Do you think it is important to teach kids that it is okay to sometimes fail, and that failure can sometimes be a good option? I've read that if kids are always pressured to succeed that they will be more hesitant about trying new things where they are not sure about how will they will do, and so it's important for kids to be able to try new things without always feeling like they have to succeed at everything. What is a good age for teaching children about failure and what is a good way to introduce this concept?

Also, how do you teach children to know the difference between really pushing past their limits to get something and when it's time to quit?

Also check out what your local library system offers. I just discovered that ours offers a version of byki that you can access from the library website – although you do need to have a card at the library to sign in on the byki website. I think the library version has a few more features than the free version at byki.com, specifically you can record your own pronunciation and the computer will rate it against the native speaker's  - it has been a really helpful feature. I think when learning a new language, being able to hear yourself is key – otherwise it’s hard to know how you sound and where you need improvement. I'm looking forward to checking out some of the other links you found.

Thanks Kimba! Those are some great suggestions and I enjoyed reading about all the things you are doing on your blog. Are you planning to teach another language besides Chinese or are you planning to just stick with Chinese for now?

I had thought about trying to teach my son Spanish since it is so prevalent in the US, but after reading your blog post, I’m intrigued by the idea of teaching Chinese. It does seem like it would be beneficial to learn a language so different from one’s native language, but I’m sure much more difficult for an adult to pick up. I’m interested in see how things continue to progress for you. Thanks for sharing and for the great suggestions!

I would like my son to grow up to be fluent in at least one other language (if not several), but I only speak one well. Any recommendations on ways to expose a baby or toddler to multiple languages so that they can become fluent if you only speak one yourself and only have friends and family who speak one?

I tried blogging last year as well, but it didn’t last more than a couple of months. Some of just weren’t meant to be bloggers I think! Even though I didn’t keep it up, I found it to be a valuable experience, and it really made me appreciate all the hard work that goes into starting and maintaining a blog.

When I was doing the blog, I found some really cool blogging communities where bloggers support one and other, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Also found some really interesting blogs, a few of which I’ve been able to keep up with as a reader.

One of the questions that blogging raised for me was the whole question of online privacy and identity theft. Bloggers – is that something you worry about at all? Do you blog using your real name / real kids’ names etc, or do you use fake names? I personally always worried about revealing too much personal information online, and I think that was one of the reasons I could not be successful as a blogger – that and the fact that you actually have to blog! From what I saw blogging can definitely become a full time job if you let it, as can reading blogs!

This is a great thread. Thanks Patty for joining the forum and answering questions. I am eager to hear your responses to the rest of the questions as you get time. I only recently learned about Doman and early childhood learning and it has been fascinating to learn about. I just wish there was more knowledge and resources available in mainstream education and childcare. I really appreciate hearing from someone who has such a long association with the program because your knowledge of the long term benefits are invaluable to those of us who are just starting out and learning about this system.

Are you in touch with any of the other children and parents who went through the program with you and your daughter? I am very curious to learn about what types of careers they went into and whether they use the same techniques with their own children.

Also, thanks TmT for posting the information about teaching preschoolers gymnastics. I had been thinking about signing my son up for a gymnastics course, but it had never occurred to me that I could teach him at home. I’m looking forward to reviewing some of the videos posted on YouTube. I’m so happy I found this forum. It has been a great resource for me!

I wholeheartedly agree that breast feeding is important. I am still breastfeeding my son who is over a year old and I don’t have any plans to stop any time soon. However, I have friends who were not able to breastfeed at all - for example - because of medications that the mother was taking that could enter the breast milk and be dangerous for the babies to consume. I know mothers who were not even able to give their babies colustrum. With the push for all mothers to breastfeed their babies, how do we prevent mothers from feeling inadequate when they are unable to breastfeed, and feel like they are not providing the best for their child that they can?

Please understand that I am not questioning the importance of breastfeeding. As I said I am still breastfeeding my son. I applaud the efforts of groups that promote breastfeeding and the fact that breastfeeding is becoming more of the norm again which is how it should be. I just don’t like the fact that some mothers feel very guilty when they can’t breastfeed.

There is also a grey area for women who choose not to breastfeed. I think with education this is becoming less and less common, but there are still some women who choose not to.

I think it would be interesting to add to the poll a choice for women who had babies and chose not to breastfeed versus those who could not breastfeed at all because of medical reasons. I would also be interested in seeing a poll for how long women choose to breastfeed for. I would expect with the increased education of how important breastfeeding for at least a year is, that there would be an increase in the length of time women breastfeed now compared to 5 years ago.

Sorry for rambling on your thread! This is a very interesting topic!

That sounds absolutely wonderful Kimba! I definitely agree about taking things for granted when you are not a parent. I often find myself wondering now why I thought I was so busy before I had a kid. Little did I know what I was in store for! But I love every (well, almost every) minute of being a parent to my sweet child.

Unfortunately my husband has been travelling all weekend so I don’t get to experience a relaxing Mothers day today, but he has promised me a free day tomorrow, and I am very excited about that! What I am going to do with all that free time?? What a luxury to have a whole day to myself!

These blocks are awesome! Thanks for bumping the thread Mela Bala. I never would have seen them otherwise. A bit pricey, but something to keep in mind for later. Love the other alphabet blocks too!

My son's first word was mama, his second word was dada. His third word was dog (we have 2), and that's now his favorite word - he says it all the time now - no more mama or dada!

I started baby led weaning with my son after he turned 6 months, but I wasn’t strict about following it all the time. I never fed my baby purees, but sometimes I feed him bits of food and other times I let him eat by himself. Usually I feed him things that are messy or when we’re out, and I fed him more during the winter just because I didn’t want to deal with all the mess and stripping him down to clean him when it was colder. My main reason for incorporating baby led weaning was to make sure my son is an adventurous eating, and I’ve been happy with the results so far. Right now he is willing to try anything. Hopefully that won’t change as he gets older. The nice thing about baby led weaning is that it lets babies experience different textures of foods when they are at an age to explore and so I’ve to make sure I include different textures especially as he gets better at holding foods and feeding himself.

We started with avocados, banana, pears, sweet potatose, very soft (boiled or microwaved) vegetables, squash etc. I worried at first about making sure I gave him enough different foods but I was still nursing him all the time, so I don’t think I needed to worry about it as much. Now I just give him whatever I’m eating.

Thanks so much for the information and the videos. There is a lot of information on this website that I am just starting to explore. How old was your son when you started him on this program? Did you just do this program or did you do anything else?

In the quick research I was doing online I was coming across concerns of dyslexia for children who learn to read using a sight reading / whole word approach so is a cause for concern for me. I understand that the little reader program uses pattern phonics as well as a sight reading / whole word approach so I am going to look into that more.

Hi, I'm new here. Just discovered this website and program a couple of days ago. I have a 1 year old son and would love to start teaching him to read using this program. I've been doing some research online and have been finding a lot of mixed messages about the benefits / negative side effects of teaching children to read before they are ready. Are there any longitudinal studies that can show the effectiveness of this program? Any information is appreciated.

Thanks,
ShuLu