I dun find SM flashcards to be special in anyway. In fact, I had some myself and find them not very well made. Pics are not clear in representing the subject/object with too many unrelated objects in the same pic. Maybe I was too much influenced by GD's guideline in searching for good quality pics for flashcards that I became very particular abt the pics when making cards. As for the other materials, they can be DIY. IN fact, Sm dun sell a whole lot of stuff that they use in class. Most of the materials for home sessions are usually DIY by parents. I DIY most of my materials using any resources I can get hold of in and out of the house. 

U can still go head to make your own cards using GD's guideline for EK cards when searching for pictures.

As for the other activities, Tweddlewink do have some similar ones like linking memory, photo memory etc.

I have my doubts when using SM on younger babies cos mums seems to be the one that does all the activities since baby can only look. However, since the method is used for babies 3 mths old onwards, it must have it special reasons. For anything, I think it's the time spent with baby that creates a great bonding time. Maybe the flashcards and maths might work ok with babies. 

There are many forums that do discussions on SM and GD. Try SGparenting.com.sg that has many parents doing both methods.

Like GD, SM must be done regularly in a very relaxed and fun setting. I see many parents being a little too concern abt results when attending the class partly due to high fees that they started to stress themselves and the poor child. I had been thru that stage myself when we 1st started the classes. After more than 1 yr in the school, we stopped since I find that we can work at a more comfortable and relaxed pace. Indeed, we managed to continue enjoying SM with GD at home till my boy starts kindergarten. 

I had used both method on my now 7 yr old boy when he was younger. We started with SM and slowly proceed to GD's math as we cannot seems to move on from SM's maths. I later combined both method into my daily schedule with GD's math, reading and EK cards and SM's image play, memory trainings, eye training and IQ logic practices. I love both methods and find that combining both methods work very well with my boy. We worked at our pace and hence process is slow but rewarding and fun. The end result I see on him now is what I am satisfied with. He is fast in understanding new concepts and processing information. His memory analytical skills might not have been wonderful but good enough to keep him on the track with the tons of school work he is facing daily now in 1st grade. 

For mums who have resources for both and able to find time for more material preparation, you can consider combining both methods to make the learning sessions fun and enriching. I personally find GD enriching and SM fun for me and my boy. Both makes great bonding time for us.

Dear Dorer,

Firstly, pardon me for being direct...

To see "results", u must 1st take that fast result idea out of your head. A child input years can be till 3 yrs old if u start from birth. Some show output only from 4 yrs old onwards. When that mindset of seeing results, u might never see them at all. Cos your expectation is always there and u will never see even if your child do show anything.

I started off with these brain training methods with my boy and always feel pressured to see results since he started at age 2 which is really kind of late for such training methods. Partly also becos I paid high fees for those classes like Shichida. I realized that that was very wrong after finding out abt GD. I had to totally change my mindset and teach at a pace we both enjoyed and we had great fun together.

Now i would tell my frens to teach with just simply love for the child and use the sessions as great bonding time rather than drilling time. Me and my boy would call our sessions "fun time" cos that's when he gets to spend more than 1 hr with my full attention and games and cards that i made just for him. I am a working mummy, hence time is very precious to me.. I was doing the program all by myself with no help at all from hubby then, hence making regular sessions a challenge. But effort spent these years are worth it for sure. I am now enjoying my "results" with a child independent in his studies and also in other areas like sports. Btw, he dun even read till he is 4+..and he was a slow reader then..He is now in 1st grade but he is reading at 4th grader level. I am surprised but yet very happy cos I have not expected anything from him and there he is showing me the results of our happy sessions.

By the way, no need to rush for that 30 mths thingy. We started dot cards at age 2 with dots and he did not have any issues with learning maths at all. What u need is just consistency in showing those cards for the next few months cos child after 3 might have difficulty seeing the dots. Remember to do at a pace which is comfortable for both of u. No point getting pressured cos child can sense your stress immediately without u showing it on your face. That hinders child's learning mood and ability.

Just carry on with your language cards as per schedule. Dun worry abt whether is he "learning" them yet. Dun test..never even attempt to do it especially when child is unwilling to even play the game.

Some kids just talks later..once they start, they never stop...maybe u will find that "annoying" later . My nephew  a mth younger than my boy starts talking in full sentences only when is was almost 4. He can sure annoy everyone at anytime right now.  U can speak as many languages as u like with child. Reading can be keep to maybe a max of 2 languages?

Just want to share my thought...

Vianbabe
 

Hi mummies,

I had been thru both SM and GD maths with my boy for the past 4 years.

He started at 2 yrs old with SM maths and their dot cards. Took me some time to complete even 1 cycle. Got a little bit of "result" when he was able to answer all my 10 question of addition and subtraction with qty within 10. As we proceed into 2nd cycle, process got even slower. He almost lost interest in maths dots! I realised that the biggest reason is because I dun really understand what the program structure is then and when I post the question during a parent volunteer meeting, I was told that it's their "trade secret"! I was totally annoyed of course.  But we do enjoy the rest of the method which my son is pretty good with like IQ and memory trainings and we do have a very nice sensei that likes my boy very much.

I discover abt GD math after more than 1 yr of SM math. We started immediately and GD and my boy fell in love with this program cos I know what I am teaching and he understands what he is learning. I even change to GD dot cards which he simply love them a lot better than SM cards. There is a reason why GD's card is square and big. Kids like big dots and square means u can change orientation of card each time i.e. u dun see just 1 or 2 orientation of 10 dots  with SM a4 card but 4 types with GD card. 

We had great fun with GD method and till today, he still loves his dot cards even though he is almost 7! We dun need them anymore but he just enjoys playing with them. I doubt he can "see" the dots anymore but he can still "link" qty to numerals when he hears the numbers. GD maths indeed help me in developing his math foundation. We are though slow on the program but we do see satisfactory results. Might not have made him a math genius but at a least developed a love for the subject which I hated the most. He is at least doing maths at min. 1 grade above his peers.

Mummies, do find out abt SM maths if u need to..but I would strongly recommend GD math.

U dun really have to attend SM classes to use the method..There are many products that are almost the same such as Wink. There are also many more products that u can use for such right brain trainings. I dun depend on 1 source. I always look out for any suitable materials  for all different areas of trainings.

Hope my input be useful...

Vianbabe

Hi Chris1,

Shichida has produced 3 sets of cards which u have mentioned. The random dots which is use mainly for it's math program. It's almost like GD random dot cards. Except that the dots are smaller cos it's printed on A4 size cards with a corner of the card that is cut off..All Shichida produced cards have 1 corner cut off. Not sure why but the dot card being A4 limited the orientation of the cards which can be flashed to kids since GD suggested the cards be rotated so that each time the kids see a "different" set of dots even though they are actually looking at the same quantity. The smaller dots might not be attractive enough for kids too. At least my boy did not enjoy those cards as much as my set of GD dot cards!

The organised dot cards are actually dots arranged in rows of 10 on a A4 potrait card. Nothing big a deal..It's almost like showing the qty on a bead abacus in rows of 10. it comes is 1-100 dots..

The picture cards are random pictures showing qty. They just different sets of pictures instead of dots. It is also more like cards to supplement the random dot cards. If you ask me, it's a waste of time to do that even. Maybe it might works for getting kids who somehow dislike red dots to look at quantity. I know some parents in Singapore are into making these picture instead of red dot cards cos they feel that their kids don't like looking at red dots.

If you kid is ok with red dots, stick to it..It's still the best tool ever!

I would strongly discourage the use if picture qty cards cos they might be distracting and confusing for your child who has already been exposed to red dots. Unless it's really in the case where the child just simply hate the red dots!

The shichida math program is very different from GD. It runs for 60 days for cycle 1 and another 60 day for cycle 2. The few few days for both cycle are just simply flashing dots from 1-50 and 50-100. Followed by are mixture of equations using 1 to all 4 operations and some even uses brackets ( which we have to read out too!). The equations can get so long and confusing that I don't even know what I am reading or teaching! All I know is that by the time I finished 1 equation, my poor boy has probably been staring at the same dot cards which reflect the answer to the equation for more than 30 seconds and half a sleep soon. If u ask the school abt the reasons for the format, it's trade secret that they will tell u! I paid for the formulas but yet never know what's the rationale behind it cos it's trade secret!  >  That's why we switched to GD when I found out about the wonderful math program which both me and my boy enjoyed it the most. No more boring equations, not more question marks in our head as we go through the equations and more fun with GD.

Hope my explaination helps!

Cheers,
Vianbabe

My boy attended Shichida when he was 2 and we used the method for a couple of yrs. They teaches right brain trainings which includes ESP, wave reading, memory trainings, image training, IQ trainings, maths, foreign languages and tons of flashcards inputs..Sounds like too much for a child to absorb yah..

They do image training by asking child to image things in their head as parents or teacher tell them the object/ scenerio. However, it's kind of difficult to judge if the child is actually "imaging" those objects! I used all the methods that nhockaday has posted above.

I do maths using imaging instead. I asked my boy to image stuff like apples on a trees and we do a adding and subtracting of the apples in his head.. He has to imagine plucking the apples down from the tree and adding to the ones in the basket.. This way, I kind of "know" that he is doing what's he is doing..Not sure if this method is appropriate in teaching imaging but we enjoyed it anyway!

I have to say that the imaging practices can be fun as our imagination goes wild..almost like Dr Suess kind of imagination!!!

Abacus is taught in some Singapore primary schools. The school which my boy is starting primary 1 next Jan used to do abacus for all the lower primary students..But I am not sure if they still doing it in the past 2-3 yrs..I will find out and let you know when he starts P1!

I wanted to do abacus for my boy who loves maths..We did Shichida and Glenn Doman maths since he is 2. He has since developed a love for the subject which I hated!   However, I had also received a number of negative comments abt abacus. Kids who are good at abacus sure can count very fast, however in school, they never want to follow the method of doing workings! That's becos they already have the answer by the time they finish reading the question! Sadly, in schools, they require students to show workings! Actually my boy already has such issue with dot cards since he can count faster in his head. I did not want to complicate the issue by sending him for abacus. Now I had to sit down with him to show working as he practices his maths...He hates it and so do I cos it slows him down..But I do see the positive side of workings which let him understand that it allows him to self check for mistakes and also to slowly breakdown a tough problem which he will face later as he moves to higher grade level. 

As I slowly understand the "singapore method" of teaching maths, I do see the reasons why educators from Us are adopting it.. My boy's tutor has an American middle schooler who seems to have improve alot in maths which she never did after she adopted the Singapore way of learning! However, working in an international school with American curriculum also allows me to make use of their method to teach my pre-schooler in concept building for early maths. Correct me if I am wrong, but I feel that their method seems to work more on concept building for the younger ones for the early primary years..

Btw, Chispa, I can't agreed more than NO 1 method is complete or at least works for all.. That's why I am always looking out for other resources to supplement my boy's learning experience. I think learning process has to be fun in order to enjoy it more yah!

Though my boy hardly rolls around and tries to "clean" the floor of the mall, there are times he will make a little scene too. I will not say a single word to him, pick him up and we walk to a quiet corner of the mall. I will stand next to him till he calmed down and stop his nonsense. Then I will talk to him about his inappropriate behavior. I will let him know why I choose a quiet corner instead of disciplining or talking to him right in the middle of the shopping crowd after all the stare from passerbys. I respected him by not causing more embarrassment on him if I have to talk to him in the open area. I would like the same level of respect from him by not causing an embarrassment in the public with his behavior now and in future. My boy somehow got the message that people are looking at him when he misbehaved and he will try not to do that again. I will encourage him to discuss with me his requests and listen to my reasons/ explainations rather than creating a scene in the public. There is always room for discussion!

Maybe not for very young babies or toddler cos their right brain is still developing at that age..but with a 3 or 4 yr old, u might be able to observed from his activities..I know my boy is more left brain as he gets older which can be seen in his logical thinking path and math ability. He is hardly anyway near creative or enjoy any role play..He can given a toy like a figurine and will never seems to know what to do with that! But with a puzzle in his hand, he will love a go0d challenge more than anything else. The only right brain part abt him is his memory ability and imaging skills.    However some people might not change from start till adulthood. I've been a right brain dreamer since young and still is! Never seems to do things in logical manners, messy table, but good photomemory and loves creative work.

That part abt kids being unable to preceive dots after 3 might be more for kids who have not been expose to dot cards..I started my boy at 2 and we still uses the dots cards when he's 4. We continued with the cards cos he likes them..During the program, whenever we do problem solving, like what GD said, kids get them right most of the time and so did my boy. When I finally asked him how did he get the answer, he told me he "sees" dots moving in his head..

Btw, we  are not very intensive into the program at all..we do at least 4-5 days a week with 3 sessions all conducted within 1 hr together with EK cards and memory trainings unlike the program suggested 3 sessions thru the day. I am a working mum and time with my boy is precious. We cherished this special bonding moments which is fun for both of us..

We dun test them cos that create stress..hence the program do problem solving which gives kids the choice of the answer. If they had not thought abt it ( which is fast like lightning!) , how would they come up with the right answer almost each time ...so that shd answer most mummies' question of whether has my child mastered math?

Hi all,

I started my boy with Shichida Math using dot cards that are A4 size with smaller red dots when he turns 2. He was working well with that method an set of cards for a short while since it's something totally new. However, when I found out abt GD maths, I love the method and so is my boy with a new set of GD maths dot cards..The program works wonderfully for him and helped him developed a deep love for maths for the past few yrs. He is 6 now and can do maths easily and understands any new concepts introduced to him without much efforts.

Cheers,
vian

Hi Luana,

Just want to let u know tat if u do start early with your child, u are helping her in a very big way and giving her the best gift of her life- knowledge!.. I have a friend with a down syndrome boy who is 7 now..His IQ level is way above any normal person.. he is a sensible and loving boy... Mummy started from birth and never stop from Day 1 till now ( that included any holidays!) ..she is a super mummy whom I greatly admire and inspired by her love for her child.. knowledge input is one impt factor but pls also dun forget their physical development which can greatly affects the way they learn too..

Cheers,
Vian