I feel quite demoralised with myself. I’ve been flashing word cards and picture cards consistently for abt 7 months now, but doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere! I’ve only started ‘problem solving’ (aka testing) her till very recently about 1 month ago only. Sometimes she picks the right one, sometimes wrong one. Seems to me like its 50-50 chance.
Nowadays the sessions are getting worse because she’s learning how to crawl. She just won’t keep still in one place and seems hard for her to focus on the cards. When she does focus on the cards, all she wants to do is to grab them and crample them up or chew them! When i refuse to give it to her, she starts to wail in protest!
Any kind mum out there has a good solution for me? Should I stop the sessions till much later or should I persist?
I would suggest continue the flash card sessions. Dont give up. Are you using Little Reader and Little math? If not, it is worth investing. I started flashcard when my daughter is about 7 months old, i was frustrated like you, only when she is about 18 months, she started reading. She is still not a very good reader but she knows many words she learnt from Little Reader. She knows, English, Japanese and a little of Chinese words. So dont give up, just be patient, you ll see the results very soon…Good luck
Dear kims_mummy
I dont know how to explain this, but remember when you were young your mother tells you to do something cos she has gone through it and experienced and know that you should do it her way yet cos you never understood it that way and struggled through?
This whole teaching babies is like it… trust those who had gone through it already and dont test her… be consistent and dont worry yourself out. Just show her things you think she is interested in and ignore the rest for now… or may be pull in an odd one in to a batch of interesting cards. and they need to be staying put to gather this information. They could be all moving around AND learning at the same time, there brain is sooo much different from ours!
My son is 3 n half and I can say he never stay put! and when he was first taken to his abacus class he didnt want to stay seated like other kids cos he has never been to a school! so he was running around and making the teacher almost regret accepting him, but guess what? he has absorbed all the information taught in the class! hes teaching me about abacus!! and the teacher is soo amazed at his capabilities and knowledge! but he doesnt stay still to listen!
so its more difficult to get a baby to stay put, just point them out the flash cards whenever you can and relax… they will amaze you if you can bare patient!
I know and totally understand that urge to test, to confirm for urself and to feel relaxed, but naah, just keep on showing… 5 cards or 10 cards for 5 days and u can may b show 2 cards at a time and then after an hour or 2 another 2 cards… just dont worry yourself too much!
as for her insisting to have the cards, find a way to say a firm no that she can understand, doesnt necessarily have to be a verbal NO but you can try out urself for a way. also you can make some laminated cards or even extra cards… i would go for a laminated batch where she can explore the cards on her own. biting things is totally a phase many babies go through so dont worry about it too much either. and yes I know a lot of "dont worry about it"s but i have soo been there! hehehe
he never ate off the cards or books rather loved it cos he saw his mom and dad always with books! other than those tempting test and gettin frustrated, totally not worth it… cos now after almost 1year and a half of LR, hes amazing me everyday with his talents and abilities!
At 8 months my daughter almost ate a whole book - it was in a shambles. As for the falshcards now at 2 years and 8 months she still scrunches some up - they are laminated so survive if looking a bit tatty - that’s ok though.
Mobility is very important for a child - the whole world opens up to them as they start to move. Sometimes when we are trying to teach reading we forget this and just want them still - let her go. Reading can take a back seat while she learns to move (crawl and then walk and run) That doesn’t mean it must stop though - try showing her cards when in her car chair, and in her high chair, attach them to a wall so she can see them as she crawls past, label items in her room. But do remember that movement is extremely important for learning (you only realise this later when the movement has been on the go a while)
Hang in there - its a long stretch from 6 months to 3 years (and even 18 years) - you will have to keep adapting as she ages.
When my daughter 8-9 months old, they also wanted the cards for chewing.
They are very curious about the new world around us and want to sense it with all the senses.
At this age their taste sense is dominating. They want to taste everything they see. May be that’s
the way they try to understand the things.
What I used do is allow them to touch it and feel it or smell it.
And telling them to say bye-bye to the cards. We will see them tomorrow.
And then keeping at a place where they cannot reach.
The same with the homemade books. I am allowing
them to touch each picture of it and flap it.
Once the curiosity is finished they will watch the contents of the cards as they are changing.
The above tips are good esp. having few extra cards, I had done that for dot cards.
Recently I got LR-LM and my daughter love that. But sometimes they love
the mouse/keyboard more. lol
Hope this helps.
– kreena