't want to show my boy any videos due to the no screen time recommendation. Ugh. So I signed to him myself, but he doesn't seem to have picked up much of it. (Not that I was very consistent.) I know it's a little late in the game, but I think I will now try showing him "Signing Time" to at least see if he likes it.

As to EC, I think it makes perfect sense for you to just go for it! And Andrea's book makes it so easy to get started. It will literally take you 15-30 minutes to scan it and look at some videos on Andrea's website to feel more confident about taking the first steps. My own story is that I was into the idea of EC until the hospital gave us Pampers samples. I could not believe how convenient these things were. And that yellow line that turns blue when the nappy is wet? Pure genius! However, as it turned out, my little one let us know pretty clearly and pretty early on that he didn't think diapers were all that cool. He was so visibly stressed whenever he needed to go in the diaper that I decided to try ECing after all. We started when he was about 2 months and never looked back!

It's so exciting that you and your husband are planning on teaching your little one German and Mandarin! My husband was born in Taiwan, so he is fluent in Chinese. However, since he was raised mostly in California, he prefers speaking English at home. Darn! He does sometimes switch to Mandarin, but I'd like to make my son's exposure to the language more consistent, so I have just bought LR Chinese. It's downloading as I'm writing this post. (This is going to be so much fun I just can't wait!) Anyway, have you thought of making German lessons for your son in LR?

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of your posts in the future!

[Evelyn2108]

Hi Olenka,

Thanks for the encouragement for EC!  It's nice to hear from a parent that has had success.  I still haven't read the book (naughty, naughty, it's just so many other interesting things seem to have caught my attention), but every time I change a dirty nappy I remind myself to step it up in this section!   

I would absolutely still recommend Fowler for your son, right up until they are quite conversational it could be useful.  My boy is recently (lasts two weeks) having quite the word explosion (ok, maybe ten words so far, , but that's a lot from zero!).  I can say for sure fowler is influencing it, because if I repeat a word say ten times while we are playing he will start to try to say it.  The fowler videos are the most helpful IMO. 

Funny about your husband not speaking mandarin.  My husband felt the exact same way about German!  We should really grab a coffee sometime.      He really wasn't interested in teaching our son German at all, I think he felt it wouldn't be very useful.  Anyways, once I started teaching our son Mandarin he all of sudden jumped on board with the German.  Now it's kind of like a joke between us, who will teach him better Me&Mandarin or Him&German.  If I win it will be funny since I don't speak a lick of Mandarin.  No excuses.   

I have thought about translating LR into German and having my husband narrate.  Right now it's not the highest priority, but we will definitely start it before he is two years old.  My thinking is that he will learn the English phonics, and then German reading will be very easy.  He will just have to learn one or two rules for pronunciation and be good to go.  I studied German for a few years in university, so I have an idea of how he might progress here. Most important is that he is hearing lots of German from his father (well, Swiss German, but that's another story).

We should try to get a few parents with similar aged children together and start a new thread. It would be fun to see yours and others updates on what they are doing, what's working, etc...

Thanks for the note!   

BTW, the "Help your preschooler build a better brain" is FANTASTIC.  Assembling materials for activities is what I'm spending most of my time on right now. 

[nadja2112]

Hi, Evelyn --

Ooh, you got me really excited about doing Fowler with my son, given you've had such fantastic results! And I'll follow your recommendation to look at the videos first. Can't wait to get started on that!

Haha, that's really funny about your husband getting convinced about German after you started with Mandarin. I'll be very curious to follow how your and your baby's Chinese are going, since I'm also starting practically from scratch. I'm sure we'll be able to exchange recommendations for resources. So keep us posted on what and how you're doing. We've been through the first LR Mandarin session, but before we do more, I'm going to have to study the pinyin guide to the course, because without pinyin I'm not able to repeat the words correctly. I'm also hoping I'll be able to get my husband to do the lessons in my place, but we'll see how that goes.

You know, our stories definitely are very similar. I also studied some German in college, and I always loved the language. So it's hard for me to imagine your husband would ever think it's not worth teaching it to your son! We have some friends who live in Basel, so I understand about the Swiss German difference, too. =)

And I'm definitely up for a thread for parents with kids our age!

Alright, so "Help Your Preschooler" is the immediate next on my reading list. I need ideas for activities other than, um, DVDs and board books.

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