how do i help her to fail? i don't . i just let her fail.
she is 25 months old now, she still spills when she drinks from a cup , let her spill, wet her shirt and change it. reminded her to be careful and she will spill less, the next time and even lesser the next time.
she drop remote control on the floor, cover open and all. let her put it back on her own.
when she can't do something like open a drawer, she will turn to me and say 'mummy help please'.
i never say that she is clever but my mother in law always say 'clever girl' which is not a good idea.
the book 'nurtured shock' is good.
hmm.. not compare her with anyone. if there is no comparison, she wont know whether she is good or not, so maybe that will help  a little bit?

simplified chinese is easier to learn and should be more useful than traditional (more strokes in one character).
simplified chinese is used in China , whereas traditional is used in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
so, if you look from geographical, and economic (Chinese booming market) point of view, simplified chinese would be more useful, provided that where you are from is indifferent to both.

we just went for interview last saturday, to get into K1 at 3 yo next year. my daughter is now 25months old, she was asked to name pictures, of apple, cars, aeroplane, point at nose, mouth, eyes, tap feet and point at daddy, mummy.
stack blocks high up.
we dont know the results yet but will be going to a few more interviews.
at peru,  what happens if you dont pass the interview? kindergartens are not compulsory in HK , but primary schools are. so, even if she didnt get into any kindergarten, she will get into  primary schools alright when she turns 6.

and if you really must tell , write a blog. i'd be interested to read..

choose the people you tell, if you really wanna tell.  otherwise, you might be judge or frown upon. as for mother in law and own mum, i dont tell them to flash cards and all, coz' they might pronounce the words wrongly.. also, they are teaching my daughter in their own ways, taking her out to playground, outdoor play, keep toys away after playing, and etc. she is learning something from them, but just not necessarily reading.
i carry my daughter's 1/32 violin in a backpack (for convenience and hiding) when i take her to lessons, i've heard comments of ppl saying.. '2 year old learning violin, the mother is robbing her child of her childhood!'...

i suppose it also depends on which schools you are comparing. for me, i am prepared to guide her at home, in all subjects, so my main concern would be her safety , distance , also schools that provide extra curricular activities, like have their own orchestra.  never mind the geographical location, what about your criteria ?

simplest and cheapest.

@carpe

5000 USD?

there is no budget really,, kindermusik is hkd150 per lesson and suzuki violin is hkd400.. her 1/32 violin which is hkd1900..
sometimes, leapfrog dvd, ybcr, yccr.. little pim,.. , trebellina,
a few books from bookstore,, like once in a few months..
hmm.. i think that's about it.
i dont invest in hkd10,000 disney set or any educational stuffs that is hkd40,000, i've heard..

These are good  books that have helped me tremendously when I have bad violin days.., "helping parents practice' by edmund sprunger and "first class tips for suzuki parents'..

Good luck..

oh... okay.. hmmm.. i still have not tried going to formal music lesson after playgroup. the last week i did playgroup back to back. so, i can probably skip the playgroup this coming saturday and just go to violin lesson.
does he hates the violin when you take it out for practice at home? my daughter calls it 'biolin 'too...

kizudo,

how did it go?

Thanks Ayesha. The kumon workbooks look interesting.

my 25 months old daughter misses kindermusik, so we signed up for kindermusik this semester again. we had stopped for 4 weeks. she has stop practising violin at home for the past 2 weeks, and after attending kindermusik last saturday, the same day, she is willing to practise her violin.
perhaps it is concidence? how would kindermusik be correlated to violin practice at home?

@Kimba 15

Thanks for sharing..