When you teach yourself, it will take up a lot of your time.  The actual teaching only takes around 15 minutes twice a day, 5 days a week. However, it is the planning, preparation and record-keeping that takes up your time. If you have to relearn math concepts, that will also take up your time. You will be using the flashcard method. So, you must think about and plan what material you want to show your child. You need to make material by cutting up pieces of paper. You type or write words and math equations on a piece of paper. You then spend time showing it and flashing it to your baby or toddler as you read the information on the card aloud. You also need to keep a record of what materials you have already shown your child. The planning, preparation and recording-keeping and any learning time on your part may take a number of hours each week. You need to keep doing this day after day until you see results. 

You may not start seeing results for months or even a year or more. You cannot show your baby or toddler the material today; leave it for a week and start again for a few days. Stop again for a week. Then start again. If you do this, you will not see results. To see results, you must show your child the material consistently. In other words, you must show your child the material daily without lots of gaps. 

The results killer is this. The failure to show your child the material daily without long pauses or stop-starts.  Or another way to put it is a failure to be regular or consistent with showing your child the learning material.

If you are a busy parent, even if one parent is a stay-at-home parent.  I will warn you that showing material to your child without missing lots of days will be difficult. This is because of all the preparation work you have to do.  It can also be stressful and very tiring. 

I was a stay-at-home mom when my second son was born. But because I already had a toddler, I was very busy. So, while I was able to teach my second child to read, I couldn't cope with the work involved in teaching him math concepts. This is why I didn't do it, and I have already shared the results. My lack of time prevented me from developing a strong maths mind in my second child.  It was worse than not showing the material regularly; I didn't even get to do it at all.

I want to warn you about this and share with you how to prevent it. If you think you are not really going to have time to plan material, prepare material and learn forgotten math concepts, for whatever reason, you can still achieve the same results with the help of digital resources. You need to use online videos that present the material to your child while your child sits and watches. As there will be no need for you to prepare material and keep records, this will help you avoid missing lots of days. 

I taught my third child mainly using digital resources. You see, by the time he came along, more online educational videos were available on platforms like YouTube.  He learnt to recognise words, read, and do math, mainly through online videos. He got the same results as my first son, who learned with some videos but mainly by me showing him flash cards. 

Using online videos will save you so much time. All my children from my third child down were taught mainly with digital resources.  

You must be very careful about the type of digital resource you use. Remember, an essential reason for showing flashcards to babies or toddlers is to train their brains. The digital resource has to present the information in a way similar to how a flashcard would present it.    

Watch the video below to see the type of digital resources for math and reading that you need to get. The video shows clips from the digital resource I developed through Valida Academy. It’s called Primary School Prep Done 4U. I created it because I struggled to find digital resources that presented information using the flashcard method. I also struggled to find programmes that had enough digital material to take a child from the beginner stage to the point of seeing results.   

Also, much of what I found was either very boring or all fun, with hardly any education. Done 4U strikes a good balance. So watch and see the type of digital resource that you need to look for. 

Video 2 minutes 25 seconds 

To access Primary School Prep Done 4U, you must first register for Primary School Prep DIY. Then you can also check out whether Primary School Prep Done 4U will be better for you.  

Sign Up For Primary School Prep DIY Here

There are two dangerous feelings that you are going to experience on the journey of teaching your baby or toddler. In the next section I share with you what those feelings are, why they dangerous and why I’m warning you about them.

The Two Most Dangerous Feelings You Will Experience While Teaching Your Baby or Toddler