Damien has a new toy in his diaper bag, a little early learning gem which I instantly fell in love with - the Munchkin Traveling Flash Cards.
I originally picked it up for its appeal in teaching Damien the uppercase alphabet and their sounds.
Here is what I love about this little book:
- Bright red uppercase letters with thick, simple font.
- Twenty six animal pictures for each letter, but on cards separate from the letter, so you can show the letter and picture separately (ideal), or both at the same time if you want to.
- Great quality, clear, real-life animal pictures.
- Clear, bold words below the pictures in English and Spanish
- Variety of animals introduce some fun and interesting new vocabulary, like U for [sea] Urchin.
But wait, there's more! I actually didn't realize until AFTER I brought this home that it is not only an alphabet flip book, but also includes
- Numbers 1-10, represented by groups of fish pictures, the numeral, and the word
- Shapes, including heart, square, star, rectangle, circle, and triangle (wish there were more, but these are good starters)
- Colors (on the shapes), including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (again, there could be more, but still nice)
- All of these are in English and Spanish as well
The design is amazing, in my opinion.
- The cards are laminated and durable.
- The thick plastic and rubber handle makes a great teether.
- It's small - about 3in x 3in and less than an inch thick, it fits easily in the diaper bag for travel or at home.
Some minor cons:
- Cards are sometimes slightly difficult to turn on the plastic rings.
- Would have preferred some more shapes (think diamond, hexagon, etc.) and colors (brown, silver, etc.). However since I purchased it for the alphabet portion this is not a big deal.
- The mirror on the cover gets scratched up and dirty easily.
So in one little flip book, you can teach your baby
- 26 alphabet names / shapes, 26 letter sounds, 26 animals (+26 in Spanish), 10 numerals, 10 quantities, 10 number names (+10 in Spanish), 6 shapes (+6 in Spanish), 6 colors (+6 in Spanish), for a total of no less than 168 bits of information clearly and simply presented.
I am pretty sure that this is the best $5 I have spent in a long time. Sure, I could have made something homemade, but it wouldn't have been nearly as durable, portable, or cute, and would have likely taken a couple of hours to do so.
Are there any early learning gems you've come across worth sharing with other Doman Moms?
"My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly."
Job 33:3
Thank you for your comments!
Damien is 9 months, 3 weeks old
hi
ReplyDeletei downloaded "Simple-Detail-in-a-Contrasting-Environment-Colored-Outline-Shapes-Color-on-White-Version-Infant-VIsual-Stimulation" from Scribd and i would like to check with you how should i use the material :
- cut out the pics individually and paste them front and back or 2 pics on 1 side (the same page) ?
- show baby the pics only or show and describe ?
- frequency per day ?
- how many pics per session ?
TIA!
Hello! The "Simple Detail in a Contrasting Environment" pictures were designed for use with this checkerboard:
ReplyDeletehttp://grhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2011/07/tutorial-how-to-make-picture-detail.html
They are meant to be part of the decor in baby's environment. That is, when the baby looks around while he plays / eats / relaxes, he should have something interesting to look at that will encourage him to use his vision and, in turn, grow his visual pathway. So there are not really any sessions or descriptions, however if you choose you could definitely use them this way if you wanted to.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read more about Damian's development. How he is doing physically. When did he start to walk, run etc.. love to read more about it.
XOXO
Marta
Thanks !
ReplyDeletenoted. How about words on A5 size cards instead of Doman's recommended size 4'' by 22''? Do you think A5 is too small for a 4 mth old ?
@1st time mum,
ReplyDeleteI have always used A4 sized paper, and I have found it to be just fine even for small babies, so long as the words are bold, clear, and large. I know Doman recommends that HUGE size but I always found it too impractical.
@Marta, Damien is walking a bit now, he has been standing independently since about 8 months but just started to take his first steps the day he turned 10 months old. He is now 10 months & 2 weeks old and takes about 3-4 steps at a time many times throughout the day, but still prefers crawling for the most part. Will be writing more about it soon! I love reading about your boys, keep the wonderful posts and resources coming!