Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Information Junky: the Learning Requests of My 16 Month Old

Information Junky

My one-year-old is officially an information junky.

He wants information and he wants it now. And the more I give him, the more he wants.

We recently started getting back into a routine with our flash cards. I am a big believer in starting small, then adding more as you grow accustomed to your routine. And since we are somewhat out of practice, I figured a good place to jump back in would be 3 reading sets, 1 math set, and 2 encyclopedic knowledge sets (each set is roughly 7-10 cards, by the way).

As you can see in the video I posted on Monday, Damien is very adamant about getting his cards and getting them now. He will bring me our little file folder with the cards, shouting, "Number! Number! Number!" until I appease his demands.

In the video he sort of wavered off towards the end, ready to be done. But five seconds later when I put them away, he started crying, got them out, and said "Again! Again!"

Today even after going through all six sets of cards (some sixty or so word and picture cards) he still was not content. So I added two new sets of encyclopedic knowledge cards and a set of math dots. 

He has been "on" me all morning, constantly requesting that I either teach him some new cards, read him a book, or sing him the alphabet song with his wooden alphabet flip blocks. He did take the occasional break to color in his notebook but, for the most part it was, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"

It is both wonderful and exhausting at the same time.

Of course, how can you be frustrated when your baby is begging you to teach him how to read and do math and phonics and identify all sorts of interesting animals and musical instruments and colors and so forth?

But on the other hand, phew. This mom was thankful for nap time to come around today.

And in the meantime, so much for starting small. I suppose I am going to have to get it together and start churning out quite a few more cards per day than I expected, cause this little guy is moving a lot faster than I originally imagined.

"Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips..." Psalm 21:2

Damien is 16 months old

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. 2013/03/01 at 5:06 pm

    Could you please elaborate on exactly how you got started? As much detail as possible please?! I tried to do the cards with my daughter and she doesnt seem interested.

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  3. 2013/03/02 at 10:19 am

    I have been doing flash cards with him on and off since he was a newborn and he has always enjoyed them, so his early start might have something to do with it. However that certainly doesn’t mean an older child can never enjoy them.

    If your daughter doesn’t seem interested in what you are showing her, you might try showing her something that she already loves, for example if she loves animals you could try printing out word and picture cards of animals, like here:

    https://domanmom.com/2013/01/animal-flash-cards/

    One thing many children love is the names of their family members, you could try making cards with the written name on one side and a picture on the other of all of her relatives. Possessions (such as favorite stuffed animal, blanket, toys, etc) also are usually a hit. Toddlers usually have strong preferences so that is a good place to start.

    Another tip is to make sure you make it short. For instance when you start out, perhaps only show her 2-3 cards. Don’t try and sit down and go through 20 of them in the beginning. Just do lots of small sessions so she is not bored.

    You might also work on the timing, for example if she is busy playing with blocks or watching television and you take her away from her activity to show her the cards, she may protest. However if you try and show her a few cards when you have her full attention, for instance just after you have buckled her into her carseat, or just after you have sat her in her chair before lunch, or right before you lay her down in her bed for nap, she may show more interest.

    I hope these tips help, good luck and I hope everything works out for you. You may also find this article I have written helpful about Doman’s principles for successfully teaching tiny children:

    https://domanmom.com/2010/11/the-principles-of-teaching-tiny-children/

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  4. 2014/07/10 at 1:38 pm

    Hello, I a mom stuck with lots of homemade BITS as well as lessons from the Institute I never had time to put on cardboard.
    I would like to sell them for a reasonable price.
    Is anybody interested? I am located in Florida.
    Thank you and keep up the good work, moms!
    Stephanie (work_trans@yahoo.com)

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Thank you for your comments!