Little Girl readingHuh?! 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 think this principle applies to anything you teach your child to do: to run, jump, read, or do physics problems. Gee, I wish they'd follow that principles in my college years!

So, there is no way to find out what your child knows? No way to know if he is actually learning ANYTHING?

Of course there is a way!
First of all, I do recall some of my exams with pleasure: if I knew the material really well, I was especially proud to share this knowledge, to demonstrate it. Kids are the same way: if my tiny toddler really likes some new friend that comes over, he would jump all around, perform some stunts that he never did before, all with a professional athletic smile, all with a playful glance - are you watching me? Are you wowed? On the other hand, if I (really rarely) give in into asking him to demonstrate some of the skills I am especially proud of, he just pays no attention to it.

So, some kids are proud to read every word you show them, some happily would climb through the monkey bars ladder as many times as you wish, some would identify and even act out every animal on your encyclopedic knowledge card. Some would show no trace that any of the knowledge sticks.

And yet... you can let them enjoy demonstrating their knowledge. The key is to create a problem-solving opportunities. See the secrets of success below. And here are a few suggestions from the book and that some very resourceful parents came up with:

How to find out that your child is learning ?

• Pay attention to his interest: if your child is interested, he is learning.
• Hold two cards, e.g. "apple" and "banana" and ask your baby which one is banana. If he looks or points at it - congratulate him, give him a hug, a kiss, make the big fuss... If he doesn't, point at it yourself and say, "This is banana, isn't it?" For a two year old you can use the same cards and ask what he had on his cornflakes today. For a three year old you can ask which one is yellow and sweet. For a four year old, you can ask which one is growing in Brazil.
• Create your own Bingo-game with words or pictures instead of numbers. A few large words per each player and everyone places a chip on a right word, that was announced.
• Treasure hunt: write your kid little (or, actually, large) notes with directions where to go. Each place redirects him to a new location, eventually finding a prize. I did this one since my son was 18 months old with individual words: I would give him a card with a word (let's say "sofa"). We would run to the sofa, and there will be a card "cow". We would run to the toy chest, and on it a toy-cow would be waiting with the next word, that leads us further on. Usually he would find his own toy in the end, which I was hiding away from him for a few days. He was very surprised every time!
• Could you help mommy clean up? I was "accidentally" losing two or three cards on the floor, and asking my son to help me pick it up, e.g. number 48 first, 45 next. Sometimes he would pick the right one, sometimes, he would bring any one he likes or even both. Mostly he brings the right cards.
• Some moms were reading their home-made books and leaving out the words ("forgetting" it), letting the kids to help them fill in the missing words.
• My son loves cleaning up, so I would ocasionally say that one of the two cards got dirty and he needs to clean the right one, though I praise him for both either way. Sometimes he has to pick the right american state card and take it to a potty, or to bed, or to feed.
• Some parents become "forgetful": they name the card wrong, as their child is eager to correct them.
• With math equasions, you can show the entire equasion and then show two possible answers, letting the child select the right one.
• ... and what do you do?

Secrets of success:

• Always offer options of the answer. Actually, very few options.
• If your child is not enjoying it - DON'T DO IT!
• Be happy, relaxed and enjoy it - if you don't enjoy it, DON'T DO IT!
• TRUST YOUR CHILD either way. He may not want to answer. She may dislike this pressure and insist on the wrong card just to stop you from testing her.
• No matter how your baby responds, he wins. Don't correct the wrong answer. Instead, try saying "Good, you found an apple! Hm, but where is a banana?"
• Don't overdo it no matter how much fun it is. Doman recommends to do it no more than once a week. Use your judgment.

I can't stress it enough: TRUST YOUR CHILD. Even when they don't show it, they still are learning something! Not necessarily what you want them to learn at the moment... but most importantly - they learn that knowledge - is fun, and problem solving - is exciting, and reading - is terrific! Their brain capacity is growing, so even if they wouldn't remember all 50 states or all Latin names of insects around us by the time they enter school, their ability to learn will get them quite far in this life...