I love the updates.  Thank you Waterdreamer and Nikita!  I'm looking forward to hearing how things progress. 

Great trick Chris.      I must say, I would still be impressed by an 8 year old figuring it out in her head.  What a fun trick. 

Hi Liztull2,

Welcome!  It is definately not too early to start.  Just make sure the letters are big enough.  We talk to our children all the time, even when we are sure they do not understand the words we use.  But, by hearing things over and over, our children learn to understand and to speak.  The early learning methods teach that a child can learn to read, the same way they learn to speak.  We often have to wait a long time before we hear our child speak, but that doesn't mean they aren't understanding words.  If we teach them early on using written words, they learn to associate the things with the writtten word.  As you said, it is best to start with things they know, like Mommy, milk, and hand.  The great thing is that their vocabulary also grows as you teach them.  True, they do not know what a frog is, but if you show them a picture of a frog, they will learn what a frog looks like. Then when they see a real frog, they will already know the label for it.   

Congratulations on your first! 
It is so fun to hear baby's heartbeat.   
I agree with patience.  I had the same problem with my second child and by the time the baby was born, it had moved up.  If you notice any bleeding let your doctor know, but other than that, you can relax and enjoy your pregnancy.  I liked the following website when I was pregnant:  http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/landing-page.aspx 

 

Hi DadDude,

In their defense, they did show us samples of their curriculum at the presentation.  But I do agree that they should put some on their website, too. 

I'm also interested to hear how other BrillKids colleagues think of the program.  Please keep us updated. 

I like the manipulative ideas. 

I am ordering Math 5 for my older boys.  I hope it is very helpful to them.  Chris from Jones Geniuses (JG) called this morning and was very helpful.  I was going to order Math 3, but with his help, I figured out Math 5 would work better.  

I've used the primer, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my older children.  (JG will be coming out with their own primer, but they haven't yet.)  It doesn't cover all of the phonetic rules that the JG program covers (which was fine for 3 our of my 4 reading sons).  If you child catches on quickly, I think the primer by itself will work.  If learning is a little more difficult (for example, they have a difficult time remembering letter sounds), I think the program will be helpful.

(noticed that there were 3 more posts while I was typing, but here it is anyway.)

I'll try to say what I remember, then perhaps others can add on.

Dr. Jones talked the about the Math Matrix program first.  He spoke on how they teach numerals and numbers at the same time using dots on the numerals.  He teaches the children to count forward and backwards, then uses that understanding to teach addition and subtraction.  He also uses the Dot Matrix cards, that he provides with the curriculum set, when teaching addition and subtraction.  He said, at the beginning, it is important to start with the bigger number and count forward (for addition) or backwards (for subtraction).  Once they understand the concept, he has sets of math facts on something like worksheets that the children go through.  At first there are 4 problems, then 10, 20, 25, 50 and finally 100 math facts on a sheet.  After that, you move on to the Math 3 program.

For reading, he uses an animal alphabet to teach the letter sounds.  He said each letter came with a story.  You eventually work through 46 phonetic sounds so the child can decode (I think he said "attack") words.  They also teach rules, like the silent e rule and use word cards.  He showed us how the letter Y and the "ea" combination can have several different pronounciations.   They also use cards to teach sight words.  Oh, and they also use a poster to learn alphabetical order and letter names.  There is a primer that they use with the program (sold seperately). 

That is a summary of what I remember.  It looks like a very well thought out program.

Thank you Nikita!  I especially like the sign language ones.  I was just looking for scriture put to music.  I found Sons of Korah, but it is still a bit beyond the little's interst.   

My question would be:
What does a typical day/lesson with JG math (or reading) look like? 

I did notice,  DadDude, that http://www.jonesgeniuses.com/  gives a few options for math.  The early math only seems to come with the reading, but if they know their numbers and some concept of addition and subratction, it looks like you can use Math 3.  But I'm not sure it will work with younger children because, as you said, I cannot see what the curriculum looks like.

Hello,
When I try to play Semester 2, Day 134, Session 2, B2, I am told that there are "Media files missin" and that "the Multisensory lesson is not currently available".  Does this mean you will eventually have these file?  I just downloaded semester 2 again in case my computer lost the files, but I still have the same message.  Just wanted to check.  Thank you for your help!

Is it possible to do both speed reading & speech practice?   

Yes, but not at the same time.  I think it is great to practice both.  Just let her know which time it is.  If it is free reading time and she gets to read as fast as she wants, that's great.  Then you can have a separate time when you have her read to you.      The first should encourage her to continue enjoy reading, and the second will help her form good sentences when speaking.  With some of my boys, who needed help slowing down, it was good to have printed material that we could point to.  The pyramid method also worked well, just to help them learn to read out loud.  It also worked well with reluctant readers.  It goes something like this.

Dog
The dog
The dog likes
The dog likes cake.
The black dog likes cake.
The black dog likes purple cake.
The black dog likes to eat purple cake.
The black dog likes to eat purple cake every day.

You keep the lines below the one they are reading covered, and keep sliding down the page with them.  It helps the child notice which words were added and it helps them not skip any.  It also helps reluctant readers as they only have to read one or two new words each time.  In the end they've read a long sentence (which is usually silly and makes them laugh).
I need to give credit to the book Pyramid by Dolorez G Hiskes for this idea.

Oh, I think this is a wonderful arrangement.    Babies are amazing at being able to know the difference.  She will learn both languages quite easily.  Sometimes it takes the baby longer to start speaking, but they make up for it when they start speaking in two languages. 

This has sold.  Thank you!   

I am selling a like-new copy of Right Brain Education by Pamela Sue Hickein.  She is the creator of TweedleWink.  You can go to RightBrainKids.com if you want a full description of the book.    

I would like to sell it for $12 ppd. 
(Ppd - postage paid, only in the US.  If you want it sent internationally, let me know and I will check to see what the extra shipping would cost you.)  The book costs $14.95 new + shipping.

  THen

I agree with Krista G in that I wasn't excited about Muzzy.

I also like Bilingual Baby.  If you want the word on the screen, it shows the word when a new word is introduced.

My boy likes Whistlefritz, but it doesn't show the words on the screen.

If you choose to do something like Rosetta stone, you'd have to sit at the computer and work through it while baby watches.  I think the Spanish files on LR would be easier if you are using the computer.

We liked Little Pim, but you might be right in that baby might start mixing if they use the same images.  But they also say that they can sort 3 languages in their heads without much problem.  I'm not sure.

We like the YBCR English version.  If the Spanish version is similar it seems like it would be good.

I'll have to look into some of the others you have on your list.  The only other one we've used is Usborne First Fun with Spanish.  It follows a little girl around as she teaches some Spanish words.  It is a fun one (to borrow at a library, perhaps), but I wouldn't make it the one I buy.