Good morning and welcome!...your little one will love it!

Do you live in London by any chance? I am in the process (well more like thinking of) knowing and meeting up with some parents interested in early education and hope that my daughter can play with them...but am not really sure how to find them.

Do you happen to know how much would it cost to post the materials to UK (London)? I'm seriously considering buying them if the postage cost involved is not high.

Thanks

Oana

Hi Liesel...I can't help you with the books (sorry!)...but I wanted to ask you if you're familiar with any homeschool groups in London?

We also live in London (we're abroad at the moment) and we finished (my first daughter I mean) LR ages back. We're using different materials and I'm supplementing her needs/interests with different activities...but we haven't started using a particular curriculum yet.

I often find myself a bit isolated (on the parenting side) because not many of my friends homeschool or are very familiar with early education...and I am not really aware of any co-ops or families/moms that get together regularly. We live in Collindale.

Hi guys...I/ve just stumbled upon this post...and thought of replying. I/we also live in London (we are Romanian nationals) and have been in the UK since 2008. I have been using both LR and LM  with my lo (she/s 21 months) since she was 3 months old (at the time my husband thought I was crazy and we had a big debate whether to buy or not the software)....and it worked wonders on her.

Even though she is mainly exposed to English as she spends more time with me and I only speak in English with her (she is exposed to a certain extent to Romanian, but not at the same level with English)....she is bilingual and can communicate in both languages (she literary switches from one language to the other in a second). Her accent is a bit funny in Romanian...but that/s not really a problem for us. Her vocabulary is way above her peers and everywhere we go people ask how old she is and how come she can speak so fluent...

I recently started introducing German resources (even though not as many as I would have liked to) and she has no problem counting up to 15/16 in English/Romanian and German.

To all of you who have any doubts regarding the benefits of early learning...I would strongly encourage you not to hesitate and allow your child to be exposed to as many educational resources as possible....the worst thing it can happen (even though I doubt it will) is that your lo will not actually pick up on any of them...but still you would have spent a considerable amount of time with him/her and at the end of the day...that/s what matters right?

All the best,

Oana

NPLight that's amazing...you  must be over the moon. I'd just like to share a similar experience that caused a biggggggggggggggg smile on my face. My daughter is 10 months (almost 10 and a half) and we've been doing LR consistently since she was 3 months old....we were using public transport and so it happened that there was another mommy with her toddler girl next to us....from one thing to another we started talking about kids...and at some point she asked me what's my daughter's name. Before giving her the answer, I asked my daughter directly...and guess what?))...she said her name ..indeed she has a very short name (3 letters long)...but it never happened to me again. I couldn't believe it...and the lady couldn't believe it ))...she asked me to ask her again:).

Over the next few days I would ask her (I tried not to overdo it) 'what's your name?' and she always answered...so she did prove me wrong when I thought it was just a coincidence. Also...whenever I ask her to clap, raise her hands, or show me her toes, belly, nose and head ...she always always points correctly and says 'dis' (I think this is her equivalent to 'this')...she is so funny:)

I find her progress just amazing...and can't stop smiling whenever I see how interested is in EVERYTHING. I think she brings me a book (meaning she wants me to read to her) at least a couple of times a day...and she never seems to get bored:).

My daughter is almost 9 months (I gave birth in December 2011) and I started using LM and LR since she was 3 months old. I have managed to rigurously follow our LR routine but can't say the same thing about LM (meaning that at times - for whatever reason - we might have a 3/4/5 days break).

I only speak in English with her and my husband only speaks in Romanian. She seems to cope just fine with both languages and understand everything we communicate to her. She is also exposed to German (through the stories playing on my laptop or nursery songs) but I haven't actually started using the language or allocating a particular day/slot for communicating in German with her.

Overall, I am very happy to how she's doing and responding to all the resources we have available. She is very responsive and active and has recently showed me that she knows the meaning of 'to drop', after deliberately imitating me (I was really really happy about it:). She can also distinguish clearly from a banana, an orange and an egg (probably from LR as well) because everytime she has these 3 in front of her and I ask for a particular one....she does get it and ends up chewing it or moving it somewhere else.

We also try to spend at least 1 hour reading every day ....even though I must confess I don't yet have a consistent routine in this respect.

I would definitely continue teaching my child Kizudo...at the end of the day, no matter how lovely that teacher might be....it's really about your child's best interest.

AndreasRo do you homeschool your child?...do you mind if I ask for some extra details (by email)?...I'm not sure if I mentioned in my initial email that we are planning to move back home in a couple of years...and did think of the idea of homeschooling...but I honestly thought there's no system in place yet.

Thank you in advance!

Our daughter just turned 8 months and responds great in 2 languages (Romanian and English). My husband only talks to her in Romanian and I only talk to her in English....if she's awake, we also talk in English to each other. I always have some sort of audio program/music/story on the background throughout the day in any of these languages...so I imagine this helps as well. Since we're living in London....she is also exposed to English and British culture and the playgroups I take her have mixed nationalities, but the communication happens in English. However, our circle of friends is mainly Romanian related and their children speak Romanian...so I would say she has a fair share of both languages.

So far she doesn't seem to have any problem understanding both languages...she hasn't started talking (she's only 8 months)....but she blabbles more than enough . I know for sure she can understand English because she opens her mouth when I ask her to, she raises her hands when I ask her to....she comes to me when I call her, she kisses me when I ask for kisses....etc.

I am very curious to see her talking....and see what language she will chose as her main one...

I feel the same way as PokerDad...there is no need to get confruntational, but you can make it clear that she's not welcomed because your daughter is either sleeping or she's busy doing whatever. Her parents will get the hint...and my guess is that she will get it as well.

Counting that your LO is only 3 she can be easily influenced, even though she might be very obedient around you and your husband. Wanting to keep her away from your neighbour is a sensible thing to do in my opinion.

Dear Shadahfree,

I would just like to encourage you to continue believing in EL and the results it will produce along the way....no matter how your husband feels about it. I totally agree with TeachingMyToddlers regarding doing it sensibly and around your hudband's guidelines....I will share my experience that is - more or less- similar to yours.

Right after I gave birth I randomly discovered (such a wonderful discovery!) Brillkids and the forum and I started reading tons about early education and find out more about what kids can actually do and how they can get information.I knew I wanted to give my daughter a headstart before finding out about LM and LR and get her involved in various activities....but I had no plan whatsoever and no direction.

At this point my baby was very very young and by the time she was 2 months I was using free resources (like black and white flashcards, classical music that I already had on my pc, etc)....and trying to find a strategy to convince my husband of EL's results. He is a very very good dad...but I think he was not that much into early learning because of his background (his parents never really encouraged him or his siblings to follow the academic pathway....their opinion was - and still is to some extent- that manual labour works out great, especially for a man). He used to see my showing the flashcards every day and reading to her...and did not argue about it. I also started buying tons of books and he did argue about it at first  ...but he stopped doing it when I explained to him that I bought those books at discounted prices and even though the price shown at the end represented the value of the book, I actually paid a fraction of it.

Just before she turned 3 months I wanted to purchase LM + LR and approached him when I knew that he is in a very good mood and willing to listen to me. He resisted at first but I was determined to convince him so I kept my calm and explained to him that this is a one time purchase and it is a genuine investment (we can of course use it for the other children we hope to have); I also mentioned to him that I don't mind giving up other things if this makes him feel better, but that I really really want to purchase these programmes and that I would really appreciate his support. Long story made short......he agreed and we did buy the programmes.

5 months later (my daughter is now almost 7 1/2) our LO is doing great and responding so so well to the materials I'm using. She hasn't given my any sign that she can actually understand the words (she laughs when seeing some of them, but I'm not really sure if I should associate this with the actual recognition of those words)...but I'm sure she is taking the information. We read to her a lot and sing along most of the days...he slowly started being more involved in my schedule and even though I don't think he fully shares my view on EL, I can see that he definitely changed his mind. She is now almost walking (she can stand up on her own and move slowly around furniture) and responds very well in 2 languages (we use 2 languages at home).

The other days we had some friends over and their daughter was 2 weeks younger than ours.....she was a precious little baby but a numb one. She could not crawl and was not comfortable sitting on her belly (probably not used)...she did not respond in the same way as our daughter did and there was such a big different between them. Please do not understand that I'm bragging about it...but I can honestly say that my husband (who did not support EL AT ALL) saw this difference and mentioned it to me after they left (that's when I had my quiet moment of 'I told you so').

My point is that you should have patience with your husband....even though he is (and he might still be ) reluctant about EL. Give him time and do as much as you can - sensibly- under his radar with the resources you have....and at some point, maybe he will join you. There are so so many EL programmes out there and I'm sure they're great....but not greater than a mother's love for her children...so don't underestimate the resources you have and the abilities you have to teach your child along the way. I believe it is so much more important for a child to see their parents happy and getting along than having whatever programme and his/her mum and dad fighting about the cost.

'Just wanted to share my experience (even though you won't find my particular situation so relevant for this post).....my daughter is just about to turn 5 months (on Sunday) and because of our choices, she is immersed in a bilingual environment. We only speak English at home, but her dad speaks in Romanian with her (during the evening, if she's awake) and we also have the odd visit from a friend...or a conversation over the phone (in Romanian as well)...so my point is that she ends up hearing Romanian as well.

I look after her as my husband is working...and as you can imagine...we babble a lot during the day in English...and to be honest, she responds very well (in the sense that she shows particular emotions for some words from LR already). When my husband talks to her in Romanian, she seems to be just fine...and respond accordingly (as much as a 5 months old would be able to respons).

I am plannning to introduce her to other languages as well.....but I am very very curious what her first words will be ..and how she will mix the 2 languages:).

KristaG I live in London and am interested in purchasing some flashcards as well....I have checked the link on Amazon...and would just like to ask you what is the actual size of a flashcard?....Sorry if it sounds like a silly questions, but I didn't find the information on amazon..

Thank you!

My baby did not use a pacifier....I personally don't like using them....but I would still try to give it to her for a minute or so until I would prepare her bottle (I did not breadfed) ...and she simply refused using it. For whatever reason she did not like that little piece of rubber...she does however uses her hands as one:)

Babymum is he on a sleep programm...or do you just put him to sleep when you feel/think he is tired?...my daughter is slightly younger than your LO but she would hardly sleep over the da . I just through she is super super active and does not need that much sleep....but at times she would still be crancky....and cry (even though in my mind I ticked all 'to check' boxes like feeding, changing, etc.). Even though she would hardly get any sleep during the day (1 hour...maybe 1.5 hours cumulated from small naps) she would often wake up at night and would not sleep through the night (6-7-8 hours in a row).

I then stumbled upon a great book by Polly Moore (The 90-minute baby sleep program) and realised that she was underslept and the reason she couldn't actually sleep was because she was so so tired. I have decided to give it a try and she's been on this program for aprox. 2 weeks and the results are just amazing. Now she takes 3-4 naps (of at least 30-45 minutes each) daily and at night she goes to bed around 20.30-21.00 and she does not wake up (unless she needs a diaper change) until 6 - 6.30 in the morning...... I find her so so much happier....and you can imagine how happy I am .

I am also in the process of teaching her to fall asleep on her own (and I use as a guide the same book) and she seems to do just fine. She hardly cries/moans for 5 minutes (or less) before actually falling asleep on her own in her cot....I believe this is because she started associating her tiredness with the actual need of sleep.

The book focuses more on the first year of life of a baby...but does provide some very helpful tips for toddlers (for their parents I mean) and the way they should recognize particular patterns when it comes to sleep and handle them appropriately.

I hope this helps....

Your library looks great Mandabplus3....mine is 1/3 of yours, mainly because we don't have much space (we live in a tiny flat). Back home...at my mom's we have a proper library....3 walls full of books....but in my/our own flat unfortunately I can't fit that many books. My daughter is almost 4 months and I would say I bought for her almost 100 books. I am a genuine bookoholic and my husband constantly moans about buying too many books when we have limited storage place....but I don't think I'll ever have enough.

Maybe one good day we'll be able to have a proper library in a proper room designed just for reading/studying....until then, the only thing I can think of after I run short of my existing library space si to stack them up