I am thinking of purchasing LM. I was wanting some stories about it from those who have used it. Why is it called the starter kit? Are they working on more? If so will you have to purchase the product again? How do you like it? Did you buy the box set? How often do you have to use it every day? My daughter will be 3 in august, is it too late for her? And anything else I am not asking that you think would be good to know. Thanks. Love you ladies
I cannot answer you in relation to LM but I bought the Doman Math kit (red dot cards) and was told by their sales support that a 3yo is too old to start the Math kit. My older boy was turning three at the time and he didn’t have much interest in the cards.
I have also read in How to Teach Your Baby Math that children who can recognise numerals usually don’t respond so well to the dot cards. Of course, I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule.
I have tried the trial version of LM and what I like is the fact that they use other symbols instead of just the red dots. I think it makes it more interesting for a child, especially to see things that they like. For instance, my older boy is mad about Thomas, so when I made him quantity cards using Thomas and Friends characters, he was much more receptive to it.
I suggest you try the trial version on your daughter for two weeks and see how she likes it before you decide whether to get it or not.
i would also look at tweedlewink. it not only teaches math but lots of other subjects and each lesson is very short. it is designed for preschoolers so i think it would work. they also have a math DVD as well. it might be a good way for you to introduce your child to math. my daughter is younger and i’ve really been working ont he math, but i can understand how an older child would like TW. you also might want to write to them (rightbrainchild.com) as well as the folks at little math and the Doman institute, b/c they might have a way to teach math quickly using numerals. i would look into it for sure.
good luck!
the doc :clown:
Hi! It’s called Starter Kit because in the future we will have a Deluxe Kit just like Little Reader, with other physical stuff. When that happens, you can be sure that we’ll have an upgrade plan for all existing users, just like we just had an upgrade plan for all LR users, so you won’t need to purchase it again.
My older boy did TweedleWink - the DVDs - both the general lessons and the Math DVD. He wasn’t really into the Math but he would pay attention to the general lessons. When the Math section came up in the general lessons, he would look away.
I talked to Wennie about that and she said it’s fine. The right brain doesn’t need to look to learn. It can even learn through the peripheral vision, unlike the left brain that needs to pay attention. I’m sure you’ve noticed how you talk to someone about something while your child appears to be occupied with an activity. Then later your child mentions that thing which you were talking about which you didn’t think they would have heard? It’s the same thing. The key is to relax and be happy and learning will come naturally.
Even though they say that dot cards are not appropriate for 3yo and above if they are just starting out, that’s not to say you can’t ever teach Math to an older child. Like I said, my older boy responds to Thomas and Friends and even asks for me to show him “Thomas numbers”. If you can figure out what your daughter’s mad about, try to incorporate it into your Math program. With a bit of creativity, you can have her begging you to do Math with her.
A couple of ways I do Math with my older son:
- I use his toy trains as “counters” and ask him how many engines…
- I’ve used Math jigsaw cards.
- I’ve used Thomas and Friends characters instead of red dots.
- I’ve also let him play an online Math game called “DreamBox Learning” - http://www.dreambox.com/. They have a two week free trial so try it out first. When my son was younger, I tried to let him play DreamBox Learning but he didn’t like it because it wasn’t Thomas. Now that he’s older, he actually enjoys it - which comes to my next point:
- Just because they aren’t interested right now doesn’t mean they will never be interested. A child’s interests changes - a few months down the track and things could be different.
When I bring out the dot cards she likes to have her barbies “eat” them. Lol. I flash the # so that she sees it then she makes her barbies pretend to eat them. She decides what flavor they are, lol. I don’t know if she is really getting it but we have fun. And we don’t do it every day. She doesn’t love it as much as reading : )
Do you think she is understanding it even though we don’t do it evey day? I am going to try to do things other than dots
She sounds like she’s enjoying herself - that means she’s learning. The right brain takes in information and stores it for future use. What you want at this age if for your daughter to build up a large resource in her brain that she can tap into when she’s older and more left brain oriented.
Don’t worry about whether you think she’s understanding it or not. She will reveal to you in time what she knows and it will take you by surprise.
Wennie from TweedleWink said that the right brain has the capacity to learn even without focusing on the material. It can learn without looking directly at the material - through the peripheral vision. Your daughter can learn stuff even if she’s busy playing with her dolls and appears to be uninterested. This is how children who are absorbed in their activities and don’t appear to be listening to us pick up stuff we talk about to other adults. Their right brain absorbs everything but it’s only when they process the information later and tell us about it that we realise they were listening.