Hi, I am new to this forum and would like to share about my experience with the Doman mathematics method.
I started Glenn Doman's math program a few months ago with my son when he had just turned 30 months old (which is considered the cut-off age). I was skeptical but hopeful, knowing I had nothing to lose and everything to gain if it really was true.
I am happy to report that all of Doman's claims have proven to be true. Hunter can now tell the difference between a card with 98 and 99 dots on it, and can add, subtract, multiply, or divide any number instantly. He has never memorized his times tables, has never had equations "acted out" for him (i.e. adding three marbles to five marbles), yet when you ask him what 93 divided by 3 equals he eagerly points to the card with 31 dots on it in a pile of 29,30,33,31, and 32. His cousin, Anthony, who was ten months old when we began, knows the numbers up to 60 (I have not been able to finish with him because I stopped babysitting him in the mornings).
Sometimes I cannot believe my own eyes as they are doing instant math, but then I must remember that the ability to perceive 93 dots instantly (and know that it is indeed 93, not 94 or 92) is a BRAIN FUNCTION. I look at the cards and see polka dots: he sees 87. My EYES can see it, but my BRAIN cannot understand it. His brain can, and in fact all human brains can, if they are given the opportunity to do so at an early enough age.
I have seen only two other babies who have so far whose parents have taken them all the way through this program. One on youtube (shown above, looks like somebody already found this) and the other on a wonderful blog called
domaninspiredparenting.blogspot.com. You can see my son and some articles about his math abilities at my blog
worldsbesteducation.blogspot.comI think that perhaps a major reason for the high FAILURE rate of this program is not in the babies, because indeed all babies are capable of learning far more than we could possibly teach them in FIVE lifetimes, and also because of the fact that perceiving quantity is a brain function that ALL humans are BORN WITH. But I would speculate that the main reason that their is such a high failure rate is because babies get BORED with it. I know that my son got bored with it after learning just TEN numbers, and refused to look at them, and we ended up taking a THREE MONTH break before he became interested again as the result of Mr. Math Lion, the fun-loving, very silly puppet who loves math and gobbles up dots.
When we started back up again I showed the numbers quickly and joyfully and didn't test. Before I was somewhat slow because I didn't think he really "got it", and I went over the same numbers over and over again, testing him frequently. That is the best way I know of to kill the desire to learn math. Also, by the time we got to 60, I noticed that I was getting bored with it again. That's when I picked up the pace, retiring three cards a day instead of two. I also taught equations using the computer, since I was too slow with the real cards.
The last thing I could see as a preventive method in preventing boredom is to start the programs in the order that Doman suggests: reading first, math next, encyclopedic knowledge last. If a baby is used to seeing masterpieces by Da Vince, species of butterflies, and organs of the body, looking at red dots for ten weeks may seem a little boring.
Math CAN be fun but you have to take the extra effort to be sure that you're going fast enough so that your baby is asking for MORE, not begging you to stop. If he gets bored looking at five dot cards, then only show him three or two or even one at a time. It is far better for him to be seeing one number three times a day and ENJOYING it than to be seeing ten numbers three times a day and being bored with it.
As others have commented, the math program is a bit laborious. I was so motivated though, after I read the book, that I dove right into it and spent hours creating the materials and even more hours writing up equations and determining teaching schedules. However many parents aren't this motivated and as such, I would like to share all of the resources I used so that other parents can do it more easily. It is so easy to teach: it's the preparation part that takes the work! I made blank dot cards that you can print out of your computer. I also made PowerPoint presentations of dots 1-100. I also have written down all the possible addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division equations from 1-100. You can get all of this at
http://worldsbesteducation.org/math.aspx. I'm soon going to be adding PowerPoint presentations for equations, and sample schedules you can use. I hope this helps!
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