TeachingMyToddlers, I am very interested in knowing the different programs that you are using with your children. You are a very creative person and I have gleaned several ideas from your posts. So, if you can please consolidate here, I would be delighted.
Oh dear, lol. Now I’m on the spot. 
You really ought to be asking some of the other Mommies on this board! Like Aangles, someone invite her over here! I want to see that list. :biggrin: I’ll update this later when I have time, we’re not doing a ton of programs at the moment, it waxes and wanes like all early learning, but tonight I will write out my favorites. I keep meaning to make a list for my website, but the going is slow on getting all that updated.
Keri also has an amazing array of resources she uses too.
Oh, yes! Tmt and Keri and Aangles!!! And even some of the daddies!!! Please all of you experienced Early Learners-- we want to pick your brains!!! lol You, too, Korrale!
And Tmt, I am interested in your soroban that you are building. I just made one out of cardboard, yarn, and beads that is quite usable, just not very professional lol
I didn’t know TmT was making a soroban! I made one last week out of jewelry wire and faceted beads! lol coincidences 
Correction: was making a soroban! Was being the key word here. Now I am BUYING a soroban LOL with my husband’s blessing because he doesn’t want to deal with helping me make one. But I can give some links of the ones I am currently considering.
I saw a tutorial online somewhere for making one from popsicle sticks, pony beads, and wooden kabob sticks. And another made from a shoe box, beads, and string. Depending on one’s budget and what one have on hand, I’m sure one could find alternatives if buying one isn’t an option though. I wanted one now and didn’t have any pony beads lol But I had faceted beads and jewelry wire left over from another early learning project.
Let me see. James is 2.5.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES/LITERATURE
Predominantely we read. We read a lot. James is like his mummy and loves non-fiction. I have 2 sets of children’s encylopaedias that we love to read through. We also read the usborne beginners books too. Plus a myriad of other books. I read to James at least an hour a day. So you can imagine we cover a lot of content.
I got the leapfrog Tag USA and World Map for James’ birthday.
Montesorri printables.
iPad apps
Intro to Geo.
Stack the States
stack the Countries.
MATH
MathStart Books by Stuart Murphy. I then do the extension activities.
RighStart Math A. We follow this loosely.
Miquon Math Rods. I have not looked into the books too much yet. But we enjoy playing with the rods.
IXL.com. We are loving this. James has almost completed the preschool math portion.
Marshmallow Math. We dabble.
Spectrum Kindergarten Math for work books. I do want to get Singapore Math.
iPad Apps
Montessori Numbers
3-5 Math by Eurotalk
Splash Math grade 1
WRITING/PENMANSHIP/DRAWING
James dictates for me a journal entry and he then draws pictures.
I just bought Draw Write Now. I plan to give it to JJ for his 3rd birthday.
We also free draw and paint a lot. I have him copy what I draw.
iPad Apps
Letter School. I use it for James to learn the correct way to write his letters. I made a stylus for my iPad.
READING/LANGAUGE ARTS/SPELLING
We read. I point out words as I read. James is predominantely a sight word reader. He is just starting to get phonics but still struggles to blend.
Flash cards for whole words. Nouns, sight words, word families, flesch cards.
Preschool Prep DVDs/APPS for sight words, phonics, digraphs, blends. (highly highly recommended)
Preschool Prep readers. (love them! The best readers we have. And they are interesting to read. Any easy once they know their sight words)
A-Z Readers app.
Any array if easy to read high frequency readera. I have send from scholastic but mostly I make them myself.
Readingbear.org
Bob books.
Usborne phonics books.
Spectrum First Grade Phonics for workbook.
iPad Apps
Bob Book Apps
ABC Magic and others by Preschool University
Reading Raven
Pocket Phonics
Grammar Jammers
MUSIC
James is getting a violin for his 3rd birthday. Maybe a keyboard if I can afford one.
I sing a lot and play a varitey of muscial styles But James has very limited interest in music.
iPad Apps
Solfa
MLM.
CRITICAL THINKING
I would love the books from CriticialThinking.com or the miniluk, logico, or funthinker But it’s not in the budget right now.
We use an app called qwizful that we love.
GROSS MOTOR
We followed Doman loosely.
James does tumbling, rolls, jumping, hanging, walking balance beam, swimming, riding balance bike.
He has basketball, soccer,football, tball exposure.
We are also building up his stamina to run a 5k in a few years.
When James is 3 he will be doing cheer leading tumbling or dance.
FINE MOTOR/CONCENTRATION/PERSONAL CARE ETC.
We do a lot of Montessori-esque tasks that require focus and use a lot of fine motor skills. A lot of these including sorting, catergorizing and more. I do most teaching on a tray very similar to the Montessori mat idea.
James is also responsible for himself. He makes himself snacks and drinks, cleans up after himself, sorts and puts away his clothes etc.
iPad apps that cover several subjects.
Teach Me Kindergarten.
Timmy’s Kindergarten Adventure.
A variety of apps from alligator or grasshopper apps. They are free, very good and customizable.
Wow… I didn’t know we did so much! I am sure i have forgotten things. I am a stay at home mum so we have all day to do things. We don’t have a tv so James does not get that. I limit his iPad, computer time to 30 mintues a day of learning time. He is allowed to watch Mighty Machines, Backyardigans or Blues Clues on Netflix very infrequently. We spend most days outside. He plays in the sandpit, tends to his garden, takes care of his birdfeeder and bird bath and we go for walks and talk about things that we learn about. We try and run once a day.
I read to James 30 mintues before nap and 30 mintues before he goes to sleep at night. Sometimes more during the day at his request. Recently I have requested that he read a book to me. Often just a preschool prep reader. Or a Bob Book. Sometimes 6 of them. 
It is up to him how many he does.
We do flash cards on and off when he asks for short periods. We do a focused math lesson once a day to work any concept he is not getting through our playtime or daily life. It is usually less than 20 minutes after his nap. He is free to play with his counting bears, tally sticks, miquon rods and other math stuff whenever he desires.
Most of the day though James just plays with his trains and hotwheels or he rides around on his balance bike. He jumps and tumbles a lot too.
annisis-
I totally hear you, making one myself would be feasible, like shown in this tutorial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1f3zH-7DY4&playnext=1&list=PL6064B638062522FB&feature=results_main
However, I chose not to do so for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is I want the shape of the bead to match the shape of the beads in the software programs and future DVD’s we may use (we were using math secret but have since switched to ShowMe Soroban which I really like, although it only does addition/subtraction, we’ll do something else when we finish it). It is the same reason I opted to paint our wannabe RS abacus yellow and blue versus something else (to match their apps or workbooks which I will probably use down the road). I believe the continuity will be helpful in firmly cementing the mental image of the beads which is the ultimate goal, so I want there to be as much consistency as possible. Downloadable flashcards I am using also use the distinct biconal shape. I considered making my own with two wooden cones and holes drills so they would be very oversized, but it was going to be too much work, possibly not as fluid to manipulate, and not very cost effective compared to buying. So, I am opting instead to go with an oversized Teacher abacus initially and then something smaller. It’s my son who has difficulty manipulating the beads on the teeny-tiny math secret one we have, which I do not recommend.
So, they range up to $100-250 online, which is insane and has held me back from purchasing, but recently I found a few more options.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/610566753/Teacher_Abacus_15_rods.html This one is currently in stock, $63 for one plus $22 slow shipping from Hong Kong.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/115429443/Teacher_Abacus_Soroban_/showimage.html These people also sell this one which looks to be a lot cheaper, the initial page says $19 but I am waiting to hear back about it. It just looks a bit cheap to me and less aesthetically pleasing.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/123520308/6_Rods_teacher_abacus.html I am waiting to hear back on a price quote from these people but I am leaning toward this one. It will last us quite a while until they outgrow it and I think it’s less overwhelming. But they time they outgrow it, they will probably just need a standard one anyway for personal use. Or I can buy a 13 rod one right away, in general I prefer this style with yellow beads.
Here’s a child using a big demonstration abacus here, I’m not sure if the yellow one I’m looking at is this size or smaller, but it comes from India so it may very well have the same size beads. I can hang it on the wall at child height and my son will be able to manipulate the beads with no issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tk5T8GW4pE&feature=related
So, I commend your efforts! But those are my particular reasons for deciding not to do a homemade one. I cut corners in a lot of ways when I can. but on this one I am opting to just fork out the money.
Oh, wow! I just read this entire thread, and didn’t realize anyone would be interested in the things we use and do. I am happy to put together a list of curricula, programs, resources, and activities we somehow work into a week. For some things we have a regular ‘schedule’, so she knows what to expect. For others I just have three lists: 1) things I fit into the day, and week. 2) areas of weakness/new interests/excitement that I will come up with activities for 3) a list of her current favorites for her to choose from.
As many of you, we are all about ways of incorporating lessons within lessons and subjects within games, without forcing it! There isn’t enough time in the day as it is lol
Because we stay home a lot, the whole wheelchair accessibility thing, we have an extensive physical program for both of us set up in the garage: we have a climbing wall and cave (hubby and I are certified rock climbing instructors, both indoor and outdoors), a cargo net, brachiation/monkey bars, climbing ropes, swings, a mini-trampoline, a balance beam and other gymnastics-style equipment, even a zip-line and a slack line. A couple of people have requested pictures, so I will have hubby take some after he recovers from oral surgery tomorrow While I realize it would be a bit impractical and excessive for some with easy access to local playgrounds and such, many of the individual ideas are easily replicated…
Anyway, sorry about the wait, but I promise to get together a list tomorrow eve!
I would LOVE to know what others are using!!! :yes: :yes: :yes:
Oooooo, I’m interested too. And pictures are always great. Does anyone remember what they did with an 8 month old? She was premature and already “at risk” for learning disabilities or other problems. I just want to do what I can now to prevent any future problems. I’m sort of at a loss as to what to really do and how much.
I was going to make an abacus as well, but then I found this one in Chinatown in Chicago for $8.99. I was so excited I kept saying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can’t believe I found an abacus!!!” I think the sales lady thought I was crazy. :ohmy:
Anyway, it came with an instruction book in English but I am also going to get ShowMe Soroban. The book doesn’t have enough examples for me to be able to teach anything other than basic addition and subtraction.
This abacus is actually pretty sturdy, the only thing I don’t like about it is that all the beads are black. I really want to paint them. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what color would be best? Or maybe I could have two different colors to differentiate the top beads from the bottom? I don’t know I am going to have to do some more research.
Korrale4kq, how did you make your I-pad stylus?
c4andy20,
Ironically that is the same one I saw on craigslist locally. They were originally asking $20 but I think she said she’d take $10, wanting to unload it. However, it’s a chinese saunpan and I’d have to remove a couple beads from every column, either saw them off carefully or disassemble the frame. She said it had hinges so I think I could have taken it apart, but I decided I didn’t want to put the work in.
Are you going to teach saunpan or soroban?
-TmT
(I will try and get my list together tonight if I can.)
TmT I would love to teach saunpan but I haven’t found any good software/curriculum/videos for it that is in English. The book it came with is pretty good at explaining counting, adding, and subtracting but not anything above that. There are very few examples in it. If anybody on this forum knows of any videos, software, or curriculum please let me know. If not, then I think I am going to have to take off the top beads.
I made a bunch of styluses (styli?) using dollar store things. Markers, a cello sponge, copper wire, (both need to conduct electricity.
I saw a video on how to make them. I will add the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67PSuahRuKc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I found a really cool website! http://www.instructables.com/ If you type in abacus or soroban, there are lots of homemade suggestions for other parents looking for ideas on how to do this. The site is really cool overall!
& C4andy20, I looked online for you and this is what I came up with just to give you some options.
http://www.tux.org/~bagleyd/abacus.html
http://threesixty360.wordpress.com/category/multiplication/
http://adarnay.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/quick-abacus-tutorial/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phPj5i6V6Cw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsIaMT5ZCjQ
(I’ve really derailed this topic badly. sorry guys!)
Thanks, Korrale for your very extensive list!! Quite impressive! :yes:
Our family skips regular TV for the most part, so we watch learning DVDs that take the place of the time most kids watch children’s television.
Science- Peter Weatherall DVDs & CD’s, www.MakeMeGenius.com and www.brainpopjr.com. More recently, magic school bus and other videos from the library like Bill Nye and kids documentaries.
Math- Little Math everyday now, although we took a break from it for a while. We count to 100 and do skip counting everyday, along with math equations to mastery, so we are working our way through LM again that way versus with the daily curriculum. We use RS inspired Abacus & ShowMe Soroban software. We have some random math workbooks we pull out from time to time. Lily finished Early Bird math quite a while ago but we have been doing more hands on lately versus workbooks although I’d like to invest in the next in the set. Although, she used to be more into workbooks, now the kids seem to be more drawn to computer games. We have Destination Math and just did a trial of dreambox, probably will end up subscribing because they liked it a lot. We count our food allll the time (raisins, m&ms, pretzels, etc, and do math with them before we eat them-- add/sub/multiply/divide.) We’ve always done a lot of pattern work, have also have some workbooks for time and money that we bring out sometimes.
Reading- We just read whatever, whenever. We have several hundred kids books I am guessing with lots of educational titles along with regular children’s stories. We don’t have nearly the collection I would like in terms of classic kids literature, but so many of the books were given to me they were free or cheap, there is tons of variety, and I cannot complain. Tumblebooks online, we have used mightybookjr and some other websites that escape me at the moment. Sometimes I will let Lily stay up and read if she doesn’t want to nap or isn’t tired yet at bedtime.
Foreign Language- For Spanish we have used LR files, Boca Beth, KidsStart Spanish, Salsa, YBCR Spanish, and Speekee. We have some spanish books with audio cd’s. For Russian, we have a ton of materials by Umnitsa and Lily goes to Russian enrichment on Saturdays although we have been slacking big time on this since starting Saturday morning piano. It’s too much and we need to figure out how to balance it, they are the only classes she takes but unfortunately y they fall on the same day. Our babysitter we hire from time to time is a native speaker as well. We always try to hire sitters who can reinforce a foreign language although I don;t have date nights nearly as much as I would like! 
We dabbled with LR Chinese for a while a long time back but dropped it in favor of Japanese because we are moving to Japan next year and need to get going on learning the language.
Technology- My hubby is a computer nerd by trade and it’s always been important to him that the kids have access to a computer all the time. My son began using an ipad around age 1 and I have never sen such a technologically inclined 2.5 year old in my life. They easily operate tons of iphone apps on all subjects and are comfortable using Windows or Linux. Owen knows how to cut and paste things (at least used to, I havent asked him in a while), he changes user accounts, gets into the folder systems to find what he needs, etc. Online they go on disney junior lately (I prefer they do the games instead of just watching junk TV although they do watch some), and on youtube, brainpopjr, tutitu, and their math and reading sites, things like that. I plan to give Lily our old digital camera soon and teach her how to take and upload pictures on the computer. That will lead into teaching her how to make her own LR files (with a spelling and computer manipulating component built into the lesson) and how to take videos and edit them in Windows Movie Maker, which is relatively straight forward. Owen loves to get on his Dad’s video games when I let him (not often, he’s 2 for crying out loud) but he plays a game called Peggle sometimes–http://static-www.ec.popcap.com/www.popcap.com/sites/all/themes/popcap_2012/games/peggle/screenshots/peggle1.jpg. I am amazed he is capable of playing this game using an xbox360 controller and to have that kind of eye hand coordination to aim the balls and such at a target. I completely realize with my husband being a technology guy, it will be next to impossible for me to convince him that my son should not have access to video games (everything in moderation, right?). So, I decided early on I will be implementing a token/reward system when the time comes to deal with it. He doesn’t play frequently enough at the moment to worry about it though, but that is the plan in a couple of years or whenever it’s necessary. Maybe I need to get my husband on a similar reward system and tell him he can’t play COD until he cleans out the shed? :yes:
Spelling- We use Apps for spelling and talking about the sounds of words and their letters. I have a ton of letter magnets for spelling on the fridge. My son taught himself spelling through apps and youtube. He can be a bit of a youtube junkie so I have to monitor him, but he learned to spell by copying words to look up videos he wanted to watch.
Music- We’ve tried so many music programs and never, ever have I seen such progress as I have with Little Musician. I am the biggest cheerleader around for it, particularly since it developed their ears so well. Since music education DVD’s are so hard to come by, I previously would buy any that i could get my hands on for the sake of variety. Of the ones I’ve tried, we use or have used Trebellina, Suzy’s Piano Primer, Your Child Can Discover which has a music component among other things, and the Tunables (love this!). We recently discovered Little Einsteins too which has a decent amount of music education in it, songs, instruments, symbols and terminology, that sort of thing.
We used to do Prezuki and stuck with it for about a year. It was quite a drive to attend but it was a good introductory music appreciation/pre-violin class. We have since bought a piano and enrolled Lily in Yamaha Piano class. She is BLOSSOMING on the piano in terms of playing with both hands, using the piano without color coded stickers, etc, although she is still playing simple nursery rhymes her technique has improved dramatically over using just her index finger. The quality of Yamaha materials is very, very good IMO and the facility is just 5-10 minutes down the road, versus 30 minutes to Prezuki depending on traffic. However, the biggest draw to piano over Violin was the cost. The idea of buying an instrument every 5 seconds is not in our budget right now, and she won’t outgrow this piano until she’s ready for a baby grand. lol Ideally, she is interested in both instruments and I would like to provide that for her and hope to, but Piano is a good start at the moment. Previously, I was concerned about the delay in Suzuki introducing sight reading until later and considered Saussmanhaus instead for that reason (we have a local instructor). However, that is no longer an issue because the kids are reading music beautifully thanks to LMs and reinforcing it all with homemade manipulatives (as shown in my youtube videos). Plus with us moving to Japan, if we decide to begin violin, there will be more continuity for the kids to stick with an international program. So, at the moment it’s just Piano but that may change. Oh, and we are using Soft Mozart sometimes as well, but it’s not going to be super cost effective when it’s time to renew our subscription so I am looking into other similar options. We also have a decent collection of hand percussion instruments we use with LMs or as a standalone. Lily also draws music staves/notes in her drawing notebook on a regular basis for fun and composes songs on paper and sings them back. I need to get that on video sometime. Part of Lily’s Yamaha piano homework is finger tapping on a hand or arm based on the finger numbers. We choose to do that to a metronome because she is working on developing her rhythm and timing and we are doing the tapping anyway, it’s just one more learning component. I like playing withe the metronome sometimes too for fun with our other instruments or marching, they are very versatile. We have memorized many, many of the songs in LMs, but I will keep expanding that curriculum with new solfege songs for the duration of their childhood to practice sight singing until it’s a fully automatic response like a fluent language, learned one song at a time to mastery for the most part.
Right brain- We do Mandalas on and off, magic carpet style guided imagery sometimes (I encourage Lily to visualize her piano, music notes, and soroban). We have done Memory Magic but I think the App is better than the full, older software version. We have recently started doing bits of the Wink program, and I want to encourage Lily more regularly to draw with both hands at the same time, just circles and things. They do dry erase mazes and lots of floor puzzles. My son does select 48 piece puzzles at 2.5 years old now, his skill surpasses that of his older sister at the same age. They also do a lot of duplos and recently have starting getting into building from the model plans. Does anyone know where I can print off some good duplo models online? Lily recently got a “Lego Friends” Dog Show set (pink, purple, girly looking color, and very tiny) which she built with her dad and loved it. Since then, she has taken a much greater interest in building things and I’ve been teaching her how to stack the blocks with structural integrity to overlap them on the seams. They also do “playful patterns” tangram style foam tiles on cards sometimes.
Practical life / Grace and Courtesy- We work on building manners and listening to Mommy being calm while Mommy is one the phone, that sort of thing. We have a lot of fun but they can be a little wild sometimes. I just got some big Abeka flashcards on good manners that I am introducing this week. I know there are DVD’s out there on manners too which I would like to get just to help reinforce, My kids clear their space at the table after every meal (well, probably 85% of the time anyway) and need to “try again” and say please to get what they want if they forget. They tidy their rooms at least twice a day, typically before nap and before bed, and tidy the common areas of any of their toys before their dad comes home from work. They put their own clothes in the hamper and that sort of thing. We make a point to teach them to apologize and ask for forgiveness, and we encourage each one that the other is their “best friend.” It’s so sweet to hear them call each other that! That is, when they’re not bickering with each other. lol We are really big on one child serving the other first which they now do without thinking about it now, and often one will pipe up “Lily/Owen needs a snack, too!” if one of them has something the other one doesn’t. Lily has started going to kids cooking school for a class once a month or so as a treat, she loves it, and often helps her dad cook at home, We also teach them about health and hygiene. Two big things we teach them are “Every day, all the time foods” versus “Sometimes foods.” The other is “What things do we can do to grow up healthy and strong?” Together we list off 1. Wash up every day (both showers and hand washing) 2. Brush our teeth 3. Drink lots of water 4. Eat everyday all the time foods 4. Get fresh air and sunshine 5. Run and play (exercise) . 6. Be happy (we talk about growing a happy garden in our heart full of sharing flowers, loving flowers, kindness flowers, etc instead of yucky weeds, and discussing the kind of garden we choose to grow.)
Physical development- They go to preschool 3 days a week and play on the playground there. Good enough for me! haha. We do the occasional youtube kids yoga clip but nothing regular. They dance with me or as a family pretty frequently, but I’d like to enroll them in a class at some point, like a dance class at the community rec center or something. They need to learn to swim too. We just don’t to much in this area, they are happy, healthy kids, but I am doubtful they are Physically superb" or anything like that. They are high energy and do front rolls on a yoga mat in the living room if that counts. :biggrin:
Handwriting- The TV Teacher videos and dry erase letter boards. I would like to start journaling with them both. They both have thick sketch books that they draw in for fun on a daily basis and Lily often adds in words about the picture or “To Mommy” and that sort of thing, predominantly in what Dr’ Gentry calls “Kid Spelling.”
Crafts- We do random crafts that involve cutting, gluing, paint, markers, glitter, etc. Just fun kid stuff that helps with fine motor skills and creativity.
We are MOST regular with LIttle Math, LIttle Musician, and Soroban/RS Abacus on a daily basis, along with daily piano practice as assigned by her piano teacher (20 minutes of songs, some listening, some singing, some playing). Everything else is when we feel like it for the most part. But those things are what we do first thing every weekday morning. I’d probably just opt to enroll the kids in Kumon or something like that for simplicity but it’s more cost effective to piece things together at the moment. You may notice that I always refer to what Lily is learning rather than Owen. He learns everything twice a fast and I don’t have to worry too much about his curriculum because he’s on par or just behind Lily in some many areas, I only need to keep up with her and he just absorbs everything by being around it. Hopefully something in this long post is helpful!
Tonya,
The book James uses for his journal I picked up from Walmart. It was this one by mead http://www.amazon.com/Mead-MEA09956-Primary-Journal-K-2nd/dp/B001JTL032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345089339&sr=8-1&keywords=Mead+journal
However it is a fraction of the price at Walmart. Maybe even cheaper now with back to school.
I have a question I have been meaning to ask you. What book is Lily reading from in her 24 month reading video. Not the preschool prep ones, maybe it is a Hooked on Phonis books?
