I was also wondering how much you should actually do. If you should do the slideshows and flash cards.
At the moment i am just doing slide shows while she eats lunch and for morning and nights i use flash cards. the advantage that i'm finding with slideshows is the noises. My daughter loves the animals slideshows as after the word there is a pic of animal accompanied by the relevant noise. She isnt really interested in the other ones as much. Any tips on making veges more interesting ?

I can also understand not wanting ur child to become addicted to computers, my husband's mum is addicted and she neglected her children and only slept when she pretty much was collapsing...i think variety is good. Maybe even take it outdoors and provide flash cards with the real life pic of what it is describing. eg. TREE and show them a tree, ANT and show them ants...etc.

I have just purchased a sleep learning cd to learn spanish so i'll have to get back to you and see how i go. Unlike pimsleur this one is 'supposedly' designed to learn while you are sleeping. It mixes soft music with the language or something and is meant to help you relax enough to take in the language in your subconscious mind. I dont really think that it will work but i'd like to believe it. So when i recieve it as it is still being shipped, i will use it and let u know what i think.

It is a bit cheaper than pimsleur.

Thanks for posting this question as it has been one that i have been struggling with since i first found this site.
There are so many products out there with good recommendations but as they can be quite expensive it is hard to know where to start.
I was just wondering if there is any reason to get the YBCR flash cards over the ones available to download from LR and LM. Also do you recommend getting the YBCR dvds? Are they better than flashcards slideshows? Thanks

Thanks for your 2 cents 
I am still trying to decide what will be best for my daughter. But as she is only 11months i still have plenty of time to decide. As i am a stay at home mum, it is easier for me to choose, but i understand that it is not that easy for people who have to (or enjoy ) work.

I think that i will see how far along she is in her learning. There are some parts of school that i would hate for her to miss out on such as getting certificates from assembly in front of the whole school for doing good work. I remember going up there and feeling proud although very embarrassed.

But in the long run it will be what is best for my daughter and not what i want.

Hi,
I breastfed my baby on demand and found it was good for me and my baby. When they are younger they need more feeds and as breastmilk is digested quite easily they will need feeding more frequently than formula fed babies. Feeding on demand means that your milk supply will regulate itself to the amount of milk your baby needs so that you know your baby is getting enough. As your child gets older, depending on how long you plan to breastfeed, it is easier to get a bit of a routine worked out. You will probably find that your baby settles into a 3-4hourly routine by themselves.

I found the hardest time to feed on demand was when travelling in the car.  I found that when my daughter was younger she 'always' wanted a feed just after i started the car. If i didnt feed her she would scream and so i had to pull over and feed her until SHE decided she was finished. Not particularly good if i was travelling by myself on country roads in the middle of the night.

But which ever option you choose if you need any info on breastfeeding i know that www.breastfeeding.asn.au is a good website.

Best of luck with your delivery

I've been sitting here reading all these posts about all the different education programs and they all sound so good. The only problem is that my hubbie and I are currently buying a house and of course money is tight. Do people think that you really need all these different education programs to teach your children? I really want to get little reader and little math but reading all these posts i see that many people have:
YBCR, wink to learn, LR, LM and so many more which are being used at the same time.
I was just wondering if they are really helpful or if they are all kinda the same.

The reason Im asking is because I really would love to buy them all but with money tight it isnt really reasonable. So any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks 

 I really would like to home school my child as like someone said in another strand, if we teach our children now everything they will learn in the first few years of school they will get bored and not want to go. I know that I was like that, i could read before i went into school and the teachers tried to make me read the books the other students were reading and it only took me a few seconds to finish them. Even though i was finishing them so quick the teachers wouldnt give me anything more challenging. It took my mum coming into the school and talking to the teacher before they would give me a higher level to read.

All through school i felt like i didnt fit in. When i was in year 1 i used to tutor other students, and being a kid i accepted 50cents for doing their homework...sometimes.

By the time i was in year three they finally realized that i needed to be in a higher class so i got skipped up into year four. But it was half way through the year and most of the students in the higher class resented me, i guess they felt threatened or something as i was younger.

It was hard to make friends and I was always bullied and an outcast at school. I know that a lot of people say that being homeschooled means that the child will miss out on a social life and wont make friends but I was put into school and didnt make friends anyway.

If i homeschool my child i will make sure that they get involved with other children depending on their interests. If they are interested in sports, drama, music...etc.. I believe that it is easier to make friends in groups outside of school anyway. I have also heard that you can have homeschooling groups, where parents around the local area who are all homeschooling their children, get together and run lessons together so the children experience a school like atmosphere.

This is the reason why I'd choose to homeschool. Just wondering about other people, and how they made the choice to homeschool?

Thanks for that. I have been meaning to look it up but havent got around to it as my daughter has stopped sleeping at the moment which means not many breaks for me.

I have also looked at Gymbaroo, i would like to start going but do you have to ring up and book?

Which session do you go to? Or would you be in a different one as your child is younger?

Thanks for the help

Due to all your information I believe that it is possible to teach my daughter all these things at one time. The way i see it is that as long as she is enjoying it...it should be ok. And when i get my daughter watching her slideshows or viewing her flash cards for reading i cant pull her away. When i tell her it is time to stop she gets really upset.

I havent started with maths yet but I believe that she will love that as well. She is extremely curious at the moment and is in to everything i am. So if i am looking at slideshows on the computer that is what she wants to do it works perfectly.

Like what Nikita said about introducing her daughter to ballet then if she shows interest will take her to classes, that is what i also believe. I will try and introduce my daughter to a range of things so i know things she likes doing and then can give her a chance to do those things.

I always was interested in music but was never given the chance to learn it until i was 15. Now i always wonder how good i might have been if i had started at a younger age. I dont want my daughter to have those sort of regrets when she is older.

Note that i am not intending to be a pushy mother eg. living through my child. I just want her to have the opportunity to be whoever she wants and is meant to be.

I'm sure most of you want the same for your child which is why you are here.

Hi,
I know how you feel. I was so excited when i found brill kids too. Im so glad i found a great place to talk to other parents, teachers...etc. about early learning for children.

I only happened on brill kids by reading an advertisement in a magazine for your child can read and then decided to research more and found this and loved it.

My daughter never seemed interested in books (apart from eating them) but now that i have started her on LR she cant get enough of them. Now if there is a book on the floor instead of picking it up and putting it in her mouth she will sit there for ages just turning pages and looking inside it.

When i get out the flash cards that i printed from brill kids, she gets really excited, wanting to play with them. And when i finish our lessons she always gets upset.

Hope LR helps you too.

Good clear instructions
Was just wondering what are sandpaper letters? I have never heard of them before.
Cheers

I live in Murray Bridge at the moment as we have just bought a house, but was living in noarlunga as well as up at seaton. I currently go to a mums group in the city and a learning together playgroup here.

Where is Gymbaroo held? I have heard it mentioned several times in this forum.

Thanks for your input, its great to know that there are other mums out there in my area doing this.

Hope to keep chatting and getting to know you better

Just thought that I'd at that the reason I was asking is that I have been moving around Adelaide a lot and going to a lot of playgroups and i have never heard of anyone teaching their baby to read before apart from just reading them lots of stories.

Actually being able to show them words and then have them recognize those words is all new to me.

When i tell my friends with babies that i am teaching my daughter to read they just look at me in disbelief, or worse still call me a bad mother because i'm not letting my baby just be a baby.

She still gets play time and her 'lessons' wouldnt take up any more than an hour or even half an hour a day.

So just really wondering what other people's opinions were about this?

Hi i was just wondering how many people are from South Australia who are teaching their babies reading and maths?

Are any of you considering home schooling?

Thanks

Hi i didnt know that we had a different sign language to america although it does make sense. I do like one handed signing better as it is easier for me to do as i hold my baby. Thanks for the websites, i found one on signing but it wasnt very good.