My kids got violins for Christmas. They're 4 and 7. Lessons will cost $190 a month. I'm already paying a lot for piano lessons. Have you used <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VPRFSE/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000VPRFSE&linkCode=as2&tag=doallshoppingcom" target="new">My Violin[/url] by eMedia to teach your kids violin? I was thinking if it's good, I could start off with that and not have to worry about the cost of lessons for a year or so. I was also thinking about maybe having my younger child take lessons and then teach the same things to my older child. Has anyone used the software or do you have any suggestions? Thanks.

Kids can learn multiple languages in the first few years of life without any difficulty. Multilingual kids are easily able to speak different languages with very different grammatically structures. Reading is basically just written language, so it would make sense that it's best learned in the first few years of life. I think 1 to 3 are probably the optimal years for all kids to learn to read. I really wish some studies were done on baby reading because it could potentially reduce the number of kids who become academic failures.

Thanks for all the great responses. I was able to pick up a bunch of used Babysitters Club books and they're a big hit. Trixie Belden is also working out. I'll look into the other suggestions. Hopefully, these will be enough to keep her busy for a while.

Kerileanne99,

Thanks for the suggestion. My daughter loves mysteries. I'd never heard of Trixie Beldon. I just checked the library catalog and they have 7 of them.

I'd forgotten about Baby Sitters Club. I just got a sample for the Kindle to see if she's ready. She wasn't ready for the Saddle Club books even though she loves the show.

I know it's a good complaint to have but my 7 year old reads a lot and very rapidly. She was reading phonetically at about 22 months and has been actively reading chapter books since the age of 5. She's gone through a lot of the Boxcar Children books, American Girl, Animal Ark, Pony Pals, Puppy Place, Andrew Lost, Bobbsey Twins, Little House on the Prairie series, Nancy Drew, The Famous Five, Ron Roy books, Jigsaw Jones, Cam Jansen and Beverly Cleary. She's also read a lot of the kid-friendly classics like The Secret Garden. She doesn't really care for nonfiction, so I read that to her. I can only afford to buy so many books, so I'm largely dependent on the library. She reads so fast, most chapter books are finished in 30 to 90 minutes. She's already re-reading a lot of her books. Can anyone recommend other book series we may be missing that would likely be found at the library?

I'm usually not a big fan of the Rock n Learn videos but they have a few science videos that are really good. They're a bit different than the usual format. Check your local library for a DVD series called Numbers Crew that teaches all kinds of math. The Cat in the Hat PBS shows and Zula Patrol are really good for science.