Hi mummies,
Just sharing some knowledge and experience I have. I agree with what kkjoy mentioned, teach and prepare materials DIY is a real saver but time consuming lor.
I tried flashing FP animal flash cards to my boy since 5mos and now 8mos he can recognise animals; cat, mouse, dog, cow etc. I did 1-2 a day as I am FTWM. It works. Baby recognizes pattern and very routine. Their brain is like camera now and when you do it everyday, pictures are capture to their long term memory. This is use in Shichida ie photographic memory.
You may try reading them books 2-3 book everyday to make it a habit. No TV on pls as it may distract them. I would recommend Sunshine or Rigby ricket series. Essential Reading series also not bad or Ladybird series. Not Peter and Jane pls. Words are simple and repetitive can make them learn vocabulary and simple grammar. At same time if you point those words with your fingers, baby may recognise those words.
If you have encyclopedia, make a point to read to them a topic once a week. They will also attracted to primary colors first and slowly they able to relate what they see with what they learn. Thats what baby sees in Baby Einstein DVD right? Relating an object to the real object is working on their left brain.
Do read to your baby in an exciting tone as baby loves listening to those tones. Nursery rhymes is good as it makes them relax and able to absorb more knowledge. Classical music is highly recommended. No opera or rock music ok as it may confuse them. Babies are auditory learner too.
Recently, I bought VCD Baby Can Read. Its good, comes with guidelines for parents; let baby watch 2x a day for 2 mos and etc for the other vcds. The flashcards are good too. We can DIY but again TIME! Sigh...
Another tip for your baby to learn words/reading; u can make flashcards and paste it on the items that they are visible to them eg COT, DOOR, CHAIR etc.
Do not baby talk to your baby as it will delay their speech. Try to speak to them with high frequency words or stress on the first letter of the words eg Book the /b/ sound make it clear as they will able to learn phonic at the same time. A good phonic book is Letterland which is not easily available in SG.
Commonly, we want our baby to learn 2 languages; our Mother tougue and English. Never have a thought that baby may confuse between these language as their LAD Language Acquisition Device is very2 good. Perhaps, you may practice one home one language method. Parents speak English and at grandparents home speaks only Chinese/Malay or Tamil. That's why Shichida introduce different languages in their program.
I do keen getting 200 blank flashcards. Any mummy ard East area? Pls PM me.