I’m wondering if there could be a danger of over-stimulation from showing the flashcards and .ppt presentations? I heard watching cartoons posts a danger. Is it true with the flashcards too?
In your experience, how many times a day of lessons are enough? Should one concentrate on one subject (e.g. body parts) until the baby masters it or better to show several sets a day?
Your baby will tell you if he/she is being overstimulated. Look for clues like fussiness, looking around or fidgeting. These are clues from your baby that mean “I’ve had enough”. If you stop when or before you see these clues, then there shouldn’t be any problems.
Cartoons are rapid flashing of images with no educational content or value. Flash cards are the total opposite. The baby is actually learning things from flash cards–he/she is seeing an image that goes along with a word and a sound–not like cartoons where he/she only sees random images that mean nothing and will teach nothing to him/her.
As far as how many times or what to show your baby, use the clues I mentioned above. Only do lessons when your child is interested, and stop when he/she is no longer interested. Some days or times will be diferent than other days/times. If your child only seems interested in seeing 2 categories at a particular time, then you can show more later in the day, or after a nap.
With younger children and babies, you will not be able to tell if they have “mastered” a subject. They likely will not show any clues of recognition, but that does not mean they are not learning! They are taking it all in! They just are not able to show it yet. So do not try to test them! I recommend showing several different categories a day, always in different orders! Use the random function to mix up the slides! If you keep showing the same things, your child will get bored very quickly.
I agree with Nikki. You can easily tell if your baby is already tired or bored from learning his lessons 
I can tell when my baby has had enough already when he starts looking around, or slides down from my lap or when he rubs his eyes which means he’s sleepy.
Just to share it with you, I had already introduced to my son the Alphabets and Parts of the Body flashcards. Now I’m making a recap of the Alphabets to him. This week, we’re on the letters A-E. I typed in and printed out the alphabets, one paper for each. Then I also printed out pictures of one-syllabled things (so it’s easier for him to understand and say if ever) that start with these letters (e.g. ant, arm, bat, bird, cat, cup, dove, desk, etc), and pasted them on cardboards. Then I teach them to him everyday. For next week, we’ll have the letters F-I.
I believe this worked for us because just the other day, my baby said, “EGG”!!! :happy: My mom heard it too and asked, “Did he just say EGG?”. I told her I wasn’t sure if it was just one of the words he’s blabbing right now, but I would like to believe he got it from his lessons! :yes:
Wow thanks for the input nhockaday and proudMom2Eliam. I’ll keep in mind the tips that you gave and look out for tell-tale signs.
…so it’s best to put variety and show several categories in a day. For someone so new to the world, one would think a baby wouldn’t get bored easily but now I know they do! lol
Yep. Try showing different categories and setting them to random. Read this thread to learn how I show LR to Gabriel.
http://forum.brillkids.com/little-reader/optimal-lesson-time-with-your-children-using-little-reader/msg2515/#msg2515
Please note that this is by no means a recommendation, this is what works best for me and Gabriel. You may find something works better for your child. Try different things and see what works!