Thanks Keri for your reply. Very helpful! Currently, we are on RS level A but I frequently use the AL abacus to teach subtraction especially when we play Sum Swamp or work on JG. My son loves to mix all the curricula together (last time, I caught him secretly playing a huge matching game with his Montessori number rods, beads, RS cards and JG matrix cards )  Getting the RS activity book can help us do some more "mixing".  As for Soroban, I am still looking for a program that suits my son's learning fashion who is still  very RB. Also, there is an interesting post by TMT about Soroban and she has recently added more links to various  programs: http://forum.brillkids.com/product-discussions-and-reviews/overall-abacus-programs-math-discussion/15/

BTW, I am so happy for Alex, she's doing an excellent job with her multiplication table!




Shhh, let her read that sentence for some more encouragement

[and instructions for adding on the Japanese or Chinese abacus]

Thanks Nadia for sharing the link. This is the Soroban I'm looking for: a 13-digit all-wood with larger beads and visual indicator for the units rod

Regarding transition form RS Abacus to Soroban, has anyone tried the Activities for AL Abacus book? http://store.rightstartmath.com/activitiesforalabacus.aspx

Here is the product description:

A manual showing how to use the AL Abacus to teach arithmetic to children K-4 through hands-on and visual work. Topics include place value, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, strategies for mastering facts, and instructions for adding on the Japanese or Chinese abacus.

I'm wondering if using those instructions will make the transition easier for our LOs. Any thoughts?

In a LM v3 maybe? I personally would love a substantial upgrade in LM. Flashing whole equations, adding a blank slide between numbers or equations, being  able to display icons in different ways other than just random or linear (example, the domino way, on 10 frames, on a 100 chart, the abacus way, grouping by 5s a la Right Start with tally sticks, fingers, etc.), numbers going beyond 100... Wouldn't that be awesome?

LOL, that's kinda... a very effective mnemonic trick. Thanks for sharing TMT. BTW, I am currently using Speak & Read Japanese from WTL for RB and another LB program called "Japanese for Kids" from Language Tree in addition to Little Pim. I think the 3 programs complement each other nicely. My son prefers WTL though, he's still very RB. You may try them if you haven't yet

Thanks Keri! I got some more manipulatives at an excellent price 

Thanks for sharing this thought provoking article...

Thanks Kezia for your help. The BK customer support is terrific! 

Hi Evad3,

As Cockers4life said, you make sense! Now I know why I couldn't exactly tell where you're from.

Thanks for the new files too!

Hi Kezia,

The same issue happens even with the sound editor. I ran the Audio Diagnostic Tool several times, it didn't help. I've just sent an error report. Thank you very much!

EDIT: I just tested LMs, the same problem happens for slides with text. The other slides are playing normally. For LM, I have the issue on the first slide only.

Hi Kezia & Lappy,

Thanks for your help, my files and folders didn't get affected by the upgrade. However, I have a problem with sounds: all the slides with short sound clips are silent and I can hear only the last part of longer clips. It looks like it can't play the first 1.5 sec or so of the clips. I tried t repair it with the audio diagnostic tool but nothing happened.This makes many of the presentations useless. Can you please help?

Edit: I've just created an error report and sent it. I hope you'll get a more detailed idea about the issue. Thank you!

Hi Evad3,

Thank you so much! I am glad you like the files. I'll do my best to translate as much as I can. I am working on that right now

Oh, I have a question out of curiosity: which Spanish accent do you speak? I still can't tell 

Hi from Texas, it is 57ºF here 

Being excited about teaching your baby is the key to motivation and consistency! So never give up or get bored if your child still hasn't shown his knowledge yet, one day you will be surprised   

Another tip: visit the forum regularly to keep up with EL parents and what they are doing with their kids. You can also search older posts if you have specific questions or directly ask them here.

Happy early learning!

By "incorporating" your files, do you mean including them to the curriculum lessons or just showing them during the presentation?

I personally prefer not to modify the BK curriculum lessons except for adding more pictures or sounds. I would do all my own lessons separately, it is much easier with LR v3 as I can now create my own curriculum.

Thanks Evad3! I am currently working on translating many of BK files into Arabic (my dream is to translate the curriculm    but we will see...) Other than vocabulary, I am also working on Arabic Phonics (it looks like we have sth in common    ). The files are being created according to the following categories:

1- Alphabet
2- Short vowels
3- long vowels and soft letters
4- doubled vowels/ nunnation
5- Vowel-less letters/ Sukoon
6- Doubled letters/ Shaddah
7- Solar letters & Lunar letters
8- The Alif maqsoora
9- The Hamza case (A as a consonant), here is where student make spelling mistakes the most

The next step will be grammar and Encyclopedic knowledge about the Arab culture and Islam.

As for the languages I am teaching my son, I speak 5 out of 7 at different levels of fluency. The other 2 (Chinese & Japanese) I am just learning with him at the same time. BTW, in Tunisia, where I am originally from, we were taught 4 languages by the end of high school (Arabic, French, English and an optional language, I chose German at that time). So it is quite common to be at least trilingual (but not necessarily fluent). Then I took a Spanish course just for  fun at grad school. So yes, that looks a lot, but I think it is just the way things happened... Guess who is taking advantage of that now 

Thanks Evad3! I am currently working on translating many of BK files into Arabic (my dream is to translate the curriculm    but we will see...) Other than vocabulary, I am also working on Arabic Phonics (it looks like we have sth in common    ). The files are being created according to the following categories:

1- Alphabet
2- Short vowels
3- long vowels and soft letters
4- doubled vowels/ nunnation
5- Vowel-less letters/ Sukoon
6- Doubled letters/ Shaddah
7- Solar letters & Lunar letters
8- The Alif maqsoora
9- The Hamza case (A as a consonant), in the Arabic language the most difficult part in spelling

The next step will be grammar and Encyclopedic knowledge about the Arab culture and Islam.

As for the languages I am teaching my son, I speak 5 out of 7 at different levels of fluency. The other 2 (Chinese & Japanese) I am just learning with him at the same time. BTW, in Tunisia, where I am originally from, we were taught 4 languages by the end of high school (Arabic, French, English and an optional language, I chose German at that time). Then I took a Spanish course just for  fun at grad school. So yes, that looks a lot, but I think it is just the way things happened... Guess who is taking advantage of that now