Hello 2010BEBES,
I am glad you are here and ready to use wisely every secong you got !! that is the deal that your grandson will remember in the future that Learning and by the way Learning with grandma is FUN!! that by itself will be a huge life present !!
As much as we want to... it is impossible for us to teach our kids e v e r y t h i n g we would like them to know; there is just not enough time and by the time they grow up they will need information we dont even know it exists (because it does not exist now) we live in very fast changing times and the best think you can do for your grandson is teach him how to learn ! teach him how to think ! reading is a door to many things in life and so is math, the dots are great if you can do the homework every day several times per day, but as you well said dots are not everything, there are tons of math lessons that you can offer in your kitchen, your job is to help your grandson and son/daughter understand that the love for learning is a foundation that needs to be work on at an early age, the earlier the better. Just make sure that what ever you decided is 100% guided by what his preference is at this stage of development, if it is books, then books, if bits then bits it is. Start with one category and litlle by little start adding to it as you see him enjoying more and more, laugh with him, read with exagerated tone, touch him, the more senses you involve in every "session" or learning play time the better for him. Discover what works best for him, what kind of learner he is and pls pass all this info to his parents they should be here and even if all they have is 10 minutes per day - like right brain kids promote- ten minutes per day go a long run in a life time of learning, they (his parents) probably are not aware of all they are missing just like I was not aware for the first 4 years of my daughter's life... find the way to bring the message to them in a way that they will embrace it vs feeling grandma is telling me how to raise my kids .. kind off...
short answer to you questions
1. if you have to choose because of the price- I would choose LReader there are tons of materials available for you and great quality. Plus there are some dots lessons in ppt in LReader
2. I will do it anyway just for fun, but then again if time is limited as well I will teach him new skills he can use and somehow are math related. Playing with puzzles, playing with food and learning fractions, I taught my daughter to count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 10, 25s, 100s, while swinging at the park everytime I pushed her I scream a number and she will scream it back in different languages after she got it in english and that info is there for retrieval now that she is learning the multiplication table is piece of cake, play memory games with cards, make your own plays - acting - to memorize lines and practice that memory muscle, go for science project trips ..just a walk to pick up leaves and label 3 or 4 per week keep a leaves book, stones in a egg case... keep reading at this forum you will find useful and funny ideas everywhere. He is still in right brain mode learn about it and capitalize on that .. pls have fun along the way - give him with no expectation, like every good gift we give, give it away dont test him or show him off, just give give give ...AS POSSIBLE PLAY Classical music in the background - baroque - mozart. You can get these cds at the local library. Best to you !!
I wish I would had had a mom or mom-in-law who would have brought this early info to me earlier !! God bless you for your determination to improve your grandson's life.
Regards,
GloriaD.
Digg
