Your Baby Can Read - Week 1

Your Baby Can Read ... Can Our Baby Read, Too?

Watch 1st Week Video Towards The Middle Of This Blog Post

I am embarrassed to say that I am addicted to infomercials and do watch the commercials between shows. I'm not as bad as my mother who buys from the TV, but I have been more than grateful for the Swivel Sweeper, Chopper and other great As Seen On TV products that she has bought me over the years :) My personal favorites are the Baby Bullet, Wen, Bare Minerals and Your Baby Can Read commercials. The funny thing is that our baby watches commercials on Sprout, too. He will "stop short" to watch the ones he likes and ignores me until they are done. Here I was thinking that the companies were advertising the Baby Bullet and the lunch packs to me, but my little guy likes them, too.

I supposed this is a case of Like mother, Like son ... LOL.

Anyways, I have been addicted to the Your Baby Can Read infomercial for years - YES YEARS!!! It started way before I met my husband and had our baby. I was amazed when I first watched the infomercial one 2:00 a.m. and the excitement has followed me all the way up to when I made my husband watch the infomercial when I was pregnant, and to this day. I began stalking their website when I was about 6 months pregnant. My husband did not get hooked on the Your Baby Can Read commercials until after our baby was born. He has been rather adamant about our buying it for months now. I have not agreed about buying it until now.

I have finally given into my curiosity and bought the Your Baby Can Read system. I feel as though we have a need for it.

I've had reservations about buying Your Baby Can Read until now. I was worried about wasting money. I also worried about rushing our baby into learning "sight words" too soon. He is just learning his ABCs ... Now that our baby has turned 1 year old and gets excited over counting, singing the ABCs, reading books, as well as watching certain educational shows like Super Why, Moose & Zee, Zoboomafoo etc., I decided that it was time to get started with Your Baby Can Read for these reasons:

1) Our one year old baby is starting to talk and he says more than the standard "Mama", "Dada", "Hi". Our 1 year old baby says "Clap", "Hey Baby", "Duck" "Quack", "All Done", "That", "This", "1, 2, 3" and sings "Clean Up, Clean Up" if I stop singing the Barney "Clean Up" song while picking up his toys. He might say more words, but this is all that we have understood and our baby has validated with excitement if we repeat him correctly.

2) Our baby is starting to get frustrated that we do not always understand him. He screamed "Mama Eat" the other day after he had been saying it and I did not understand. It was an extremely loud "EEEEEEEEEEE-AAAAAA-T" that finally got my attention and then his laughing hysterically and running to his gate, so that I could pick him up, that confirmed that he wanted to eat ... WOW was it dramatic and I felt so sorry for not understanding him!

3) He sits to watch his favorite shows. As a new walker, our baby runs laps most of the day, but he does sit down on the mat when certain shows catch his attention or I have just turned the TV on for him. I am in hopes that skills learned from Your Baby Can Read will help him understand more of what he is watching.

4) Our baby talks to himself all day long. It is SO CUTE, but I obviously only undertsand a few words he is saying.

5) He gets excited when I count for him; he sits so that I can set up the alphabet blocks and then goes over them 3 times before wanting to play; he loves to learn and is trying to say his numbers and letters.

The only thing that our baby does consistently is come to me for a diaper change when he poops. He does this on demand every time. I find it hard to believe that he can say all of these words / 2 word phrases and dislikes a poopy diaper so much that he understands to get his diaper changed, though he has stopped doing the other things I ask on demand. I know that he understand what I ask because he has said or done these things when I have asked at other times ... For this reason, I swear that my baby has been ignoring me and have turned to Your Baby Can Read thinking that it can help!

Here are a few examples of how I know our baby is ignoring us: 1) he used to clap on demand, now he claps at random times that he feels like it, 2) he used to touch his ear whenever I said ear and now he just looks at me like I am crazy 3) he used to lift his arms when I asked him to, so that I can put the high chair try on. He stopped lifting his arms on demand, too. He is starting to ignore when we call his name or when I ask him to pick something up. THE BIGGIE is that he has started having temper tantrums when he wants something and no one in our family understands what he is saying. He is also starting to have temper tantrums when we say "NO" ... (Can you believe this? He is already getting mad when we say no?). I decided to buy Your Baby Can Read and get it started now, so that I can add the Signing Times program along with it.

I am going to post weekly videos and / or notes on how the Your Baby Can Read system works for our baby Max.



YOUR BABY CAN READ - WEEK #1 - BABY IS 1 YEAR 3 WEEKS OLD

• Purchase Day & Notes - I bought the Your Baby Can Read Volume 1 on Friday, January 20, 2012. Volume 1 came with came with the 1st Multi-Sensory DVD, 6 Sliding Word Cards, 1 Wipe-Clean Word Car and 1 Erasable, Non-Toxic Pen.
• Day #1 - I sat our baby in his high chair and turned on the DVD. He remained engaged with the program through the whole lesson and was positive about doing the Sliding Word Cards with me; we did them twice, he smiled, though did not repeat anything with me (not even the clapping which is one of his favorite games to play with me).
• Day #2 - I sat our baby on my lap to watch Your Baby Can Read. I started interacting with it as the video said to say or do things. This kind of irritated our baby, so I will not interact with it from now on. Additionally, our baby did fidget a lot today and wanted to walk around a bit. I will not hold him while watching Your Baby Can Read. I will put him in the high chair from now on. I did watch our baby touching his nose at that portion of the video. He did it one time and very quickly ... This HUGE because I have been trying to get him to do this for over a week. He liked doing the flash cards.

Week #1 facts & opinion(s) of Your Baby Can Read:

Your Baby Can Read is not as animated as I expected. It is rather cut and dry words, animals and clips of children providing examples in comparison to what my baby is used to from watching Super Why or Sesame Street. I can see this being a problem for older babies that are used to more animated and technological learning (like V-Tech). My baby was OK with watching Your Baby Can Read and doing the Sliding Word & Picture Cards so long as he was sitting away from me and in a containing chair (high chair). For these reasons, I would RECOMMEND preparing a child to sit and watch these DVDs before they become mobile (the Volume 1 box says as early as 3 months). You can do this by sitting your baby on your lap to watch Sprout for about an hour each day or buy Your Baby Can Read and get started at 3 months. If I had to do again, I would have started our baby around 6 months opposed to a year old.

WEEK 1 RESULTS WERE POSITIVE

- Our baby touched his nose on the second day / 2nd time watching the DVD.
- He started clapping on demand again.
- He pays attention to the video; especially the animals and "which word"portion.
- He sit for and enjoys the sliding word card more than I expected.

if you want to try this program with your infant or toddler? Visit this Your Baby Can Read page to learn more!

It's your turn to share! Did you find this blog post useful? Are my notes similar to yours? Have you tried Your Baby Can Read? Let us know!

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Talent & Talented | Teaching Children w/ ADHD How To Focus On Education & Talents

My son's craft table ... He says "that's not mess", so I agree it is not :)

This has been "one of those" weeks ... It was not a bad week; we accomplished a lot, though my husband and I were quite busy with so many family, business and household details. This included the kitchen sink breaking again. Our baby was in a walker splashing in 2 inches of water the last time it happened to us. Fortunately, my hubby got the sink fixed quickly this time and with just a few wet towels to haunt me. All of the "things to do" made me feel like we were a "tag team" ... Hum, saying that must mean that my single mom mindset is finally shifting to a married mindset ... working together being the newer concept here :) Regardless, I'm glad to finally have a moment to write a "real" blog post - opposed to just a few quick lines - to keep in touch with everyone.

OK! NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO GET A DRINK AND USE THE BATHROOM ... THIS IS A LONG BLOG POST THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO GET THROUGH ALL AT ONCE :)

TALENT & THE TALENTED HAVE BEEN HEAVY ON MY MIND THIS WEEK

Towards the middle of the week, my 12 year old son started getting frustrated with his school work. This is not abnormal for him and is part of the reason why we home school. On the other hand, he is an extremely bright and articulate boy. It is only that the ADHD ... ASD ... ODD gets in the way of progress when he gets in "THAT" mood. He is still doing all right with his grades, though does not have the same enthusiasm for learning as he has had up until now. I feel like he's been worn down by the years of dredging through a traditional educational system. All was well until he went to middle school. I actually moved him from a private school to a middle class public school system because they worked with children that have needs that are similar to his. Unfortunately, we moved to the south and the "rules" changed by Middle School. There were no more small classes, no more personalized lesson plans and classroom aids to assist the teachers, no more caring teachers, more emphasis on passing FCATS then the students learning well, etc.). I decided to home school my son a few years ago, and this is much better for him because our public educational system has no consideration of individuals. The requirements are cut and dry instead of how wonderful school would be if they incorporated better use of technology and the arts for children that are more tactile learners. Not a Waldorf educational system, but with a similar concept. I think THAT would be perfect for kids with ADHD. It upsets me that we have little choice in the matter :(

I am not angry because of what he struggles with daily: focusing, restlessness, hyperactivity and a lot of impulsive Tourette's-Like arguments throughout the day. He is getting better with age despite the teen hormones setting in. What upsets me is that he is capable of doing the school work, though gets caught up in all of his creative projects. I want him to pursue those interests, though not lose sight of the value of education that contributes to the artistic strengths.

The problem is that the ADHD makes it hard to remain focused on academics especially when he is being taught in a way that does not utilize the natural talents. IF TAUGHT THE WAY THEY LEARN (process information), one might think a child w/ ADHD had no problem focusing at all. 

So, when he gets in an educational slump or "too frustrated", as he says, I try to motivate him through different activities. They are unscheduled and not in the home school curriculum, so he gets REALLY excited to hang out with mom this way :) It just so happened that talent and the talented were the motivation this time. It is a subject that is always of interest to him, but has been everywhere that I have been online this week. I can't help but wonder if God is trying to speak to me about it. I know that I need to lift this in prayer, but I am kind of scared to know what it has been about.

Have you ever felt that way? Where you want clarity, though are not sure what "knowing better" will entail? This is where I am at right now ...

Regardless, the point of this blog post is teaching children with ADHD to focus on their education as well as their interests and talents (this applies to kids with related disorders / disabilities, too). In fact, all people need the combination of both in order to see, believe, conceive and achieve their greatness in life. For some reason, my son acts like he does not see that his school work contributes to being the best at his talents / interests, so I am always trying to reach him about it. It is not that huge of an issue at this point because I know that he is being rebellious, but I do not want it to become more of a problem as we are approaching the teen years and school becomes harder ... right now, his viewpoint is similar to his not seeing the importance of cleaning his room. None-the-less, education is obviously important in life.

I turned to YOUTUBE for help with this issue. I do this often with him because YouTube is a site that most pre-teens love to browse. It is filled with talented people that can motivate a youth, though parents still need to supervise at this age because there is a lot of undesirable entertainment there, too. We always come across "raw talent" buried among the millions of videos. We've watched videos that explain his math the way he needs to learn it, as well as children that have taught themselves instruments, clay animation, parkour. There are just tons of tutorials for what he is interested in and this makes education fun for my son with ADHD. I chose what we watched this week, though other times it works out that he takes the lead and shows me his favorites.

We watched this video of a 2 1/2 year old toddler showing that he understood the concepts of physics and chemistry:


We were both impressed and amazed by this toddler's comprehension. This goes above and beyond children who have benefited from Your Baby Can Read and Signing Times; the father obviously works in this field and is training this child to follow in his foot steps. It makes one wonder whether we all have this scientific capability if exposed so young in life.

We also watched the following Jackie Evancho YouTube videos:


Video #1 - Summarizes the first part of her competition.


Video #2 - My favorite of her performances and shares a little about her life.


Video #3 - She returns to sing on America's Got Talent a year after traveling and developing her talent.

Jackie Evancho was the 2010 America's Got Talent 2nd Semi-finals at 10 years old and the top selling classical artist in 2011 at 11 years old. Her Dream With Me album was produced by David Foster and features duets with Barbara Streisand and Susan Boyle. It is beautiful!

What did my son get from watching Jackie Evancho?
The obvious is that she has such a gorgeous voice for such a young girl, but she is also from his hometown. That was cool.

What did I point out?
Well I learned and pointed out a lot by watching this talented child's adventure into stardom, but here are some of the main pointers:

In video #1 she confesses that she practiced a lot for the semi finalists, but in video 2, she explains that she regularly only practices once a day for one hour. This was HUGE for my son. That you can accomplish your goals by just practicing once a day, but I had to explain to him that the reality is that, although she sang for once an hour a day, she had to invest much more time and energy than one hour a day. She had to understand the music she read and sang; she had to learn languages or at least how to pronounce the lyrics correctly in each song; Jackie Evancho also had to learn obedience (to bite her tongue, listen well, follow instructions) and humbleness in order to get that far and accomplish so much towards living her dream. Her home training and academic education was important to her accomplishing her goals.

It is not easy to keep going - be in the spot light - perform on demand, though all of these were necessary for what she wanted to accomplish. I told my son that he has / will have the same requirements in life whether he choose it or not. His education will contribute to more than just the basics (certain subjects permit him to communicate, work and function in life), as well as how to be the best at whatever he does.

Lastly, In explained to my child with ADHD that if he wants to be the best video game player - or - the best skateboarder - or - the best costume designer - or the best props artist - or the best architect OR WHATEVER (these examples are towards my son's interests, but plug anything for your child) ... He better learn to be the best at educating himself in order to accomplish what makes him the best at his interests.

This is much easier said than done ...

It is not as if our educational system teaches our children according to their interests and talents. If they did, more kids would become less bored and detached from their educational process. This is why I like homeschooling so much. It is challenging at times, but there is flexibility even if you use a program that develops the curriculum for you. I think that "the key" for teaching children with ADHD how to focus on their education is to provide them time to focus on their interests and incorporate them into thier individual education plans. Not only does this strengthen their academics, but fosters all developmental areas.

Now, if I could just get the next few years of my son's school subjects into musical composition and the types of video games he likes, I think that would stop the grey hairs from those Tourette's-Like arguments :)

UPDATE - January 16, 2012 - ironically, 60 Minutes featured 13 year old Math prodigy, Jake Barnett, last night. I don't catch this show often, so I was delighted and again, this is another situation of being blatantly exposed to talent as I mentioned above. I am pointing this out because this young man will graduate college by age 14 and enter graduate school thereafter ... he attributes his intellectual talents to autism and is proud to be autistic.


60 Minutes Aired Coverage On Jake Barnett


Behing The Scenes Coverage on Jake Barnett

I suggest that parents of children with Asperger's and ADHD - although different disorders from a similar spectrum - to watch this additional video - ABOVE 2nd VIDEO - and realize that their child's mind is driven by the limbic system which includes memory in cases (yes, even children with ADHD can have this capability, by 2nd son always got As in spelling, so long as he was given the words orally); starts with teaching them how to focus on their education and talents.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Homeschooling ... Again!

To Homeschool - OR - Not To Homeschool ... 

Well, here we go again ... I have a great kid that is sometimes picked on by teachers and other kids because he has some "special needs". He does OK at school and making friends, but I want more for him than "No Child Left Behind" as a crutch the classrooms use to let him pass by. Unfortunately, he had to transfer him to a new middle school when we moved to a new community. I had no concern because it is in a decent area and just a few minutes from home. BOY was I wrong about this one. In less than two weeks, he was forced to protect himself during gym class and the teacher did not even know that there was a fight in his class. Plus, two  different students offered my son drugs and cigarettes at school. Yes, all are pre-teens in the 6th grade ... My son said that he did not even know their names.

I thank God that he still reports these types of situations at home!

The irony is that I dare not make my son point out these kids and have the school both the teacher and the kids that fought him and offered him drugs. They will torture him for the rest of the year (trust me, I have years of experience in such matters). Meanwhile, now that my son is in 6th grade, no one makes sure that he is OK, though he is supposed to be somewhat protected by an IEP and ESE seclusion. I've had enough!  At this point in life, I understand why Christian homeschool parents are so adamant about secluding their children ... it is not that they think they are better ... they do not want to hope  that their children will rise above the influence. They are making sure that their children are not just getting throne to the wolves in a contradictory educational system and world. For example, if my son tells that he was bullied and fought back, he will get in trouble for not telling someone before he had action in it. Meanwhile, I have never heard of a fight stopping for a child to tell and then come back to deal with the situation as the school wants them to do.  There have been numerous occasions when he has told me that he does not tell the teachers or counselors anything, anymore, because they do not do anything to make situations better. It just gets worse and he does not want to risk an even more of an uncomfortable situation.

Yes, I understand that kids experience these challenges on a daily basis ... 

When my older son was in 6th grade, I chose to pull him out to homeschool. He had always been in very small, private, schools and was not transitioning well in his first year of public school (6th grade year). Aside of some emotional immaturity issues, there were some pretty nasty teachers that would not help him adjust in their classes and kids that tired to challenge him "the new kid". This really bummed me out because I moved our family to that community because the schools had upper percentile ranks and was surrounded by other excellent (upper percentile) school districts ...

My older son homeschooled for 6th grade. I subsided to pressure from family and friends, as well as his pleading to the same ... he went back to school the following year (7th grade) ... he made plenty of friends, but he never did fit in with the school and teachers. A lot went down hill after this year and he actually ended back in homeschool by 10th grade.

YOU CAN STILL CONTROL YOUR CHILD UP UNTIL A CERTAIN AGE (PRETEEN YEARS), AND THEN IT IS TOUCH AND GO ...BY HIGH SCHOOL ... PEER PRESSURE CAN CAPTURE THE BEST OF THEM! 

My second son in now in 6th grade. It has been quite a challenging year and I assure you that even the best public schools in Tampa Bay do not compare to even the mid range school districts in Pittsburgh. Regardless, we had a decent Tampa elementary school experience for the second half of 5th grade (when we moved here) and a frustrating, though safe middle school for the 1st half of the year, BUT WE MOVED to a different part of town at Christmas time. It is a quiet area, but the school is rough. In fact, my son was in a fight during gym class and the teacher did not even know that it occurred in the class. On the other hand, other 6th graders were exposing him to drugs and cigarettes at school ... when he came home explaining how large the bags of drugs were, I pulled this second child out to protect him from what my older son fell into by the end of middle school. In this case, I am not letting anyone talk me into putting him back into a Tampa public school. Aside of these issues, there were always details where he needed more help at school, but the school was treating him like all of the other kids though his IEP and needs would warrant more help. Focusing is not a strength of his, therefore he developed some adaptive skills that were unnecessary if he had some help. For example, he would wear his gym clothes under his clothes (no matter how bulky) or carry them in his backpack if needed because it takes him more time to open a combination locker than the other kids. If he used the locker, then he would be late for class and was too embarrassed to ask for help. There are other examples, but you get the point.

Considering my experiences with pre-teens and teens over the past few years, hearing what other parents explain as their experiences and my obsession with national stats on the subject ... I think that our public educational system fails children after the elementary years; this applies to some private school systems, too. This is much more than the old China vs USA stats ... In a simpler effort, if you take a look at School Matter and start comparing the elementary, middle and grade school scores, you can see a little pattern of how the decrease occurs even in good school districts. Check throughout the nation and you will see some saddening results.

The United States would be better if they would restructure the educational system to better prepare children for the middle school transition. It would help to break middle and high schools up into smaller schools of 5th and 6th, 7th and 8th, 9th and 10th, 11th and 12th. all separate schools ... Additionally, what these school districts fail to understand is that sending a 6th grader to school with 8th graders is as ugly as sending a 9th grader to school with 12th graders. For the first 1/2 of 6th grade, my son would tell me how an 8th grade couple would "make out" between the boy and girl gym lockers. He thought it was funny and it made me remember what it was like in the Middle School (I transferred from private school to a public school in 8th grade) and not only were we with the 6th and 7th graders, we had a lot of space to roam in the school as well. We even rode the bus with the younger children and they flocked to us as if they were 8th graders too ... the reality is that they were NOT into what we were into, they just hung with us enough to get the exposure.

Most younger children are watching and aspiring to become one of the popular "upper class men" and, although 6th grade is only 2 years or 3 years apart from 8th or 9th grade, there are huge developmental and maturation gaps between the ages. This is the same for 9th and 12th graders. In addition to this, the busing systems, in certain counties and communities is just NUTS! Also, why do they put kindergarteners on the bus with 3rd and 4th graders? Why do they put middle schoolers on the bus with high schoolers? This is not the case in our school district, but I have researched certain areas and this is how some of their busing structures work ...

It is like setting the children up for peer pressure and academic failure.

Things are so bad right now that it makes no sense to put our kids "to the test" by keeping them in schools where teachers are not paying attention and are more focused on making sure they pass state testing then watching out for their flocks. Additionally, alcohol and drug usage, depression and peer pressure are obviously ignored and undetected. It is a constant battle for a "good kid" to stay clear of peer pressure and quietly abide by teachers who are pressure to get students to pass a test that will save their jobs ...

The virtual school programs are fantastic for those who are able to stay home or can hire someone to help their children do well at homeschooling. Although you can only shelter but so long and homeschool children need socialization, it is a heck of a lot better when you can help them avoid some of the negative experiences and surround them with children that are like them, and teachers that actually help when needed.

Do you believe in homeschooling or public school education? Share your experiences, opinion and / or tips for other parents that are considering homeschooling!



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child