Multiple Children- How to balance the pace for both kids?

Early Learning Early Learning General Discussions
1

After finally adjusting to the birth of a second child and then discovering this world of early education, I know find myself wondering how best to set the pace to suit both kids. DD is 19.5 months and DS is 6.5 months.

Previously, I have not been 100% faithful with YBCR and DD would watch it steadily for a while, then we’d stray from it and start again, etc. I that I would just start from the beginning again this week so my son could benefit as well, but it turns out my daughter knows up until disc 3 just about completely. (If I had know from the beginning this program actually worked I would have started it at 6 months faithfully!). By going through the program again from the beginning, I’m afraid I’d bore her to tears spending another 3 months doing it again AND I would be holding her back in a sense. But my son deserves to benefit from the program as well.

He naps a bit more than she does, so there aren’t really any times when he’s awake and she’s not.

Do I just work at DD’s pace with YBCR and once she masters disc 3 and then disc 4, adding in a few of the earlier discs sometimes for variety? Then, once my daughter masters it, start over fully from the beginning for my son? Or after she masters everything, just randomly play all the discs as refreshers for her and hope my son picks up what he needs to? Even if I wait until after she masters it all, she will be around when I play the discs for DS. At that point, maybe I can use it as a time to pull out playdough or a craft for her while he works through the program from the beginning.

DD started watching Baby Signing time every single day while I took a shower from the time she was 3.5 months old. Now, I find myself not playing it as much because 1) we have lots of other educational dvd choices now and 2) it’s only “entertainment” for DD at this point, but my son hasn’t mastered it yet.

I am trying to find the balance to give my son the same benefits but also not hold my daughter back. We are only really having this issue with Baby Signing Time/Signing Time, and YBCR. The other programs are new to us and thankfully they can work through them at the same pace. However, my DD is much more “into” the flashcards when I do them versus my son, he is far more interested in getting physically mobile (starting to cross pattern crawl this week). So of course I don’t push him, but she is getting more formal lessons than he is right now and widening the gap as expected.

Has anyone else “been there, done that” in a situation like this?

2

Age gap isn’t that wide, so repeat and repeat.

I mean do the sets all through with the older one and the younger ones together but concentrate more on the older one focusing more attention and joyousness in her direction and the small one will see and think its fun to learn. Soon the big one will start to talk and express herself with the words etc … and you will have to set the pace at the older ones, menaing changing the cards faster and more cards, once you finish the entire set and she is off to pre-school or something, some 6-1 yr later, you can then repeat the whole procedure again with the younger one. It’s like the first time round for the younger one its a eye training course and words means something and how its pronounced and the learn the english pronouciation, subsequently when you repeat you its easier for them to absorb.

However the older one, you’ve only got one chance to make it right … you can test different schedules, learning methods, etc and take note of it, and then repeat the process again with the younger one, and tailoring it as you go along for their individual preference.