wow! that's fantastic! I'll check it out for my son's Spanish

here in Beijing I certainly could not get good teachers for that price - it's a very expensive city!
But, if you are a naitve English speaker - you might be able to do exchange for each other

anyways, thanks again, lzp11 -very helpful info

i could definitely help here

pls PM me, let me know how much you're willing to pay, what time zone you live in - i live in mainland China & operate in educational sphere, i know good teachers & can get teachers for anyone who needs

also pls send me your thoughts on the payment way, as CHinese are very practically/financially oriented ppl & i'd have to have that clear when talking with them.
one thing i can do is receive paypal personal transfer in USD & pass on the funds to your tutor here
if you have other thoughts, let me know

http://shine.yahoo.com/moments-of-motherhood/kids-genius-224800691.html

It's a short clip with toddlers reading, calculating & doing geography. So cute!
The comments below, though, show how limited people are in their understanding (or desire to understand or accept) of early learning & the potential of your children

abacus is built on deep understanding & working with place values, very logical - all are an excellent foundation for good math skills later in life
abacus, although a lot of practice, also involves the body & action - the best way to teach young kids, involving their whole's

In any learning drill work is required, but there is a difference when it's done with understanding

I'll pass on all the comments on the mind maps & all, but I HAD to comment on the CHinese learning math better than Americans (even though it's past midnight for me)

I am a math teacher by profession & I am living and teaching (not math :-) )in China, & i know chinese system of education.very well
(I don't want to sound like I know it all, & I don't want to put a wet blanket on the findings of ppl workign from a different perspective, just to share my experience:-) .)The reason chinese learn math better than americans is NOT because of the language , but because of the expectations & the amount of input these kids get ( btw, when you get into larger numbers, it's really confusing, they use a four digit system, MUCH harder to work with) - in American schools they still cut & paste in second grade & add to 20?, in chinese schools in the second grade they are given a week to have the whole times tables pat down, whatever the cost & they see no daylight if they don't, they spend every break in a 7:30 AM TO 4:30 pM  school day doing drills until they do have it down. Chinese kids are in additional classes & grueling homework every evening & weekend! In summer they all sign-up for TONS of extra classes!!! My work quadripples during holidays! If American or any language kids did the amount of the the chinese kids do - I have no doubt they'd have no trouble calculating
Another thing - a lot of their math learing is done with very little understanding, but mainly by rote memorization & in-humane drill work (i heard Japan is very similiar? is that true?)

I know for sure in Russian,where they produce some of the greatest mathematical minds & the requirements are very high in schools, they have no problems with math learing

now that i got it out  ... i don't think it's fair to compare the very relaxed, laid back, take-it-slow, creative American system of education & the Chinese grueling drilling - you get what you pay for  

I see first hand how bad the chinese kids are hurt through their system, because their creative & problem-solving abilities are seriously impaired; but I veyr strongly believe our little ones can know & learn so much more! There are beautiful resources ( I personally really liked what I saw of the Jones Genius,, Abacus programs are a great tool, etc.) & we really should give our kids much. much more than the public school system does, in a much warmer (psycologically/spiritually) & logical/practical, & deeper way (intellectually). it really pays off - speakign from personal experince with some of my "babies" in high school

God bless you, dear dedicated parents out there, I really admire you!!!

It looks like they've got pretty good stuff, but the Western union payment, i feel, makes the price a bit steep,
any thoughts on how we can get around that?

Hey, Shan Shan, would you be willing to ship them for us if we figured a way to send you the payment for the CDs & the shipping? Even living in China it's hard to come across good Chinese programs for kids!
How much are the Cds, how many are there? what's their site so we can check it out a bit more?
Tx a lot

[did]

it is very important to really comprehend the concepts, understanding being the key
i am a math teacher - it's not the route memorization that is important, it's the logic & the understanding

by the way, pls note in the above mentioned article the author also says that the experimental children had regular experiences with measuring, counting, etc - the second key point to successful math learnign - practical application - so they did have math, actually the way it should be taught, life math!  They experienced math in a natural way, not memorized some facts that were disconnected from their life! That is the best way to teach kids math, through practical experiences.

and of course, teaching several languages & the story telling - absolutely!!! YES!!! And i also do agree that good language skills do improve your thinking ability & problem solving skills - actually that would be pretty logical, wouldn't it

thanks a ton for sharing these - the mrspancake oone has so much stuff!
i teach EFL to children & there are so many great resources! many i would be using foe my own baby as well

tx for taking your time, really appreciate it
it's so great to have the 'fellowship' of such dedicated and inspired parents

some time back there was a thread on abacus and i remember a few links to very good free online abacus lessons. i didn't keep the links as i didn't have the need of them at the time, but i do have a recollection of them being very good programs, and i am a math teacher
search the forum, i hope u can find it
good luck
...if we teach concepts to our children fromthe beginning, they will not have 'mathophbia', as they will have understanding, even if they're not meant to be great mathematicians

wow, i feel so far behind! you mommies are amazing, how do you fit it all in a day !?!?!!?!
really well done
could you pls help me with the link to the products you mentioned, as i'm really new to teaching music to my little ones, tx
Ordered Classical Baby 3-Pack - Music, Art & Dance
 Mozart for accelerated learning
 Tune Toddlers

Helen,
I tried downloading (or even reading it on-line) your book, but I only get one page. Am i doing something wrong? How can I get the entire book? I' really fascinated by your teaching method & agree with your logic. I'm trying to teach my baby as well as the older kids music.Thank you fo ryoue help

That's so beautiful! Thank you, Madel, for taking the time & sharing it with us, I'm using it with my baby & a preschooler, so inspiring!
God bless you & your little one(s)!

I love the idea. I had a kid who was ( & is, now at 12) really not into kiddish stuff, but loves technical things, knows just about every knob in a cockpit, etc. I really wish i had given him more tools to work with to discover the world of electronics, engineering, etc. If you know all this stuff, is there any way you could put a bit more details, explanation, etc. in your PP? It would be a great blessing for all our technically minded little engineers.
Thanks to all you, technically minded moms, putting together all the wonderful resources for our children. Appreciate it soooooooooooooo much!