Review: Flowering Baby

Last month I was given access to a product, entitled Flowering Baby, to review.  Flowering Baby is a "curriculum" in the form of a book for babies on up to 5 year old children.  It covers physical/motor development, music, math, art, science, reading, and more.  It is a great whole child program!  I spent most of my time with the product using the Flowering Baby One to Two Years book.  According to the authors, one of the main "things" children this age are engaged in is voraciously picking up new words and expanding their vocabulary - so a lot of the focus for the year is on words, and how to label and identify everything around us.

The curriculum was put together by a mother and her mother, and does a great job of showing how you can easily provide a "preschool" experience for your little ones with materials and supplies you have around the house.  What is the goal of this preschool experience?  To develop your child, and help them "flower" and grow (thus the name).

What does the program look like?  At the front of the book is a list of supplies (most of which you probably have), and then a list of books and CDs that you will need.  Books can be substituted if you can't find these particular ones at your library, and I believe the same is true for the CDs - you can substitute for something similar if you want to!  I was pleasantly surprised that I already had many of the suggested books and most of the music.  :)

For my 18 month old the curriculum involved a short (~10 minute) activity daily.  One day we sorted laundry together, listened to music, and read a short book.  Another day we practiced standing on one foot, and then sang a song and read a book!  For older children (ages 3+) it includes 10-15 activities you do in a month on the curriculum side (these take 30-45 minutes), and then also a selection of themes that you select every month to learn more about - (pets, flowers, space...).

What I Enjoyed:

• How extremely easy this is to implement.  It does not require great amounts of prep time, and the daily "lessons" use items that are already around the house.
• The extra "kick" of encouragement to spend some time with my little one that the Flowering Baby program provides.
• All the little tips and tidbits in the books that I think will help me be a better teacher.  For example - did you know that some research suggests that some time windows are better for learning during the day than others? 
• The engaging and approachable tone in which the material is written.  

This would be particularly great for you if you are unsure of what to do with your little one, and want to be sure that you are at least doing something.  The something that it will provide you to do is put together in a well ordered plan and will help you feel comfortable you're covering all your bases with your baby/toddlers development!  

I myself (as a fifth time parent now!) am a little more laid back and I don't worry too much about curriculum for my little people.  I know that between the hustle and the bustle of the day and all the siblings and their activities my littlest are absorbing tons!  That being said, this is easy enough to implement (and fun!) that I will probably continue to refer to it for extra ideas and activities to engage my toddlers.    I know that this is not the main purpose it is intended for - which is as a sequential program which builds on itself - but it is probably how I will use it going forward.  I will try to use it daily, but it is a very gentle approach and I won't stress if I miss some days.  I think that the curriculum for the 3+ ages is more involved - it will be a fun resource when I have children that age again, and I look forward to trying those levels of the program.

Each of the age books range in cost from $30-$38 for a book sent on CD, or you can purchase all five of them at once for $132.  Flowering Baby is currently offering a 10% discount on products, you can use code Blog10 at checkout to receive it.

There are samples available, at the Flowering Baby website, which give a great little look into what the program is and how it is written up.  Click on the tab for the age range you are interested in, at the top, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the samples.  Click here to check out the samples for the 1-2 year curriculum.

Want to read more opinions, or learn more about some of the other levels available?  Check out the This Old Schoolhouse reviews of Flowering Baby.

**** I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.