Glenn Doman "How to Teach Your Baby Math"

Good for you! I say go for it! I am a Doman baby and so are my boys. Reading is a breeze for our 4 year old in K-5. Math was a breeze for me in school. I never had to "learn" it. It just happened. Definitely keep with it! You'll never regret it. I know lots of other moms who have done it and been grateful. We've all taken lots of guff, too. My thought is that the differences aren't seen until pre-algebra. I never struggled at all with math. Maybe it was natural ability, but what if it wasn't? It didn't hurt me to have the info ahead! My mom did bit cards with me with lots of subjects. At 8 mos. she woudl give me a sentence that said "K. kissing Mommy" and I would do it as well as any another sentence. At 2 I told her a Carmengia was a Volkswagon. We have never talked cars. I "read" the logo. I love to read to this day and its very easy. I'd love to talk if you need more encouragement. Don't pay attention to the naysayers. They haven't read the books and don't know. Have fun with it!

I'm sorry you got some negative responses, I don't believe in anyway that you are a teaching nazi or anything of the sort. Infact, I think I will look into getting that program for my 14mo old!

We have been using "Your Baby Can Read" since Hope was 4mo. It's incredible! She's been doing the motions to songs like itsy bitsy spider since she was 9mo. I also sing her the alphabet song while signing and now when ever the video plays Old MacDondald, when it shows the letters e-i-e-i-o, she tries to make them with her hands too! I guess I should make some word flash cards to see how much she really knows, I've just slacked on doing that part. But she sees words and says them before the picture ever comes on the screen, so I'd have to say she's doing good.

Since I haven't tried the math program, the only thing that I can tell you is that you should give it some more time and don't give up! I've only recently noticed the word recognition that Hope knows and she's been watching the videos almost everyday since she was 4 months. Just remember that you are giving your boy a head start and an early interest in education and there is nothing wrong with that!

Hey F....I'm with ya! Babies are a lot smarter than many people give credit. I have not heard of this program, but wouldn't mind you forwarding the information. My daughter is now 2. I started singer her ABC's to her at about 2 weeks old. It started as a joke because my cousin's PED told her thier 2 Y/O should know 200 words by the time he was 2. I said, well we better get started. If she knows her ABC's, all we have to do from there is put them together. At the same time, my husband layed her across his chest and read a story to her. She studied his mouth as he read to her and she mimicked the sound of wind blowing, "whoooo whooo". She actually liked and responded to the stimulation. I feel any stimulation is good.

I have used flash cards since she was about 7 months old. At 2 she responds to every picture and when she sees the real thing she knows what they are. One day, she looked out the car window and pointed and said car. When the cooler weather came on, I pulled a jacket out of the closet for her and she said jacket. I think this is all from the flash cards we have done.

She started preschool at about 22 months old. The teacher told me she was very smart. I only work with her on her terms. If she is bored and wants to run off, then off she goes.

It definately won't hurt. People will laugh, but if you feel it is good for your baby, keep doing it.

Best wishes.
C.

I think that the best start you can give your child is to make sure that he is at LEAST on target with most of the milestones for his age group. Now, believe me, that is not to say that you can't focus on an area - and math is a good one - but he seems pretty young to hold the concepts for long. This doesn't mean that you can't work with him, but I would begin with numbers (always start teaching from zero to ten!), and when he understands those, THEN I'd go further. But I would also put a big importance on reading and comprehension, and read and point out words as much as possible - math might land them a good job, but if they can't read and comprehend, they'll have a harder go at life.

But, that's not to say that you should focus on those areas alone - there are other milestones that need to be reached, and focusing on one area will NOT make a child "advanced" or "gifted"; giftedness comes from a collaboration of MANY things, including spatial understanding, which takes movement and block stacking and all those other things that children do when learning, as well as innate intelligence. By allowing your child to come at the world in his own way (which you'll see is much like a scientist!), trial and error, he'll pick up the math and reading IN HIS OWN TIME. But you need to let him enjoy it, because if he doesn't enjoy it, he won't do it.

PS. In case you're wondering where this comes from - I was labeled "gifted" in elementary school, though my focus was in reading (I read by the age of 3), and I loved it. But I had problems with math - so remember that even those kids who are supposedly "gifted" have subjects in which they have problems. You can't know it all! *grin*

I know every child is different and maybe this could work for your family. However, as an early childhood educator, I don't think this is developmentally appropriate. It seemed like in my classroom the kids who's parents started off the year telling me their "gifted" 3 1/2 year old was ready to "read" were the kids who were throwing blocks at the other kids, didn't know basics like shapes and colors and couldn't put a simple puzzle together. There are already so many SUPER IMPORTANT learning tasks that all 0-4 year olds must learn that already take so much time and energy from learning how to sit, walk, talk, properly hold a pencil, share with friends, pretend play, learn an entire language, learn to use the toilet, learn to feed themselves, build foundations for math and science(learning volume through water play, learning cause and effect by observing those around them, etc.) Those four years are ALREADY packed with more learning than I experienced in my four years of college! Each child has the same amount of time and energy as any other kid so time we spend adding to that just takes away from something else. It's just not possible to cram more into those four years without loosing something along the way.

Trust me, kids just need time to be kids...especially with the way education is going these days. He will have plenty of time to work on academic skills. That doesn't mean that as he gets older you shouldn't work on things like that if you choose to. All I am saying is that a 4 month old does not need to be exposed to math flash cards. YIKES! All a 4 month old needs is to be held, loved, talked to, played with, sung to, read to, and exposed to age appropriate toys. As a teacher with an Early Childhood degree (ages birth-8 years) flash cards are certainly not age appropriate and won't be for a long time. Even then, every kid will not respond to flash cards. Don't even worry about "academic" type stuff. As long as he is developing appropriately and you spend time with him doing the "normal" things, he'll be just fine.

I agree with the other responses. I'm a preschool teacher and as far as I'm concerned, flash cards are not developmentally appropriate in early childhood. Get some board books and read to your child; that's the best way to give your child a good "educational" foundation (that, and playing and cuddling).

I had my daughter in day care from 2months old till she was 4. Her day care provider would have the kids do flash cards of shapes colors numbers 1-10 & everyday things (cats dogs etc.) As the children got older she would work on other things with them more to there age. At that young I don't think that math is something your child will understand maybe shape colors the alphabet. My daughter is now in kindergarten & has a nice head start. She can count to 200 right her name knows her alphabet colors & shapes. Plus she can read some. She had enough of a head start but not so advanced school bores her. Remember you don't want your kid hating learning before school even starts.

I am sorry, but I did giggle when I read this. A infant really should be focusing on shapes, colors (which they are just now seeing) and getting lot's of love from their parents. Trying to give your child a great start is wonderful, however, I think it is pushing the envelope trying to do math with your baby. These people that publish this stuff crack me up, seriously. A child at your baby's age has the retention level of about twenty minutes, meaning you are spinning your wheels. Comforting sounds, just soothing and talking to your baby and movement is what your baby needs at this age. Read to your baby a fun happy book that will give your baby a better start then anything else, just listening to your voice. Remember that Baby Einstein, well that was proved to be a farce. Becareful what people are willing to say works and market.

I have been looking for something like this for my 14mnth old. I myself am a Music Teacher and I have been teaching children as early as 4 years old to read Spanish and English and my son currently understands 3 languages and can read approx. 55 english words...and he LOVES to read. He often brings me books and flash cards when he wants to read. I think that when they enjoy learning you should stimulate them as much as possible until they lose interest. He currently knows 1 2 3 4 5 in French but I am looking for a program that can show me a better way to teach him Math. I will try this one and report back. Does anyone know of anything else out there? By the way my son has been using the Your Baby Can Read Program since he was 5 months old and we also got the Bilingual Bonus in Spanish.

I, too, have a hard time relating to your question and what you are doing and/or trying to accomplish. I've never heard of what you are speaking of. It sounds like a money making scheme. The other author is right, focusing on cuddles and face time is what is most important. Maybe there is something to it, but I've never heard of it or read of it. I would hold off until preschool age, focus on the fun and light part of being an infant. I'm a mom of 4, 5 and under.

Your child has plenty of time to learn math, reading, and anything else he'll need to know.

As a former Montessori teacher (2.5-6 year olds, I'd get children reading and doing math within those 3 years no matter where they started out. The important thing is really to spend time with your baby. Talk to him (this is the best thing for language development) let him move (physical development) and let him touch things. This practical experience is really what they need as infants.