Skylark
I have had two computers since purchasing my LR & LM and have had to completely reinstall/go back to factory settings on both computers twice. I tried to reinstall LR & LM but can't seem to get it running. I have already sent an email to Brillkids support (on the 10th of February) but I have not received any reply yet. Could I be out of the 5 activations/deactivations already?

Thank you. This will help a lot.

My husband will be the beta-tester as he reads and composes music. He plays the piano, guitar, drums and saxophone.

My son started reading on his own at age 3 and learned to count at age 2 (without the help of any software or formal teaching - just from singing songs and being read to) so when we started him in preschool, we sent him to Montessori. In Montessori, he often works with children older than himself when he wants to know how to use a material or asks his teacher about the material. Sometimes, he gets into trouble (or gets bullied) because he "volunteers" the answer to a child nearby when they are supposed to discover the answers by themselves (as "academic" materials in a Montessori environment are self correcting). He has only been to Montessori for a few months and we have yet to decide if he will continue to go there or if we will have to homeschool him (as there are no schools offering "advanced" lessons/curriculum where we live) or move  somewhere with more choices (as to schools).

I was also somewhat like him during my preschool days and my mother sent me back to her hometown and asked a relative of ours who was teaching first grade to let me "participate" in her class.Thus, I skipped kindergarten and my relative included me in her official list of students since I learned very fast (aced the quizzes/tests) and was ready for the next grade level (was at the top of the class). The downside to this was that I almost always got bullied in the primary schools I attended (I went to three different schools) that I dreaded going to school (even though I loved learning).

I want my son to have a better learning (and/or school) experience than I did and would really like for his present school to work out. My husband wants to give the school a year but I don't know if I can wait that long to find out.

I believe that EQ is as important as IQ and the more I am reading about homeschooling, the more I am leaning towards it (that it might be the solution to our situation).

Sorry if I veered off a little from the topic and questions - just sharing my thoughts (and a somewhat similar experience).

http://www.kitzkikz.com/flashcards/
Make your own flash cards and study aids. Print, Cut, Fold, and Study.

Found this website that lets you print text only (no pictures yet - part of site owner's future plans) flashcards with adjustable settings. You input your own text, choose settings, download the pdf and print! This is great for parents who want to make flashcards for babies. It even lets you import your words for easy printing of lots of words. Requires Adobe Reader. I have attached a sample I made.

Hi Gloria,

Just in case there are no montessori teachers on this board, may I suggest this yahoogroup sponsored by the Montessori Foundation: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessori_online/.

Also, the foundation has a downloadable introduction to Montessori: http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/Montessori_101_nonprintable.pdf.

I agree with laughingwater about visiting the Montessori schools in your area and asking them your questions as you may find that each school is different. I went to a Montessori school for three years and now that I have a son who is ready for preschool I have learned a lot/understood more about the Montessori way (through reading books) but I still need to visit the school and bring my son along to make sure that they match (their approach and how my son learns) and that I know each school's policy as to how a child qualifies for advancement to the next level, etc.

Goodluck.

Below are the suggested books on science experiments from the same website: (http://www.2think.org/resourc1.shtml)

-Barr, George (1989). Science Projects for Young People. Dover Publications, Inc., New York.
-Cobb, Vicki. Science Experiments You Can Eat.
-Haught, James. Science in a Nanosecond : Illustrated Answers to 100 Basic Science Questions.
-Hauser, Jill, (1998). Science Play! : Beginning Discoveries for 2-To 6-Year-Olds.
-Herbert, Don. Mr. Wizard's Experiments for Young Scientists. Doubleday, Inc., Garden City, N.Y.
-Ruchlis, Hyman. How Do You Know It's True? : Discovering the Difference Between Science and Superstition.
-Shermer, Michael, (1995). Teach Your Child Science: Making Science Fun for the Both of You. Lowell House, Los Angeles.
-Van Cleave, Janice Pratt, (1989). Chemistry for Every Kid. Wiley, New York.
-Zubrowski, Bernie, (1981). Messing Around with Drinking Straw Construction. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Toronto.

[ACTIVITIES AT HOME]

I found this website that promotes helping your child learn science and am posting excerpts of the science activities the website suggests:

http://www.2think.org/home.shtml

ACTIVITIES AT HOME

THE BIG PICTURE
Looking at objects closely is an important part of science, and a magnifying glass lets us see things we don't even know are there. It also helps us see how objects are similar or different from each other.

What you'll need
A magnifying glass
Your science journal

ATTACK OF THE STRAWS
Can a paper straw go through a raw potato? Here's an easy way to learn about inertia and momentum.

What you'll need
A raw potato
One or more paper straws
Your science journal

SOAP POWER
Have you ever tried using soap to power a boat? This simple activity works because of "surface tension."

What you'll need
1 index card
Scissors
A baking dish (or sink full of water)
Liquid dish detergent
Your science journal

BUBBLES
Who doesn't enjoy blowing bubbles? You can make bubbles at home, and they can be beautiful shapes and colors!

What you'll need
8 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid
1 quart water
1 drinking straw
A shallow tray
Grown-up alert!
1 tin can, open at both ends
Your science journal

BUGS!
Some bugs help us, some annoy us, and some are downright dangerous. But you can learn a lot from bugs.

What you'll need
An insect guide and a spider guide from the bookstore or library--preferably ones with pictures
Your magnifying glass
Your science journal

IT FLOATS!
We don't usually stop to wonder why a big cruise ship can float as well as a feather. This activity helps to explain.

What you'll need
1 solid wood building block
1 plastic cap from a bottle
2 pieces of aluminum foil (heavy duty if you have it)
1 chunk of clay
Grown-up alert!
1 pair of pliers
1 bathtub (or sink) filled with water
Your science journal

SLIME!
Oil the hinges of a door and it will stop squeaking. Rub petroleum jelly on lips to prevent them from becoming chapped. These slippery substances are called lubricants. They are very important in modern technology.

What you'll need
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
Square baking pan
A mixing bowl
Liquid dish detergent
Vegetable oil
2 bowls
A watch with a second hand
Grown-up alert!
A table knife
8-ounce cup
Your science journal

CELERY STALKS AT MIDNIGHT
Did you ever wonder how a paper towel can soak up a spill, or how water gets from a plant's roots to its leaves? The name for this is "capillary action."

What you'll need
4 same-size stalks of fresh celery with leaves
4 cups or glasses
Grown-up alert!
Red and blue food coloring
A measuring cup
4 paper towels
A vegetable peeler
A ruler
Some old newspapers
Your science journal

STICKY STUFF
Adhesives are used to stick things together. Many adhesives we use every day are made in factories. Others occur in nature and have important uses for plants and animals.

What you'll need
Baking flour
Measuring cup
Egg white
Food coloring
4 small bowls
4 plastic spoons
Aluminum foil
Cotton balls
Toothpicks
Bits of cloth
Glitter
Blunt-tip scissors
Colored yarn or ribbon
Colored paper
Your science journal

SPLISH SPLASH
There are many ways to measure things. At bath time, use different sized containers to measure volume.

What you'll need
Measuring spoons and cups of different sizes
Milk containers of different sizes--for example, pint, quart, half-gallon, and gallon (or 1 liter, 2 liter, and 4 liter)
A funnel
2 containers that hold the same amount (such as a 1 or 2 quart pitcher and storage bowl), but are different shapes--one tall and thin, and one short and squat
Grown-up alert!
1 bathtub or sink filled with water
Your science journal

This activity provides an introduction to volume and measurement.

HAIR-RAISING RESULTS
Have you ever been shocked when you walked across a rug or touched a light switch? Wait until a cool, dry day to learn about static electricity.

What you'll need
A cool, dry day
2 round balloons (inflated and tied)
2 20-inch pieces of string
1 wool or acrylic sock.
1 mirror (or more)
1 friend (or more)
Your science journal

MOLDY OLDIES
Molds are tiny microscopic plants that can help or hurt us. Molds like some environmental conditions better than others. Find out which ones they prefer by watching mold grow.

What you'll need
Grown-up alert!
3 cups containing a little coffee or leftover food.
Your magnifying glass.
Your science journal.

PLANTS
Plants are the only things on earth that turn sunlight into food. They do it through a process called photosynthesis, which is explored in this activity.

What you'll need
Some household plants
A book on plant care from a store or the library
Grown-up alert!
Plant fertilizer
Paper
Scissors
Your magnifying glass
Your science journal

CRYSTALS
A crystal is a special kind of rock. Different crystals have different beautiful shapes and colors.

What you'll need
Your magnifying glass
Table salt
Epsom salt
Honey jar
Measuring cups and spoons
Paper cut into circles
Scissors
Pencil
String
1 3/4 cups of sugar
2 or 3 paper clips
A glass jar or drinking glass
Your science journal

CAKE!
Learn about chemical reactions by baking 4 small cakes, leaving an important ingredient out of 3 of them. The ingredients are only for 1 cake, so you'll need to measure and mix 4 times.

What you'll need

A small soup or cereal bowl
Several layers of aluminum foil
A pie pan
Cooking oil to grease the "cake pans"
Measuring spoons
A cup or small bowl for the egg
A small mixing bowl
Your science journal

Ingredients (for one cake)

6 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
2 or 3 pinches baking powder
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Part of an egg (Break egg into a cup, beat until mixed. Use 1/3 of it. Save the rest for 2 of the other cakes.)


TELEVISION
Science can be learned from television. Even though the quality varies a lot, some programs provide a marvelous window on science.

What you'll need
A television set
A VCR, if you have one
Your science journal

What to do
   1. Look on the regular networks, public television stations, and cable channels (The Discovery Channel, for example) for science programs such as Reading Rainbow, Nature, Nova, Newton's Apple, The Voyage of the MIMI, National Geographic, Jacques Cousteau, Cosmos, The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures, and Smithsonian Institution specials.
   2. Look for reports of scientific discoveries and activities on regularly scheduled news programs, and for TV characters with science-related jobs--doctors, for instance.
   3. If you have a VCR, tape science shows so you can look at them later and stop--or replay--parts that are particulary interesting or hard to understand and so you can talk to someone about them.
   4. Watch some of these programs with an adult so you can ask questions.

Some TV programs give misleading information about science and/or scientists. It is important to know which things on television are real and which ones aren't.

I think I have found what you are referring to: http://www.educationaltechnologies.com/.

This company's products are sold throughout Asia Pacific under the Time Life brand
http://www.educationaltechnologies.com/home/who_are_we

http://sg.88db.com/sg/Services/Post_Detail.page/Learning-Education/Educational-Products/?PostID=729642
"Educational Technologies Pte Ltd has been a leader in publishing and marketing children’s home-education products in Asia for 32 years. Our products are sold in 9 languages in 21 countries throughout Asia Pacific under the Time Life brand. We are part of Marshall Cavendish, the major publisher for reference and school textbooks (My Pals are Here) in Singapore and a member of the Times Publishing Group."

Thank you - I will certainly try that suggestion and hopefully will be able to watch the videos.

Hi Krista,

I tried to check out the videos but all I get is a black square that says waiting for video. What do you suggest I do?

Thanks!

these were the same videos I had mentioned here: http://forum.brillkids.com/general-discussion-b5/sharing-our-home-made-learning-dvds/90/ since I couldn't upload these at that time.  i'm glad you were able to upload these videos.

hi mum23,

this forum topic might help you: http://forum.brillkids.com/prenatal-education/anybody-expecting-using-babyplus/msg101/#msg101

here is the website: http://www.babyplus.com/

here is price comparisons: http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=babyplus&price1=100.00&price2=200.00&lnk=prsugg

as to hearing the heartbeat (product description also says you can record your heartbeat), here is the link:
http://www.google.com/products?q=baby+heartbeat+monitor&hl=en&aq=3&oq=baby+h
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/237707/bebesounds_prenatal_heart_listener.html?cat=52

[What Sugar Does to Your Brain]

I am not sure where I got this information (an article or documentary on homeschooling) but I know that there is one homeschooling family that do not use any sugar but instead uses molasses. Both parents are professors (one is a scientist) and they said that sugars (and foods that act like sugar - such as white rice, pancakes, bread, corn flakes, crackers, parsnips, potatoes, etc.) changes the brain. Below is the article entitled "What Sugar Does To Your Brain" (http://olsonnd.com/what-sugar-does-to-your-brain/):

What Sugar Does to Your Brain
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
By Dr. Scott

Sugar Brain

You open a can of soda and pour that sugary drink into your mouth. The sugar travels down your throat and into your stomach; the sugar then has a very short trip from your stomach into your blood stream. As that sugar starts to move its way throughout your body, it eventually makes its way to your brain. You brain is happy with this shot of sugar you just gave it, because, while it only makes up only two percent of the body weight, your brain uses one-half of all the sugar energy in the body.1

But, is there such a thing as too much sugar for your brain? And that soda you just drank, it will cause your blood sugar to skyrocket and eventually drop; what happens to your brain then? And what about other sugar-brains questions: doesn’t sugar make you or your kids hyperactive, and doesn’t sugar change your mood?

The short answer to these all these questions is: we don’t know. Scientific studies on the effects of sugar on the brain are sparse at best and most medical professionals and organizations will say that sugar has nothing to do with mood or hyperactivity. If you are surprised by that stance, you are not alone.

Most parents have witnessed firsthand the effect of sugar on little kid’s brains. Most adults will tell you that they have experienced a sort of mental fog from eating too much sugar, not to mention the sugar high and the sugar crash. But none of these experiences mean anything to researchers who report that there are no such things as sugar highs or lows or that hyperactivity could be caused by too much sugar.

But just because there isn’t much research on how sugar and foods that act like sugar and how they affect mental function, doesn’t mean there isn’t any. This article will piece together the bits of information out there on sugar and brain function to get a better understanding of what sugar is doing to our brains. As usual, I will be including not only sugar, but foods that act like sugar in the discussion.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

Let’s start with a brain chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is the key to understanding what happens when sugar hits our brain.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is responsible for the development of new brain tissue. If you didn’t have this chemical in your brain, your brain wouldn’t develop properly and you would die very soon after birth. The key to BDNF is to understand what it does: it helps to create new neurons (nerve tissue), and, therefore new memories.

You want as much BDNF around as possible if you want to learn, grow, and have normal brain functioning.

Research has shown that high sugar diets (along with high fat diets and lack of essential fatty acids) decrease a BDNF.2 In fact, the relationship between BDNF and sugar gets even more interesting: low amounts of BDNF actually leads to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and even diabetes.3 This means that high sugar in the blood leads to low BDNF, and then low BDNF leads to a worsening of blood sugar control, which leads to high blood sugar, which leads to worse blood sugar control… and the cycle continues.

In an interesting study on rats, it was discovered that the animals that had the best ability to learn spatial and memory tasks also had the highest amount of BDNF. It took only two months on a high sugar and high fat diet to significantly reduce BDNF in the brains of the experimental animals and for the reduction to have an effect on the animal’s ability to perform spatial and memory tasks.4

Low BDNF is no small thing as it has also been associated with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Huntington’s disease, Rett syndrome, and schizophrenia.

But there is much more to the sugar-brain story than BDNF, let’s take a look.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is one of the best places to start when discussing how sugar affects our brains. There are quite a few clinical studies that link the consumption of grains (foods that act like sugar) with schizophrenia.5 It has long been thought that people who are schizophrenic may have a problem with the protein found in many grains (gluten) and there is a strong association between schizophrenia and Celiac disease.6

Interestingly, there is also a close association with poor blood sugar control (metabolic syndrome) and the severity of schizophrenia:

    It appears that the same dietary factors which are associated with the metabolic syndrome, including high saturated fat, high glycemic load, and low omega-3 (PUFA), may also be detrimental to the symptoms of schizophrenia.7

These researcher show that once again, a diet low in essential fatty acids (omega-3) and high in fat and sugar will decrease BDNF and it makes me wonder if sugar and foods that act like sugar may be the “smoking gun” in schizophrenia.
Depression and Anxiety

As a hint that how we live and what we eat have some effect on our moods, it has long been known that coronary heart disease and diabetes all are common in people with depression.8 This means that the same dietary conditions that create heart disease and diabetes also can lead to depression. Interesting…

Sugar consumption in population studies have been shown to have a close link with major depression.9 Researchers suggest that the sugar and brain association may be due to the oxidative stress that sugar can cause or the change in beta-endorphins (brain chemicals that make us feel good) that comes about because of sugar use.

Anxiety, too, has been closely linked with sugar use in a number of studies.10

Children

Perhaps the biggest questions arise when discussing children, mood, behavior and sugar. While any parent would tell you that sugar can dramatically change the behavior of a child, the medical community is silent. There have been a few studies that show an association between high blood sugars and problem behaviors, but these studies have mostly been performed in children who already have blood sugar problems (such as diabetes).1112 More studies need to be done and need to be done in children with normal blood sugar.

Autism is an interesting exception to the lack of research. A review by the prestigious Cochrane review admitted that many of the studies linking foods that act like sugar (grains) and gluten to autism have been of poor quality, but they do point to one study that does show a relationship between a gluten-free diet and improvement in the symptoms of autism.13 While far from conclusive, these studies open the possibility of a solution for the growing epidemic of autism.

I wonder if your daughter's seizures started after a Dipththeria, Pertussis and Tetanus (DTaP) or Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccination? You might find the article below very informative:

It’s official: the MMR jab causes seizures

http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?Id=3031

New evidence has confirmed what observation has shown for years - that the MMR vaccine significantly raises the risk of febrile seizures. The DTP vaccine was also shown to increase this risk.

A review of nearly 680,000 children found that the risk of having a seizure on the day of DTP vaccination was five times that of those not vaccinated. The MMR jab was associated with a nearly threefold increased risk of febrile seizures 8-14 days after vaccination. This translates to 6-9 per 100,000 with the DTP and to 25-34 per 100,000 with the MMR.

Although the seizures resolved fairly quickly and without long-term neurodevelopmental disabilities or subsequent seizures, this large-scale review represents the first official recognition of the link between seizures and vaccination (N Engl J Med, 2001; 345: 656-61).