The Russian DVD set is transliterated!!! So, instead of words appering in Russian letters, they are written in English letters. For instance, "water" is written as "voda". Ouch! I was blown away when I saw it. I can't show it to my twins because it will just confuse them, and it's soooo ugly and painful to watch for someone who actually can read in Russian.

I called them, and they said that they did this because they wanted parents who don't know the language to be able to read Russian words. What a terrible idea! This is supposed to be immersion program. In any case, some transliterations are matter of interpretation. If I had to transliterate "water" for instance, I'd spell it as "voda" instead of "vada" because it's closer to how it's spelled in Russian. In any case, this is a total deal breaker for me. I bought the DVDs trying to teach my twins to read in Russian and English, and I think showing a transliterated material will do more damage than good, even if they do pick up a few more spoken words.

I wish Little Pim would made it clear on the order page or the page with the information about the Russian set, but there is no mention of this anywhere on their web site. Unless you go and check YouTube video specifically in Russian (and I checked only English of course before buying), you'd have no idea. I hope I can return the DVDs, but I'll likely lose $30 I spent to buy Mamapedia coupons and about $15 in shipping. Total loss of $45 I would've never ever bought the DVDs if I had any idea they were transliterated.  So be warned.

On the subject of Little Pim - I am also disappointed in the product. The Russian DVD set is transliterated!!! So, instead of words appering in Russian letters, they are written in English letters. For instance, "water" is written as "voda". Ouch! I was blown away when I saw it. I can't show it to my twins because it will just confuse them, and it's soooo ugly and painful to watch for someone who actually can read in Russian.

I called them, and they said that they did this because they wanted parents who don't know the language to be able to read Russian words. What a terrible idea! This is supposed to be immersion program. In any case, some transliterations are matter of interpretation. If I had to transliterate "water" for instance, I'd spell it as "voda" instead of "vada". In any case, this is a total deal breaker for me. I bought two matching DVD sets trying to teach my twins to read in Russian and English, and I think showing a transliterated material will do more damage than good, even if they do pick up a few more spoken words.

I wish Little Pim would made it clear on the order page or the page with the information about the Russian set, but there is no mention of this anywhere on their web site. Unless you go and check YouTube video specifically in Russian (and I checked only English of course before buying), you'd have no idea. I hope I can return the DVDs, but I'll likely lose $30 I spent to buy Mamapedia coupons and about $15 in shipping. Total loss of $45. So sad. I would've never ever bought the DVDs if I had any idea they were transliterated.  So be warned.

Great deal, indeed! But, don't make the same mistake I did - read the small print. You can use one coupon per $59.95 order. I didn't realize this and bought two instead of one thinking that I'd save 50%. Duh! You save up to 25%, which is still nice. Just wanted to let you know about some finer details I missed. We're all busy moms!

Thank you for sharing this deal

I couldn't post the comment on the blog, sorry. Thank you for your review. It's always interesting what people think about products you consider. Anyway, I think Little Reader is a great program. We're using a trial version right now, and my twin girls love it. It holds their attention, and it's easy to make your own content, which is great. It's easier to use than flash cards. I like everything about it, and if there was one thing I'd change, I'd add more sessions per day as per Doman method (which is Little Reader is based on I believe). Other than that, it's great!

I've been wondering the same thing; is it worth it? I have 2-year old twins, and I didn't find out about Doman math program until after they turned two and started with them at 2 years and 1 month. Because they were 6 weeks premature, I hope we have a bit of extra time before they lose the ability to recognize quantity. So far, and we've been doing the program for over two months daily, I haven't noticed any results. They like the math cards, and enjoy Little Math, so I plan on carrying on, but it seems that that they enjoy playing with cards and making hats out of them just as much as they like me presenting them

We are pushing it agewise with the math program, but I figured it can't hurt to try. What's the worse that can happen? - They won't learn and I've wasted some money, time and effort. But, it can't hurt them to try. They are having fun. It gives us something to do. I bought the cards from Gentle Revolution web site instead of making them, so the hardest part for me to is to try to find the time to fit the math session when the girls are both not running around and are sort of paying attention, which is not that easy with toddlers. I wish I knew about this program when they were under one. At the younger age, I think it's totally worth it. And, it can't hurt them to try at the older age. With all the money spent on clothes and toys, it seems like a reasonable expense.

I wish that Doman cards came with equality and plus, mines, equal signs, etc. But, I find it's nice to have different media to present the cards, i.e. the cards themselves and Little Math. Mixing it up helps with active toddlers. So, to sum it up, I think it's worth the try even if your kids are a bit older.

I second that. Back when I was growing up in Russia, everyone entered school at 7, including me. Russia has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, around 99%, or at least used to have. But, I could read books well before that, as well as write, because I was taught at home. So, the age when you enter school itself is not representive of the ability to read. And, as the article points out, a large percentage of Finish students could read before entering school, so that kind of makes the argument of delaying reading instruction based on Finish example pointless.

I also studied math in Russia while in school. My Russian college degree is not related to math, so I only had math in school (it's a different system where you don't study subjects not related to your major while in college). When I moved to US and started taking college classes trying to change professions, I had to take a lot of math, and to my surprise, I realized that I already knew most of it from high school math. So, what I am trying to say is that perhaps math courses in schools here need to be more advanced.  I totally agree about banning calculators because then you end up so dependent on them that you can't calculate a 20% tip in your head, and I've met a lot of people like that. The article is also right about teaching profession having more respect in other countries, as well as math itself being more respected. I actually taught SAT math prep course one summer for a local public school, and my students kept asking me to play math games with them and were not expecting to do any math home work. Totally different culture. I'm not saying that math should be boring, but you can't explain every concept through a game nor can you achive true mastery. And, yes, Russian system priortized mastery and depth over width. I still have some of old Russian math text books, and they are slim and light.

Hi there,

We're in Manassas. I have two year old twin girls, and I stay home with them. We're doing Doman's math program in addtion to YBCR and Doman's reading DVDs in Russian. If you guys ever decide to have a play date or mom's night out, we'd love to come!

Lana