Applying full Doman Method ( reading + math + encyclopedic knowledge + music)

Early Learning Early Learning General Discussions
1

Hi all

Does any of you have suggestions of how to successfully apply all the sub-sections of the Doman method on babies ? teaching one or two (reading + math ) sound challenging but applying them all sound almost impossible.

My baby is 15 days old and I´m preparing myself to start teaching him how to read using the flash cards method.

thanks for any help you can provide

2

Hi!
Sounds like you haven’t read his book “HOW SMART IS YOUR BABY?” I really recommend it. It is specially written for parents of babies from 0 to 1 year old. www.iahp.org you can buy book and necessary kit, I really advise to buy already made kit of materials, as it took us lots of time and energy to make all the materials!
GOOD LUCK! :slight_smile:

3

I have the ‘How Smart Is Your Baby’ book and it does lay out a plan for newborns, but I did find that trying to apply everything that Doman recommended was impossible for me, especially when I was trying to make all the materials myself, and I worked fulltime (60 hours a week).

My biggest learning through the process was that we have to remember that Doman’s program was developed for brain injured children. It is not necessary to do everything and at the frequency that Doman recommends with a healthy child. A healthy child will develop normally at their own pace and all the additional help we can give them is good, but it is not like they will be left behind if we don’t do part of the program.

And, more important than anything else - make sure that both you and your baby are eating and sleeping well before you try to focus on education. Then take Doman’s recommendations with balance - do what you think is beneficial and the amount that both you and your child enjoy and don’t stress if you can’t do everything.

There are a few resources that can save you time in material preparation:

  1. There are many free black and white infant stimulation cards that can be downloaded here. Use them!
  2. Doman recommends 8X8 size cards. There is no specific reason for that size. It just needs to be big a clear. Printing straight onto leter sized card stock will save a huge amount of time, instead of printing, cutting, pasting, and covering with contact.
  3. There are many Bits Of Intelligence cards that are posted online for free downloading. Use them! My daughter was 9 months old before I found this forum and really wishes I had founf it earlier and saved myself lots of time.

I found that once my daughter was about 10 months and mobile, I had a hard time getting her to sit still to flash cards. I now use Little Reader, Little Math, and Your Baby to Read, PowerPoints, and books, and they are FAR easier for me to use than flashing cards. So, all those cards I made had a pretty short time that we used them.

Enjoy teaching your son, and don’t stress about having to do everything!

4

Until couple of years ago there was a forum called Childbrain which was considered
“The Grandaddy” of all Doman forums. The consensus there was that the physical aspect is so important that if you couldn’t get everything in, the most important thing is to do the physical program. The physical part of the program can have a huge effect on the brain - tummy time, learning to crawl etc.