My grandmother has offered to buy a learning DVD or system for my son because he's got some speech delays. She said my cousin used "Rock 'N Learn" and liked them. Has anyone else used them? Can you recommend something else you like?
Thank you for your responses. We are currently working with a speech therapist through First Steps. My children NEVER watch TV. I mean never. The TV is in the basement and we don't go down there. The therapist has suggested that a half-hour per day watching a program geared toward something specific like letters or sounds can be beneficial. It's harder to give one-on-one attention with a 17-month-old right there all the time.
If you are a professional in early childhood, I respect your opinion, however, I am still going to go with the therapist's suggestions.
We had the Richard Scary "Best counting" My son loved it. Now, both kids are addicted to the LeapFrog DVDs. "Learn to Read", "Math Circus", "Letter Factory", & "Talking Words Factory". They are even helping my 2 1/2 year old sound out words and letters.
You go S. D!! I love your "a little about me" comments. More power to you. Re: learning videos, I am a fan of LeapFrog videos as was my son (now age 6). But that is the only one I used. Good Luck. (P.S. I too grappled with the circumcision - decided to do it b/c dad was, but continue to meet many who elected not to for their boys.)
We absolutely LOVE the Rock N Learn DVD's. They have very upbeat music and are great for learning colors, rhymes, numbers, letters, letter sounds, etc. I think anyone would be very happy with them!
I really like the Richard Scarry dvds. My brothers watched them when they were little and now my son watches them. He learned all of his abc's and counting ahead of his class. They may be old school but they work!
Richard Scarry's best ABC video ever
Richard Scarry's best counting video ever
Richard Scarry's best busy people video ever (teaches different professions)
Richard Scarry's best learning songs video ever (colors, shapes etc)
Richard Scarry's best silly songs and stories video ever
Richard Scarry has a lot of books too. Pages full of pictures with labels showing different things... like the inside of an airport, post office, things around the house. All with cute loving animal characters like Huckle the Cat, Hilda the Hippo and Lowly Worm. Now that my son is a little older he watches the Huckle Mystery dvd which teaches problem solving. I recomend these to anyone who has a child, they are fun and innocent and I don't find them annoying like a lot of other shows! I live in Indianapolis and got all the dvds from the library.
You have very strong opinions and I respect that. Here is one of mine. DVDs are not a stand in for anything you can give your child. My son watches very little TV and it is purely for entertainment. Don't rely on multimedia to do a job you could do yourself for a lot less money and with a hell of a lot more individuality. The concepts that these DVDs supposedly teach your child are taught ust an easily and much more meaningfully by you.
Ask your ped for a speech therapist ( I assume you are talking about your older child). Get their advice on exerciszes that you can do with him. Have you tried Baby Signs?
I wish the world would stop thinking that technology can solve their problems.
An excellent program is Dr. Titzer's "Your Baby Can Read" program. It is a 4 DVD program which reinforces literacy. You can google it and find it in many various places. It presents words with pictures. Research supports that when you can put a picture to the word retention is better. It also reinforces the left to right needed to read. It uses real animals, people, etc which again would reinforce everyday experiences. You can make flashcards to go with the words and even put the flashcards around the house to label items in the house. Point to the word and say it every chance you get. It also has songs that small children like to sing and act out. My daughter has twins, 2 this coming December. She has been using them for about a year. They love the videos and will request her to put them on. They are starting to talk more now and can recognize many of the pictures. I would highly recommend this program.
Another awesome interactive book source is Usborne Books and More. I have a website www.bookslady.com that you can go to and check them out. There are a lot of board books and just fun interactive books that encourage the little ones to talk. Of course, my grandchildren have lots of those, too. My daughter even became an Usborne consultant herself.
Let me know if I can be of service to you by going to my website, www.bookslady.com. My email is there also. If you want me to contact you, let me know. You can order right from the website, too.
Enjoy the little ones all you can. They are so precious and grow up way too soon. By the way, I am a teacher/administrator of over 30 years, mother of 2 and grandma of 3.
Ginger R.
Check out "Your Baby Can Read" system. It is great for speech and early learning. Don't be confused by the title. It is sight reading, but mixes is a lot speech and picture association. I really recommend it!!
My son had speech delay and I did not use any system. We went to Cleveland Hearing and Speech. Is there someone who is working with your son? I would ask them. Also books on tape are great. Get ear phones and he is really getting words pumped into his head. I also like on you tube the Signing time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGF3iC0o_1s .
My kids are older and this wasn't around that I was aware of. My sister showed me this and it is awesome. Sign language is helpful to kids when they are trying to communicate. My son used to get so frustrated when he couldn't get his thoughts across. I wish I had known about this.
We LOVE Signing Time! DVD's and my son loves them too!! He's been evaluated by 2 speech pathologists and is starting weekly therapy in a couple of weeks. They recommend teaching sign to babies starting between 3-6 months, but you can start anytime!! they are fun and you don't have to expose your children to more tv than you are comfortable with b/c once you learn the signs, the most important thing is that you use the signs whenever you use the words. And before long, he'll start signing too!
All the best!
I sell Usborne Books. We have a book named "Ted and Friends". It is considered a combined volume with 4-different stories. We also have phonic cards.
Feel free to check my website. Our books are for kids birth-teenagers.
J. R.
ubah.com/T2267
The best way for your son to overcome speech delays is through one-on-one interaction with a person - not a TV screen. Get him evaluated by a qualified speech pathologist - it's FREE so there's no excuse. If he's under 3 years old call First Steps. If he's 3 or older, call your local elementary school for the contact person for the Early Childhood Program. Many people get services through First Steps for free/discount. All therapy through the Early Childhood program (ages 3-5, run through public schools) is free.
I am intrigued about some of your background info. Why is one son circumcised and the other isn't? Also, does your almost 3 year old still nurse? Is he talking much? Is it just at night or throughout the day? Do you tell him when it's time to nurse or does he know when to come to you?
