Teaching Baby To Read Blog
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Your Baby Can Read For Free With Memoflix.com
In case you haven't already checked out Memoflix.com it's time you did. Memoflix is a way in which your baby can learn to read for free. That's right, for free. All you have to do is register to use the site and you can view a large collection of online baby flash cards designed to teach your baby to read or just increase their vocabulary. There are already over 50 categories of these 1 minute flash card movies and the library will continue to grow. You can visit the site by clicking here http://www.memoflix.com.
If you want more information about how your baby can learn to read visit http://www.monkisee.com.
Signing with Babies
I recently had the chance to have coffee with my sister and my 10 month old niece. As she was sitting in her highchair I was feeding her bits of an oatmeal cookie. Each time I gave her a bite of the cookie I would sign the word cookie to her. I was signing eat and cookie each time she had a piece. She was watching me carefully to see what I was doing. Within a matter of minutes, I noticed her little fingers moving in mock sign language. Of course, she would not be signing back to me that quickly, but she could understand that the movement as I spoke the words was always the same and it was a special code I was using with her. She has never been exposed to sign language, but she seemed to enjoy it.
Using sign language with babies and children is lots of fun. You don't need to know a lot of signs to get started. With just a dozen or so signs you can effectively communicate with your baby and teach them to express themselves before they can easily speak their requests to you.
I love the online sign language dictionary available at www.aslpro.com. You can browse the main dictionary or the dictionary of signs for babies. You can select just about any word you want to know how to sign and watch someone demonstrating the sign for you. You can repeat it as often as you like until you learn to do the sign correctly and it is totally free. I have learned so many new signs using this dictionary. It is a wonderful resource because you can choose to learn signs that you would use frequently.
I began to seriously sign with my last baby and all my kids joined in. They love to sign and teach all their friends. You are never to old to learn a new language.
Combining MonkiSee with Your Baby Can Read
When Monki See Monki Do was first released in August of 2008 it looked as though it would be giving some competition to the now well-known Your Baby Can Read program. Both companies strive to teach babies to read mainly through their dvds and flash cards. Each company claims that if you have your baby watch their baby dvds and review with the flash cards your baby will quickly be on their way to reading.
What has been an interesting revelation is that many parents are not just choosing either Your Baby Can Read or Monki See for their baby reading programs. Many parents have decided to combine usage of both programs and the results have been noteworthy.
Parents and caregivers are continually letting us know that although the products do the same thing, the way in which they do it is different, and this is having a huge impact on their babies’ success. By combining the two baby reading programs, Monki See and Your Baby
Can Read, the results are unbelievable.
The Monki See Baby Dvd series strives to incorporate a playful and entertaining edge to their baby dvds. Each baby DVD is filled with upbeat music that gets babies moving and grooving. The catchy poems throughout the videos stimulate babies' language development and teach babies how to read. The use of puppets and silly skits keep these baby videos light
and entertaining while also packing a powerful educational punch.
So what happens when parents combine the usage of these two programs? The results are amazing. By rotating the two different products, your baby is being exposed to a greater number of words, more so than if either product is used alone. It also keeps babies from getting bored with either program. There is some overlap in the words that are taught, but the format that is used to reinforce the meaning of each word is very different. The combination of Your Baby Can Read and Monki See is definitely raising a generation of early readers.
Many parents are alternating the viewing of these two products. They alternate showing their babies a MonkiSee video in the morning and a Your Baby Can Read video in the afternoon. It is important to show the dvds regularly in order for babies to achieve mastery of the words
being taught before moving on to the next volume.
It is important to remember that the more words babies are exposed to before their 3rd birthday the faster and easier they will learn to read. Parents that are really interested in teaching their babies to read should highly consider combining these programs for ultimate
results. Here is what some parents have to say about combining the Monki See and Your Baby Can Read baby reading programs.
“We started out with the Your Baby Can Read program but after a few months my daughter was losing interest. Even though there are 5 dvds, they are all relatively the same. I stumbled across the Monki See program and immediately purchased their video collection. Abigail loved the addition of these videos to her reading program. She was totally engaged by the monkeys and the music. I could see that she was really enjoying her program again. Now I mix it up. She watches Monki See once a day and Your Baby Can Read once a day. As soon as we added the Monki See products I could see a definite increase in what
she was learning. I don’t know what we would have done without these two great products. I am certain our 16 month old wouldn’t be reading over 200 words had we not used these programs. She is so smart and shocks people when she starts reading without being prompted. I recommend these programs to everyone I see with a baby.”
Michelle - Katy, TX
“My son is 10 months and we just finished the Your Baby Can Read program. He really enjoyed it but I didn’t know what to do with him now that we finished it. Of course we read lots of books, but I wanted to continue to teach him new words. I did some research online
and saw that people were recommending Monki See. We just started using their program this week and I couldn’t be happier. My boy just loves to watch the videos. They are very different from Your Baby Can Read and they hold his attention the whole time. He actually cries when the videos end. I am just so thankful that we can continue teaching our son to read. He is so smart! He loves to look at books and can point to the correct word when asked. Finding Monki See has been a real blessing.”
Andrea – Saratoga, NY
“I was a skeptic at first about all this teaching babies to read hype. I thought that we shouldn’t pressure babies to learn how to read. After watching the convincing infomercial for Your Baby Can Read I decided to try it for the 30 day trial period. I was pretty certain this was all a bunch of nonsense and I would send it back before the trial period ended. Was I ever surprised! My baby loved it. I did some research to see what other baby reading programs were available and came across MonkiSee. It has been an incredible
journey and I can’t even imagine not having done this with her. First of all, she loves to watch Howie and Skip. She is not only reading the words on the screen, she is spelling them too! How many 20 month olds do you know that can spell the word circle? Believe me, she can! These programs have been so much fun for both of us. I find that we play a lot of games with words. We are interacting, bonding and having lots of fun."
Cheryl – San Diego, CA
Book Review - A Baby Sister For Frances
I have been reading A Baby Sister For Frances this week to my daughter and enjoying it very much. Russell Hoban really knows how to capture the spirit of a child in his books. In A Baby Sister For Frances, Frances decides she is fed up with sharing her mother's time with her new baby sister. As she leaves for school in the morning she declares that she will be running away after dinner that evening. Her mother makes no big deal about it as Frances prepares to runaway.
I love where Frances decides to go and how it all works out in the end. This book is a classic and will be around for a long time due to the simplicity of the story. Once again, it is fun to read because you can adjust your voice to speak for father, mother and Frances. The songs Frances comes up with are always my favorite parts of the stories. If you have not yet read this book you are missing out on a great children's storybook.
This book has 5 stars on Amazon and I would have to agree with it. This is a book that I don't mind reading again and again.
For more information on how to introduce your baby to language at an early age visit www.intellbaby.com.
Book Review - Bedtime For Frances
If you have never read Bedtime For Frances you are missing out on a guaranteed favorite for you and your child. There are several Frances books available and they are all adorable. The author, Russell Hoban, must have written this about his child or a child that was close to him. He captures the bedtime ritual so well that you can imagine it really taking place.
All of the Frances books are written in such a way that you can imagine these scenarios actually taking place. In Bedtime For Frances, Frances is supposed to go to bed but she just isn't tired. The story takes you through the process of finally getting Frances to sleep. If only we as parents could be that patient. This book was first published in 1960 but will be around for a long time since the story of getting your kids to bed is timeless. My only regret with these books is that he didn't write more.
My daughter has been enjoying this book immensely. It is a really fun book to read to your little ones because you can change your voice to make it more interesting. I read in a deep voice for father, read in my normal voice for mother and talk babyish for Frances. In each Frances book she makes up songs and I have a lot of fun singing her songs. My daughter is beginning to sing along to Frances' alphabet song since we have been reading this book every day. The book is rated 4 stars on Amazon, which surprised me. I think it should be rated 5 stars. This book will always be a favorite of mine and I hope to read it to my grandchildren someday.
To find out how you can teach your baby to read for free be sure to visit www.memoflix.com to sign up for our free online flash cards in over 50 categories.
Reading to Baby
I have been reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss to my 2 year old for the last few nights. We have been having a lot of fun reading this book because we both love it and we have been using sign language to sign the words we know. This makes the whole experience a lot more fun. SInce the book is written like a long poem, it is easy to recite from memory. I noticed that after my daughter heard the story she was walking around the house saying, "Let me be." Which is a line from the story. She was also repeating the long list of places that the Cat in the Hat would not eat green eggs and ham. Not in a box, not with a fox, not on a train, not in the rain...
Reading to our children is so important. It develops language skills, listening skills, increases vocabulary and helps children to learn to read on their own. If you point to the text while you are reading you will also increase the chances that your child will recognize the words on their own.
I really feel that rereading the same books is very important. The more your child interacts with a story, the more they get from the story. They are able to memorize lines of the story and fill in the words if you pause. While it is fun to read many books, don't neglect to reread some of your favorites.
If you want to know more about teaching babies to read check out A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read. It is a complete 80 minute guide that will teach you everything you could want to know about teaching your baby to read and then some.
For more information about teaching your baby to read and great products to get started visit www.intellbaby.com
Book Review - Green Eggs and Ham
Last night I read one of my all time favorite books to my daughter. I think I read this book when I was a kids and I always enjoy more each time I read it. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss is a classic book to read to your children.
In this story Sam-I-Am is trying to get the Cat in the Hat to eat green eggs and ham. He is relentless and in the end the Cat gives and tries the dish, which to his surprise he finds to be quite tasty. There is a lot of repetition in this book which encourages little children to pipe in and repeat the lines.
If you know some basic sign language you can even make the signs for many of the words as Sam and the Cat go through the list of all the places they would or would not eat these green eggs and ham. This book has plenty of emotion which makes it fun to read. You can really get into reading the lines with excitement as the Cat tries to get Sam-I-Am to leave him alone.
This is by far my favorite Dr. Seuss book.
Books are Great Friends
I am traveling right now to my old town and feeling a little homesick since it is a third world country. The first thing I did with my 6 book loving children after we got settled was visit the local library. It is tiny compared to what we just left. Back home we have a service with our library where they deliver books to our front door. Going back to our little library is definitely a step down, but we enjoyed it none the less.
My children were excited as they saw familiar books they had read in the past. The older children were recommending favorite books to their younger siblings. My little ones were grabbing some of our most loved books from the shelf. The only problem with the library is that we can only check out 4 books each. We are used to being able to check out 100 books per library card in the US. Nevertheless, we found some great books, making the trip a success.
I have to say that when you fall in love with reading and find stories that you love, it is like meeting an old friend. They always deliver that special feeling that you get from reading a favorite book. This week, my old friends are seeing us through our moments of boredom and lack of things to do.
This week I will post book reviews for some of our favorite all time books so stay tuned.
Winnie the Pooh
If you have not had the opportunity to read Winnie the Pooh by the original author, A.A. Milne, you are missing out on a great treasure. We are all familiar with the bear of very little brain whom we have seen on TV and in colorful story books, but this is just a snippet of the character that was created by the very gifted author, A.A. Milne. His son was the real Christopher Robin and his work has survived for more than half a century already. You can start with Winnie the Pooh which is the first book that was written.
If you are familiar with the stories of Winnie the Pooh you will recognize where they were excerpted from when you read the original. I read Winnie the Pooh aloud to my 6 children recently, the oldest at the time was 13 and the youngest 1. The children gathered around and laughed at Pooh's silly poems and songs and the predicaments that the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood would get involved it. If you like to read and do not read the Pooh books by the original author you are really missing out on a real treat.
Stupid Mommy
I was in line in Target the other day and the woman checking out in front of me was ignoring her crying and unhappy 2 year old. The cashier began to engage him in a conversation, trying to pacify him a bit. He said he was crying because he didn't get anything. She asked him if he wanted something and goodheartedly pulled something out of her drawer. He wanted no part of it. Apparently he wanted a toy car and when his mom said that he doesn't always get something and he has a hundred cars at home he called her, "Stupid mommy."
She quietly said, "Don't say that, " with no authority in her voice whatsoever. It was more of an afterthought to his rude comment. When he said it again she said nothing as I just stood there aghast.
I wanted to reach out to this woman and tell her that she did not have to stand for this kind of behavior. I wanted to tell her that she could easily and quickly put a stop to this, but I didn't know how.
When I see children getting away with such atrocious behavior I want to step in and liberate the parents by showing them how they can have wonderful, happy, obedient children.
As a new mom I read all kinds of magazines and books about how to raise my child. I thought I was informed but I was frustrated because I still didn't know how to stop my baby from throwing a temper tantrum, how to get her not to eat the dirt from my plants or how to get her to come to me when I asked her to. Wiggling at diaper changes was also an issue. I remember reading discipline issues in Parenting Magazine and saying to myself, "Are you joking me?" They dealt with making the bed and not yelling at your kids. They offered no solutions and so I was trapped in what I new, yelling and slapping their hands.
Some months later my life was transformed when I came across an almost magical little book called To Train Up A Child. It gave me immediate hope and offered simple solutions that I was putting to the test successfully. I was and remain a believer in the methods laid out in the book although I have adapted them to work for me anywhere.
If you struggle with control and would like to have joyful, happy and loving children this may be just what you need. I read the book prior to expecting my 2nd child and certainly would not have 6 children today had I not come across this insightful book for parents.
