Teach Your Child To Be Physically Superb
January 31, 2009 — telco | Posted in To Be Physically Superb. 21 Comments »Physical Exercises materials
Swimming Materials
Other materials
Physical Exercises materials:
- Glenn Doman, How to Teach Your Baby to Be Physically Superb: physical exercises from birth to age 5.
- Glenn Doman, How smart is your baby? – book review: comprehensive collection of tests and exercises for the first year of child’s life – both physical and intellectual.
- Top reasons my child should participate in a sports team
Swimming Materials:
- Teach your child to swim
- How to Teach Your Baby To Swim by Douglas Doman: book review
- Newborn Baby Swimming
- Dry Drowning Facts
Other materials:
Related posts:
March 17, 2009 at 8:59 am
Glendoman method is really working very nicely and the children are enjoying a lot and lot, I conduct joy of parenting classess in hyd for pregnant women and parents,and this ”child and me” site is helping me a lot and also i introduced this to many people. thank you “child and me” people.
September 4, 2009 at 1:00 pm
hi
my son is three yrs nine months and i wonder if the dot cards will work for him
September 8, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I think 2-3 years old is the limit for dot cards. You can try some of the free dot programs (like Matt Hudson’s power point plugin to avoid spending time/money on something that might turn out too late for your son) – let your kid be the judge. I, personally, would rather go with rightstartmath for this age. It has been greatly recommended to us and my own son absolutely loves it.
October 24, 2009 at 11:08 am
I am looking for somewhere to ask people questions about making and using a crawling track. Is there a forum I can post in about this? I have found lots of people talking about reading and math, etc but not about the tiny baby things like crawling tracks and all the other little baby stuff in the Physically Superb book!
October 24, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Finding information about crawling track seemed quite challenging to me as well. We used a crawling track with our little one and loved it. You are welcomed to post here and I am sure that someone from this site will be glad to share whatever they know! You can also find more information how Doman methods worked for our little guy here: What can you do for your baby’s development? What worked for us.
October 25, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Ok, here are my questions:
1. The crawling track on the Doman website is different from the one they describe how to make in the Physically Superb book. Its foam, wider and taller. Is that the new updated version? If we make one out of wood, are the dimensions in the book not good? How did the width work for your baby?
2. I dont want to cover it with vinyl as it contains PVC. The only foam I can find is foam camping mats. Would they be easy to crawl on, if we used that as the foam on the crawling track?
3. Would 4 feet be a good length if we are only making one piece?
Thanks!
October 25, 2009 at 2:15 pm
we tried making ours from vinyl. we quickly abandoned using it: in the beginning our baby daughter (Madison, by now 32 months old) absolutely hated it. Besides, vinyl felt too cold to touch on a cold day and too sticky on a hot day. We just ended up propping Madison on some small padded mat in the middle of the room watching her older sister, Ariel (now 6). Later, when she was finally interested in crawling we occasionally put her in an inclined track to let her enjoy the fast forward movement. Our latest one, baby Joshua (now 18 months), wasn’t very fond of it either, so we haven’t used it with him either. Now I start thinking that may be we should’ve tried harder: it took him a while to learn how to crawl forward instead of backward, he was getting very frustrated because of it.
October 25, 2009 at 6:18 pm
We didn’t get this fancy. We just reused a wooden shelf left over from our wardrobe that we used to have in the previous apartment. We just added sides to it and let the baby do his work!
October 25, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Wow, my son was howling like a fire siren in that track! Eventually I just scrubbed the kitchen floor and placed him right on a smooth vinyl floor surface. I think he could see me and his older brothers from there, and he absolutely adores his brothers! Now, when he gets tired he just grunts, LOL. No more screaming!
October 26, 2009 at 3:49 pm
We purchased the “official” track, though we were lucky to find it on ebay at a better price. I liked that it was made of foam – it was never too hot or too cold. Our baby never had a problem with width of the track – he was either pushing against the sides or against the surface of the track.
I am not surprised that it is not the same dimensions as it was in a book: all the materials that are sold through Gentle Revolution differ in dimensions from the book. I don’t think it is an “updated version”. I bet it is due to the manufacturing process – it might be just easier for them to make it this way. All the posters, all the cards don’t fully correspond to the book’s dimensions. I guess it doesn’t really matter – the babies are amazing, they still will be able to learn, so don’t stress too much about it. I’d personally would go with book’s dimensions… or may be you can let your baby be the judge? Are your babies tend to be big or tiny? I would hate to spend too much time and money and end up with a baby who refuses to use it in the end.
I think the track that is sold through Gentle Revolution is greatly overpriced and it is not made well enough. It consists of two folding pieces, held together by velcro and some screws. As soon as we set the track on an incline, screws fell out. We tried to substitute permanent metal pieces instead of the velcro. On an incline surface the track was bending in the middle – we tried a few different solutions and ended up putting a board underneath – it made a world of difference. Our son’s crawling improved immediately. I think he was a little scared before – I guess the track felt unstable.
We didn’t build a track all around the bed. First of all, our bed is not on a floor. Second of all, I was very concerned, that jumping up in the middle of the night to run to our older son, we might accidentally step on a baby. Third, we like our windows open for a fresh air, so it gets chilly during the night. And, forth, I still wasn’t completely comfortable leaving the baby to sleep on his tummy.
We used the track during the day. A few times a day – at first – once or twice a day, later we improved until 3-4 trips down the surface of the track. I think we hardly worked up this number to 10 times a day… It took time for our baby to get used to it, so he didn’t spend there as much time as Doman recommended.
Nevertheless, we were very happy we had this track (though I wish we made it ourselves). We didn’t have this track for our firstborn, and our son was getting very frustrated by moving backwards, as he was learning to crawl. Our second one never had this problem. First he was crawling only on an inclined surface, then, around 4 months he could crawl a few inches forward on regular floor and by six months he was in every corner of the house! Seven and a half – was the mark for our second one’s first steps. At 8 and a half months he could easily walk from one room to another, carrying an object. Now, at 9 and a half, he is mastering walking on uneven surfaces in our yard – walking up the hill on a grass, walking back down…
So we are very glad that we had this track. Even a little use proved to go a long way for us.
October 26, 2009 at 6:30 pm
… oh, and I forgot to mention that it is very important for the baby to wear only a oncie, with no socks, no mittens, no other restricting pieces of clothing. Bare elbows, bare knees, bare toes are crucial for baby’s success. Oncie is also great because it helps sliding on a belly a little, while little elbows and feet are doing the hard work – pushing. And, of course, placing fun exciting things to crawl to and encouraging, cheering along the way – are part of the same equation.
October 26, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Thanks so much everyone! Alenka, when you say your son was crawling, do you mean on all fours or on his belly? I get confused because Doman uses the the words creep and crawl differently than I have ever heard. People usually say creep for on their belly and crawl for on all fours. So what did your son do? This is so interesting and exciting I cant wait for my baby to be born to try it out!
October 27, 2009 at 10:05 am
Alenka, in the link you gave me to what you did with your baby, I think it said something about you having an Excel spreadsheet checklist you could send or post? Do you still have that?
October 27, 2009 at 11:41 am
I also found those definitions confusing. In this case I was using the word “crawling” in Doman terms: the baby was on his belly, pushing forward with his arms and legs. Funny thing is, once he became really good at it, he abandoned all attempts for cross pattern (left arm and right leg – opposite leg and arm move one by one). He looked like he is swimming: rowing and pushing with his hands both hands at the same time, then bending just one leg to push and quickly kicking with another. It was so funny and cute! He was still moving like that at 5 and 6 months, 10-20 feet at a time, very rapidly. It was totally hilarious. I guess he was so comfortable with this movement, that he wasn’t rushing to get on all fourths. Once he did, he tried creeping on straight legs, like a monkey, with his bottom high above his head. My older one used to crawl like that in this “standing legs” pattern. But my younger one was doing it one sidedly as well: one leg was bended, like in normal baby creeping, and one was standing straight… So it was even more funny. I don’t even know how to account these types of creeping/crawling/movement on Doman’s evaluation profiles, so we just enjoyed it without trying to evaluate or judge it.
I’ll post excel spreadsheet with a checklist later tonight.
October 31, 2009 at 2:58 am
Is there a different place I should be looking for the spreadsheet? I dont know where it will be posted to.
November 2, 2009 at 9:05 am
I have so many questions! Here are 2 more for right now!
1. Did you do the motor opportnity program balance activities which require the neck brace?
2. I saw that you used the choice board, would you recommend making and using one?
My baby is due in under 3 months so I’m trying to make as much stuff now as possible!
November 2, 2009 at 9:30 pm
We did all the exercises that required a neck brace. I didn’t sew the proper brace for neither of my children: I just rolled a receiving blanket into a very tight roll and secured it with a regular rubber band for hair. My older one didn’t mind it and we were doing all our exercises “properly”. At least most of the time. We stopped pretty much when he started walking… The only exercise we continued doing regularly were the rotation. Except I was using a rotating office chair for that – my head definitely was getting dizzy a lot quicker then his.
My little one was really against the idea of a neck brace. So we proceeded with exercises more cautiously… without it. I was extra cautious, extra careful, extra observant. Initially he really loved hanging upside down and swinging from side to side, while I am holding his legs, but now he isn’t into all of those exercises any more: he is too busy walking around and exploring. So I don’t push it.
Choice board: I created a choice board. I’ll post it a little later for you to print out together with “initial activities” excel file. Eventually I gave up on it. My baby did use it initially and it felt great, but I was hoping I’ll be able to use it when he is the most upset, crying for unknown reason. At that moments he had no patience for the choice board. Eventually I stopped using it only because we are constantly on the move around the house after my older one, so dragging it with me wasn’t prudent. Just like with my older one, I am concentrating on sign language.
Honestly, with my second baby, I am concentrating on being able to achieve SOMETHING every day… sometimes it is hanging – he can go for 20-25 seconds if he wants to. I keep trying showing him his reading and math materials. I keep showing him his favorite – xylophone. The rest of the time – he is walking, walking, walking restlessly or “working” with the Montessori toys that we’ve got for him. I am not even measuring how much he is walking. I just use Montessori principle: “Babies who can walk, shouldn’t be carried, they should walk!” Unless we are badly in a rush or he is too tired, he is always walking: by himself, or holding my hand if I don’t have the time to stop every two seconds and retrieve every rock, twig, acorn from his mouth.
November 3, 2009 at 2:54 am
Thanks for your reply! I guess I might try those neck brace activities then. It’s just so amazing your baby crawled and walked so early! I am absolutely amazed!
November 8, 2009 at 3:20 pm
hi all, so glad to see this discussion. We’ve just built a crawling track for our 4 month old as he isn’t progressing as well as his brother did. (he won’t/can’t straighten his arms, he’s quite content to lie on his tummy resting on his elbows and kick his legs.) we followed the dimensions in the doman book but his legs aren’t touching the sides of the track for him to kick off – i thought that was the whole point of the track?
also did anyone put up a monkey bar in the house? we’re renting so can’t screw anything into the door frames, what did anyone else do? thanks so much
November 21, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Those questions deserve a separate article! You can find it here: Baby’s Physical Development: crawling, creeping and brachiating.
April 12, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Thank you. I guess I can take this peculiar comment for a compliment.