Hi vvaneesa,

We introduced the potty when my daughter was about 8-9 months old. We used cloth diapers from birth, which helped I think because she hated feeling wet. We always changed diapers immediately. I took her to the bathroom with me often so she was familiar with the process before ever putting her on the potty. She went potty the first time I put her on there. It was right after a nap. She always woke up dry from naps, so it was a perfect time to try for the first time.
Once we introduced the potty, she never went number 2 in a diaper again. We kept her in diapers at first because we couldn't find underwear small enough for her. She would occasionally pee in her diaper due to our inability to get her to the potty in time, and it was never a big deal. We just changed her and went on with whatever we were doing. Instead of carrying a bag of diapers, we used to carry her little baby Bjorn potty when we went out.
It was always a positive experience. We never pressured her. It was very easy. We just had to make sure to sit her down before leaving the house and every hour or so at first and then less often. She always let us know when she had to potty. The first time I put her on the potty, I taught her the ASL sign for it,  so she quickly learned that was a good way to communicate that she needed to potty.
Every child is different though. I think as long as it never becomes a negative experience for the child, it's a great thing to do. It has to be a positive experience.
In short, she was completely out of diapers by age 1.
Let me know if you have other questions!

Hi yusrab,

I read a lot to my daughter since she was an infant, usually running my finger under the words as I read.  I took notice of which books she enjoyed most since they held her attention.  I pointed out letters and numbers everywhere.  We liked Preschool Prep Company's DVDs and apps and the Endless Alphabet, Endless Reader, and Endless Numbers apps.  

We also do a ton of reading everyday because she loves it so much.  When she was an infant, we would dedicate time to reading books with one word per page (in addition to reading other picture books).  While reading books, I would pause at words I knew she had already learned to see if she would read them.  Many times she did, other times she didn't.  I never pushed; I just had faith that it was all sinking in.  Then, I started showing her Reading Bear (www.readingbear.org).  It's free and wonderful for teaching to read by sounding out words.  We read different types of books, some books with rich vocabulary and also easy reader books to build up her confidence.

We also liked watching Leapfrog Letter Sounds, Talking Words Factory, etc.

As for math, Marshmallow Math is a great book to start with.  We like the YCCD DVDs every once in awhile.  We played with blocks a lot and talked about the different 3D shapes (ie. pyramid, cone, etc.).  We practiced making patterns and sorting items/toys.  We play(ed) with big dice and dominoes.  There's a cool app called Bugs and Buttons that she used to love to play too.  There's a show called Number Crew that is fantastic.  I wouldn't have thought my daughter would enjoy it, but she loves it.  Each episode incorporates different math concepts.  We read MathStart books which are living math books that teach math concepts through fun stories.  

The key is to reinforce concepts from the DVDs or books with fun activities.

This is just a very general idea of what we've done...

If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to share!  

Take care!

Hi!  Here's a link I found to order the Mouse Math books.  There's an order form on this page.

http://kanepress.com/mouse-math/

Good luck!

mybabyian,

Great game idea! It sounds like one she would really enjoy.
Thanks for the suggestion
We are in the middle of a transition right now, but as soon as we are settled in, I will probably order the blocks, a password, and Singapore Math as well.
I remember looking at All About Spelling awhile back, but I didn't think she was ready. I'll probably make my own tiles as you mentioned and start playing around with those a bit. Do you know of any good apps?

GeniusExperiment,

Thank you for your encouragement!  I try not to test often, so i dont always realize what shes picking up, but when she feels like it, she suddenly tells me things that I didn't realize she knew or understood.


Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.  Critical thinking, memory, and right brain activity ideas? Science?. When we settle into our new place, we will be adding more things to our daily activities so I'm brainstorming right now.

Foreign languages have taken a backseat lately even though she was progressing quite nicely. I need to make that a regular activity again.

Music is another area that she absolutely adores. She learned the Curwen hand signs thanks to a free video from Preschool Prodigies and a few practices. We do Little Musician, although not as regularly as we should. She really enjoys LMu and is obviously learning from it! Earlier today, I downloaded an app that asks you to identify the note that's played, and she answered a few correctly but answered using solfege note names. I did a quick search and saw that Teaching My Toddlers had a ton of great game/activity ideas to reinforce the material in LMu. Thanks for the neat ideas!
We did the starter program for Preschool Prodigies thanks to Tamsyn's recommendation, and my daughter loved it. I think we will start that curriculum and then start Soft Mozart. Or can we do both at once?

Thanks in advance!


..

Long post! Here it goes:

So, my daughter is about 2 1/2 now, and she blows me away by how much she learns everyday! Her decoding skills in reading are really taking off, and she's interested in spelling. Can anyone recommend any good spelling apps or programs? We've tried a couple of apps, but she wasn't really interested in them so I'm looking for something engaging.

For science, we watch Magic School Bus and Rachel and the Treeschoolers. Afterward, we reinforce concepts through fun activities. For example, after an episode about plants, we planted a seed and have been watching the plant grow. She knows about parts of the plant and that it needs sunlight and water, etc. For a planets episode, we made all of the planets out of materials we had at home, and she played with these for weeks! She loves dinosaurs and insects and birds, and for some reason she loves Bill Nye! We read books about the different topics as well which she loves. Am I missing anything in this department?
Any apps?

I want to help her continue to develop critical thinking skills. She asks a lot of questions and makes amazing connections between concepts. I'm thinking about buying Lollipop Logic and maybe some stuff from Critical Thinking Company. Any specific books you all can recommend? 

For math, she counts to 100, knows numbers beyond 100, understands one to one correspondence, counts backwards quickly, skip counts by 2s and 10s, can do simple addition and subtraction, knows some fractions and measurements. I really want to get her going in math, but I'm still trying to determine which route to take.

Currently, we read Mathstart books, play with dominoes and dice, play with measuring cups in the bath, she helps me measure while I cook, and we do other math activities through play. We have also started reading Brian Cleary books, which she loves. I think Mortensen blocks are an excellent idea along with getting a password on Crewton Ramones House of Math website, so I'll be placing an order soon. I think this will help her to really understand math. In addition, I am thinking Singapore math would be good for her. I want to start teaching her Soroban as well maybe in a few months, although I have no experience myself. I know there are other curriculums out there too like MEP and Jones Geniuses. Please share your experiences!

Any other routes or ideas you can suggest?

Memory is another area we want to focus on. I've heard of Memory Magic, but it seems their apps no longer exist. Anyone have experience with the software? Are there any to her apps you can suggest?

We watch Tweedlewink several nights a week and welcome any suggestions for more right brain materials.

Just a little background on her. She grasps concepts pretty quickly, and she doesn't like too much repetition or she gets bored. I find that she prefers a variety of methods vs seeing the same thing everyday which is why we tend to use several different curriculums, apps, etc. 

Thanks in advance!

Thank you for sharing your blog post! Your son seems to truly enjoy it too Good job momma and son!
Your blog is inspiring

Thanks, Tamsyn! I had considered Preschool Prodigies previously but didn't know anyone who used the curriculum. Thanks for the review and for your products. They look great! Love that you use Little Musician colors

Last night, I happened to stumble upon the fact that Preschool Prep Co has come out with three levels of Meet the Math Facts DVDs!     I saw them while looking for simple addition songs on YouTube and found them just in time, as my 2 year old daughter is super interested in addition right now.  We've been playing with dice and other math manipulatives lately, and I think these videos will help cement these concepts.   

Level 1 includes sums 0 to 8. Level 2 includes sums 9 to 12. Level 3 includes sums 13 to 20.  The DVDs feature new captivating characters that PP is known for and children love.  We watched a few of the previews, and as expected my daughter was hooked!  We are huge fans of PP 

Anyway, I'm placing my order today, and I will write another update after a couple of months.

I hope you guys are as excited as I am!

Please post your own reviews here if you've already been using them. 

I just wanted to write a quick update. I purchased Signing Time Sentences and found it quite helpful for myself.  It's a simple, fun, and easy to way understand ASL grammar. My daughter hasn't watched it yet, but we will be introducing it soon.   I'll write another update at that time.

Some people do the lessons in different languages back to back, one right after the other.  I've seen others designate certain times of the day (morning - language 1, afternoon - language 2, evening - language 3) or certain days of the week to each language (M, W, F - language 1, T, Th - language 2, Sa, Su - language 3).
I'm sure whatever you choose will be what's best for your family. I don't think you can really go wrong

Hi and welcome! It's great that your family speaks three languages and are passing that on to your child/children.
It is not necessary to finish a curriculum before starting a new one. If you want to stagger them, you could introduce a different language every few weeks. For example, start with the first language, then two to six weeks later start the second language, and two to six weeks later start the third.
Many people on here have done this successfully with their children. Hopefully others will chime in as well. Be sure to ask if you have more questions.
Good luck!

Wow, mrseddy! Congratulations   Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.  It's always nice to hear updates from everyone.

I haven't ordered it yet, but I will definitely provide feedback as soon as we start using it. I saw a preview, and it looks great. My daughter was super excited about it!

Hi and welcome to the Brillkids community! You can search through old posts and find a ton of information. I would teach them to read in both languages if you are able. You will find that many members on here have successfully taught their little children to read in more than one language. My daughter (2y3m) has had daily exposure to Spanish and English since birth and can read in both languages.
Good luck on your EL journey! It's a lot of fun

The first volume of Signing Time Sentences is now finally available on their website! I can't wait to check it out.