For some reason I'd never thought of using LR at breakfast - but after reading this thread i gave it a try and it worked really well - thanks everyone!
It's a great way to stop my daughter grabbing at the keys of my laptop - she can't reach from the highchair!  Plus she seems quite focussed - perhaps because there are fewer distractions than in other rooms.
Think this may become a habit - which is also good, because we haven't really established a routine yet and this might just help.
Thanks again 

Hi, I'd like to add my vote for a British English version as well please.
I'm from the UK and it would make things a lot clearer with less potential for confusion - the pants (trousers) versus pants (underwear) issue definitely could be a problem if these were mistaken in England!!!
I think that having this would be important for both spelling and, even more importantly, when teaching a child to read, it is helpful to include words that mean something to them.  So learning words that we just don't say at home makes the learning less relevant and less likely to keep the child's interest.
Because of this I tend to take out the very 'Americanised' words and record my own versions, but this is quite time consuming and would be great to have a standard British version.
Thanks!

That site is really interesting - great link!  How organised everyone seems to be!!!

I have a little one who is almost 12 months - I get most of my chores done during her naps!  She's quite a good daytime sleeper plus I've learned how to get things done really fast (and everything else gets left!)

But if she is awake and i'm trying to get stuff done, then I find that letting her empty things out of something (e.g. a safe drawer or a box full of bits and pieces) is one of her favourite activities.  Not so good at putting them back in!  She will play with some toys for a while but prefers to explore the room and find all the things we are trying to hide (remote controls, phones....!).  I also find that having toys in different parts of the room helps keep her entertained - she likes to crawl around looking for them.  And having them at different levels - e.g. she might prefer playing with something that is on a sofa whilst standing up, rather than having it on the floor.

Could someone please clarify if the babybit DVD is a language learning programme or general educational programme?
Also, can anyone recommend any websites that are good as well as DVDs (so can be accessed easily from different countries)? Thanks!

Hi, I know this was posted a little while back but just wanted to share these free online resources for people including new mums with depression and anxiety problems.  They are all based around cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) which has been shown to be just as effective as medication for depression.  Ideally, if someone is severely affected they should see a doctor and / or a therapist for one to one treatment, but these are available for people who don't have those options:

Living life to the full:  http://www.livinglifetothefull.com/
The mood gym: http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome
The depression center: http://www.depressioncenter.net/
The panic center: http://www.paniccenter.net/

There are also lots of good self-help books available.  I think one of the main reasons that a depressed mother has a major impact on a baby or child is that when depressed, people often get really withdrawn and shut down because they feel so low and tired.  So they play less, smile less, talk and interact less with the child, which does affect the child's development.  The mother often can feel this but feels powerless to change and then feels really guilty so their depression gets worse as a "vicious circle".

Some simple but genuinely effective advice is to start to behave "as if" they felt happier by starting to do more with their child, get out for short walks, go to the park etc, and preferably get out and see some friends for support.  Although they may not feel immediately better, it often has a long term improvement in mood energy and confidence.

Thanks for these links - I've read them all and they have really made me think about my tendency to praise my 12 month DD.  It is interesting that common forms of praise involve the words "good ...." which clearly infers that the opposite could also be true ("bad ....") although few of us would ever say that.  I'm sure kids are smart enough to figure it out for themselves, though.

I think that building a healthy self-esteem for our children involves teaching them they it's ok to not always be perfect ("good") and that making mistakes and learning from them, and perseverance and effort are really important qualities, so I like the idea of praising for effort, and perhaps for other problem solving behaviour (even if not successful) such as trying something different, or being creative or thinking about what the answer might be.
I think Eddison was quoted as saying "I didn't fail, I just learned 99 ways how not to create a lightbulb" (or something along those lines!) The point being that he didn't give up at the first setback and succeeded in the end. 

But I do think it's possible to become too extreme and I'm not comfortable with giving up praise as a form of bonding and connection / loving support.  Often words are less important than the spirit in which they are offered, and also our own approach as parents to overcoming problems and not giving up etc (I expect they will learn what we do more than what we say!).  For example, is it really better that I say to my dd "I feel happy when I see you clap" rather than "good clapping!"?  Or should I hold it in and say nothing?!  I'd find that really hard!  Surely even just smiling and clapping back is a form of social praise anyway?

Hi all
This sounds amazing!!!
We are just starting out with our Spanish and I'd love to have some more resources.  Is there any possibility for sharing the files more widely?
Thanks!!!
LZP

Hi KL,
Thanks for your reply and I look forward to receiving the link to try downloading the files again (I did try several times).
I did realise that importing the data would over-write any changes I'd made but wasn't worried as I hadn't made that many.

But I don't think I described the problem very clearly.  I was expecting the categories (and lessons) to be changed by the upgrade but although there were changes in the lessons, in the Baby Things category, my own personalised changes are still present.  So, the lessons do not match the categories. 

This may be because some of the files are missing and may be fixed when I re-upload the files.  But if not, it means that I can't personalise the lessons any more.  Unless there is another place that I should be making changes in order to affect the content of the lessons (not the categories)?

I hope this makes a bit more sense!

BTW - I think pram, buggy, pushchair could all probably work!  I chose buggy because some of the images looked more like what I would call a pram rather than a pushchair, and was trying to cover all bases, but I'm sure that others would disagree with me!

Also, I just tried to play the new curriculum and it said that Media Library files were not available.

I'm wishing I'd stuck with the old version!!!

Please help.

Hi, I think I've messed up my LR by making a few mistakes with downloading the new content update pack.

I had made a few changes in a couple of catetories (i'm British and had changed some of the more American terms to UK ones) but just thought that I could change them again in the new content once I'd uploaded the new pack.
For example: In Baby things I had changed Stroller to buggy and diaper to nappy.

However, now since I uploaded the new content (and the new beta version) of LR it all has gone a bit wrong!  In the curriculum all the content and words have reverted to the original ones (US words).  But when I click on the baby things category, all of my changes are still there.

So, I don't know how to make any changes that impact on the words shown in the curriculum / courses.

Please help asap as I am now stuck and can't use LR again until it is all resolved!

Thanks very much (and sorry for not following the instructions precisely - I was a bit tired after a long day at work).

Thanks very much everyone for all your helpful replies.
I'm trying to work on a programme that will work for us and that I can keep going over time.  I work for three days a week and am back too late in the evening to do any kind of learning (she is usually in bed by the time I am home!).

It would be great to have contact with bilingual families or playgroups although I don't think we will have time to go just at the moment.

Does anyone have any thoughts about how helpful it is for me to 'chat' to my daughter for say an hour or so a couple of times a week? (saying things like "what are you doing?" "what colour is that...?" "this animal is a lion" etc etc.)  Because she is so young at the moment, the level of language that I would need to speak is quite simple and straightforward.  Do you think she be resistant or confused by this?  Or will it just seem normal after a while?  I could then reinforce pronounciation with DVDs and LR files.

I think i would be hoping for two additional languages over time, if we are able to do so (probably spanish and french).  But it is hard to prioritise everything!! I'm also aware of the value of music, physical activity, reading, maths etc etc etc!!  I need an extra 2 or 3 days a week, then maybe we would fit everything in.

Thanks again! 

Hi

I'm fairly new to this forum and looking for some advice about teaching my 10 month old DD a second language. 
I wish I was fluent in a second language myself, and would teach her by simply speaking that language at home.  Unfortunately I'm nowhere near fluent, although I do speak reasonable Spanish and very rusty French.  I'm planning in starting with Spanish as this is my better language.

I've ordered a few DVDs with music and songs etc - just waiting for them to arrive.

My question is about the best way to teach her. I'm sure that it's not enough to just play the DVDs!   If I was fluent then I could just speak to her but presumably this needs to be most (all) of the time for her to learn the language well.  Is there any benefit from simply talking to her (in imperfect Spanish) for an short while each day or is this not enough?  What about if it was only once or twice a week?  Is this too little to have much benefit?

Is it better to combine with written spanish words (e.g. I could download some of the LR spanish files) but I don't want to overload her as we are just working on reading English words.  Or is this not a problem?  I can download some of the LR spanish files especially the YBCR ones as we have these DVDs too.  But there is obviously a bit different between learning to speak a language and just a few words.

I'd love to hear what has worked for anyone else in a similar situation.  I may be hoping for too much - I don't want to be unrealistic and above all want to keep it fun.

Thanks very much!