We haven’t started her re-creating the dots herself (with markers, stickers, etc) yet but will soon, I just didn’t think she was ready and I have been doing materials prep so we kind of waited to get started. So as of yet, we have only been singing our counting song (0-20 to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb and then back down again) and playing with the peg numbers. She had been having trouble correctly counting any higher past 6 with the wooden manipulatives (as in, trouble counting correctly after putting the pegs in, she would get confused and miss pegs or count some twice because there were more to deal with, versus just a few pegs on the number). However, yesterday I was happy and impressed when she put all the pegs in 7 and then successfully verbally counted each peg as she touched it. So she IS getting it after all!
I am totally going to use the sticker idea too. Genius. I will probably use the plain side of the colored laminated flashcards I already did, I need to get some dot stickers next time I am out. I also bought a bingo blotter from the Dollar Tree and photo copied the flashcards as practice sheets two to a page. One with dots, one with no dots. They will be our practice sheets. First, we will recreate the dots together on the blank #, and down the road we will connect the dots like JG suggests and then also do the bingo blotter. Later, I will take away the one with the dots and have her do it strictly from memory. This is going to take a while because she’s not yet 2 and fine motor skills are an issue but we practice fine motor activities most days (like beads on a string, etc) so they will develop in time.
I allow my DD to have quiet time in her room before bed and sit on her bed and read books and/or watch an educational DVD. When my husband was deployed last time, we make a homemade video and she LOVED to watch him read her storybooks on the video. I’ll still put it in every now and then and she is mesmerized by him on the screen. I have a theory that YBCR worked SO WELL for Aleka, Dr. Titzer’s daughter, because it was her Dad on the video, with his voice and face, etc. Therefore, there were more hooks/branches in the brain for the information to hang on, they were plentiful and strong, there were greater positive associations, etc specifically because it was her Dad. (If you are familiar with YBCR and the book Magic Trees of the Mind, then you know what I’m referring to). Don’t get me wrong, the program worked for my DD but it took a while longer and she never picked up phonics from it like Aleka.
Anyway, I was thinking about creating a math video for my DD to watch before bed sometimes, much like the crude original version of YBCR. It would very much be home video quality, I just don’t know how and need to learn. I could take many of these JG concepts and transform it into DVD format to be watched/memorized again and again. I have a friend’s husband who does video editing but I feel awkward asking. I know people make home videos with sound, animations all the time on their computers, I just don’t know how.
Topics the video could cover:
-Counting 0-20 and 20-0 using our song (fast and slow) several times throughout the video for repetition and reinforcement using the JG cards in digital format, a numberline, video of DD playing on her floor numberline, etc (so showing the numbers in a variety of ways during the song)
-Demonstrating placement of the dot matrix, video of her playing with her peg numbers
-Demonstrating greater, less than, equal, using flash cards and items (buttons, food colored pasta, toys etc)
-Addition/Subtraction
Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I could make a file in LR? But DVD’s are so much more flexible in my house.
I just wish JG would make a high quality video and I wouldn’t have to! To supplement my hands on stuff of course, not replace. But like I said, maybe it will have a greater impact for DD if it’s my voice, our faces, etc, anyway.