'Counting' as in reciting numbers in order of ones, or 'counting' as in one-to-one correspondence? These are two very different concepts. 

Everything the complaint says, "there is no evidence of..." HAS evidence! That is what is most upsetting, as we are all witnesses of the evidence, our children!

"Your Baby Can Read pressures parents by urging them to seize a “short window of opportunity” for reading that begins in infancy despite that there is no evidence that any such “window” exists—or to support any of Your Baby Can Read’s pseudoscientific claims."

This research university filing this complaint clearly has not done enough research. Pathetic.

Would be grateful to sign a petition for Dr. Titzer.

Same with me, I haven't bought a program yet but have been interested in doing so. Would love to attend!

Sign language helps tremendously! It doesn't matter what sign—any sign, you can even make it up—can take all the confusion away.

That is awesome! Hope we'll find someone soon!

For those of you in Japan, you might be able to get the same SUPER CHEAP price as I did when I got my YBCR. I talked to the distributer directly and he offered me the 5 DVD set for only 1900 yen (about $19). I was able to negotiate with him and got the biggest YBCR set combined with a different set of 41 DVDs for a total of only 10000 yen (or about $100).

Yes, very interested in the homeschool teaching course as well as some of the other courses you've mentioned. Keep me posted.

I did EC for my daughter at 9 months. She is now 22 months old. It worked great--until about 15 months. She actively communicated to me when she wanted to go, both number one and number two. But we had trouble when we were out.

There was one time we were on our way to some place. She was in her stroller and looked up to me and said, "Potty." Though I did have a potty seat with me, there were absolutely no bathrooms nearby (and she was still too young to sit on a portable potty), so I had no choice but to tell her, "I'm so sorry there are no potties nearby, your diaper is the only safe place to go." (My other option was to let her 'go' out in the middle of the sidewalk like a dog.)

And since then things went downhill. After unlearning to use her diaper and learning to use the potty, she had to realize that there were times to use the diaper also. So she felt free to use her diaper when while we were out. (Believe me, I was mad at the whole society for not installing child-friendly toilets all over town! ) And then, at around 18 months, she learned to say the word 'no.' That's a whole 'nother obstacle that slows down the EC process.

So try to aim to have your child completely potty trained by around 14-15 months of age! 

Thank you. You are so inspirational!

Hello, I'm Amy from Sapporo, Hokkaido. I have a daughter that is two.

Actually, I did just that. And even with the promotional code it was $178... right up to the point it was about to charge my credit card!

I will try again, though...

went to the site and it said $178. i guess the sale is over now?

For your kids at Shichida, there is a course for 0-1 year-olds and another for 2-3 year-olds.

The registration/enrollment fee is 21,000 yen, monthly fee (tuition) is 14700 yen, and the materials (I think that's what it said) is 2100 yen per month.  There is some sort of discount for siblings. It looks as if it's only 5250 yen extra (added to the first child's tuition and materials), but I can't be 100% sure. The website does not get into too much details.

They are advertising for new September students. They encourage you to call 'your local school' and sign up for their trial lesson. Let me know if you need help.

Sorry I used the word 'kindergarten' without really explaining what it means over here. I should've known you would have misunderstood. Over here, 'kindergarten' is US-style preschool and US-style kindergarten combined. In Japan, 'school' starts in first grade, NOT kindergarten. So anything before 'school' is considered 'kindergarten.' However, the most common program for kindergartens is the three-year program: Nensho (Year One/"Freshmen"/3-, turning 4-year-olds), Nenchu (Year Two/"Juniors"/4-, turning 5-year-olds), and Nencho (Year Three/"Seniors"/5-, turning 6-year-olds). The 'kindergarten' that I work at has this three year program, but it also has a one-year-old class and a two-year old class! Even my 22 month-old daughter Leah, who goes to this one-year-old class, goes to 'kindergarten'. So don't be put off by the word! Literally translated, the word for kindergarten ("Yo-chi-en") simply means "young child," "garden."

The Toshin International Kindergarten I mentioned has a two-year-old class, I believe. So your older one can attend already. But I can imagine it be hard to send your older child to a far-away kindergarten while still taking care of your younger one. To me that just doesn't seem possible. I'm sure there is something of the sort closer to 'downtown Japan'. Especially Yokohama and Tokyo. Let me see if I can ask the Shichida kindy people here about those Shichida-style ones in the area. It might take a while since it's obon season in Japan. (A time everyone takes days off work to go back to their family graves and pay respects to their ancestors.) On top of that, the whole place might be closed due to summer vacation. I'll ask anyway.

I am a Japanese/American mix and was born and raised here. I learned both Japanese and English simultaneously.

I think the Shichida once-a-week classes are taught in Japanese only. But they have Shichida-style "English" classes in well, obviously, English. (Their main target is to teach Japanese kids a foreign and "exotic" language: English.) Over here in Sapporo there is a Shichida kindergarten that Shichida Makoto himself produced, and they have weekly or daily (I forgot how often) English classes there. Went to observe it with my then 4 month old. She is 22months now so.. it's been a long time. As for the normal "non-kindergarten" classes (there is only one such Shichida kindergarten in Japan), I don't think there are any waiting lists. They are treated as your regular piano lesson.

There are two kindergartens in Chiba (same kindergarten, two locations) that I thought might be worth the commute from Yokosuka. They do Doman, Shichida, Montessori, etc. It's called Toushin International Kindergarten and they teach Japanese, English, and Chinese. (You can choose either Japanese or English to be the main language: 70%LanguageA+20%LanguageB+10%Chinese.)  http://www.et-toshin.co.jp/kindergarten.html  is their Japanese website. Maybe you can call their number 047-365-0006, or 047-340-3434, and ask to speak to their English teacher(s) for details?? They seem a bit pricey...

The people at Shichida told me once that there are many kindergartens that incorporate the Shichida style. Like I said above, there is only one "real" Shichida kindergarten. (This is what they told me.) What that means is, the other kindergartens may be 60% Shichida, just not 100%. I almost feel silly saying all this, because this is what I've come to learn about this whole Shichida thing. The theory is great. But their main message now is too much centered on BUSINESS. BUT, they told me once that if I ever have to move to Yokosuka, they would tell me which kindergartens in that Yokosuka-Yokohama-Tokyo area that have incorporated this Shichida style. So that was nice.

How old are your kids? I can look up the prices from the Shichida website and tell you how much they charge.

Oops, yes I meant $150.

And there are plenty of female teachers.

I work as an English Language Teacher at a kindergarten that specializes in early childhood education (Shichida, Doman, etc.) with a first ever Doman-produced P.E. program. There are some good points and bad points of Shichida. Just be careful and know that Shichida isn't everything.

Let me know if you need any help! I speak both English and Japanese.