So I have a question about reading. Some people say they read loads of books every day. Others say that reading the same book over and over again for a week or even two is what does the trick with their baby.
Friom what I understand we read primary to get them used to the sounds of the language, to get their reaction, to stimulate them, – not to memorise the book. So it does not make much sense to me to read the same book over and over again. However I know that babies tend to enjoy some degree of repetition, I guess something that they get familiar with.
From your personal experience, what did you do? What worked the best for you? I do not want her to get bored, but also do not feel like racing through 10 books… Just wondering…
I think it depends on the child and also their age. When my daughter was about 7/8 months old I could only read one book at a time a few times a day and I used to switch books as she didn’t seem to have a preference. Around 12 months of age she was very keen on reading but wanted to turn the pages herself so mostly I’d just read whatever I saw on the page before she moved to the next page/s and we also started just general talking about the pictures. By 16 months of age I was still only reading one bbok at a time as her concentration was not that high and I didn’t want her getting frustrated. We read a wide range of books and she stilled showed no particular preferences. If she said “no” when I took a book out then I’d try something else. Now at 20 months she does have favourites and will ask for the same book a few days in a row. I also get books out the library and change them once a week - if she develops a liking for a particular library book I may have to keep renewing it or else it will just be gone and she’ll have to do without it. Nowadays she asks for “more” when I am finished a book and then I will either read the same book again (if thats what she wants) or pick a new one.
At 3 months of age I’d say its entirely up to you - in fact you do not have to read childrens books to her - you could always read an adult book that you like - she will enjoy your soothing voice.
My daughter is almost 6 months and she has her days with books. Some days we get to six sometimes to one. When she was your baby’s age it was much easier to have her look at the book and listen. I think the good thing about reading children’s books are the colors. This definetly kept my baby’s attention when she was younger (it sounds like she is a grown up 2 months later lol )
Tanikit is right … at 3+ mth or even upto 1 yrs old it actually doesn’t quite matter … as long as your reading we bought story books for 4-6 yrs old books with nursery ryhmes or bedtime stories when we were young … there are like 200 over pages with 20-30 stories … since they are young they can’t read, its best they don’t the words are too small anyway it may result in short sightedness, and they don’t move alot so we read to them, its stories so we pretend play … and they get the kick out of it … initially we read chinese in the morning till 2pm then after 2pm we read english books … of course inbetween she may have a nap etc … we have 4-8 books each … and we just rotate it … but once she starts to crawl and grab books (around 7-8mth) then the problem comes in … they want to grab it and they may accidentally tear it … i got a few torn books …
so at this age we give her those soft toy books to flip flop … there are words on it and my wife would say teach her the dora dance … and she flaps her arms like butterfly with it … and for sometime she gets so attached to it she sleeps with it … but as with anything … she gets bored after some weeks … and then out come another soft toy book … … we also are playing some story book CD for young toddlers … recommended for 1 yr up … its a series word books with pictures on the other even pages, and CDs and DVDs of the same thing … we didn’t let her watch this DVDs till 12mths (she watches YBCR at 10mth) … as its like 15 mins per chapter … and she watches 4 chapters in a go … she really has that stamina or concentration … especially when we sit next to her … new chapters she can get really attracted to it … its not cartoon animated type … its cartoon painting type … with a little movement … But she has been listening to the CD since 6mth …
Oh yes, every morning as it is routine every morning since 12mth … after her morning milk she will grab my hand and go into her play room, and she will point at the light to tell me to on it, then walk to the CD player and point to it to tell me to on it, she listens to her songs … the catchy type from abba, etc, no hard rock type … and she will dance to the tune …
And then after that, when she is settled she will point to the books, we will play her reading CD series and take out the book to read with it … its some 8 chapters in the 1st stage, 8 more in each of the 2nd and 3rd stage… she listens and watches the CDs and DVDs for 1st (for 1yr old) and 2nd stage (for 2yrs old) but only read the books from the 1st stage … there are some torn ones …
anyway … in april we found certain interesting thing … when we read the books, she is able to point to all the pictures, or moo like a cow, and do some exercise like in the book like wriggle her fingers, stomp her feet etc … and the interesting thing is she knows which book to pick out from the 8 that matches the chapter playing on the CD, she also knows the story and does the action even before the page is turned or the words are said … so i guess she is very very familar with the stories now … we play 2 chapters a day initially playing 1st 2 chapters for 2 weeks and then introduce 2 more chapters playing 4 chapters for 3 weeks and then introduce 2 more totating it over 3 weeks … each day 2 chapters … this is excluding DVD … the DVD we rotate between signing times, YBCR, and wink to learn … signing times i started late at around 14mth or 15mth, but she learned very quickly and started signing almost immediately … that reminds me … she is turning 17mth now, and since she is familar with stage 1, i should be taking out stage 2 books … before she gets bored out of her mind …
But as much as we are doing all this … i have to say that at 3-12mth its important she has enough crawling, enough play time, i sometimes let the CD play while we are playing with blocks, balls, etc … she is very expressive … and she knows how to show her displeasure when we are not around her …
oh yes structure … i wouldn’t say we don’t have structure … its more like a flexible fluid structure … you have to have a plan on how or what your going to introduce … lik eyour title progression of introducing new subjects … what your going to introduce, when your going to introduce and how your going to introduce it …
The what will be based on your research and what you have in your area, when will be dependent on your baby’s progress and this is highly dependent on your observation, and how …gradually, as of, book first or CD first etc …
We have prepared alot of stuff … some for 2 or 3 or 4 yrs up … we happen to see it we like it we think it will be productive for her … we buy it … we can spend time and money on non brainy stuff or we can spend time and money on educational stuff … like we plan to teach her to play the piano and violin, so right now when she is eating we play videos of children playing violin and piano … there are some prodigy out there … its early introduction … she feels its normal … because other children are doing it she sees it and hears it … there is a cheap electronic keyboard at home, she wants she can play anytime she wants too … but somehow i think she feels the electronic keyboard isn’t giving her that right frequency, with PP she can tell the difference … so we will be investing in a more expansive one later when we can order the software … so yes there is a structure … we know what we want to teach and we research on it, we find local support and if none we will have to search overseas … US has lots of stuff … (i want to order this beethoven’s wig CD, but the delivery charges are really ex.) … and then we see how she goes along and we try to fill her time … without neglecting the core like swimming and walking time, playing and music time, and dvd learning time, she has finished signing time and i am afraid she is going to get bored soon so … must replace one session with something else … she watches signing initially 4 times a week, now twice a week … so i hope the music thing can come about soon for me to decide what i should do and how soon i can implement the next stage and how about to implement it …
You asked to see a photo of my flashcards that I use with my signing video.
Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the camera at the moment. What I did was buy some white posterboard from the dollarstore (my store sells them 2/$1!!!) and I cut them into four strips (the short way). This is plenty big enough to write words like “airplane” or other medium length words. They’re long enough to go from one side of the tv screen to the other. When I hold them up, you can see a small bit of the picture on the screen, but the flashcard takes up most of the space. They take up space while they’re being stored and are a bit cumbersome to use but my first flashcards that I printed on half of an 8X11 were way too small to grab my son’s attention. If you buy thick enough posterboard you can use both sides for words.
I already wrote that I do word flashcards while the signing is being done, but forgot to mention that when I show YBCR I also do the signs for those words. Who knows if this is working…we’ve only been at it for 3.5 weeks. My son is not yet verbal (oh, he makes noise - and plenty of it! - but no words yet)…nor does he sign anything yet… Anyway, I’m hoping for the best!
I hope that my explanation of the flashcards is helpful.
Really helpful info, TrinityPapa, I probably will have more questions as we go along.
In general we just taking it a day at a time, and slowly introducing new activities. Some things I would love to do right away, but it does take time to get things and naterials ready, so I just encourage myself, that whatever we do she learns a lot every day. And it does not have to be an “official” learning session to be counted as a progress.
So, some conclusions I came to:
I will be starting signing with her ( just daddy and me showing signs, but not videos just yet) – Thank you Nikki and Tornado for your insight on that!
We will be doing some flashcards ( introducing new words progressively)
We continuing listening to classical music, sing and play music together, but we are looking into starting the PP training as well, using great links TrinityPapa shared with us ( Definetly looking forward to Little Musician!)
Continuing LM
We are playing short kids audio stories and songs in Russian ( to get her used to the language and to the fact that I am not the only person in the world who speaks it ) and are planning to introduce listening to Chinese audio stories and songs (did not start that yet, trying to get materials for that)
We read books in English and Russian, as well as nurcery rhymes and other poetry in both languages
We do other educational/play activities, some ideas I got from the Natural Education book that was mentioned earlier
Thank you, everyone for your input and ideas and as more questions will arise, I will be looking forward to get your help again!
) and are planning to introduce listening to Chinese audio stories and songs (did not start that yet, trying to get materials for that)