Sparkabilities is doing a video contest to win an iPad.  (I actually did my own review on Sparkabilities a while back that you can read here:http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/2012/08/sparkabilities.html)  My son, Xander, is one of the finalists.  I would absolutely love an iPad for the educational apps, especially since I am a single parent and a grad student, so will not be able to purchase one until I graduate.  However, we are pretty solidly in second place.  If you have a minute to spare, could you please vote for him.  Each view is considered a vote, repeat voting is allowed, and the voting goes until the end of November.  Thank you so much!

 Here is the link (although I don't know if it counts views on a forum rather than on YouTube, the forum wouldn't let me just put in the link).   http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=vbnUioKodSU

Thank you!
Kaysha

P.S. - I do not know if any of the other parents of finalists are on this forum.  I am sorry if they are, I am not trying to be unfair.

Thank you so much for the tips!  I honestly do not think he is ready for Mandalas, although I will do them later.  I just started introducing the grid style memory game and I don't think he quite knows what I am asking of him yet.  Hopefully in a few more sessions!  I am really intrigued by that iPad game.  I don't own one yet, but may ask for more specifics when I get one (someday). 

I am so impressed with what all Tiger can do!  I definitely couldn't ask about the number of items on something I flashed him!  Even though we have done Doman dot cards and LM, he just doesn't get the concept of matching numbers or counting.

I also love the lego block ideas!  I will have to do that when he understands patterns!

I will definitely look into Brain Boxes!

Thanks so much again!

I don't know.  Mazes may be a little hard to copyright since they are all so similar.  I honestly do not know all the specifics of the laws.  It probably wouldn't be too bad to make the very basic ones yourself with a bunch of lines through Publisher or a similar program. 

Thank you so much for sharing!  Is there a place on the forum that has all of these kinds of resources in one spot?

Those look like a good resource.  I am interested to hear what your son thinks of them when you get them.  Have you tried talking to a local teacher to see if they can get them?  I know a lot of things from Scholastic are much much cheaper if you go through a school book order.

I love 1+1+1=1 and Confessions of a Homeschooler, but don't like how many cartoons they use in their printables, so I make a lot of my own. Because I post most of them to my blog, I am careful to either purchase the images (123rf.com) or get them from copyright free sites (clker.com, wikimedia.org, photoshop.com).  I use a combination of programs to make them.  Sometimes I edit in Paint.NET (FREE) and sometimes in Adobe Photoshop.  I tend to put the materials together with Microsoft Publisher, which then lets you save as a PDF or an image also.  I don't do anything for them in MS Word.  I hope this is helpful to you.

I don't know if any of the materials I have would help you, but I kind of have them broken into four categories.

Colors http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/p/colors.html
Shapes http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/p/shapes.html
Alphabet http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/p/abcs.html
Other http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/p/printables.html

I completely understand!  I am a single mother and a grad student.  I attend a University that is an hour away, so spend a lot of time commuting.  I constantly feel like there is so much more I could be doing with Xander, but then I look at him and how happy and smart he is and know he will be ok.  I have been learning that a little bit goes a long way.  He watches LM during breakfast, while I prepare our lunchboxes (I tend to eat at the counter while I make them). We try to do LR at least once a day, but he LOVES to have me flash through the words of other categories so it can become quite time consuming.  We read books during snack or bath time.  I also try to stay ahead when prepping his materials.  I set up activity trays on the weekend and our goal is to do each of our activity trays every day, which takes 30-45 min if we stay on track.  If it is a busy day, we skip the trays.  A lot of weeks it doesn't happen the way I would like, but some is still better than nothing.  No matter how much I do, I would always feel like I could do more, so I try to make peace with the amount we can get done.  Besides, the whole point of early education is that you have fun doing it.  If it becomes rushed and stressful, it isn't serving its purpose anyway. 

I want to start introducing photographic memory games for my son.  Babylicious has some printables here http://figur8.net/baby/2010/08/08/right-brain-activities-for-home-practice-part-6-memory-grid/ and I made some similar grids with Super Why characters because I thought those might be more engaging for him (I will share on my blog within a week or two).  I also like the idea of eventually creating complex scenes rather than just backgrounds.  Does anyone know of places to get more free resources for photographic memory development?  What kinds of games do you play with your little ones?

I wrote a little bit about our experiences with Sparkabilities, if anyone else is interested.  http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/2012/08/sparkabilities.html

Kaysha

Sorry if this has been answered, I searched and couldn't find it.  I am making new categories for my son on LR.  I was wondering if there is a way to add existing word files to new categories.  For example, I am making a Space category for him now.  I know that Semester 1 Nature has "moon."  It would be great if I could add that to the category I am building now.  However, when I search, I can't find the pictures that go with it, only the sounds.

Thanks!

I keep running across the importance of linking memory activities to right brain training.  I don't do as much right brain as I would like and was wanting some more advice on linking memory techniques.  My son is only 18 months and couldn't tell me the words I am trying to get him to remember.  When did you start linking memory activities and how?

Thanks!

Thank you for the great ideas!  We have used Starfall, which he likes.  I also have Letter Factory, but he wants nothing to do with it.  Some of those You Tube videos will be perfect.  I also like this cute one from Sparkabilities
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/8-TNvMN_wtk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/8-TNvMN_wtk&rel=1</a>

  I am slowly accumulating alphabet things like those Leap Frog magnets and cloth letters, but I am having trouble finding enough sets that have both upper and lower case.  I think I will be ordering these stamps(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GKU1OO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=memorthemomen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000GKU1OO) because they have both sets.  I will probably make my own sand paper letters too.  I just don't feel like there is enough right brain alphabet training in this mix.

My son is 18.5 months and so far we have been doing LR, YBCR, YCCR, flashcards, and tons of book reading.  I pretty much focused on the whole language approach.  We have also been doing Tot School activities for a while, which he absolutely loves.  Anyway, I am thinking of introducing the alphabet this fall.  I plan to do themed units kind of like we did for shapes (http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/p/shapes.html).  However, I am also thinking about flashing the letters, probably both upper case and lower case at the same time.  I am curious how everyone else handled the alphabet.

Thanks!
Kaysha

I can't believe how few people have responded!  I was hoping to start following a ton of BrillKids parents.  Oh well.

Mine is at http://pinterest.com/kballent/

I think it is interesting how this post ended up being an iPad debate, but I am going to add my 2 cents anyway.  While I do not have an iPad, I would absolutely love one.  They are so versatile and can teach so many different skills, if used correctly.  I think, like with everything else, parent monitoring is crucial for it.  However, as someone else mentioned, the educational apps for the iPads bring early learning to children who's parents may not have done much for them otherwise.  I am working on a masters in education and we end up talking about how best to utilize technology constantly.  It is a part of our kids world and will be for the rest of their lives.

Back to toys, we absolutely love the stacking blocks (Melissa and Doug carry some, as well as many other brands).  We play with other types of blocks as well.  I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, be we get a ton of mileage out of small manipulatives, like counting bears and porcupine balls.  Form sorting and counting to fine motor practice (or just plain scattering across the room), the possibilities are endless.  We play with a lot of wooden puzzles, and of course, books are the winner in our house, hands down.