It's never too late to start but you should never force learning. Learning at this age should be fun. What I found helpful was limiting screen time to only two  20-30 minute sessions a day and all screen time was either Little Reader or an early learning DVD such as Signing Time,  Your Baby Can Read, or Muzzy. I also read out loud a lot during the day and made personalized books for them.

Any word yet on if or when Hello Pal will be available for iPhone or iPad?

Is there any word yet as to when the app will be launched for iPhone? I know there is an approval process but was hoping we would hear something by now.

Hi

I tried beta testing for the iphone but could never get it to launch on test flight is it going to be available for the iphone soon?

This is exactly what I've been looking for! We are learning Spanish, French, and Chinese. While it's been really easy to find people to speak Spanish and French with, Chinese has proven to be more challenging. I've been too afraid of just chatting on random boards because my Mandarin is not that great. Having a phrase book where I can  listen to and repeat sounds perfect.

We bought the year subscription to softmozart. She loves it and can already play hot cross buns.

I'm from Chicago. My kids ages are 1, 5, 6, and 12.

I feel really bad because I haven't been on this forum in a while. I have just been so busy with homeschooling I haven't had time. Even though it's been a while I thought I would give an update on my dd Lola. She just turned 5 and has been using Little Musician since she was about 2 years old. She actually made it on one of their YouTube videos for Little Musician when she was 2 1/2. She is starting to play songs by ear and to sight read. The other night she had a song she made up stuck in her head. She asked me to help her write it down so she could be a composer.

She's not perfect as she plays an extra re in the beginning, but she did pretty good considering she has never been to a music class before and I don't know how to play an instrument or know much about music. She may not play piano perfectly but she loves to play and will do it everyday without me asking her to. I just wanted to thank KL and everybody involved with making Little Musician. Without Little Musician Lola would not have been able to learn music or to play the piano in such an effortless way (or at all). If you look at her face in the video when she plays piano it's just pure joy.

<embed src=" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9wJ6wHDUSRA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/9wJ6wHDUSRA&rel=1</a>" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355">
http://youtu.be/9wJ6wHDUSRA

I think the last one is- "Put the book the right way. You have it backwards."

Hey I'm from Chicago too. I can't answer the gifted test question because I ended up homeschooling my girls but, it's nice to have somebody on here from my neck of the woods.

That is amazing news! 

We have also been using Brillkids since 2008. While I haven't had her take an IQ test, my daughter was tested prior to entering kindergarten and she scored 99th percentile in reading and 85th percentile in math. Since we live in Chicago, Illinois in the US I am not sure what test they used because it's kept secret (they don't want any one to be able to prep their kids). Even without the test I know she is incredibly smart for her age and makes amazingly accurate observations on a variety of subjects, however, she also has issues with her temper and  emotions. She gets bored and frustrated easily. She also has some issues with sensory processing.

She started going to therapy last year and it has really helped her out. She is able to express her emotions more appropriately.

Oh I have LR Chinese may I have a copy of the translations as well? That would be so helpful on our Chinese learning journey.

 We are native in Spanish and English but together we are learning French and Chinese. Right now our Chinese is better than our French. Learning to read Spanish is super easy for the kids because it is extremely phonetic compared to English and French. Chinese is much easier to speak than to read (for us any way, because there are just so many characters to learn). Here is a video of one of my daughters reading in Chinese. It's not perfect but not bad considering we are not native speakers.

<embed src=" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/f3LnlOO2a5M&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/f3LnlOO2a5M&rel=1</a>" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355">

Es hora de cepillarte los dientes.- It's time to brush your teeth.
Tenemos que cepillarnos los dientes después de cada comida para tenerlos siempre muy limpitos.- We need to brush are teeth after every meal so we always have really clean teeth.

Vamos a poner un poco de pasta de dientes en tu cepillo de dientes.- We are going to put a little bit of tooth paste on your toothbrush.

Ahora nos cepillamos los dientes por este lado, ahora por este lado, ahora arriba, ahora abajo. -Now we brush the teeth on this side, now on this side, now the top, now the bottom.(You could also say Now we brush our teeth on the right side, now the teeth on the left side, now the top teeth now the bottom teeth etc...)

Todas los rinconcitos de nuestra boquita tienen que estar limpitos.- All the little corners of our mouth need to be cleaned.

Vamos ahora a enjuagarnos la boca.- Let's rinse our mouth now.

Coge este vaso de agua y coge un poquito sin tragar.- Take this glass of water without swallowing. ( I usually say,"Take some water from this glass and swish it in your mouth without swallowing.")

Enjuágate bien toda la boca un par de minutos y tírala al lavamanos después.- Rinse your whole mouth out for a few minutes and then spit it in the sink.

Ahora tus dientes están limpitos!!!- Now your teeth are clean!

Primero te quitaré la ropita.- First you take off your clothes.

Empezamos con la camiseta.- Let's start with your shirt.

 Saca la mano derecha por esta manga, ahora saca tu mano izquierda por la manga izquierda.- Take your right hand out of this sleeve, now take your left hand out of the left sleeve.

Ahora vamos con tu pantalón.- Now let's take off your pants.
 Saca tu pierna izquierda, ahora tu derecha.- Take your left leg out, now your right.
Ya estás preparado/a, listo/a para tu baño.- There, now you are ready for your bath.

Hope that helps.