Oh it looks like this program thought I was swearing. I was just sounding out the Japanese.

The name of the place in Japanese is: Yokosuka Kyo shi tsu.

There. I think now it thinks I'm an okay person. LOL!

I don't live in Yokosuka right now, but my husband used to be stationed in the Yokosuka Base. There IS a Shichida Child Academy in Yokosuka. I've never enrolled my child in Shichida there (We're in Sapporo right now.), but have considered doing so when we move back to Yokosuka.

"Yokosuka Kyo-******su" (Yokosuka Classroom)
0468-27-3012
3 min walk from Shioiri Station (Tokyu Line)
http://www.shichida.ne.jp/map/map_img/45014.gif
http://www.shichida.ne.jp/map/school.php?rec_id=045014#

I've observed classes in Sapporo and the tuition is more or less around 150000 yen a month for a one hour class once a week.
The additional entrance fee made my wallet wince.

Best of luck!

[I've read an article that said people with perfect pitch tend to analyze music like a computer, and forget about the "heart" during music interpretation.]

Not exactly sure if perfect pitch is something I want to give my child.

I've read an article that said people with perfect pitch tend to analyze music like a computer, and forget about the "heart" during music interpretation. Other articles say this is more so if you begin to train your children through single notes as opposed to chords.

The first article was VERY against perfect pitch training, and had it's research based on people with perfect pitch. The author himself had absolute pitch also. He did not like having this skill.

Relative pitch is, in my opinion, more useful.

All I'm saying is, don't just assume perfect pitch is a must. If you want your child to have perfect pitch, do some thorough research first!

Best of luck!

I am a professional language teacher. One of the most important things that you can do for your child is to teach them that Spanish, in your case, is not merely information, but language. It is to be used, not just heard.

I see too many parents afraid to speak non-native languages.... They end up teaching their children to also be afraid to speak non-native languages. They teach it by only allowing machines/native speakers to do the speaking.

I highly suggest you do as much speaking as possible. Who cares if your grammar is wrong? They might learn a few things wrong, too, but for one thing, they're smarter than you and quickly learn the correct grammar through friends/DVDs/etc., and for another thing, isn't speaking something better than nothing?

Good luck! I'm attempting Spanish also.

I agree with hypatia. The main message of the Domans' is NEVER: "you're too old" or "you're too dumb." Their main message is: "GO! for it; the babies/children will lead the way." Look at what your child is naturally challenging herself to do, take that as a hint, and encourage her to further and throughly develop those skills. If you are still lost, I would suggest you take her to a gymnastics class. They will give you some more ideas. Good luck!

[professional language teacher]

Great idea! I am a professional language teacher and I can speak Japanese!

Looking for someone who can speak Spanish! Write me a message if you want to start a chat.

Have you heard of The Virtues Project? The international school I work part time for uses this project to teach morals to the kids. I bought a book from them and I think it's great!

http://www.virtuesproject.com/index.php

I've heard of it, but not in much detail. I see a lot of preschools and kindergartens using this style of teaching without realizing it as the Socratic method. It would be great if grade school teachers adapt this sort of teaching into their repertoire; but it is still inevitable that our kids will be expected to be passive in school. I guess it becomes our responsibility as parents to provide family down time to use methods like the Socratic method with our children.

Remember that the birthing process is not done by the mother alone, nor the baby alone. It is a combined effort by both the mother and baby. When you have a contraction, allow the baby to do his or her job to move forward (more downward), by focusing on your cervix and allowing it to open. HELP the baby, and the baby will help you. Do not 'run' from the inevitable; gracefully embrace this beautiful process of childbirth and both you and the baby will remain calm (and therefore safe). If you focus on this, it will be an easy childbirth and neither will have complications.

I recommend the book The Secret Life of the Unborn Child by Thomas Verny, M.D., with John Kelly. You will be shocked at the affect NOT remaining calm will have on your baby.

I've recently came across some research that people with perfect pitch have an added burden. Basically, they hear every sound in musical notes that it becomes difficult to do anything without absolute silence. Sounds distract them too much.

If you have perfect pitch (or know someone who does), will you share your insight to this topic?

Thanks!

No, I haven't tried that method, but I also came across some research that perfect pitch is actually not beneficial, that people with perfect pitch have trouble focusing, etc. I am still trying to figure out if perfect pitch is something I want my child to have. Maybe I will put up a post and ask what other mothers think.

I've been wanting to get LR and LM for my daughter for about a year now, but have never done so because I have a Macintosh. The BrillKids website states, "Our BrillKids Learning Systems do not officially support Macs at the moment." Anyone have luck using BrillKids with Macs? I have a Mac mini OS X.

sorry, forgot to say why we didn't bother with the ABC letter names. i am a teacher, so is my mom, and a whole bunch of our other family members. we've come to the conclusion that ABC's are almost worthless in early childhood education, and would much rather replace simple those ABC's with phonics

also keep in mind.. this is advice from my mother: sometimes very young children won't show you they know what they know you want them to have learned and remembered, simply because they are bored and are insulted at the low level of stimulation. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOUR SON SHOWS OR "PROVES" THAT HE KNOWS EVERY SINGLE LETTER OF THE ALPHABET. think about it.. is it better that he understands 100% of a very limited amount of information you are able to offer him, or say.. 60% of a rich, balanced, and varied amount of information?? which do you think is more intelligent?

wow that's a long time showing him the ABC's. we didn't even say the names to the letters and stuck to phonics sounds. we retired our ABC's when my daughter was just 2 months old. she already knew them. hurry and retire your ABC's before your son gets sick and tired of them and learns to dislike what some adults call the learning process. stimulate, stimulate, stimulate!

if you're worried, take a break from the ABC's, do some math or whatever else, and go back to the ABC's. you'll probably be surprised at how much your son had remembered.

When my daughter was 14 months old we got her a 1/32 violin for Christmas because she absolutely loved watching my mother play her violin and couldn't keep her hands off of Grandma's violin. She has been bowing Grandma's violin since she was a baby and now that she has her own violin, she puts the pine sap on the bow by herself, plucks the strings, and also bows it by herself.  It still is a little big for her to properly hold it, but every morning--and I mean every morning--she wakes up, goes potty, and immediately after that runs to Grandma's room (and wake Grandma up) to request we take out all three violins in the house for her morning violin lesson. She is still only 15 months old but she makes me realize that's really not too early to start.