Thanks for sharing their email reply, Mela Bala!

I had won the MusicMath System in a giveaway and will be receiving it next week. I had fully intended to start using it for Ella even though she is way past the recommended age, and I am glad to hear that it can still be beneficial for her.

 

Oh yes, he is adorable! Good job, Philip! 

Sonya,

I just re-read my reply to your questions, and I'm afraid I may have sounded too harsh on the violin teacher, I do not know her after all. Maybe you can start by asking her the reasons why she does not want your son to have ear training or keyboard instruction at this age. She may well have very valid reasons, and I will probably learn something I didn't know before! 

Wow, sonya, that's really impressive! 

The teachers on this forum would probably not be too happy with me about this, but I don't really follow ALL of their advice when it comes to Ella's education. Heheh    I mean, I listen to them and respect them for their experience and opinions, but at times, their goals for my daughter do not exactly coincide with mine. And, sometimes, teachers who are trained in a certain method get too entrenched in it and do not really have much experience or even awareness of the benefits of other techniques or combination of techniques. For example, Ella's soroban teachers do not really approve of me teaching her arithmetic using other methods, and they are worried it may mess up her anzan, so I just "conveniently" don't mention it to them. One of their main goals is to have Ella be able to do anzan as fast as possible , and thus perform well in international competitions; while, for me, I would gladly trade some speed for deeper understanding of numbers and creative problem solving. I don't really care if she wins competitions or not.

As for Suzuki violin, so far, Ella's two teachers have been VERY pleasantly astonished and amazed at her perfect pitch, playing-by-ear, and transposing abilities. One of them is actually strongly encouraging me to have Ella start formal piano/keyboard lessons. Interestingly, both of her teachers have perfect pitch themselves - one of them seemingly inborn, and the other having developed it through years of ear training.

So, to answer your questions (finally!), I don't think 2 years old is too young to start if there is a teacher who's willing to take him. I know there are a bunch of parents on this forum who started their kids at that age. And, in Japan, it is not unheard of to start at 2. As for the teacher, what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right? 

Dear aangles
regarding Ella's Soroban and violin classes, do they allow the parent to be present during the class or they want you to drop her off and pick her later??? and if u are allowed to join in the class how active or passive u will be??
thanks
Rua

For Soroban, I don't go in with her to class anymore. I used to in the first few months - they didn't really encourage it but accomodated me because Ella was just 3 at that time. I didn't participate, though, and was just there to provide "moral support" for Ella. 

With Suzuki violin, they actually WANT the parent to attend the lesson and even take notes so she will know how to teach the child during daily practice at home. So I always go with Ella, the teacher teaches her for 20-25 minutes and I just observe. Then, the teacher will discuss with me and show me what to practice with Ella for 5-10 minutes.

Arvi,

Sorry for the delay in answering your questions.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any shipping companies that deliver to Europe from the USA. The shipping company we use only delivers to the Philippines.

Regarding memorization of math facts, even though we started doing the Singapore math workbooks before she started learning soroban, I skipped the addition and subtraction math facts chapters until I was certain she was able to visualize using anzan. When she started to demonstrate that she could visualize, I think at around 3.5 years or so, that's the only time we went back to do the chapters we skipped in 1a and 1b. And I did teach her to solve the equations the Singapore way when we went back because, as I watched her become more proficient in using the soroban and I myself learned more about how it works and the thought processes involved in using it, I saw how a child COULD learn how to solve large-number equations by simply learning how to push certain beads up and down in their heads without ever getting a good sense of numbers or even know what the numbers mean. I wanted Ella to be good not only at computation but, more importantly, I wanted her to really understand numbers, be able to think creatively about them, and be even better at problem solving and thinking outside the box. I think we have been able to accomplish this so far, because Ella is able to do arithmetic using whatever approach I ask of her, be it anzan, Singapore, JG, or even just coming up with her own creative solution to the problem, using both right-brain and left-brain methods. Also, to be able to do algebra, I do think you have to be able to think creatively as well, and she has shown that she can do this. My eventual (very lofty? don't know if it's even possible??) goal for her in math is to be like BOTH Feynman and the abacus salesman in this thread         http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-math/question-(or-hypothesis-if-you-will)-about-anzan/

Oh... and one last thought:  We do a ton of right brain activities, 1 to 1.5 hours worth almost daily, and I think this is a big factor in her being able to continue visualizing easily even though she now also knows her math facts.

Hope this helps!  

[AND]

Can you clarify please?I like to be inspired but this leaves me confused.

Oops, sorry for confusing you, mrlee. What I meant in the first post was she had "skip counting 2-12 AND her times tables down pat." I first taught her the times tables in Chinese and, in Chinese, it typically means 1-9 only (九九乘法). I HAD been preparing to teach her to memorize up to x12 which is why I taught her skip counting to 12, but I was advised by a teacher in her soroban school to let her memorize only the times tables of single digits because she will be taught x11, x12, and up using soroban and anzan. One of the common obstacles to anzan visualization that they see in their students who have memorized addition, subtraction, and higher multiplication facts is relying on their math facts memory and having a very difficult time visualizing. So I didn't teach her higher than x9 as I had originally intended. (Although, to be even more precise, she can easily solve the x10s since they are so easy and she figured them out by herself.)

So sorry for confusing you and I hope that clears it up. Blame it on typing fast and not proofreading before I posted. 

Oooh, DragonBox+!!! Ella was obsessed with that app! She finished all 300 levels + the bonus ones within a one-week period. It IS very intuitive and she played with it independently from the beginning, almost always getting 3 stars on the first try. Even now, she would go back and re-do Chapters 4 and 5 for fun. I wish they would make more advanced levels!

That is the most exciting and awesome news I have heard in a while!

My daughter is a fluent reader already, so we haven't used Reading Bear much, but we are HUGE fans of your powerpoint and video presentations. She has watched some of them so many times she has them memorized verbatim.    And, I am very much looking forward to using Reading Bear with our next baby! 

Thank you very much for your hard work and generosity!     

Anna,

What ebooks are you referring to exactly? I can't seem to find them...

And on another algebra note: Do you know about Hands-on equations? I think it would be right up Ella's alley as a great Algebra preparation game. I meant to mention it to you before.

http://www.borenson.com/

These are the ones: http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/subject/math/algebra-and-algebra-readiness

But I just found out they're out-of-stock. Oh well....

Yes, i have ordered Hands On Equations and it is on its way across the Pacific Ocean to me so it will be a couple more weeks before I get my hands on them. 

Sold! Thankyou Bella!
Well I was looking at file folder games in scholastics $1:00 sale ( on now    ) so thats my excuse for a book splurge. I  would write more and review the books I just downloaded ( oh there are a LOT of files in this download it'll take me ages to review them all!) but I am off to spend yet more money at scholastic! 

Manda,

Did you, by any chance, get the Algebra Readiness ebooks and how do you like them? They have different levels from grades 1-8. Those are the only ones that I really want.

Arvi,

Draw Write Now is a series of books that "combine beginning drawing instruction with writing exercises. Each drawing lesson includes a colorful picture and step-by-step instructions, while the writing lesson includes four simple handwritten sentences."

http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Write-Now-Book-1-8/dp/0963930796/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345369362&sr=8-2&keywords=draw+write+now

I have been using them as a supplement to our main art program, and we use it once a week or so. Recommended age is 4-5 years and above, but you can probably start as soon as your child is old enough to follow instructions and has good enough pencil control to form lines, curves, and basic shapes. I only use the drawing part of the lesson as we are doing a separate program for handwriting. Also, she likes to tell her own story about her drawing and I would rather encourage her to use her imagination and creativity rather than simply copying out the sentences in the lesson. Typically, she would tell me what she would like to draw, I find the lesson in the book, and leave her to work independently. She follows the instructions in the lesson and draws with a pencil (and she is such a little perfectionist that she can draw and erase and draw and erase several times before she is satisfied with her work). Then, I will help her to trace her drawing with a black marker and she colors it in. I refrain from correcting her work and only help out with tracing with the marker, because the first time she tried to do it, she messed up her drawing and was pretty inconsolable for the whole morning.

Picture 1 is her work from a couple of weeks ago and Picture 2 is a more recent one. She usually does not follow the lesson exactly and incorporates a lot of her own ideas into her drawing. For example, in the second picture, it was just a simple drawing of a swan in the lesson, but since we have been listening to the Swan Lake audiobook and music and watching the ballet on DVD, she wanted to put the swan in a lake with a crown on her head (she told me that it was the Princess Odette) and she insisted on adding a forest background where the prince was hunting. She also titled it "Arrival of the Prince." 

Hope this helps! 

Just an update on how things are going in the math department. I have ordered Beast Academy and HoE, and we are impatiently waiting for them to arrive. We are living in SE Asia at the moment, and the materials are currently all in a huge box of curricula and books that is on its way here by cargo ship. It takes about 1-2 months for the box to get here from the US. With the amount of educational materials and books I order (I like to plan and buy things in advance), it would have been too cost-prohibitive to have them shipped faster.

In the meantime, she was still chomping at the bit for some extra challenge so I busted out my old Algebra textbook and started giving her mini-lessons from there - adapting down the language to her level of understanding and keeping the lessons very very short (5-10 minutes tops). Sometimes, she watches algebra videos and plays with algebra apps on the Ipad. I was motivated and happy that she would actually ask for Algebra as a BREAK from her Soroban drills or Singapore math workbook. She seemed to be absorbing the concepts really fast and understanding them, so I was not too worried about overwhelming her. Aaaaaaand, today, she solved her first algebra worksheet (10 equations) independently and perfectly! Some examples of the equations she solved are:

a = 3x + 9

2/x + a/c =  b/x

a/x + d + (-b)/x = 0

We are still progressing nicely with Singapore math and MEP, and will probably stick with both programs to completion. Even though she is capable of doing basic algebra now, I am not planning on jumping into it full time anytime soon, as I want to make absolutely sure she has all the basics of arithmetic and pre-algebra well-covered. For now, we are treating it more as a fun diversion! 

Hi TmT!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed update of Lily and Owen's progress.    It is always a delight to read what they are up to and the things they have accomplished! So you are moving to Japan next year instead of this year? I know you were planning to enroll Lily in Japanese kindergarten when you get there, but what are your plans for her English education? Are you going to homeschool her in English, and if so, what curricula are you considering?

Thanks again for sharing! 

Ru'a,

If you like the reading level of Henry and Mudge, you might also like these audio collections of Arnold Lobel's books (Mouse Tales, Mouse Soup, Frog and Toad, Owl at Home, etc). http://www.amazon.com/Arnold-Lobel-Audio-Collection-CD/dp/0061899690/ref=pd_ybh_1 These are audio CDs only, but the books are very easy to find.

Ella also liked to listen to
Beatrix Potter - http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Rabbit-Friends-Unabridged-Classics/dp/1400158516/ref=pd_sim_b_8
Curious George - http://www.amazon.com/Curious-George-Complete-Adventures-Deluxe/dp/0618750428/ref=pd_sim_b_8
Amelia Bedelia - http://www.amazon.com/Amelia-Bedelia-CD-Audio-Collection/dp/006074054X/ref=pd_sim_b_14
The Classic Pooh - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786170956/ref=gno_cart_title_1

These were great for the nights when both my hubby and I had to be on call at the hospital or post-call when we were too tired to read a single word.