Glenn Doman’s method FAQ

I’m overwhelmed. I can’t possibly do all that Glenn Doman says?! Can I start with an older child? Where do I find more information about his method? Does baby need to understand the word before seeing it? When do I start decreasing the letter size? When the child will begin to read? Can it be harmful to teach a young baby to read with this method? My child can read the words on the card, but doesn’t recognize/want them in the book. In case you still haven’t seen our Jump start teaching to read article on introduction to Glen Doman’s method, here are some more questions you might be having: So, where do I get the materials? How do I use these files? Now, how do I start? But how many times a day is it realistic to show these sets? Can I buy some ready made materials? How do I make my own materials? What if I have more questions: how do I know if my baby is learning or what to do if she is losing interest, etc.? How can I share my own materials and ideas? Does this actually work? What about other programs: math, encyclopedic knowledge, foreign language, music, physical exercises, etc? What about FUN? Let us know if you have more questions that are still not listed here! You can either post your comment below, post your question on the forum, or send us an email. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t possibly do all that Glenn Doman says?! (Special thanks to Laurie Tiemens for her TeachYourBabyToRead files). When you read the book please keep two things in mind:

  1. The book is only a guideline. Doman describes a complete program for those who can give it their full attention. If it seems overwhelming you are probably thinking that you have to do the full program which brings me to my second point…
  2. Only do the number of word sets that you can do easily and consistently. If that means just one set then great! That is way better than nothing at all! Even if you do just one set of five words every day for a year, that adds up to about 250 words! And remember, the more words your child sees the greater his hunger will be. So if you show him five cards now, chances are in a few months he will want to see more than five cards at a time. It really snowballs and your child is way down the road to reading well. And even if he doesn’t he’ll still know 1000 words in just four years. That’s a lot of words!

Go to top Can I start with an older child? Thanks to Laurie Tiemens from TeachYourBabyToRead: I can’t share anything from experience as I’ve started earlier with my kids. But the really great thing about starting at age 3 is that they have their own interests which you can hone in on. Does she like princesses? Show her words like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aurora, Ariel, crown, tiara, gown, throne, kingdom, etc. Butterflies? cocoon, caterpillar, wings, flutter, migrate, swallowtail, monarch, etc. You get the idea. Go to top Where do I find more information about his method? There is a lot of information right on this site. Teach your Baby to Read: Glenn Doman’s Method On our forum ALSO: At the official site of Institute of Achievement of the Human Potential In TeachYourBabyToRead yahoo group On Classical Mommy site In the following ABC network program….link Let us know if you know other resources! Go to top Does baby need to understand the word before seeing it? I think Doman recommends on showing familiar words first. If you started early, you might run out of those ones pretty fast. So initially I tried to attach a picture on the back of every card. It was too time consuming to create cards like that. Since our first batch of words were objects around us, I would make rounds with my baby all over the house: here is a window (and a card), here is a tree at the backyard (and a card), here is a shoe (and a card), here is a picture of a pig in your book ( and a card), here is your toy truck (and a card), etc. My son, Elliot, would touch (at first with my help), smell, feel, sometimes even lick the object… and look at the card. Again, not orthodox, but I thought it was far more enriching and fun for both of us. Go to top When do I start decreasing the size of the letters? Thanks to Aesha for posting these very precise directions on reducing the letter size: When Can I Reduce Word Sizes on Word Cards. Thanks to Laurie Tiemens, the moderator of TeachYourBabyToRead for adding her own comments:

One of the reasons the letters are 3″ high is to develop the visual pathway in the brain. Once it is well-developed your child will be able to ready to see smaller words. I say go ahead and try for smaller letters and see how she does. Chances are very good that she’ll do fine with them. Some kids just like the larger size letters and will lose interest. Same thing with changing colors from red to black. But most kids will tolerate one change at a time with no problems. I think I started decreasing size at about 12 months.

Go to top In the end, when the child will begin to read? There are a lot of testimonials, videos, personal achievements and frustrations discussed here: Doman Method Results Every child will begin reading when he/she is ready. Some parents from HowToTeachYourBaby to read reported their babies grabbing a book and reading it before the 2nd birthday. Some parents say their kids started reading at 3, 4, 5 years old. I guess, it depends on a child even more, then on how diligent you are with a program. My personal success came first at 10-11 months: my son started pointing at the right words words, that I was showing him (I was hanging a selection of five different words on a fridge, changing their locations after every session)!!! My next success didn’t come for a long time. But just last week my 2 1/2 year old finally read his first sentence (not just inidual words)! He is a very reserved boy, so I am sure he was able to do it for a while – it is only now that he felt like sharing his knowledge. Other people conducting this program had a lot more encouraging results much earlier (before a year kids were reading books loudly), but I think for 2 1/2 it is still quite impressive. Please share how it goes for you! Go to top Can it be harmful to teach a young baby to read with this method? To many people the concept of teaching really small babies is revolutionary. Moreover, to even greater of them – revolting. There are also those who are not against early children development, but against this specific method. So, you can get more information that can help you form your own opinion: