Hello, I’m Anna from Italy, mom of a 2YO boy.
Here in Italy the Doman method is followed by some parents of brain-damaged childern to help the kids move and walk
I found very little info on this, but nothing at all about the reading program. AND I really need some help.
The book I found at the library has a 1969 copyright & was printed again in 2007 with the same old translation.
I’ve just discovered there is a new improved edition and I’m not so happy… we’ve started with the old method 5 weeks ago!
What now? Should I stop, read the new book and change method? Shipping from USA to Italy usually takes 4 weeks or more.
My son loves to play reading and I would be sorry to say “no, darling, no more”
And, can I use the cards that came with the old edition to teach the new method?
Sorry for my ugly English and many thanks for your help
I would say that if your boy loves the activities, then you as the mom and teacher are doing a great job. There’s actually so many techniques that works for young children learning to read, Doman himself said that the magic is in the child and that mother knows best, so just continue with what you’re doing right now and when you find some way that seems better to you, then change accordingly, but don’t stop, time is precious.
I’m no expert but my guess would be that you can use all the same material and flash cards that you already have with any new techniques that are developing.
I have read a very old Doman book and a new one…I failed to notice any difference between the two. Maybe there is a newer book but I doubt the method would change that much.
Relax mum if you aim for Domans standards and fall short a bit your baby will still learn to read quickly. Many mums think Doman repeats the words too many times. Just keep flashing the words, keep it interesting so he wants more always! I see no reason why you need to buy the new book or new cards, the old method works well and your child obviously loves it too.
When making flash cards gets too hard buy little reader! lol
Many thanks for your help!
I’m going on - my son WANTS to read :laugh:
My book says to show one single word( es. CAT) for 10 seconds while I say "this means “CAT”, many times a day.
Then test the baby “what does it mean?” when he answer “CAT” i can show him a second word.
This means a new word every 1/2 days.
Every time I should check the old words with him.
If I’m not wrong, the new method is showing many words for about a second
I’m not sure about test/no test
Ok it seems you have found a very very old book, it may be worth money as an antique lol
I would say don’t test. It is unnecessary pressure, the idea is to expose him to words not test him on what he knows. Leave the tests for when he goes to school!
I think your son may get bored of the one word for so long but any method of showing him words will work. You could show 5 words quickly a few times a day and change one of the words each day and he will learn them, but may not be able to prove it to you for over a year. The method you are using now seems to be very left brained, the rapid flashing of words is right brained. I think your progress will be quicker with the newer method. You could combine the two methods even.
Just show him words with any method that you both enjoy and you will be amazed at what he learns. You can get all the information you need on this forum but if you want a step by step approach then get the new book. Just so you know though, you do NOT need a step by step system to get results. You can easily teach with out the book.
I have just started on this early learning journey. I had planned on using the Doman method, but after reading up on the approaches of parents on this site, I am now using a combination of methods, both flash and phonics (readingbear). Maybe look around here for more tips and advice.
PS when ordering books, check out www.thebookdepository.co.uk as they ship free anywhere in the world and are pretty quick. I got all the Doman books from here.
Here I am again!
So we’ve stopped our program…I am sure that the right brain method is the best one, but am not sure about how to to use it.
As I previously wrote, my ooooold book says to test my baby after each word, then when I am sure he knows a huge number of words I should show him 2 or 3 combined words…the next step is to construct a book etc.
With the right brain method I don’t test him ,so how do I know that he is learning? How long should I show him single words before showing phrases?
I’ve bought the “teach your baby math” book in Italian
-this one is not an antique-
Is it possible to start the reading and math program at the same time?
Another question: when I show him 5 words quickly (5 words=5 seconds) my son says AGAIN MOMMY! as soon as I finished. But I know I should wait at least 15 minutes before doing the next session.
So…should I show him the same 5 words again? Should I increase the number of words (10-15)? Or should I just say “not now”?
Sorry for my grammar mistakes, it is really late here in Italy and my brain (left and right) is already sleeping lol
There is so much information out there and it can be so overwhelming but to loosely paraphrase Doman “it’s all goodâ€. Any efforts are better than none. I also stopped doing the program for a time because it seemed like my huge efforts were going nowhere (until I found Little Reader and this forum). Now I wish I hadn’t. It just takes some time to get it down but it’s worth it.
I seem to remember that the Doman books say to start off with 15 min breaks and as the child becomes accustomed to the learning method the sessions can be closer and closer up to 5 mins apart. I occasionally do them even closer together if my baby is in the mood and the results seem the same. I am really careful though, to make sure she always wants more. If she seems at all bored or into something else I take a step back.
I adjust the number of flashcards I do based on her interest in the topic and her mood for the day or week. For instance, when I started doing the periodic table with her at 10 cards a set she was squirmy. I took it down to five and she wanted more. Now that she’s interested in the periodic table I do two sets of five. You could always carefully experiment with adding more cards to a set or adding more sets to your program, as long he still always wants more.
Everything I’ve read says don’t test, and I have personally found that my daughter enjoys it much more when I don’t. My interpretation is that you should change the program to fit your child’s needs, so I take when to start adding words together etc as a rough guide.
Don’t worry too much you’ve already achieved one of the biggest goals, to have your child begging to learn more. Good job!
Many thanks for your answers
I just have to plan the sessions (math + reading? I’ve asked it here)
and print the first 200 words
You really helped me
and gave me new fuel lol
and many thanks for your help