my 17 months old baby does not show interest in flashcards

[candiesnlollies]

Hi.. I m new here., we r from japan, I m a multilingual mom, so i tried to speak several language to her, cantonese,english,mandarin n japanese. I m still learning japanese so i m learning n teaching her japanese words at the same time. I read the book How to teach ur baby to read. I tried introducing her words flashcards when she was about 12 months old, but she doesnt seem to show much interest, she just look away. So i did not do it often as i worry that it might push her away more. She is now 17 months old. She could identify some objects,shapes, colours, animals, some alphabet,  but not words yet. She could say Itadakimasu (before meals) , gochisosama (after finishing meals), thank u (when given things), say hello,good nite, bye etc...is she far behind comparing to the babies here? She loves watching the children's program, baby einstein etc. Recently we got her a DVD with flashcard systems in Japanese. She watched them, but i think she likes Baby einstein more. She likes to flip books, but doesnt really like me to read them for her. She attends a baby swimming class since she was 11 months old, I take her to the pool 4 times a week, she could blow bubbles, move freely n lie on her back with her arm floaties, enter the pool by herself... she is top in her class, but sadly, she cant read yet. How should i make her interested in flashcard? Should i start later or just keep trying? I took her to the SHICHIDA academy for a trial lesson when she was 1, but she was the same, she just look away, so i did not enrol her, besides it is really expensive. I m worried .. pls advise.

[nhockaday]

My first suggestion is to stop letting her watch Baby Einstein. There is very little educational content in them. There have been studies that show babies who watch them actually have a smaller vocabulary. Do a search on the forum for Baby Einstein, and you will see all the discussions about them.

[candiesnlollies]

ok thanks.. what do u thing about her other progress? r we far behind? any suggestion about the flashcards routine?

[nhockaday]

She sounds like she is doing great, developmentally-wise. To get her more interested in flash cards, I recommend Little Reader. It can make learning to read so much fun for small children. You can read about it here http://www.brillkids.com/teach-reading/index.php Some children just don't like paper flash cards. They are not that interesting, if you think about it. LR shows the words with pictures, sound and video, so it's much more interesting.

[Questers]

If she is not interested in physical flashcards, let her be. Most babies are, including mine. Mine refused to see physical flashcards. He would simply show his disinterest and look away. But when I showed the same thing on the computer, he was interested. He was interested to look at the different colored fonts, the way the slides appeared one after another etc. Now that we have the new LR curriculum, it is more interactive. Unlike DVDs where you can only watch, LR curriculum gives us an opportunity to go at our own pace, especially the multisensory part of it where you can interact with your baby and let her show her emotions. She will gradually pick up the words. Therefore, I suggest rather than simply watching DVDs over which we have lesser control, it would be better to do something interactive. Little Reader would be a good option, I feel.

Regarding languages, perhaps you could concentrate on two languages now. Perhaps you can teach one language and your husband can teach another, rather than you handling all 4 languages. I am sure other experienced parents here can help you with this.
 
Apart from all this, spend a lot of time with her. Keep talking to her and tell her whatever you are doing and ask her questions and reply yourself, if she does not answer. Point at things around the house. She will definitely pick up words. If we give a lot of input, she will definitely give the output in due course.

Questers.

[shaman]

My baby would also look away when I showed him paper flashcards- however, he has responded well to the LR. He literally begs for more There are many factors that come into play with paper flashcards- they have to be shown when the baby is fully attentive and in a good mood; size of the pictures; if they are not shown quickly, the baby looses interest etc. With LR, these problems can be easily overcome. My son totally enjoys seeing the pictures with sound.

I agree with questers, try the LR- it'll work.

PS: I tried the free version before I bought mine. That will give you a good idea of whether or not your baby likes it.

[candiesnlollies]

Oh, thank you for the LR suggestions. I ll give it a try. Thanks so much everyone!!!

[qisdhi mom]

same goes to my babies.she's always look away and sometimes start crying and run around the hall when i about start the session.haha.   
she's more interested on watching dvd/tv or computer,but now I know how to overcome it,switch off the tv or do it in the bedroom;or do creative/crazy things while teaching flashcard.

[Kappasweet]

Also, show her more of the DVD with Japanese, not baby einstein videos.  It doesn't matter what she seems to like, after 2-3 weeks if you are consistent and watch the DVDs with her and show her it is fun, she will want to watch it more.  You have to make it fun for her.  baby einstein is great babysitting DVD, but it doesn't teach anything.  Sometimes the educational videos aren't great babysitters, Mommy or Daddy has to help the baby get enthusiastic about them.  I dance, point to the screen, shout out the words, clap and laugh during the programs to help my baby stay interested.

[candiesnlollies]

thank you. I ll check out the website u reccomended. Thanks again!

[THen]

My boy (20 mos.) was like that (and still may be).  He didn't like printed flashcards.  He didn't even care for LR much in the beginning.  And we might have gotten through a couple of pages of a book and he would be done.  But, I kept on when he was in a good mood.  We borrowed YBCR and Signing Time on DVD from the library (at first, he didn't like these either, but now he does).  Thankfully, he now likes LR and will tolerate LM.  And, now he will bring me a stack of books and want me to sit on the floor and read to him.  I point to the words as I go.  The other day he said, "My!" when I pointed to a word.  (Thanks to Meet the Sight Words DVDs.)  He doesn't like to be tested (actually, I think he hates it) and doesn't show what he has learned very much.  "My" is the second word he has read to me and we've been doing this for ... 7 months.  But then he read "some" today.  (Thank you Meet the Sight Words!)  I say, just keep doing what you can, and try to make it fun.   

There have been differnt ideas posted for older babies that don't like to sit and look at flashcards.  Some of my favorites were:
Playing peek-a-boo with a flashcard.
Putting words on the side of a cardboard box that the baby can throw, then reading the word on the top.
My boy likes it when I put words on the wall upside-down, then hold him upside down to look at the worlds.
Someone says they put words on the floor and the baby jumps on it.
For a while, we had words posted around our house, labling things and we'd read them when we walked by.
I also had some phrases like, "Mommy loves you," and ""Daddy drinks milk," on the wall at our stairs and we'd read them as we walked up or down the steps. 
And laminated words (or paper ones in ziplock bags) stick to the wall well when taking a bath.  Fishing for words and putting them on the wall is fun. 

And I would agree with nhockaday.  I would hold back on the entertainment DVDs.  It might take a while, but after a while, (with no other choice) she might find the educational ones "enteraining."

Oh, and I think your child is just fine.  She is so smart!  I'm sure she will pick up reading when she wants to.  Sounds like you are doing a wonderful job being a great Mommy.

[candiesnlollies]

Thanks THen. Thank you for the wonderful ideas. When i first stumble into this website, i felt like a hopeless mum.. after seeing so many replies n  suggestions, i felt so much better. As u all know, i just moved to Japan. So i cannot really communicate well and doesnt have many friends. It is so hard for me to discuss my problems n get advise from the other mums... But after joining this forum, i felt so much better, but still, i think we have still many catch up to do. As far as I know, no one i knew believes in flashcards, so it is so difficult for me to disscuss my flashcrd problem, n eventually felt demotivated. I ve stopped the Baby Einsten DVD since i received the reply. I got some old VCDs called Baby Bumble Bee, It shows the word n the picture. I watch them with her n explain further n make it more interesting for her, i think she enjoys it more when we watch together. She talk more after watching those VCDs. I hope she would show more interest in reading soon... I think i ll try the Flashcard idea by carrying her upsidedown etc.. I think it might interest her more... Personally, i feel fun too.. ha..ha.. The person who came out with this idea is really creative n fun I guess! Oce again, thank you everyone for the fun ideas n advise to keep me motivated. I m really grateful to u  all!!

[helenadrian]

I started the flash cards when my baby was 4 months, he didn't really like it but still looked at them until he's 10 months old.  I don't think he has learnt any words from flashcard because he was not interested.  

Then I found out about BK website when he was 10 months and i started to print out alot of  picture flashcards, my son absolutely loved it and learnt so fast and started to read words like apple, car, cat, bus, pig, clock when he's 13 months.

now he's only almost 16 months and i stopped the picture cards and usign LR now and he's learing even faster.

[candiesnlollies]

wow.. think u ve been a great mum! Thanks for the advice. My girl likes pictures more than words. She like dots flashcard and chinese character flashcards, but i m still in doubt if she really learns. Thanks again!

[mother of faith]

I have worked with many children never doubt their ability to learn. I taught a child that never set down, he mentally was challenged but i still showed flashcards and talked, talked, talked. The child would come to me and point and say what he could to identify the flashcards. Now grant my flashcards for him were posters, as big as a sheet of paper.
I have also used a program called power point to make slide shows, you can also use openoffice.com they have one for free if your child likes the computer monitor, not as great as LR though.
Also we make flashcard books out of a file folder, see my video here about it that is if I had time to upload it yet? anyway sometimes changing the way the visual items look like can help, different colors, etc.
I have taught children who were not visual lerners but audio learners. so keep in mind if you think he/she is not learning they are.
I have been amazed at children who almost like mine won't sit still to even look at a flashcard or book is actually learning.
Keep up the good work and keep trying new ways to visualize. Even though you may not see the progression now you will.

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