The reason for doing it this way is that it helps a child understand that the group of things is the number not the last thing counted. This is addressed in KTM, Marshmallow Math, Jump Math and in even the Ray's Arithmetic series. Those programs have various ways of addressing it, this seemed to be the easiest way for us.

Hmmm, now it makes sense why she doesn't subitize numbers beyond 3 any more, even though she used to be able to.  I was beginning to wonder why we didn't seem to progress beyond that no matter how many times we counted groups of four and five. 

Thanks for the file!!!  Looking forward to 6 - 12!! 

CVMomma, I never thought my daughter liked math as much as she liked reading.  But short and simple bits have been growing on her.  If your LO likes stories, try making up stories that involve counting, patterns, or one-to-one correspondence.  For instance:

Counting - Once upon a time there were four little horses and they went looking for carrots to eat.  They found one carrot, but that wasn't enough for all of them.  So they walked a little farther and found two carrots: one, two.  But that wasn't enough for all of them either. etc...

Patterns - Once there was a black dog and a white dog and the brown dog.  The black dog had a black bowl, the white dog had a white bowl, the brown dog had a brown bowl (and blanket and bone...  Then the objects get messed up) The black dog looked and he was laying on the brown blanket!  And the white dog was laying on the black blanket!  And the brown dog was laying on the white blanket!  So what did they do?

One-to-One Correspondence - Once four little ducks were going on a picnic.  They got a big basket and put in four yellow plates and four white napkins and four... (etc, etc.  Then they take everything out when they go on the picnic, eat the food, and clean up the dishes)

My daughter loves that repitition right now, and she asks for variations on these stories almost every day.  It's amazing how little literary merit she demands.   But it's nice when we're in the car or walking the dog or grocery shopping to tell a story with half my mind, keep her happy, AND do math.  The other thing she would put up with was counting everything.  "You have three dinosaurs - one, two, three."  When I started, just that much counting a few times a day was all she'd accept before she'd get bored.  (I guess she didn't like many math stories at first either.)  But with time she got to like more, and now she does it on her own!  Don't give up!

Thanks Wolfwind!!  She does have a hard time visualizing imaginary things, but she puts up with my terrible drawing and believes me when I tell her that "that is a duck!!"    So, I guess I will just have to draw out lots of math stories now!  Thanks for the ideas!  Karma!

Keri:  thanks also for the link for turning the clock into a flower.  I have tried unsuccessfully to teach time several times.  Maybe this will help!!  Karma!

Yes, it is encouraging to others!!!  Thanks for the update. 

My LO has never seemed to enjoy math like she does reading.  She endures it and we are seeing sloooooow results.  We just started MEP (we are on lesson 12 today) and she has asked for that by name.  That made me very excited!!!  I am trying to convince our library that we need the book Marshmallow Math, since my hubby has said, "No more EL books!!!"  Also, since my LO loves writing, she loves to "write" math papers that I make!  I look for anyway that I can inspire her to enjoy math. 

Wow,  amazing to both Wolfwind and PokerDad!!!  Keep up the good work!  And keep on posting about your babies' progress.  I, for one, love reading about your success!

I am using the Rosetta Stone with my daughter.  She is 2 years, 5 months old.  I say "use it"  loosely.    Maybe once a week??  Sometimes more often.  Sometimes less.  But she has to sit on my lap and point to her choice.  She retains amazingly well considering how inconsistently we use it!   

I like the Rosetta Stone for language learning, just because it will actually teach you to speak the language well enough to converse with someone in that language.  Most other methods used for teaching children only teach words/phrases/simple sentences. 

I am several lessons ahead of my daughter, but she grasps it better and faster than I do.  So if you are learning the same language with your child, they will probably be correcting your speech!!    From my experience, yes, it does work with a young child; they just can't do it on their own until they gain computer skills. 

Also, one other observation I have with Rosetta Stone.  If you use the testing section that tests your speech, it is almost impossible to pronounce with the same intonation that the national speaker used.  Even if you speak with no accent, it isn't exactly the same.  I just use the other testing sections if I want to see how we are doing.

Hello Preets!  Welcome to the forum!

You have already done one of the most important things by reading to him!!  There are so many different ways to teach reading found in many different books, you could get lots of suggestions on this one!    Most of them would be great suggestions too!

If you really want a book that will teach you how to teach reading, from my experience, I would have said to use the Abeka Handbook for Reading.  You wouldn't have to use the whole curriculum, that book alone has a very systematic way to teach reading.

I say "I would have" because now that I have been on this forum and heard about DadDude's ReadingBear program, I would have to recommend that.  It can be found at http://www.readingbear.org   Before you use that program it is best to teach your child the basic consonant letter sounds.  A good website for doing that is www.starfall.com 

Most kids find this a very engaging, fun way to learn how to read.  My 2.5 year old loves it, and my 6 year old nephew is loving it too!

Here are a couple of other posts about teaching older youngsters. http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-older-child/how-to-start-teaching-my-3-year-old-daughter  and http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-to-read/has-anyone-used-the-book-'teach-your-child-to-read-in-20-easy-lessons'  These posts had some interesting ideas about teaching reading.  You can find more topics by using the search button in the gray area at the top of this page. 

Hope this is helpful!  And I hope other parents chime in too!

Here is a link for the Rookie Readers for less than $5.00 a piece if you buy a whole set.
http://www.mariinc.com/errookie.html?gclid=CPj31Iv2nLICFcV7Qgodhl0Abw   

Our library doesn't have them.  Now one more thing to add to my wish list

So far we do lots of prewriting activities and lots of free time scribbling or coloring.  She always has a pencil and a piece of paper at her own desk and she can spend a lot of time making her own "designs".  Occasionally she actually makes something recognizable which causes great excitement!  "OOOooo!  I made a circle/a 'r'/ or a diamond!!!"  She can't make any letters or numbers yet on her own. 

Just recently, she started tracing.  She can trace all of the letters or numbers if they are large enough.  She also does a lot of matching with my homemade math papers.  I make a column of numbers on one side of the page and a column of objects on the other side.  Then she draws a line matching things up.  That seems to help her control her pencil or color better.

I am planning to follow her lead as to when we start formal handwriting.  Unless of course, she balks long past the time when she is able to do it; I just can't see that happening since she is so excited about writing. 

We use pencils, colors, dry erase markers, and pens so far.  I have a recipe for finger paints that I want to try, but haven't yet. 

Thanks Manda and Korrale,

I had asked the dr. about it about a month ago and he seemed to think that it wasn't anything to be concerned about although it does happen 5 or 6 times a week.  Most of them are less than a minute, but the long ones....   Besides, we live 80 miles from town and the doctor, so unless it is an emergency or a regular shopping trip we probably wouldn't go just for nose bleeds.

We live in the high desert, so it does get hot 90+ F. during the day.  But it also cools off to 30-40 F at night.  I am curious why some kids seem to get them and others don't.  My siblings and I didn't get them unless we were bumped hard in the nose.  My husband said he thinks that he got them when he was younger.  So far, it doesn't seem to be heat related otherwise I would think she would get them while we are outside in the hot, dry air running around.  Mostly, it happens in the house, thankfully!  She doesn't ever seem concerned, and is fascinated by the blood   

[HOURS]

1. There is an option above the message you want to quote on the right handside that says "quote" (at least I think there is anyway!). If not-- http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=367  Hope that helps!

Thanks! 

2.  Thanks for answering!  I look at what some of these superb EL kids have accomplished on this site (Ella, Lily, Owen, Anita, etc, etc) and it makes me wonder how much EL affects personality/genetic learning ability/etc.  There are so many good topics on here, I could spend HOURS reading about it!  I had better not though! 

I use Firefox and it has worked very well for me.

I have to agree with Poker Dad.  This is truly amazing, Ella!!!  Great job to both Ella and her mom!!!

So what are the rest of us missing??  Is it just the type of curriculum/programs that she has been exposed to?  Or the time and effort AAngeles must be putting into her learning?  Higher expectations??

Just think what Ella will be doing when she is typical junior high school age!!

If you have any suggestions for the rest of us AAngeles, let us know!

My 2 yo daughter has been having bloody noses quite often lately.  Just wondering if any other parents are dealing with this and what can be done for her.  We do live in a dry climate, but we use a humidifier every night and most days, when we are in the house.  I thought that was at least helping her to not get bloody noses at night, but last night she had another one.    

Sometimes they last 5-10 minutes.  We usually try an ice pack wrapped in cloth on the back of her neck, or have her hold an ice pack in her hands.  Sometimes that seems to help, other times it doesn't.

Does anyone have an idea what would cause this??  Or what we can do so it won't continue to happen??

We just started using Reading Bear, and we love it!!!  She calls all of her teddy bears "Reading Bear" now  

We have only used it twice, and have not noticed that the audio and text are off.  We have a very slow desktop and it seems to be doing fine here in Oregon.

Thank you so much for all your work!  We appreciate it and have told the local school about it.  They are going to use it with some of their students!

m_rogue23,  don't give up!!  The results are worth it!  My daughter didn't always want to look at dot cards either, but I kept at it.  Use a extra, exciting voice and maybe try putting a picture of your face or something else she enjoys in between a few of the dot cards.  I noticed the biggest improvement when we started using Little Math.  If you haven't tried it, you can download the free trial and see how it goes.  Now we are just finishing up semester 1 of LM and my daughter can do basic adding and subtracting!!!  She doesn't like to be tested though and often acts like she can't.  I catch her "teaching" it to her dolls, etc; that is how I know that she knows it.    I suspect that she also can multiply, but I have never had proof of that yet. 

Also, if your LO is only 7 months, it may be a while before you would be able to hear her doing math problems, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't know them!  Other parents have lots of good suggestions too if you read through other posts.