So what’s this “Dr. Jones” stuff? Got a link where I can check it out?
yes dad dude! it is below:
http://www.jonesgeniuses.com/
the great thing is that you can talk to dr. jones directly. he is a nice guy and respects what we are all doing on this forum. he is a bit religious, but don’t let that scare you off. if you need help with anything he is always available for guidance… and i really like that. i am having a great time and much success with his program.
good luck!
the doc :clown:
DrPrimo- I read your reccomendation of the Jones Geniuses early reading and math and I think I am going to get it for my daughter soon (primarily for the math really). Do you find that you need to purchase manipulatives to go along with it? It looks like the package is only books.
Jones Geniuses is on facebook, there is an article posted there on the progress of the inner city kids and it was was very impressive. It’s really pricey though, I assume you feel it is worth it? I have to remind myself it’s for both reading and math which justifies the price a little I guess, instead of covering just one subject.
An update- we’re working on phonics with the leapfrog word factory DVD, some flashcards, phonics songs, and we’re bridged over to couplets and short sentences. I don;t think she’s reading phonetically yet, but her reading vocabulary is improving so quickly sometimes it’s hard to tell, maybe she is? She speaks in 2 to 3 word sentences and I think has a great vocabulary, but of course it is still somewhat limited at 20 months. Yesterday I printed off the LR Musical Instruments “Twinkle twinkle Little Star” file (one of her favorites) and surprisingly she could read just about all the instruments, I guess she’s seen it enough online, or is she using some phonics to help her decode words like “timpani” that might be familiar but she doesn’t know by sight immediately…I don’t know. She knows all of her letter sounds, but I haven’t heard her verbally sound anything out, but she could be figuring it out in her head of course. But she’s going great regardless, we’re plugging away! I think she is up to around 150-200 words now. Maybe I will pull out some new words tomorrow.
that just sounds great!! before you purchase, i would call/email him and he can talk to you specifically about your child, what they need etc. for the price, i felt it was worth it as all manipulatives and parent guides with very detailed instructions and DVDs are included. i really thought it was a good deal. tell him you hear about it through me (leanna) and he might give you a discount (no guarantees!! lol )
anyway, i’m really pleased and i think with where your child is now they will make the leap to reading with this program.
good luck and let me know how it goes!
the doc :clown:
LilyAndOwensMom,
With my baby Eaton I was using Montessori House DVD’s http://www.mymontessorihouse.com/DVD.html
here is a youtube sample
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNZiHXwWEE
I own “Sounds words”, “Make Big words” and " Big vocabulary". I was showing them to Eaton since he was 12 months old. Highly recommended for simple version of dvd’s. No background distraction.
My baby is reading phoneticly now at 19 months
By the way this is great post!
I called Dr. Jones today, he picked up but it was his day off…oops! I don’t know if it was an home number, office number, or if he was just in the office doing other work on his day off. He’s going to call me back on Monday but after looking at the news clips on his website I am pretty much sold on his program anyway.
I really want to get my hands on the Montessori House DVD’s, those look great! Thanks for the recommendation!
I also plan on using Dr Jones products. I talked to a sales guy from there name Chris, I think the calls are transfered to their cells because he to answered on his day of a few weeks ago. But I want to finish math u see primer first because he is learning from it still, I spent good money on it and I want to teach him you finish what you start. I mean we are in lesson 19 and their are 6 pages per lesson, we do 2 to 3 in average a day, so I doubt it will take us long to get to chapter 30.
Doc: how does you little one like this program does she look forward to math time?
I would love to get a side by side comparison going of math u see and JG. This thread is derailing, I would start a new one in the math forum but I don’t want to lose all this participation. 
http://www.and-designs.com/~jonesgen/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=65
From the Math U See website, I see the primer level is the intro but it doesn 't say what grades it is for? Those little manipulatives do look like choke hazzards though. My dd is 20 months, but I am more worried about her dropping them on the floor for my 7 month old to find. To get everything offered for the primer level would be $135, but DD is too young for work books anyway.
Versus:
I look at the JG website and only see books and a dvd or CD rom in the kit, no manipulatives? That is why I figured I would have to buy some separately.
Early Learning Accelerated Homeschool Curriculum Kit
( Jones Geniuses Accelerated Education ) Early Learning Accelerated Homeschool Curriculum Kit
View Full-Size Image
$162.38 (including 8.25 % tax)
The Jones Geniuses Early Learning Accelerated Homeschool Curriculum Kit is for children 2-6 years old. It starts at the very beginning teaching recognition and writing of number and letter signs, phonics and the foundational mathematical skills of counting, addition and subtraction. By the end of the program, your child will know the basics of reading and math!
I wish BK would get some discounts going with JG with the affiliate program!
Are there any other suitable math programs out there for an almost 2 year old?
Math U See primer is designed for kindergarteners. I agree the blocks are small for young children and could be choking hazards, which is why I only do math with my son in the evenings when my daycare babies are gone. We started this program when he was 4 years 10months old, I could have proabley introduced it at 4years old and did one page a day, but now the program seems very easy for him and like I said we do 2-3 pAges a day.
I think it’s a very good program, I’m not switching programs because Math U See is bad in any way, only because Jones Geniuses seems to be a better fit to my ideas how children learn. And I like that after the first year kids have learned basic math, something that takes kids in public school YEARS to learn.
hi waterdreamer!
she loves both math and phonics time with dr. jones’ materials… it comes with directions AND manipulatives. we are doing them on conjunction with our leap frog videos, LR and the dolch sight words videos. he also recommends the teach your child to read in 100 lessons. i am starting that when i get home from my travels in a few weeks. i find it comforting to have both a phonics program and sight reading program. i feel like i’m getting the best of both worlds. she is just 17 months and knows her alphabet and short and long vowels and combinations, etc. because of dr. jones. and then with the phonics from leap frog… a winning combination!!
i’m also looking into another program called visual primer.
http://www.visualprimer.com/
they just came down in price and they also have languages and a FABULOUS math program which if they get enough orders will come down in price as well. totally different than anything on the market. after talking to the guy who invented it (jo mamone) i’m going to try it. it is not cheap, but i’ll let everyone know how it goes.
i was most impressed with the math program because it has advanced levels, so it doesn’t stop after basic mathematics… how great, right? but he says you have to get the reading down before you start the math program. he is a nice guy as well, but he is in australia and doesn’t always get to his email right away.
anyway, i will keep all of you up to date on our progress.
take care!
the doc :clown:
I checked out the visual primer site…although it looks interesting, it’s out of my league financially at $499. I really hope they meant $990 for algebra, not $9,900! 10K to learn algebra???
I’m interested in programs like this, but they REALLY need to work on their website!
Unless theres some section I missed, are there only about 3 pages, then bam $499. I thought the, “Buy Visual Primer, You Will Be So Glad You Did” was a nice touch.
At first, I was also thinking…“Did she just say show-da?”
don’t forget this was made in australia, so there is a distinct accent. they also have american english accents as well :laugh:
i was worried about that , too!
i’ve relayed your concerns to Jo and i’m hoping he will take them to heart. I’m not sure what is going on with that algebra price… i’m hoping he’ll fix that. do look around (ie: clicking on all the links) b/c there is lots of explanation about the program… it is a bit hard to find however. and if you have question, email him as he is happy to answer them.
i’m going to use the program and let everyone know how it goes.
the doc :clown:
The website was also a huge turn off to me, it is just not user friendly.
On the “buy” page it starts with “now you’ve tried visual primer” but there is no where to “try” it, no free trial like LR I guess? No money back guarantee either since there is no free trial?
There are no details about WHAT the program is…DVD? Computer Based? Can you download new files, is it stagnant, how long does the program take to complete (in months), is it divided up into semesters/units? I saw all the flags but no additional information about the different language programs, and I only really saw the Math program on the “buy” page. Maybe I am dense and I just missed it, but I am the “average consumer” and that means the average consumer won’t “get it” either. Are there any testimonials from previous users?
And I agree, I would hope for a North American accent if I was using this program to teach my kids. Are there packages that include your native language, a “foreign language” and the math program, all purchased with a certain percentage discount for buying 3 at a time? That type of information would be good to know, and then like I said, I hope that algebra price was a typo?
All of the information needs to be laid out in clear, easy to read format with those kinds of details explained.
I did not click on any of the side videos, if there are any explanations in them I missed those. I was busy downloading other files and didn’t want to stream anything.
Tell your friend my husband designs websites and if he wants we can swap a website revamp for his programs…a fair trade, right?
I couldn’t even find a place where I could contact the company and ask questions. For that price I would like to ask a few questions. The videos on the site are very dated too
Also, the video of the 3 year old girl is probably impressive to the general world, but many little ones on BrillKids are reading by a year. If he has any videos of younger kids reading they might help him better sell his product.
I spoke with a sales agent named Chris and then Dr. Jones on the phone. Very nice people, it sounds like the program will be a good fit for us. They seem to cover a lot of the tricky parts of reading that I don’t exactly know how to teach, the constenants are easy, it’s the multitude of vowel sounds that are difficult to explain, especially to a 20 month old.
If you want to teach sight reading only, this is not the program for you because it is a unique, modified method of teaching phonics. They incorporate noah’s ark animal pictures to help express letter sounds and such. They teach words like not & note side by side to demonstrate the differences in how vowels can be pronounced. He sounded very knowledgeable on the subject and it seemed like they put a lot of thought into the creation of the program. The only “symbols” they use are lines over the long vowels and outlines on a silent E. I program I was asking about is the Early Reading and Math for ages 2-6.
For the math, they do use manipulatives and large dot cards with dots on one side and numerals on the other. The word cards they use are printed in oversized font.
I asked about any potential discounts with becoming a brillkids affiliate in the future but he said they have no plans to do anything like that. I told him that many parents on this forum don’t just choose one program or the other (LM/LR vs JG) but instead many people buy several programs and do them at the same time, taking the best parts of all and creating a specific blend for our children. I don’t know if he was listening or not, but I would LOVE to see them join up with BK for 10 or 15% off. That’s just the bargain hunter in me I guess.
Anyway, it all sounds good. Looks like I am going to be $162 poorer.
I’m still toying with the idea of this program. It looks great, I’m just nervous about spending another $140+ dollars on a math and reading program. There always seems be something newer and better coming out. As a parent where do you draw the line? But in the end I’ll be on there tomorrow buying it lol. Hey does it come with DVDs as well or just work books, flashcards and manipulative?
Monique-
I started a thread looking for parents interested in buying this program hoping that maybe if we approached JG with 3-5 people and asked for a small group discount they might be able to accommodate our request. Then I deleted because I didn’t think anyone would be interested.
Hmmm…
oh and about the DVD-- I spoke with the rep today, I know the beginning kit does come with a DVD because I saw it in the picture but couldn’t tell if it was a CD or DVD. I asked and they said it was a DVD, but I never did find out exactly what manipulatives they use. Doc, got any answers on that one?
I contacted them about doing a review and they were not interested. I think they are comfortable with the way their company is growing and I guess don’t need to give out discounts. Site is a bit glitchy tonight 
I can’t click on the early math and reading program to see exactly what is included. It brings me to Math 3 for 6-12 year olds instead. I don’t think my son is ready for Math 3, all though he is getting use to adding by single digits and tens. I kick myself for not doing Doman Dots with him when he was young.