I feel like a silly writer-character in the old joke, who gets so many positive responses for his own novel, that decides to go and read it himself. I’ve passed on the recommendations to get Signing Times videos to many-many-many parents, who later became huge fans of these videos. Recently I found them on the YouTube: Caterpillar Dreams. I was enchanted: beautiful singing, excellent signing (yep, siGNing), charming illustrations, adorable kids. What more could you expect? But that’s not all! I really love that all the words in the songs are shown as signs, not only “key words”, so a lot more signs are picked up along the way. I absolutely love, that while new signs are introduced, the words are written on the screen, so it aids learning to read as well! This video definitely deserves two thumbs up! (Oh-oh, I should go and find the video with the right sign…)

Our original sign language article is under construction, so I just post some of the resources until we have a chance to post it back:

Web Sites for looking up signs

• ASL Pro: this site has excellent video demonstrations of every sign.
• American Sign Language Browser
• Life Print: this one has little videos, pictures and even explanations what this sign represents, so it is easier to remember and reproduce it.

Books

I’ve used the following book: Sign With Your Baby: How to Communicate With Infants Before They Can Speak by Joseph Garcia. I can’t guarantee that this book is the best, but it worked fine for us in the beginning, and once we ran out of signs mentioned in the book, we were just using online resources for getting new signs (see our Sign Language Resources section). I was really surprised how much “non-speaking” baby can tell with signs language! Many of the signs in this book are standard in American official sign language, as opposed to baby versions. Having the communication going with a non-verbal child – is absolutely amazing!!!

DVD/Video

The most highly recommended video is Signing Time. You can read my personal opinion about this video here: Signing Times Review. Here are some of the recommendations from other parents:

• Thanks to Viviane, Isabelle,Christina & Michael Aziz for sharing: Christina loves those 10 to 20 minutes in front of the tv watching signing time and your baby can read dvds
• Thanks to Jennifer: This collection of DVDs is the first one to be recommended every time the discussion on educational DVDs comes up. I haven’t had it for my older daughter, Chloe, but when my baby-boy Zach was born I decided to buy a set of DVDs. Now, both of them are absolutely in love with it!

As far as I remember, American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the parents to avoid showing TV to their kids until two years old. As for educational videos, there are a lot more videos that just claim to be educational, like Baby Einsteins: Baby Einstein videos harmful for kids?

There is even an article in Time magazine that links early TV watching to autism: Does Watching TV Cause Autism?

I don’t know how much this particular research can be trusted, since my friend with a PHD in psychology just has been attending a seminar on autism, which stated that the scientific community believes that autism is a purely genetic disease, and all other “findings” are just scandalous ways to get public attention.

Imagine: knowing what your baby wanted before he or she were able to talk! Reducing frustration, encouraging thought, increasing language development… Now you can! Sign Language Works!

Huh?! What do you mean no testing?

Exactly that: testing is exactly the opposite of fun. Testing is putting the child on the spot which he didn’t ask for. Testing is a sign of distrust to your child – you don’t TRUST him, that he knows, you need PROOF.

“Babies love to learn but they hate to be tested. In that way they are very like grown-ups. Testing is the opposite of learning. Testing is full of stress… The more you test him, the slower he will learn and the less he will want to.” (Glenn Doman, Janet Doman How to Teach Your Baby To Read, 2002. Page 186).

I’m overwhelmed. I can’t possibly do all that Glenn Doman says?!
How do I know if my baby is learning?
What to do if she is losing interest?
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?
Can I use computer, TV or other multimedia options instead or in addition to cards?
Now, how do I start?
But how many times a day is it realistic to show these sets?
Where did you get the materials?
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 at ideas@childandme.com.

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
In our Book Reviews section
On our forum
ALSO: At the official site of Institute of Achievement of the Human Potential
In TeachYourBabyToRead yahoo group
On Childrbrain site
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:

• Is Whole Word Reading Bad for Your Child?
• Whole word method – harmful for kids development?
• Phonics, Whole-word And Whole-language Processes Add Up To Determine Reading Speed
• Doman’s method results