Dear mtb999

One alternative is to buy the ready made kit from the institute of human potential (Doman's website). The link is as follows:
http://www.gentlerevolution.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=G&Category_Code=b

The basic kit is for USD 50 and they currently have 20% discount off that price. You need to add delivery cost though.

To share with you my view in regards to your questions:
1. I don't think it matters we present the dots in square or rectangular cards. The dots should be placed in a random pattern. In the book of teaching a child to read, Doman said not to be so rigid with the paper size and go with what is available in your location. I suppose same principle, we can be a bit flexible in adopting Doman's method.

The square makes sense though if you want to follow Doman's method to the book, that is teaching quantity, equations everything using flash cards. Square because you write at the back in all four corners number the quantity card represent and lists of equations related to that number. And then you can present the dot card in any directions.

I use A4 though and my baby seems progressing fine with it.
Be careful with the files downloaded. Though we all intend well, we may have made mistakes. I started out downloading a doc file for red dots 1 to 100. When I counted the dots, I had extra 1 dot for nearly the whole set; so I ended up doing my own ppt red dots file from scratch. I will upload it later on if you are interested. One thing though: my dots do not have a black border around them; only reading about it afterwards (not so important for my baby since she was nearly 1 year when I started teaching her).

2. The size of the dots really depends on the age of the child. I assume in your case you will want to teach your newborn baby (because you mentioned that you are on maternity leave). If so the size is important. Introducing a newborn baby to quantity for the first 8-10 weeks is not really teaching him/her quantity but stimulating his/her visual pathway. Doman called it the 'zero step'. He said to use black dots for this time. Posterboard should be 15" x 15" for new born with dots 1 1/2" in diameter or larger if you like. You need very bold black dots on white posterboard to get the appropriate intensity for an infant.

You start with 1 to 7, one dot per day for 10 times. So say Monday is day of one dot card, and you show your baby that one dot card 10 times during the day when he/she is happy. Tuesday is 2 dot card day, and so on. Repeat this process for 3 weeks. Then do the same process for 8 to 14. By the time your baby is 10 weeks, he/she should have a good enough visual pathway to start the so called "1st step" in Doman method.

This is clearly talked in details in Doman's book How to teach you baby math. It would be a good investment. I bought it from amazon.com.

If you have problem buying the book, please tell then I will see if I can scan the appropriate pages for teaching infant and send to you.

Hi KL

Doman suggested that after the division 2 step equations, we only show the answer card not all 3 cards. e.g 1 + 8 = 9 we say out loud "one plus eight equals nine" but only show the card with 9 dots. I have not found a way to do it in LM. I suppose we can do it in LR as we can record voice there, but then we need to create the quantity cards.

Problem solving I suppose any computer program can not show as we need to show a choice of 2 possible answers to the child.

By the way how can we create the equation 0 : 3 = 0 please?

Thanks Shuki for the clarification.

I can't show only the answers nor problem solving either 

That is interesting and nice to know. I will definitely watch my movement with baby on my hand while listening to music now . I used to dance with her but having no musical ear myself and know nothing about notes and dance etc I don't know if I was sending her wrong messages on music??? too bad she is already swaying her body while listening to music

Thanks DadDude

Will remember when it's time.

I do like the idea of home schooling but not sure it's possible with 2 of us working full time. Not to mention we will have to learn ourselves heaps of things before being able to teach our child. But hey life is full of balancing and compromising right? Nothing is perfect and perfection does not always mean happiness.

For the forum typing I don't think we should be stressed about being 100% correct in grammar and spelling. Like nhockaday mentioned, there could be so many reasons for typing mistakes here.

It's all nice except that I don't think I can afford to send my baby to a Monterssori preschool. In NZ, it costs nearly 1800 for 10 weeks term half day or $3600 for full day 5 days a week for 10 weeks term. It also only takes 2+. Imagine how much for a year. And I have not won a lotto. 

Dear Ayesha

I know Mandi said it's Shichida method. However it's still valid that we should take into account the rule of operations (multiplication/division before addition/subtractions). I know that I'm not going to teach my baby 100 - 50 /10 = 5.

By the way does anybody know Schichida's argument around that?

First thank you for the product, it makes my life easier.

I have a few questions please.

1. I would like to build a preset that contains all 4 types of equations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), each equation only using 1 type. How can I do it please? If I use custom then I will have to build up the whole lot of equations myself.

2. As 0 is a special number I would like a preset that all equations within it have 0 playing a part. Is 'custom' the only way?

3. From 3 step equations, can I combine addition and subtraction, multiplication and division in one equation please?

Thanks.

For all who have not read Doman math book, the method could be summarised like this:

1. Quantity (will use the word number here): introduce in sets of 5, 2 sets per day, shown 3 times a day for 5 days, so each number will be seen 15 times. After the 1st 5 days, starting retiring 1 number from each set and introducing 1 new number to each set. Repeat this retirement/new number everyday onwards. Start with 1 and continue to 100, then introduce 0.

2. Equations: starts when the child has a recognition of 1 to 20. Use only numbers the child has learnt. Start with simple 2 step equation such as 1 + 7 = 8. Start with addition, followed by subtraction, then multiplication, then division; each type for 2 weeks. Everyweek you can increase the numbers you can use to make equations by all the new numbers your child has learnt.

Introduce equations in sets of 3, 3 sessions per day, each equation shown only once. That means 9 different equations per day or 126 different equations for 2 weeks. Avoid patterns at this stage. For the signs (+,-, x, don't show them, only saying them.

Zero comes in at the same time as division equations.

3. After division, introduce problem solving. Always give the child a choice of 2 possible answers, don't ask the child to say the answer. Introduce 1 problem solving at end of equation session (3 equations + 1 problem solving for each session). You now can stop introducing numbers.

4. Same time with problem solving, equation session can be composed of a variety of equations, e.g. an addition equation, a subtraction equation, and a division equation in 1 session. Also you only need to show the answer quantity while still saying the whole equation, e.g. "one plus seven equals eight" but show only "eight". Time for this step is not specified.

5. Introduce three step equations, each equation in 1 type such as addition only or division only. This can be carried on for a few weeks (exact number of weeks not stated).

6. Begin to use equations which combine addition and subtraction, multiplication and division. Note: don't mix these two basic operations: addition/subtraction with multiplication/division. That comes after learning both the rule about the order of operations and the reasons behind it. This step is for a few weeks. Introduce patterns at the same time, such as:
40 + 15 - 30 = 25
40 + 15 - 20 = 35
40 + 15 - 10 = 45

7. Introducing 4 step equations using same principles. However from time to time show unrelated equations as well as those ones with a pattern.

8. Now you can go in any directions you like, e.g:

a. sequences
b. greater than and less than
c. equalities and inequalities
d. number personality
e. fractions
f. simple algebra

Hi everyone

The schedule looks great but I think need some modifications. Here are what I noticed:

1. In the three step equations, multiplication and subtractions are combined in 1 equation, or division and addition etc. Isn't it Doman said don't mix these two that early? I am checking his book, page 131 said:
"There is one important caution. Be careful not to mix these two basic operations: addition/subtraction with multiplication/division. Serious errors can result, errors which can be avoided only after learning both the rule about the Order of Operations AND the reasons behind it. That comes later in the Math Pathway."

And it makes sense. Consider this (one equation in the schedule part 1)
100   -   50   /   10   =   5
We should do 50 /10 = 5 first then take it off from 100, the result would be 95.

2. I have not seen the introduction of 0 (zero) anywhere however 0 is used in the division equations of division a lot.

all what you've said worry me. Being a non native English speaker I don't think I can always tell if the teacher is wrong in spelling or grammar. and yes it makes sense that not all teachers are good at their job, much like any other profession. Not to mention the salary for primary teachers (who are supposed to help build the foundation of English language for our kids) is the lowest of all in education. People do not always choose a profession just because they have a passion for it.

As parents what can we do? Just wait and correct our children whenever we happen to see a mistake? Or is there some way to prevent it?

Now someone mention it, do you guys think it would be good if all the parents specify which accent is it that they upload in their language files? It would be good to know and tell your child what accent it is. And maybe good to expose our children to different accents along the life of learning???

Hi

I'm using Wink to learn to teach my baby Chinese, and she is most often glued to it, the same for anything new and being a mix of multimedia. And they use simplified characters if I remember correctly.

Personally I don't care simplified or traditional, whatever available, accurate, and adhering to Doman's or right brain method, I use it. It's an extra language, an extra knowledge to gain for my baby. Later on if she is interested she can go exploring all 3000 different dialects of various Chinese community for all I care. The foundation is there to help her.

I want to introduce her to German, French, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, English, music, math, art, etc... you name it. Since I have very very limited knowledge of these, and I still have to go to work to earn our living, I don't think I can hold her hands through all the steps in depth. What I try to achieve is to expose her and build up a foundation for her, which will enable her to go on learning things on herself eagerly, effectively, and hopefully effortlessly.

I would not be so worried about a nanny who can speak Chinese. You can not hire all required people to expose your child to all the languages that you want her to speak. And depending on your time budget, you can set your own ideas around exposing her to real people who talk the language. Now think about it, as a working parent I can't right now afford to take my child to see all the artworks by sight. But it would not worry me the least about teaching her art. She will have plenty of time to do it later on. And she does not need to see the whole world or sight all the historical inventions in order to learn about them. Couldn't the same rule apply to languages? Something will stay with her. I remember one of my favourite lines from Doman's books: if a child can remember 50% of 2000 words, isn't better than 100% of 20 words?

About accent, I think it's more of a preference than a compulsory requirement. Who can say which English is better to learn for everyone: British, American, Australian, or New Zealand? I will teach my baby Vietnamese in Hanoi's accent (Hanoi is the capital, also the accent on national radio and television), but it's only because that's my accent and my family's accent. And she can learn to understand variants of Vietnamese accents (Southern, middle part, etc...) when she comes into contact with these accents.

Thanks Ayesha, the website looks good.

I would like to see all of us putting an effort to check the content of the website though to see any error we should be aware of.

I just checked the Vietnamese and found 1 error already, they translate 'foot' not accurately; what they put up there  means 'foot step' not 'foot'. Besides they don't have the pronunciation. Good for starting point and reference though.

 I am still more comfortable looking at the work parents in this forum have uploaded for languages other than English. At least we know parents here post what they know for sure (as their mother tongue) and what they would teach their children.

Hi

I have no idea of music teaching/learning/notes etc... though I like piano.I want my baby to learn piano. However when is it a good time to start? And what do I need for her to learn?

Thanks.