I've tried to take my curriculum on vacation with me and never used it. For me, the problem is not that the kids don't want to, but that without my usual routine, it doesn't happen. So I'd suggest considering your own tendencies. Will you be keeping a consistent bedtime hour and routine while you travel? Attempt to match eating habits and mealtimes to home? Then maybe you're more likely to use the curriculum. If you're more like me - bedtime becomes extremely flexible, you eat totally differently, nothing is consistent - then you might have more trouble keeping it up. This is not a firm rule, of course, but a suggestion. Maybe it will help you decide. It doesn't matter in the long run if you decide to do your curriculum on vacation or not.

Fun article! I keep trying and failing to change over to speaking French exclusively with my kids. It doesn't help that I'm not quite fluent. Every so often I decide to try again. I should do that soon.

My first daughter took forever to catch on to blending, too! (My second picked it up before she even knew all the letter sounds; I guess it just depends on the kid.) The number one thing that helped was Reading Bear, www.readingbear.org. it shows how to sound out words very slowly and then faster and faster. I love it. And it's free!

When I started teaching blending, we didn't have the internet at home, so I couldn't use Reading Bear. I worked backwards by saying words and then drawing out the sound and getting her to spell them. We're used refrigerator magnets. I would say "Cat. What's the first sound in cccccccat?" And she'd pick out the c. (I only presented her with about six letters at a time.) "Great! What's next in caaaaaaaat?" And so on. Starfall.com (the free part) uses this method if you prefer to be on the computer.

I hope one of those helps! I know it's frustrating to KNOW your child is capable of the next step but not be able to get her there. Hang in there and good luck!

This sounds so much like my daughter! She loved phonics but couldn't blend for about a year. Even when she could, she would only do a word or two at a time. She definitely couldn't keep track of multiple lines when she started reading words.

For me, it ended up just being a matter of time. At age 3 I knew she could read, but she wouldn't. We did phonics time every day, and in a good mood she could read the single words presented (we used Reading Bear at that point), but she wouldn't read in books. It took a solid year before she decided to read. At age 4 she started reading very very short books (a couple lines per page) and then it finally took off. Now at four and a half she's just started reading chapter books independently.

I still think that maybe there was something I could have done better, but I just kept at it a little bit every day, kept it low stress, and waited. It took a year, but now she's an excellent early reader.

I don't know if that's what you want to hear, but I hope it gives you faith that it will work out!

I have not had a cranky baby so much, but I think all kids are happier when they can move. I would definitely start with Fit Baby, Smart Baby. I believe it's the rewrite of How Smart Is Your Baby, which I love.

If she loves LR, I would add more EL to her day and see how it goes. How about math dots? At that age my kids loved them, even more than words.

Check out the language section of Fit Baby; there are things to do without needing supplies. Also, have you read NurtureShock? It has a good chapter on language acquisition.

How do you feel about more screen time? LR has tons of general knowledge stuff you can add on. My youngest adored Signing Time at that age and learned a lot of sign without any input from me.

If not, I would go for pictures of animals and telling facts about them. That was always a big hit with my kids.

If you don't spend too much time preparing, I find it's easier to let them do as much as they want and not to try to force them to have fun. I usually only do that when I've invested a lot of time it money into the program.

I would definitely try a few things and see if it cheers her up. It certainly can't hurt, and it would be great if it helped!

I'll be watching this thread with interest! I loved that book too, and it is hard to implement.

My kids are are only 4.5, almost 3, and 1, and I struggle to have the confidence to let them do things. I just increased their (unpaid) contributions to running the house (washing dishes, picking up toys, and laundry), and they have optional chores for money too. But most of their free ranging is staying out while I take one into a public restroom, like at the park or the library, or playing in the front yard with me glancing at them through the window every few minutes. And even then, I'm waiting in fear for Child Protective Services to show up.

We like to read a manga called Yotsubato (Yotsuba& in English), about a Japanese five year old. I want to live in Japan! When she goes to the corner store by herself to buy ramen, the cashier compliments her in running errands by herself! I'm pretty sure my corner gas station would call the cops. And the parks have loudspeakers that announce dinner time because kids are expected to be there without their parents. Jealousy!

Anyway, for older kids: at that age, I'm pretty hopeful that my kids will be running the house with me supervising. (Hey, a mom can dream, right?) There's the public transportation option, like in the book. Are there stores your kids could bike to and shop at? Or make the grocery list and buy the groceries while you sit in the car? How far can they go play on their own? What can they build? Can they create a business to earn money from other people? I hire an 11 year old babysitter, and her 9 year old brother does yard work. Do you have a garden? I like what you've already tried; it sounds like a great start.

Like I said, my kids are younger, so I don't know if these apply. Just brainstorming!

Honestly, I think the best thing to remember is that this is a totally normal phase at 15 months.  At least, both my girls went through it, and when I posted something very similar on this forum, that's the response I got.     So don't worry too much about it.  Her interest in being read to will come back.

But it is nice to know some tricks.  I third the recommendation to show it when she's occupied with eating or something else that keeps her still.  And don't worry if she doesn't look at the screen.  I always think about a story in a book about baby sign language; the mom was trying to show her daughter the sign for squirrel while the girl stared at a squirrel running around the park.  The daughter wouldn't look at her mom's hands at all.  But five minutes later, another squirrel showed up, and the daughter signed squirrel!  The mom had a friend with her, who looked at her and said, "Did she just learn that sign through her ear?" because her eyes had not looked at the mom's hands at all.  It comforts me that they can pick up things even when it looks distracted to us.

As for reading to her, drop back to shorter books with less words per page.  If necessary, go for the board books with one word: Ball. Cup. Toy. Doll.  See if you can get through it at high speed before she wants to play.  Or, give her one book to play with and hold another one to read.  Whenever she trades you books, start reading the other one.  Don't hesitate to abridge the story to get it done, flipping the pages very fast.  Just being exposed to the books is good, I think.

Welcome!  We're glad you're here, too.

The Little Musician software actually only has one lesson per day, so it's only five.  But that doesn't change the issue.  I'll admit, I only show Little Reader (LR) and Little Math (LM) once a day.  I know twice would be better, but once does work.  So that's always an option.  In my house, we have "Kidschool" a little after breakfast every morning, before we head out to do whatever is planned for the day.  Each child gets about five minutes of reading and math time with Mom.  (I have just spent the previous hour milking our goats and doing other chores while the kids have free play time, so they're excited to get time with me.)  For my one-year-old, those five minutes are LR and LM, and my older two usually watch over our shoulders. (My two-year-old does Starfall and online counting games, and my four-year-old reads a book with me and does math based on Crewton Ramone's House of Math or Khan Academy reviews.)  Then we all do Little Musician together.

I know that the programs were designed so that working parents could show one lesson in the morning before work and one in the evening after work.  I know some members have had a lot of success doing it over meals, when the kids were in the high chair.  That would be up to 10 minutes in the morning and 15 at night (or vice versa).  Or right before or after meals works well; it just helps to tie it to something you do every day so you remember.

If you've read Glen Doman's work, you might consider splitting up the lessons; he's very strong on the idea of many short lessons.  That doesn't work with my older kids; they get annoyed by doing something many times for a very short period.  But I have done short lessons with the babies when I use Elimination Communication, which means that I set my babies on a potty when I think they need to go rather than just letting them use their diaper and then changing them.  Once they can sit up independently, it works well to show them some educational material while they're on the potty.  I usually used physical cards for this because I didn't want to have my computer in the bathroom (and I won't do it if I have to go get the materials), but all three programs are made up of many short segments, and you could watch one or two each time they sat on the potty.  Or something else you do regularly in one place.  Maybe one segment before and after each book you read or game you play or Duplo tower you construct.

Yeah, I totally avoided reading that thread for a long time because I just knew I would end up buying something. But it was so worth it. My 4 year old went from questions like 15-6 to ones like 42-27 in a few weeks when we got the blocks. And he totally has videos of 5 year olds doing advanced algebra and maybe calculus. I can't quite figure out how to get there (I hate learning from movies and that's all he provides), but I'm sure we will. And it really does just feel like playing.

Have you followed the thread about Mortensen math and Crewton Ramone's House of Math? It's here: http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-math/mortensen-math/. I really think this stuff is AMAZING. He teaches algebra and calculus concepts with physical blocks that I never knew had a physical counterpart. It's so fun.

It's not quite as independent as you're looking for; at least at first, you'll have to show them the possibilities. But just playing with the blocks is useful, and it's such a cool way to playfully learn higher math as a kid.

Yay, Tamsyn! I was sorry to find out that I'd missed your Kickstarter, and I'm glad you're going ahead with this.

I love The Solfege Train, which I bought from Tamsyn a year ago. With this membership, it's available both as a book and printables, if you want to use it screen free, which was important to me when I got it, or as interactive videos, which are the way we're going now.

Seriously, learning Moveable Do with the Solfege Train taught me more about music theory than 10 years of piano lessons. It teaches ear training and theory, two things I'm seriously weak on, in a very EL way (my 2 year old does fine).

I totally recommend this as what to do after Little Musician. And there's even more stuff I haven't even looked at yet! I'm really excited about it!

Sorry it took so long; we had lots of Christmas stuff going on.  But we can't figure out exactly what's going wrong for you.  My husband used the dropbox link to download it with no problems.  He reminds me that your image file has to be named "Circle.jpg" regardless of what the picture actually is; that's what the program looks for to know what shape to make the dots.  But that would be a problem running it, not downloading.  Are you on a Mac?  My husband has only programmed for PCs, so that might be it.  Otherwise, did you get any error messages that might give us a clearer idea?  Sorry I couldn't be more help!

I've been thinking about building a non toxic crawling track. The vinyl the book suggests (the kind at my local shop, anyway) is nasty stuff; the smell made me sick while it was first off gassing. My first choice now is a food grade polyethylene mattress protector, like the Bebe safe, assuming it has a slippery surface. That should protect against the chemicals in the foam rubber and plywood. Naturally tanned leather (conventional stuff is full of nasty chemicals too) is too expensive and too much upkeep for me. My cheap-but-ok choice would be a mattress protector that had no PVC or vinyl, using the plastic side up to make the track smooth and slippery.

I found one place that will make 100% natural rubber foam cushions to order: foamorder.com. It's expensive but might be worth it if my baby sleeps in the track; I could use the money I would otherwise spend on a mattress. I might wrap the rubber in an organic wool blanket (under the mattress cover) to provide some fire resistance if I go that route. I might not put foam on the sides, just the wool, to save money.

The frame at least is easy: just use real wood instead of plywood. And I still need to figure out non toxic glue. But I think I could do two 4 foot sections of track for about the same price as a cheap non toxic mattress, and if the sides are removable it could serve as a mattress when the baby outgrows the track. I'll let people know if I do it.

Sorry about that. I'll ask my husband when he gets home if I did something wrong. Maybe we'll get lucky and he can fix it for you.

I hate to be suspicious, but do you trust the organization that did the testing? Are they suggesting you pay them or a partner for expensive therapy to correct it? It does seem questionable as a result. Have you emailed IAHP? I'd love to know what they say.

Honestly, given all your kids have done, I would probably ignore this as a fluke, except that you did decide to get them tested in the first place. Why? Did you feel like something might be wrong?