Hi,
I'm new to Brill. Like one poster, a couple months ago I stumbled across Brill and was absolutely amazed at what I was reading. I finally have a niece (9 months) and I'm very excited and eager to give her any advantage I can. I was totally enthralled with the information presented by Glenn Doman that I went out and purchased picture word and signing flash cards. Although, my niece is quite young, she focuses on the cards and recognizes the words (15-20) whenever I say them and the cards are no where around.
I guess my question or dilemma is that I work and only see my niece in the evenings before my sister picks her up from my mom. Is it worth purchasing Little Reader and Glenn Doman's books (Teach Your Baby To Read" /Teach Your Baby Math) books? I am not rich and can't afford to throw away money. I want to do what I can to enrich my niece's future but if the program demands such a rigorous routine, I'm not sure if I should spend the money. The window of opportunity is limited to an hour or so which sometimes includes dinner and another sister visiting with her. My sister and her husband both work and don't have time for 6 sets of repetition.
Of course, I haven't seen or read the books to know the details of the full program and have only read a few posts here from others discussing time and repetition. If someone can elaborate on the program and "bits" you mentioned; or have any tips, I would certainly appreciate it.
Thanks.
Hi tayvonne,
I have two nephews, one age 2 years and the other age 6 months, and I try to teach them what I can, when I can.
You're right that the reading, math, and encyclopedic knowledge program CAN BE quite extensive. But one thing that Doman emphasizes is to ONLY DO AS MUCH AS DOES NOT OVERWHELM YOU. He says if you like the idea of teaching your baby and would like to do it for 5 minutes a day, go for it. Don't let anybody talk you into doing any more or any less. If you would like to dedicate an hour a day to teaching, don't let anyone try to talk you into doing a minute more or a minute less. If you would like to teach your child all day, every day, then go for it, and don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise.
The Doman programs are all about flexibility. Yes, in the books he lays out a program you can conduct with your child which involves doing multiple sets a day, multiple times a day. But he very clearly says that if you'd like to teach just one set, than that's perfectly fine and your baby will be better for it.
In the case of your niece, if you are anxious to teach her and have the opportunity, I would encourage you to by all means go for it. Even with a very small amount of time, you can teach a tiny child just about anything. It takes less than five seconds to show a baby five word cards. And it looks like that's what you've been doing, and that is just wonderful!
Teaching her how to read is a wonderful gift, one of the best things you can do for a child, as reading is the foundation of all other learning. By learning how to read, she will be able to teach herself a great many things at a very young age, and it will open the doors to so many possibilities for her. That's great that you're taking the time to teach her that.
As for other subjects you can teach her, it is true that the math program and encyclopedic knowledge program take a little more time and effort. To do the entire math program is somewhat extensive - not that it takes a great deal of time each day, but it requires a lot of consistency in order for it to be fully effective. You may read through the threads in the math section to get an idea of what it's like. However, if you'd like, there are still other things you can do with her to teach her math, even if it's not the full program. If you'd like, you might consider teaching her dot cards for zero through twenty, or even zero to ten. It's as simple as taking a piece of card stock and drawing three large red or black dots on it and telling her, "This is three." Doing so would be highly beneficial to her, and it wouldn't take any more time than showing her some words do, like you have been.
The encyclopedic knowledge program is probably the most extensive, but again, it doesn't have to be. The encyclopedic knowledge program is about teaching your child "bits of intelligence", or in other words, facts. Doman stated that facts - knowledge - are the base of intelligence, for without facts there can be no intelligence, there can not even be thinking without the presence of facts! So teaching encyclopedic knowledge cards, or "bit" cards, is just about teaching your child facts, i.e. "Grizzly Bear" or "acoustic guitar" or "George Washington" or "flag of China", etc. You can teach these through physical cards with pictures on them, or you can teach it through a computer or video program like Little Reader, PowerPoint presentations, or TweedleWink.
How To Give Your Child Encyclopedic Knowledge was actually my favorite book out of them all, and if you can get your hands on a copy through Amazon or the library, I would highly encourage it! If you would like to teach your niece encyclopedic knowledge, you can do so, even if it's just one set, say, get together a set of cards with pictures of animals (clearly labeled, i.e. "Labrador Retriever" not simply "dog") or whatever else you would like.
If these are things you would like to do with your niece, having just one hour a day with her would not be a problem. To sit down with her and show her one set of word cards, one set of math cards, and one set of encyclopedic knowledge cards would take less than thirty seconds total. And of course reading to her, talking to her, and singing to her would also all be wonderful things you could do in that short hour, or half hour, or however long you have with her daily. It's true you won't be able to accomplish three sessions of five different sets of reading cards, nine sessions of math cards, thirty sessions of encyclopedic knowledge cards, etc. But that thirty seconds you spend showing her facts in the form of words, numbers (dot cards), and pictures will be extremely beneficial to her, if that is something you want to do.
Otherwise, if you think you would not have the time or space to do such things, don't fret, because what you're doing with teaching her to read even just a few words is one of the best things you can do, as was before mentioned that reading is the base of all future learning. It's wonderful that you have such a passion for her and she will be blessed forever by the few minutes that you spend pouring into her in that way.
And about the books: The "How to Teach Your Baby..." series is wonderful, and I would recommend them to everyone who is able to read them. It would certainly not be a waste of money, especially if you are planning on having children one day! But instead of purchasing them yourself, you can check with your local library to see if they own copies. If the library doesn't have them, you might also consider just purchasing the book,
How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence by Glenn Doman for around $10. That book is sort of like an introduction to all the other programs, and could give you a good general overview of the details. You can also simply read the information that is on this forum and website, as there is a lot you can learn just from this site.
Happy teaching!
Digg
