Congrats!!

For baby colds, I really don't do anything but nurse a lot. Since he's your only one, you could just mostly relax with the baby all day.. and being next to you, he'll probably nurse more which will help his body fight the cold.  Before a feeding, if he has trouble breathing and eating at the same time, you can suction his nose. Some people use a saline or even a squirt of breastmilk in the nose for a minute or so to soften and help suction better.

Hang in there! Newborn colds can be heartbreaking, but it shall pass soon.

*My 3 year old, Elizabeth, has no real computer experience. (We had been waiting to delay screen time for our little ones and are confident they will "catch up"). I thought this was pertinent background information.

We are toying with the idea of getting a PBS Kids Play subscription for her 4th birthday (in May). The stats to the left are her months, I couldn't quite get the year to show up correctly (I've been doing it on my phone, I probably need a real computer).

So, does anyone have experience with PBS Kids Play? Elizabeth will be stoked to use the computer at all, but we want a quality program for her.

Thanks!

If you have supportive friends and family, you can register for lots of those things when the time comes which could really help!

I can't attest to what "early education" budget we will settle on. Right now I'm just testing the waters and using a $50/month educational budget and personal spending money.

For my DD1 though, we've had a $50/month "consumable" Montessori budget (we use glass cups, pitchers, etc. And also buy seasonal a new practical life type materials). Since Elizabeth started school, these things have become less formal and we are more likely to spend the money on new puzzles or child sized cooking utensils. Her yearly tuition is $6k and violin lessons and rental are almost $2k a year. So, for 1 child, our budget is $8.5k per year.

Thanks for replying!

What is ppt?

Do you have a set time of day you do each thing or just when you find time? How much time between each showing/lesson? And how old is your little one?

So far, I have only shown one set of doman-style flashcard words, 3 times (and only yesterday). I tried a variety of settings and I think what I'll ultimately do is sit her on the floor in the living room for the first showing and at her table for the last two (big glare from window in the morning by her table).

I'm so curious what a day in the life of our kids looks like. What did you teach your child today and when? How long did it take?

Also, do you keep records of things you do? If so, how?

I have not yet read "Your Baby Can Read", but plan to get it from the library soon.

Today I used some homemade cards with my 11 month old. I used cardstock cut in half-lengthwise. I printed in red ink the names of our family members and the word "family". I used them twice today in different locations, trying to get a feel for where is best. My 3 year old DD came over and listened/watched some too (she can only pick out a few of the names herself and seemed to enjoy the flashing more than I would have expected).

My questions:

Where do you and your baby sit?

I think I read somewhere that 3 repetitions a day for 10 days is optimal, is that what you do?

If you don't "test", in what ways do you know your child is recognizing the words? And what is a typical time frame for seeing your baby recognize words?

Do you stick with one set of words for 10 days, or do you mix it up? And in what way?


Thanks!

I like Montessori math materials if you have the space and money.

With young babies, a parent just holds the baby over the toilet (or sink or little potty or wherever they use). As time goes on (and not being in a diaper speeds this up), the parents can see signs that the baby is about to go. After awhile, the baby may also begin actively communicating that he/she needs to go or has gone.

One major benefit is that the child has not gotten used to diapers.

For my 11 month old (not walking), our EC day looks something like this: wake up, take overnight cloth diaper off and she sits on a baby bjorn little potty while I sit on the big toilet next to her. She often poops at that sitting. Usually about 20-30 minutes later she will say "I want puh" (which means potty...some kids sign potty, mine happens to be very verbal and doesn't tend to sign back a lot). She's been using some form of potty her whole life. She usually goes about once an hour. At her age, and particularly because she is learning a new skill (walking), she has a lot of misses, if left to only her cueing. I typically take her every time I have to use the bathroom. We have a book basket by the her little potty and she will happily sit and listen to a book before trying to get off. (every child is different of course, and would need to find a system that works for you).

We haven't yet done a whole lot of pottying out of the house. I'm still deciding what to bring.

Here's more information: www.diaperfreebaby.com

So, that was hooked on phonics? My DD1 already knows her letter sounds (from sandpaper letters), and can build a few words. She is largely disinterested in it right now, unfortunately. Thanks for all the insider info on the program! I noticed our library had a set, but I don't know what's in it. It wouldn't be the worksheets probably.

I really liked those worksheets Lily was working on. I actually did read the review thread and had a different thought process completely as to the stickers. I thought they were a huge gimmicky reward. But I really liked how it's laid out, or how you are doing it at least.

I had no idea there was so much early learning stuff out there!

I do want to try it soon! I can let everyone know how it works on Bootcamp when we get it. We happen to already have Bootcamp.

And, in particular, what do you do in public?

Who else here does infant pottying?

We are doing it with my 11 month old and really love it. We did it with DD1 too (3 years). With DD1 though, we didn't bring any pottying supplies with us away from the house (besides change of clothes, etc.). And she usually wore cloth diapers out of the house. I think this delayed her toileting independence.

I really want to start bringing pottying supplies with us for DD2. I haven't decided between a baby bjorn little potty in a bag and a potty seat adapter (would need to be for an infant, I suppose).

For those here that do infant potty learning, what's your system in and out of the home?

Very cute! You guys look like you have a lot of fun together.

What program are you using there when she was sounding out the words?

Hi there!

My name is Maquenzie, and I've got two daughters. DD1, Elizabeth, is 3 and DD2, Catherine is almost 1. I've really just heard of early learning and did not do any of this type of early learning with Elizabeth (or Catherine, but I'm hoping it's not too late).

DD1 goes to Montessori school, and we have had a Montessori-style home since she was almost 2 and we sold her crib and set up a floor bed for her. We did not do any type of early literacy or early math with her. In fact, we likely had less letters around our home because we had been trying to use only lowercase letters and they are harder to come by. Anyway, DD1 is reading only a few words and phonetically. She does not seem to enjoy doing so, and I don't really push her. I'd love to hear some ideas for supplements to do with her. If, you think I should. With math, she is progressing through the Montessori math curriculum at school and is playing with teen numbers (to understand quantity), counting-wise, she can count to 39 and thereafter needs help with the 40, 50, etc to 100. She loves school and her teacher has commented that she loves new lessons more than the other children and has a strong drive to learn new things. Above all, I want her to keep that. She also takes Suzuki violin and uses a 1/16 violin. She's only started a few months ago. I'm interested in supplementing her Suzuki music with music reading as I want her to have strong sight-reading abilities. We also have a piano in our home, but my husband and I feel its important that she have one instrument to use completely for free play and find the piano most suited to that. She also loves to cook and would love to learn foreign languages (but I have not known where to start--help would be appreciated!).

The baby, Catherine, is very strong verbally and slower with her motor skills. She surprises me with what she will vocalize, 5-7 word sentences. She is not walking yet, and really doesn't even seem that close. Her speaking abilities surprised me and had me looking into advanced babies which was what ultimately led me here. I had never encountered this type of early education before. I'm intrigued and would love to learn what I can do with both of my children. I'm interested in Doman-style reading and encyclopedic bits for Catherine. In looking at online information about math, I'm debating between Doman style and Little Math. I had been resisting screen time, but I may give in for Little Math. I can certainly see the benefit of randomizing the red dots electronically. I have not purchased any of these materials, but am thinking about doing so soon.

Does anyone run Little Math through Bootcamp on a mac here? I'd love feedback.

It's nice to meet you all! I'd love to hear any recommendations for either of my kids. I think some of you gave some in the post I started as a Guest. Thank you!! You piqued my interest!