I am wondering if I have done the right thing or have completly wasted my time and the kids time. I recently went through several home made flashcards with DD1 and today we were laying with a Dr’s kit and I pulled out the Stethoscope and I asked S what this was (I am aware you are not supposed to ask such questions but I thought I would give it a go) No answer, I pull out a syringe and ask what’s this No answer. Now most of the time I am very consistant with my flashcards and these were homemade flashcards not computer flashcards. I just feel like it has been all for nothing. I have made presentations on local flowers and states and we only have six states in Australia not that hard and when I ask her questions she picks the wrong one or just refuses to answer.
I know what GD says but I feel let down, I feel like maybe I have done her a disservice by trying to teach her all these wonderful things. I am now worried that maybe she is not any smarter than the other kids whose parents let them watch tv all day. I am feeling really down and a little lost. I really believe in this early education stuff and I had hoped that this would benefit her. If she can’t recall this stuff now what will happen in the future??? When it comes time to relarn this stuff again at school.
On the other hand she is reading extremely well, but I really loved the EK stuff I was learning too but I was hoping it would benefit her in some way give her an edge later in life an ability to recall info in a flash, I sense of knowing and making her academic life easy but I’m beginning to wonder if it has really helped her or has it all been in vain?
I feel like maybe I have done her a disservice by trying to teach her all these wonderful things. I am now worried that maybe she is not any smarter than the other kids whose parents let them watch tv all day. I am feeling really down and a little lost. I really believe in this early education stuff and I had hoped that this would benefit her.
… I’m beginning to wonder if it has really helped her or has it all been in vain?
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Kimba,
So sorry you’re in a funk right now. Here are my humble thoughts: All the time you were “working” with your daughter you were having fun, right? You even commented on how much YOU were enjoying learning the various facts you were teaching. I seriously think that if YOU were having fun, she was having fun. As for the word you chose - “disservice” - I’m finding that hard to accept and I think you don’t really believe that either. How could watching tv or constantly playing on her own be better than spending time interacting with you? Really, truly - how could it? All the fun that you had with her will not be forgotten. She may not remember exactly WHAT you taught her (never mind acknowledge all the work you put into creating materials!), but she will remember the “warm fuzzy” feeling of the excitement of learning. That is truly what you want for her, right? You want her to be excited and yearning for knowledge, right? Now go wash your face with a cold cloth, take a deep breath and get back at having fun with learning!
Personally, I don’t think the point is for them to remember everything. The point is to create familiarity with a lot of different things to make them better readers later on. I’m currently playing two iPad games with my 3 year old: Aliens Vs Presidents and Stack the States. I’ll add Stack the Countries soon. I don’t expect her to memorize all the presidents or states (although she can already recognise some of the presidents herself). I feel like I am planting ideas in her head. Later on, when she comes across these ideas in her reading they will make more sense to her. I also read the Magic School Bus books to her, even though I know a lot of it is going over her head, as well as more basic things like the DK early reader books. Again, the goal is to create familiarity with ideas, so not everything is new to her when she is school age. I have a 6 year old who reads at a 5th grade level, so it does pay off down the road.
I would say, my daughter stands at the same level. She never remembers anything. I have to repeat many times. But I think Doman forgot to add that in his books I did EK on the laptop but not as extensively. I slowed down with EK when I realized that she wasn’t remembering. I instead incorporated more puzzles. Puzzles for the US states, body puzzle, etc. I realized that she learns more and it also improves her logic skills. She even remembers the names of the states…I’d say 65% of them. I changed. I think EK maybe works for some kids but for the ones like ours, they need other experiences also.
I am sure your daughter did learn few things. It is hard for the kids to say the words but instead maybe if you show her two objects and say one name and let her choose one object, like a stethescope and a Asyringe, ask her which is a stethescope? That would be more inline with doman style also. The pictures from the cards stays in their mind and I am sure it increases their brains. Plus it increases their interest in learning. I think a good idea is to incorporate the cards with doing stuff, so if you are going through doctor stuff then later play a game with her using the objects in the cards. I think it is important to play a game rather than do it card style. They need variety.
I have to agree with Kizudo. Even if your daughter cannot remember all the facts you want her to, she still benefited from being taught! You got all that wonderful bonding time and at the very least she will grow up knowing she has a mother who cares and was involved in her childhood. What could be more important than sending your child into the world knowing that she has a stable, loving, foundation where she will always be accepted? Also, you never know what connections you helped her make. She may not remember the facts from EK, but she may have learned other important skills such as categorizing and labeling. You may have made learning other in the future more fun and easier.
I know is not learning everything I am teaching him. I have no idea what he is absorbing for sure and what is barely being registered. Even if he learns to read early and becomes very “smart” I will have no idea what methods were effective and what weren’t. As long as he grows up happy, secure, and confident in his abilities, I will feel like it was worth it. I don’t want him to be afraid of learning something new.
I also have a child reluctant to show that he’s learning anything. We watch LR together and if I ask him to do the action, he would often refuse. Then I started playing with him: after a week of no-response to watching the multisensory lesson for body words, he laughed and giggled as I poked and kissed whichever part was flashed up. I grabbed his hands and legs for the action words and helped him be silly in exaggerating them. By the end of that set of words, he was initiating a lot of the actions himself, laughing and having fun. That is what we’re doing it for
We did the Doman dot cards and some EK, but like you, I got no response. He still chooses both options whenever a choice is given :wub: Instead, I have been incorporating EK into our reading - I made a book of red animals, yellow animals etc. giving a dozen options for each colour, using the full names (ie. strawberry poison frog, not just frog) - I don’t know why I decided to do coloured animals - finding the different examples was a nightmare and I have given up at the thought of purple animals!!! I have moved on to a book about transport, as that is his new favourite
Enjoy your daughter, enjoy learning with her and it will all be worth it :yes:
I was concerned about my son for quite a while. He would never point to pictures in books. Or things around the house. I spent a long time teaching him the names of things, showing him pictures, playing with the real object and he just never ‘got it’. I thought that perhaps his vision was off and he just didn’t see the thing on the pages.
Then one day a few weeks ago he started signing the words (my son is non verbal) of things that he saw on pages.
There is a three step learning method.
Teach the thing by showing the child saying “This is a …”
Have the child recognise the thing by asking “Where is the …?”
Have the child recall the thing. Eventually the child will call the thing by name.
My son has completely skipped the second stage but is now signing the names of things. He still will not point to things when I ask where they are on a page. But I KNOW he knows them.
The other day we were playing and he kept signing that he wanted a ball. I gave him several balls and he just threw them on the floor. I told him that I didn’t know what he wanted. So he signed bookairplanebook. I asked if he wanted a book with an airplane. He ran to his room to where his books are. I wracked my mind thinking about a book that has an airplane in it. I opened the page to one and he grabbed ecstatically, immediately flicked to the back of the book and pointed to the picture of the ball. Incidentally he wanted a ball, just a particular ball that I hadn’t given him.
In another instance: My son has gone from signing 1 word to signing about 20. He learnt his first sign about a year ago. Yes, I have been teaching signs that long. He was not picking up any new signs at all. I just kept using them daily and sometimes demonstrating with his hands. I then introduced Baby Signing Time and he watched it every day for 1 month solid. I was doubting the benefit of it. Then over night he went from 1 sign to about 15. Most he learnt from baby signing time, but others were signs not on the DVD that I had been using for the last year.
It may take a while, but eventually something clicks and often when it does their recall is amazing!
Obviously you are doing a great job. She is already reading well and that is amazing in itself. I agree with fma001. I think in the future she will understand related concepts easier and deeper even if she isn’t demonstrating the knowledge now. I bet that she also has a wonderful vocabulary. Maybe she has had so much intellectual growth that it is just hard to organize and express it. When kids learn how to talk sometimes they regress in language a tiny bit. Then suddenly the language returns. So maybe with the early reading she is already processing a lot. She might be absorbing the EK facts but just isn’t ready to start expressing them because she is focused on reading instead. I still think that EK facts are probably seeping in on some level and will benefit her. There was probably a point when reading didn’t seem to be going well then suddenly she was reading. I haven’t done EK but I taught my daughter to read and there were dark days when I thought I must be doing it wrong. Then suddenly she was reading. I admire you for doing EK because it takes a lot of work. I used to get lots of nonfiction concepts books from the library. Lately we just read story books. Now I’m feeling guilty. I think I need to start visiting the library again for non-fiction books. Anyway, back to you, keep it up. I am sure that one day you will see amazing results.
Yes I have been feeling in a funk as Kizudo put it but I have been working on a few things, and I have been clearing out the clutter from the playroom and giving it a much needed splash of paint. I am also re-evaluating my reasons for early learning as My eldest DD and I have become at logger heads for her to do anything. This week she went to daycare and threw a saucepan at someone head and then refused to aplogise. She never really had the terrible two but I think here come the tyrannical threes. She is becoming more andmore stubborn and really boundry pushing. So just why she is being a little resistant I will focus on my youngest and when my 3 year old pipes up and wants to do soemthing then I will be there.
I think I have to step up the discipline with her but also put something in place for really good behaviour. I will also ask her if there is anything she likes learning and maybe we can start focussing on that.
I will have to post some piccies of my updated playroom. I have really cleaned it out and given it a huge tidy up and I feel I can restart on this process again.
My DD has also reverted back to some really baby behaviour, I think she might be suffering from a little bit of jealousy with her younger dd who is now on the move.
Thank you all for your great advice. I will take it on board.
I have to repeat many times. But I think Doman forgot to add that in his books 
I did EK on the laptop but not as extensively. I slowed down with EK when I realized that she wasn’t remembering. I instead incorporated more puzzles. Puzzles for the US states, body puzzle, etc. I realized that she learns more and it also improves her logic skills. She even remembers the names of the states…I’d say 65% of them. I changed. I think EK maybe works for some kids but for the ones like ours, they need other experiences also.
