I've been rather concerned about my elder son's blase attitude towards buying. He wasn't always like this but it is starting to seem as if he just wants everything and doesn't really care for it after we've bought it. So I figured it was time to teach him about the value of money and I've discovered this program that's pretty interesting - PlayMoolah.

If anyone else is interested in teaching their children about managing money, this is an interesting program to check out. I've written about it on my blog:

http://figur8.net/baby/2012/09/12/teaching-children-about-money-playmoolah/

Has anyone seen this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-Life-Elements-Periodic-Personified/dp/1593274238

You can read about it here:

http://io9.com/5943499/meet-the-periodic-table-of-elements-personified-as-118-cartoon-men

Looks pretty good for helping visual learners remember the properties of the periodic table elements...

Hi Seastar,

There is also the Berenstain bears visist the dentist:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Berenstain-Bears-Visit-Dentist/dp/0394848365/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

The other thing I can think of is the dental clinic that you visited... Was there something there that she might have found scary?  Could you try a different dentist or a paediatric dentist? Some clinics are geared more towards children and may be less intimidating.

Does she have any older cousins or friends that she can tag along with for a visit to the dentist? Sometimes being able to watch another child handle a visit (in a positive way of course) can help. Or she could be present when you or daddy visit the dentist so she can see that there's nothing scary to it.

THere are also videos on Youtube for children visiting the dentist that she can watch. Here are a coupld that I found (haven't watch through to the end but they seem to be okay)...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/lUAnRhO8Xp4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/lUAnRhO8Xp4&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dC2tYHGNZaY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/dC2tYHGNZaY&rel=1</a>

Hi Keri,

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Your home gym is awesome! My son would be green with envy (my younger one that is...) Wish we could do something like that at our place, too, but we don't have the space for it :-( And I doubt hubby would let me use the guest bedroom... :-((

Can't wait to see more pictures of your expanded playground!

No problem, Tezka. Thank you for telling me so that we can get the pictures right. :-) Wouldn't want to be teaching my child the wrong thing!

janetwi and hyperM - The right brain Education shop is mainly on shichida method. They have flash cards, mandala and some of the other materials for activities conducted in the classes (but not all). I think TMT has described Little Reader very well already so I don't really need to add to it.

One of the aspects of Right Brain Education that Shichida mentioned in his books was the importance of rapid flashing and flashing a large quantity of image cards to develop the photographic function of the right brain. You can incorporate this into the Little Reader program as well because there are a number of parents creating LR flash cards and adding them to LR resources available on this forum (myself included).

As TMT says, not a lot of the right brain education information is very clear. What I have been able to piece together based on talks with right brain education teachers, reading from Shichida's books, talking to other parents who have children attending right brain classes, and my own observations of how the classes are run, I have written in my blog. I won't say it is the definitive information on the Shichida Method but it is as close as I can get to it.

Hahaha... Actually the reason why there is no audio was because when I first started making LR files, I was on a desk top without a microphone so to record my voice was a real hassle. After that, I got so used to reading them out that it didn't really matter. Plus I wanted to be able to control the speed which I find easier to do if I don't record audio. And, of course, I'm not entirely sure of the pronunciation for some of the more obscure words so I didn't want to record it wrong for everyone else.

I have edited the picture of the kremlin and the file has gone back to waiting for approval but it should be available again soon. thanks!

Mandabplus3 - thanks! I have wanted to do more geography as well because I think there are so many amazing places around the world. I thought of doing the world heritage list after the 100 places but by country would work, too.

tezka - thanks for the correction! Do you have another link because the url you gave me doesn't seem to be loading. I googled kremlin under images and this was what came out. I suppose that's the problem sometimes because people label their images incorrectly and we end up with the wrong pictures. Is this the kremlin?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vtYcXfggQbA/R5SDyJpTDzI/AAAAAAAAA9g/Z5H46xTReak/s1600/kremlin_spasskaya_1600.jpg

Stodd - I do have some older flash cards I made previously on powerpoint which you can get here:

http://www.figur8.net/resources/flashcards/general-knowledge-flashcards/

Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I can't believe I missed that! Australia, too! My home for half my life! Anyway, I fixed it and edited the file. It has gone back to "unapproved" status but it should be available for download again soon.

Hi everyone. Glad to be able to share. Am trying to create my own series of general knowledge flashcards with a lofty goal of 6500 flash cards to take us through the year.

Lois - The file was too large to upload under category so I ended up splitting it into 2 play lists. I have the category file uploaded here:

http://www.figur8.net/resources/flashcards/reading-flashcards/little-reader-flash-cards/

Mamjo - during a nursing session worked really well for us... Of course, if you're using physical flashcards, it can get a bit fiddly.

Krista - oooh I love the Beatrix Potter books. They're so beautiful, I can't help but feel they must be a part of every child's library. I'm referring to the little books - the way they were originally published, not the big books with all the stories included.

I've got a thing for hard cover books with pretty bindings... 

Mandabplus3 - My son's teacher wasn't exactly thrilled that we were reading The Railway Stories to him because of language like "stupid", "shut it" and "silly great engine". Then again, my husband was annoyed that I let him read "Matilda" by Roald Dahl because the language Mr Wormwood used wasn't exactly appropriate either since he told Matilda to "shut up" and to watch more telly and stop reading books...  I remember enjoying these books as a child but somehow I forgot about these references...

Kerileanne99 - I have the same problem! My son gets scared but I can never figure why sometimes so it's hard to pick books for him. Of course, some are obvious, like we tried to do The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and he said the witch was scary, although he finished reading the book while I was busy but he told me later he didn't want to read it again. When he was little, he hated The Gruffalo so much that he would hide the book. He even tried several times to give it away. He doesn't take well to new things either. If he finds an author he likes, he goes after all the books by that author.

As a mother to two boys with very different personalities, I have had the privilege to see how differently they both respond towards books. Aristotle is my older boy and Hercules is my younger one. Don't worry, these aren't their real names. I gave them the nicknames because Aristotle is very scholarly and Hercules is very tough and strong.

Aristotle loved stories, especially anything that was about Thomas and Friends so hubby and I bought him the entire collection of the original series written by Rev W Awdry. Surprisingly, he could sit down and listen to me read through it. I would be the one tiring of reading aloud and want to stop so I honestly don't know how long he could have gone on before wanting to stop himself. From this series, he moved onto others - Winnie the Pooh (by A.A. Milne not the other numerous stories around), Wishing Chair series (Enid Blyton), Horrible Science series (although I don't think this really falls under chapter books), he started the how to train your dragon series (desperately searching for book 8 and waiting for book 9). He'll generally read anything new but the ones he likes, he can read over and over. He's 5.5 now and he prefers to read himself (because I read too slowly) although he will still sit in to listen to me read stories to his brother. Funnily, though, he has never been bothered by words he doesn't understand. The few times we read together, I did try asking him about unfamiliar words but he was just more eager to get on with the story - something for us to work on.

Hercules was a different package altogether. He couldn't sit still to get through even a short book. Although I dare say that he's getting better through the influence of his brother. I used Little Reader extensively on him because it was short and sweet and the many pictures and short video clips kept his attention. He's 2.5 now and he will pull books out for me to read (usually the same ones over and over) and refuses to let me choose any books for him. I have made reading together as inviting as possible by allowing him to cuddle with me and nurse while I read which has had a positive effect on the books so I hope in time he will take off on his own, too.