Thank you!

Congratulations to all of you!

I know I have learnt a lot from your posts. Thanks!

Oops...nevermind...I see them now, just took some time to load Thanks, S

TMT,

those are awesome ideas. Thanks for sharing.

Where are the pics? I didn't see them on your blog.

Thanks,

Shaman

TracyR4,

does the book about colors mention color blending (blue+red=purple) or is it just the primary colors? My son loves monkeys but knows most of the things on the cards and DVD's. The book about colors may be helpful for him (even from the reading aspect, since it seems to have many sight words). Also, I don't have a facebook page...will I still qualify?

Thanks,
Shaman

TMT-...birds of the same feather flock together     This is exactly what I told my husband a couple of weeks ago- that I have so much early educational stuff and now some experience that I want to have another child just to be able to enjoy these things again and he looked at me like I was crazy    He had a puzzled look on his face for a long time and didn't bother discussing this further  Like daddude, I think educating our kids has become our hobby- it helps that they are responding too

I thought of putting a freeze on my spending (on educational items) and was planning on making some of these things myself- and just as I thought I had motivated myself enough to do that, I came across your review on Hooked on phonics and guess what...the program is heading home    ......still need help with word blending...

Congratulations!

My son is still teasing me by not 'reading' aloud. He is deliberately saying the wrong thing when I question him- I will keep doing what I am doing, who knows he may just pick up a book and start reading it someday.....wishful thinking 

I am not tech savy or music literate so I was looking for something very simple. I knew that if it was stress free for me, I would be able to better guide my son.

1. In addition to the software (includes a USB key), we only need a keyboard (with MIDI capability) and USB-MIDI interface (available for less on amazon). I have read some other not-so-good reviews about the keyboard that comes with the PW.

2. About the software- since I have'nt seen PW completely, I cannot compare both. All I can say is that the graphics on SM are simple and my son enjoyed it. I guess at their age, they are just happy looking at spiders and elves    graphics don't matter. It was easier for me to explain it to him too. It was just like the 'matching' game. He had to press the key that had the same picture....

3. Library- I didn't give this point a lot of importance since I knew that once he learns the language, a lot of options will be open for him. I plan to look into some kids piano books (nursery rhymes) and see if I can translate them for him.....and as I mentioned before, I also want to look into some Indian music (since our notes are similar to solfege). Also, like any other program that works, this will expand too...I never knew LR would grow this much when I first bought it a year and a half ago.

I would like to mention that I DID get a discount AFTER I announced my decision to buy the software- I got it directly from her. She also threw in the first level flashcards when I told her that I will be using some free printable flashcards to teach him how to read music.
I would have bought it irrespective of the discount.

We bought the deluxe edition and a good keyboard since I decided I would learn piano with my son- My mom will be happy to hear that her daughter has finally taken to learning a musical instrument...even if it is 30 years later! 
 

Okay....so I got a little excited    but lately, I've been spending so much money on games/ kits etc that seeing something like what you made is a welcome change 

I bought a couple of things to help my son with number recognition and the other day, he picks up the phone and starts pressing the numbers while saying them aloud at the same time!....Thats when I found out that he already knew the numbers and I had spent all that money for nothing 

Now I am going to try simple home made things with him first. When I made cards the other day...he picked them up and said 'Mumma made this- for Sriram'    My baby appreciates my hard work 

I forgot to mention that Ella (Aangeles daughter) was a big inspiration.. and Aangeles posts were very informative and helped us make a decision.

 http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-music/ella-playing-the-piano-at-31-months-old/msg67083/#msg67083

Isapabi,

I just started a new thread to share our experience with SM. Hope that helps.

Shaman

Hi everyone,

I just thought of starting this new thread so that we could share our 'Soft Mozart' experiences with everyone.

My experience with music: I love music but cannot read it. I tried to learn guitar when I was young but never completed it. So I was very anxious about how I was going to introduce a musical instrument to my son so that he takes more interest in it.

While I was reading about both SM and PW, I found out that Ms. Hiner lives in the same city! Imagine how excited I was . I was following most of the music posts on the forum but didn't feel like reading more on the PW vs SM thread. I didn't want these things to sway me one way or the other and wanted to find out more details myself.

So yesterday, I visited Ms. Hiner to see if she could explain a couple of things in layman terms and I also wanted to see how my son responded to the program before I bought it. She is a very nice lady and came across more as a music teacher rather than a businesswoman. That set the stage for the rest of our conversations. My son's response to the software was amazing! he LOVED the spider game (I don't know the actual name) and within minutes, was able to recognize the pictures on the keyboard (Door for Do, Rain for Re....etc). It seemed simple enough to handle. When she saw his interest in the keys and playing the game, she started teaching him rightaway...

Needless to say, we bought the program and my son is all over the keyboard now 

What we liked:

1. Both Solfege and alphabet method can be taught- For me, solfege was a plus because that is very similar to the 'sa re ga ma....' in Indian music. We plan to introduce him to the Indian raagas and feel that this may help him. Also, I think it is much easier to sing with do re mi than a, b, c...

2. Color coding- 2 different colors are used- treble clef (green) and bass clef (brown)- just like the colors of a tree. My son is more of a 'picture ' person than a 'color' person and I thought many colors would confuse him.

3. The pictures of the door, rain etc are familiar and hence he will start with the known, then the unknown and then abstract...like Doman advised.

4. The notes come to the 'focus line' which will help him since he will not have to look all over the computer. At this age, the fewer the rules and distractions, the better.

5. The lines (staff) have been thickened to make the line and the space of the same width- this way, it is easier to find out where the note falls- I tried this myself and it helps. Later, when the kids learn to read music, the lines are brought to their normal form.

I would recommend that you see the you tube videos and see if you can visit some music studio to see how your child responds to the software. They have details of other locations on the website. Some of the cables required can be bought on Amazon for less. Casio and Yamaha keyboards are good- 61 keys, keys that don't light up and preferably not touch sensitive.

PS: I haven't looked at PW in details so I don't know if these things are included on PW too.

Will keep you posted on our progress.

Hope this helps,

Shaman

Thank you everyone....as always......these are awesome ideas 

and TMT....all I can say is.....you're a genius! I love your twist to the original game....that design opens up so many possibilities...you should probably start a new post on 'inexpensive home-made effective' educational toys...

My son is 2 years 3 months old now and very active. I just read about a great idea: Take a cheap vinyl shower curtain and write large numbers on it with a permanent marker- you can use it as a number line to teach him 1-20 forwards and backwards (one of the JG steps) or make it like a hopscotch mat and ask him to jump on the numbers you call out while you are working in the kitchen. I am going to make one for my son today.

I'll make one for lowercase alphabets too and ask him to jump on it when I sound out the letter....

Akalori,

I just read your post- you've put in a lot of effort in teaching your children- and it is very inspiring

Your son is doing a very good job- it may take him a little longer to get to where the other kids are (with reading and math), but he will definitely get there.

And in case he finds this post- I want him to know that he is doing a great job-  not everyone is good in everything, all of us have something that we have to work on more than the others. He seems to like science more and that is great! I know some kids tend to shy away from it. It would be a very uninteresting world if all of us were the same

I love the stuffed 'flu virus' toy 

Also, on another note- I would think that pediatricians would discuss more about early education. I am an internist and feel sad informing you that not a lot of internists are aware of early education methods    Even we learn about the brain development etc, but somehow, very few of them seem to interested in this topic. In fact, I have not mentioned the fact that I am doing early education with my son to most of my peers- not for the fear of being judged about what I am doing with my son (because I don't care what anybody thinks about that and my son and I are enjoying it) but for the fear that I may be perceived as someone who just wants to rub in the fact that I spend more time with my son compared to my peers. That makes me think that Internists are not into early education because they are too busy to spend time with their kids and hence have not been able to look it up or don't have the enthusiasm to do it when they do get some time with their kids.....I'm just thinking out loud....this will be an interesting topic for discussion with my peers.

Take care,
Shaman