I am about to start showing flashcards to my 3.5 months old daughter. I am starting with just a few, and will slowly increase it... Just curious, what were the first words you started showing your child?

I am definetly starting with Daddy, Mama, Potty ( since it is her favourite thing after daddy and mommy ) and ... frog ( her favorite toy)...

Any thoughts?

Thank you Maddy, this is encouraging. I think someone mentioned also that in GD book, he tells also that it is not hard and fast rule to follow, just doing it to the best of your ability.

Just curious, when you only was able to do one session of Math Dots in a day, would you still try to do another one or two that you have not done, the next day. Or do you proceed to the next set arrangement ( retire two cards, add two cards) the next day?

What is the link to ASL? Thank you for your reply, it is very interesting.

I wanted to start a thread on the benefits of teaching your baby to sign.  I am not familiar with concept and its benefits.  I would however, like to know more about it.

I looked at the videos and talked with few parents who taught their babies to sign. I am still deciding whether or not it will be beneficial for us personally. So would love to hear other’s opinions as well!

Here are the benefits that I could think of personally:

1)   She would be able to communicate her needs clearer before she is able to speak well enough.
(For example, my daughter uses potty from birth, and she is very clear in communicating her need to do it already; but at the same time, she is getting frustrated sometimes when I do not understand her in some other ways, like when she is hot, and I think that she is tired, etc. If she would know the sign for hot, we can avoid the misunderstanding Of course we figuring it out, but it will be faster…)

2)   It would give her a good start in learning sign language. So in case she will need to use it in the future she will have easier way to do so. (Since some of my colleagues are involved in Deaf Ministry Programs, it might be something that she would benefit from in the future would she choose to be involved in something like that)

3)   Its fun additional activity, - she is eager to learn new things, so a good fun activity can be only a plus

So there are the reasons I could think of for us personally. But I am still deciding on whether or not to actually do the sign learning. So it will be great to hear from others.

Thank you for bringing it up! K to you!

From what I understand, there is no problem if I have to take a break in showing the cards for a day or two. I just continue from where we left off. Is that correct? Or would that make it difficult for the child? Is consistency a secret of the method, or as long as we progressing, we are doing good?

It is not that I am planning to be inconsistent, but because of my husbands and mine work, we travel and are out a lot. We are trying to be faithful with her learning, but for example last couple of days we had to skip the Math Dots sessions because we travelled and did not have computer with us...

Anyone has comments on that?

I started my daughter on GD Math 2 weeks ago, when she was just over 3 months, -- she loves it! Thanks to TrinityPapa, who gave some good advice and guidance, and all other posts that I read through! We are on course with that one, using LM.

Of course we also do all kind of activities with her throughout the day, -- books, pictures, colors, explaining everything she sees ( I am baby wearing her a lot, so it gives me an opportunity to include her in different activities and explain them to her, -- she is really alert and loves that. For example, today my husband was baby wearing her, while setting up his studio photography equipment. She was fascinated by flashes, so he start explaining to her how they work and showing her, she looked and listened carefully following him for about 15 minutes! Our guests thought he was crazy doing it with 3.5 months old, but she was genuinely interested.)

I am planning to introduce words flashcards to her, as well as LR presentations, -- English, Russian, Chinese

YBCR

We just got a gift of 3 Baby Signing Time videos, so I am contemplating about those

We play some classical music pieces to her ( she loved those from the time before birth, so we continuing)

Would anyone who started at about the same age ( 3-3.5 months) with Math and Reading, have any suggestion on progression of introducing new subjects or methods of learning to her. Like,

1)   Since I already doing LM, should I wait for a few weeks before starting YBCR or flashcards, or LR/PPP?

2)   Would introducing YBCR and Baby Signing time at around the same time be a bit confusing, since both are video programs with learning words, -- one – for written word, and another for signing. She does not watch any other TV/Videos… Would it be better to start them with a little break in between?

There were some good thoughts on the thread about “Reading or Math, what comes first”, but my question is in regards to all these other programs as well, not just reading... She is very eager to learn, and is asking for it. So I would not want to hold back. But would appreciate, if anyone has some good advice from personal experience.

Some audio stories in Russian! Most of them are from old Audio Recordings, which we heard as children. Some of them have great values and fun arrangements. I though of using some of them as a way to let my daughter to hear russian, as she learns, since she does not have any russian speakers aside from me where we are...


http://audio.arjlover.net/audio/

Here is the site with some great presentations, flashcards, scanned russian childrwn stories in POwer POint and Enciclopedic knowledge files. Some are REALLY  good quality, some others are mediocre, so you do need to check. But I found a few really useful ones.

http://viki.rdf.ru/

Share, if you have other resources!

So, here are the first batch of presets that I put together for GD math dots. I followed the advice that I got here, and suggestions from GD. Presets are done with 2 sets of cards ( 5 each), retiring two cards a day, and adding two cards a day. Doing first session of the day in numerical order and consequent 2 sessions in random order. Hope it will make it easier for others to have these presets. And I will continue posting materials that we will be using as we go.

http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?cat=218

This is the link to the presets, ready to use! Day 1 - Day 11.

Just posted pre-sets that I created for my daughter, according to GD classic schedule. Thank you to TrinityPapa, who helped me to figure it all out.

Hope these presets will be helpful to others! And I am planning to keep on posting the following pre-sets as we progress.


http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?cat=218

Great, Thank you so much, appreciate it!

Thank you, Nikki, thats really helpful. I probably will be starting with the YBCR words and then adding new ones, etc.

Thank you for the tips about fonts, it makes sense, and I have not though about that, before you mentioned it!

I still waiting for the programmers to troubleshoot my problem with the LR, right now it is not starting, but once it is up and running I probably will have the words in the LR as well. Do you know if there are presents for YBCR words for Little Reader already? If not, once it is up and running I will go ahead and make those. Looking forward to that.

Would I show flashcards exclusively with the words shown on the video, or I can introduce other flashcards/words as well, like for instance, -- flashcards with the words from LR presentations that I will be showing?

In that case, I probably would not be mixing those flashcards. Or from your experience, does that matter?

Any tips?

Also, from what I understood, I can just write words by hand, is that right?

PS. Also, do I start making cards with the words that she viewed right away? And start showing them to you throughout the day? Any other tips? (Since I only got some DVDs, I do not have the whole program and hence not sure exactly what other things I am to do with her to reinforce the words and experience..)

Thank you!

We were given a gift of YBCR ( some of the DVDs), and my baby is 3.5 months. I was planning to start with the Starter DVD in combination with LR ( when my LR problem gets resolved, it does not start right now   ) I looked at it, and not s sure I want her to see the whole DVD in one take... I would rather have the sessions short. It is suggested to show it 2 times a day... I am thinking of just showing a small part of it, and then repeating that part in the evening, or small part ( like a few minutes) and then continuing with equal amount in the next session... Does anyone had experience with that? Suggestions?

Appreciate it!