What my daughter remembers most is that she loved, loved, loved the cards - she can not remember what was on them (that part of the brain is not yet wired for memory as long term until around 2 1/2) but she remembers how her brain craved them! When she learned topics later in life that she had on the cards, she seemed to learn the topics effortlessly and she would even say the information seemed familiar. She does have a very quick, short term memory - she and I believe as a result of the cards/
I co=founded a science based school which Christy attended for kindergarten. Christy then attended a Montessori School through eith grade and public school from 9th through 12th grades. She was and is very social - she was even the homecoming queen of her large public school!
Hi Patty,
Thanks for sharing your experiences, my mother was also an early doman mum (she must have been way more of a forward thinker than I gave her credit for LOL).
I agree that I think it triggers something with the way your memory works, well that was our experience.
I have continued with these early learning techniques with my children (my eldest is now 13) and she also is a very quick thinker and always at the top of her classes (as was I)
Look forward to learning more on new techniques and learning programs
Cheers
Hi Patty!
Thanks for stopping by. It is so helpful to hear your story. It makes me realize that just because my son doesn’t remember every EK card I show him, I shouldn’t give up. Thank-you for that!
I’ve very interested to hear more about your PlayWisely. How does it differ from the Tweedlewinks courses.
My children and I recently reviewed the dvds based on your program Sparkabilities. We LOVED them! Even my 5 year old son and 5 year old daycare child enjoy them. I have been relying on them a lot for visual tracking for my son.
Thank-you for stopping by! I hope you’ll be a regular visitor
Monique
I have a few questions:
Acording to your video you recommend flashing one subject (for example A CAT) and dissect it. Change its position and change its atributes (number, color and size) and then interact with it…
So does it mean that you would recommend to make that type of flashcards and flash them in those sets instead of making bits and flash single original BITS in a groups as Doman recommends? It means instead of flashing a group of 5 different animals with their names flash a set of flascards with for example a cat wit all the differencies you describe in the Cognitive Development video?
How often and for how long do you recommend to flash YOUR groups of flashcards with one object? When to retire and introduce a new set? And again - for how long and how often? Should we bring them sometimes back after they have been retirid? When?
Thanks for taking the time to reply on this forum. Thanks for introducing Playwisely! Have you considered introducing it in Asia? Also, i am considering purchasing the Sparkabilities DVD. Need some advise if i should purchase the whole set of DVDs for a toddler? Or i can start of with Toddler 2?
I have recieved some mail regarding our program. PlayWisely does not yet have a home program. However, our grounbreaking series of developmental DVD's are meant to be used at home as 'homework' reviewing many of the concepts reviewed in our 30 minute once a week classes for our students from 4 months to 5 years. Each DVD includes similar core content that progresses with your child's brain ability to process increasingly complex data.
We are beginning expansion beyond the US and the Czech Republic. Our program is designed to be offered as a class that parents and child attend together. It will be an excellent cutting edge curriculum addition to any school's offerings. Our method is very innovative and based on the latest brain research (as mentioned earlier representing a next generation in early learning technology). PlayWisely often refers to the difference our Early Development Method represents this way, "We don't just teach a child, we train a brain!"
Check out playwisely.com for more info or contact us at info@playwisely.com
Thank you Patty for taking the time to answer our questions!
I look forward to more advise from you on how to complement the DVDs with other home programs like Brillkids - Little Reader, Little Maths and Tweedlewink?
As Patty’s friend and business partner in Sparkabilities, I have to add that her daughter is amazing and her grandkids too! I have known Patty for over 7 years. My son, who is now 8 years old, was in her program starting at 7 months. He has a great eye for detail and his visual discrimination skills are amazing!
I know that the Sparkabilities DVDs and Apps have been mentioned several times in this thread as a way to experience PlayWisely @ home. Thank you for all the kind words about our developmental series! I thought that I should mention that you can also sign up for weekly PlayWisely activities through the Sparkabilities website, www.sparkabilities.com These are excellent motor and cognitive activities that you can do at home with your baby or toddler!
Hi Jana!
I’m so glad you decided to stop by as well!
Jana was wonderful enough to allow my children and I to review the Sparkabilites DVD series. They are really neat! We us Baby2 for my 13month old daycare baby, Toddler1 for my 22month old daycare boy, and Toddler2 for my 2 1/2 daycare boy and 5 year old son.
You can read my review here :http://domanandaba.blogspot.com/2011/03/sparkabilities-dvd-review.html
Thanks for being on the forum and sharing your experiences with us!
I was wondering (only if you had the time) could you possibly spare us a few minor details about your teachings and gainings while at IAHP.
I am an “all in” so to speak doman mom. ; ) I have been teaching these methods to my young daughters for more than 3 years now, but thus far still have not attended a course. Though I would go in a moments heart beat if the opportunity arose. I would love to teach more than reading, EK, and some running but I am not sure how to go about it all. I am also VERY enthusiastic about gymnastics, but the doman book is vague. It’s really my goal to implement all Doman’s teachings. I get so much satisfaction and gratification teaching my little ones!
So my question to you is: Would you be willing to share with us what you learned at IAHP on how they managed to teach many things to their children? I would especially love to know (their schedule or routines so to speak) or a play by play of what took place on a daily basis at the Institute.
I could only imagine how many questions other moms might have for you, so only answer if / when it’s convenient for you. I TRULY and respectfully appreciate your time!
And do you think your dvd’s are a much more practical and concise teaching device for the full time daily regimen opposed to Doman’s sometimes near impracticalities? I just want to teach them as much as I possibly can in an honest and factual way.
USA Gymnastics offers a technical materials store for coaches, perhaps some of their items may interest you, I saw one on there for rookie coaches. Maybe you could give them a call and find out which items would be the best fit?
Hello Patty,
Thanks for the advice and link. I checked it out and am curious if you think a total rookie would be able to implement teaching gymnastics with perhaps just the pdp starter kit alone? We are planning on building more equipment for our new program room. We had a brachiation ladder, trapeze bar and balance beam in our last place and it was a huge hit and didn’t cost much to build ourselves. Any thoughts?..
*I am also VERY interested to also hear about your IAHP life on campus. A June course may be in order for us if things turn out? Do think the class is a must?
The Sparkabilities dvd collection looks great. My son loved the demos. I can not wait to add this to our collection.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us here. I really you had wish classes near Washington DC.
By any chance do you sell sets of your flashcards as demonstrated in the video on cognitive development?
I am guessing that most basic skills would be introduced like front and backward rolls, headstands, handstands, (eventually walking on hands), holding plank positions, bridges, bridges with alternating legs raised, back walkovers, front walkovers, cartwheels, round offs, arabesques, tuck jumps, stretching, splits. Those aren’t too difficult and you could probably get buy teaching them at home but they are the absolute basics. You’d have to have a decent mat and be very comfortable spotting your child, watch a lot of videos on youtube to figure it out and maybe try the tricks yourself as well. Also, regionally some maneuvers are called by different names but maybe I will try to find some instructional links for you, and you should read up on universal things like proper form (straight legs, pointed toes, head neutral for starters). You can always do a trial class at a gym too, it may be worth your while. I think there is another former gymnast/acrobat on the forums too but I can’t remember who?
I just checked YouTube and there are a lot of hits for “How to Teach Preschool Gymnastics” for basic ideas. And this mom taught her daughter too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLyKyA69zrM&NR=1
Just want to add that my little one love the demo so much I just bought it! She picked up 3 signs : all gone, more and blow kisses from the demo within a couple of days. Awesome job! I also like the DVD touches different subjects. Great right brain material!
This is a great thread. Thanks Patty for joining the forum and answering questions. I am eager to hear your responses to the rest of the questions as you get time. I only recently learned about Doman and early childhood learning and it has been fascinating to learn about. I just wish there was more knowledge and resources available in mainstream education and childcare. I really appreciate hearing from someone who has such a long association with the program because your knowledge of the long term benefits are invaluable to those of us who are just starting out and learning about this system.
Are you in touch with any of the other children and parents who went through the program with you and your daughter? I am very curious to learn about what types of careers they went into and whether they use the same techniques with their own children.
Also, thanks TmT for posting the information about teaching preschoolers gymnastics. I had been thinking about signing my son up for a gymnastics course, but it had never occurred to me that I could teach him at home. I’m looking forward to reviewing some of the videos posted on YouTube. I’m so happy I found this forum. It has been a great resource for me!
