Glen Doman”s Method

A well-known strategy for early childhood education is the Glen Doman Method, which emphasizes developing a child’s brain to its full potential from a young age. This approach, which was created by physical therapist and educator Glen Doman, places a strong emphasis on the value of organizing structured activities and exercises to stimulate both mental and physical capacities.

This method is predicated on the notion that young children possess an extraordinary capacity for rapid learning and development, and that, given appropriate guidance, they can assimilate knowledge in ways that appear nearly effortless. It motivates parents to be actively involved in their child’s growth by offering stimulating, enjoyable, and needs-based learning opportunities.

Because they think the Glen Doman Method offers a way to give their kids a head start in life, many parents turn to it. Throughout their most formative years, this approach seeks to foster well-rounded growth, whether it be through reading instruction, motor skill development, or knowledge expansion.

Aspect	Description
What is it?	A learning method for early childhood development created by Glen Doman, focusing on stimulating the brain through physical and mental activities.
Main Idea	It emphasizes that children have a greater capacity to learn during their first years, and parents can nurture this by introducing educational materials early.
Learning Tools	Flashcards, physical exercises, and multisensory stimulation to develop cognitive and motor skills.
Benefits	Improved memory, faster learning abilities, and enhanced physical coordination.
Target Age	Mostly for children aged 0 to 6 years old.
Parental Involvement	Parents are essential in guiding the learning process, providing support, and maintaining consistency.

From the life of Glen Doman

Philadelphia, one of the oldest cities in the country, is where Glen Doman was born in 1919. He started working as a physical therapist in a hospital in 1940, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. It was at this point that he started researching how children’s brains grow. But it’s cut short when war breaks out. After completing the infantry officer training, Doman volunteered for the army in 1941. Upon his retirement, he was granted the title of commander of an infantry company and received the Distinguished Service Cross.

Following the war, Glen Doman returned to medicine and, along with his associates, started helping children who had severe nervous system damage and a variety of brain injuries recover. He established a non-profit organization for the advancement of human potential in 1955. Doman’s methodology served as the institute’s theoretical and practical cornerstone.

Along with their like-minded colleagues, Doman spent over 20 years working nonstop, performing countless studies, experiments, and drawing conclusions in an attempt to find a cure for these children, who were either completely or partially paralyzed, had a severe developmental delay, and were unable to perceive their surroundings or communicate. They believed that treating the brain—the primary cause—was more important than treating the body, or the effects of lesions.

Doman wrote a paper about the treatment of children with brain damage, their methodological work, and the outcomes of their rehabilitation that was published in the American Medical Association journal in 1960. That’s when a lot of people found out about him. He sparked a "soft scientific revolution" with his work.

From this point on, Doman actively pursued his work with his associates, creating and refining new initiatives and techniques aimed at enhancing children’s health. His professional achievements won him numerous accolades.

A more thorough explanation of his methodology can be found in the book "Harmonious Development of the Child."

The Glen Doman method is a developmental approach that emphasizes early childhood learning and is based on the idea that children possess a remarkable capacity for information absorption from an early age. Parents can assist their children in developing cognitive, motor, and sensory skills by employing specific strategies like flashcards, physical activities, and organized learning schedules. With the goal of releasing each child’s innate abilities and cultivating a lifelong love of learning, this approach promotes early stimulation.

When can you start classes

Doman’s observations led him to the conclusion that children learn less during their lifetime than during the first six years of life. A child is eager to learn about the world and is interested in everything around him from the moment of birth. You won’t need to provide the child with extra motivation at this age. Instruction ought to be delivered through engaging games.

According to him, you can begin teaching kids as early as three months old, since that’s when they start to react to things. The first step in the teaching process is to show the cards for a brief while (just a few seconds for each card). The cards must depict actual objects, such as fruits, vegetables, animals, furniture, vehicles, geometric shapes, etc.

Doman"s Method

Doman focused his studies on working with children who had developmental delays for many years. But after observing how their perfectly healthy brothers and sisters enthusiastically enrolled in the classes and excelled, he devised a system that took into consideration their requirements and areas of interest.

The principal clauses that form the basis of the method are:

• The human brain grows and develops only when constantly working.
• To achieve great success in the development of the baby"s intellect, his brain must be actively working from birth to 3 years.
• Physical development plays an important role in the maturation of the brain and motor intelligence.
• Until the child reaches 5 years old, his brain is already tuned to gain new knowledge, there is no need to additionally motivate the child to do this.

Principles of Doman"s teaching

• The teaching process should be started as early as possible, because the younger the child, the easier it will be for him to learn.
• Do not forget to praise the child and sincerely rejoice at his successes.
• A child is also a person to whom you need to show respect and trust.
• Training should be done with pleasure.
• Training should take place in an appropriate environment.
• The lesson should end before the child gets bored or tired.
• New information for training should be provided very often.
• Regularity, consistency and organization of classes are very important.
• No need to check how the child has learned the information.
• Careful preparation for classes is required, everything should be done in advance.
• Immediately stop the lesson if suddenly the child or you become bored.

Physical development

Glen Doman gives his system’s physical development a lot of consideration. He is certain that it has a direct bearing on how the child’s intellect develops. For this reason, healthy physical development must be prioritized from birth.

The child has the natural ability to swim, walk, crawl, and grasp objects. To ensure that the infant has total freedom of movement, it is imperative to support their development from the time of birth. Parents can accelerate their child’s intellectual development by encouraging physical activity from birth.

A baby’s physical activity requires the creation of suitable conditions.

This is where a crawl-specific track can come in handy. The infant must be positioned between its sides, almost touching them with its thighs and forearms. The track is situated on a small incline. Smooth surfaces work best; no mattresses or blankets are needed. There should be minimal clothing for the baby who is crawling.

The infant should spend a minimum of three to four hours in it during the day. On such a track, a child can crawl quite a distance, and if they are organized well, they will start to crawl actively by the time they are 4 months old. The child’s mental development, perception of new things, and brain activity will all benefit from this.

The track stimulates innate reflexes and imitates the intrauterine space when the baby recalls his first reflex, which helped him to be born.

Teach the infant how to use different rollers and ladders to get over obstacles. As much as you can, twist and spin him; this will aid in the development of equilibrium. Assist and motivate the young person as they try to run, walk, or swim.

Glen Doman developed his own balance program for babies called dynamic gymnastics, which you can effectively use at home.

The essence of the Doman method

You can start intellectual pursuits at the same time as you start actively developing physically. Cards with sizable, authentic images and captions are used for this. The infant gains the necessary load for brain development and learns new information more readily with their assistance.

You have three options: purchase pre-made card sets, locate them online, print them using a color printer, or create them yourself. Every card should have a single image on a white background. At the bottom, in big red letters, is the caption. As often as you can, introduce the child to new information that piques his interest. The child will quickly lose interest in these activities if you don’t do this.

You will require five cards with a single thematic line at the start of the classes. The baby is shown each card for five to ten seconds while the name beneath it is read aloud and clearly. You can start switching out the cards from the set one by one after roughly three classes. A child can only be shown one set during a lesson. Studying should be done at least three times a day. You will receive a minimum of 15 flashcards every day.

Whatever you try to teach your child, don’t expect miracles right away. When the child is ready to show you the results, you will see them. Make sure you don’t waste any time studying with the baby because he hears and remembers everything.

How to teach reading using the Doman system

The child does not comprehend the meaning of the words when they are written. On the other hand, mechanical memorization will function if you speak the word as well as display it; this way, the baby’s brain will comprehend the information and make connections between it. Similar to how oral speech developed, this is how the infant starts to comprehend the rules of reading.

Glen Doman is confident that you can begin teaching reading to a six-month-old in this manner.

You will need cards with word sets for work. They should be 10 by 50 centimeters in size, with bright red text, a 1.5 cm thick font, and 7.5 cm high letters. Don’t start teaching your child difficult words right away in their training. Select words that your child is familiar with, such as "mom," "dad," "grandpa," or the names of their favorite foods, outfits, or animals.

Make an effort to follow this training schedule:

• A set of words is a group of 5 words united by one topic.
• You need to study three times a day.
• Day one. Show your child one set of words. Speak the words in a clear, even voice. You need to spend no more than 15 seconds on each word. You get 3 lessons with one set of words.
• Day two. Add another set of words to the one already shown. We get 6 lessons per day (3 with the previously studied set of words, 3 with a new one) and two sets of words.
• Day three. Three sets of words and nine lessons.
• Day four. Four sets of words and 12 lessons.
• Day five. Five sets of words and 15 lessons during the day.
• Day six. You add another set of words, but at the same time you exclude one of the previous sets by one word.

If you stick to this plan, you will be adding new words every time you replace a group of words. Start by demonstrating words, move on to phrases, and finally try demonstrating entire sentences.

How to teach counting

While children think in facts, adults visualize a number when they hear the word "two." They won’t even attempt to connect the word "two" with the picture of a number; instead, they will picture two dots, two candies, or two apples. Doman based his method creation precisely on this particular feature for children. You will be giving the child a great opportunity to learn how to count without recounting, to figure out how many things are depicted, and to learn about basic mathematical operations by letting him interact with concrete facts rather than abstract concepts.

It will take 100 cards, each measuring 27 by 27 cm, to teach counting. Red dots, representing the numbers 1 through 100, are scattered across the cards. A maximum of 2 cm should be their diameter. The child will first learn the concept of "quantity" during the lessons, followed by the concept of "equation." You can then start instructing students in problem-solving techniques. You can then use Doman to introduce the child to the concept of a "digit," which is a graphic representation of a number. Finally, start resolving digital equations.

Teaching reading and mathematics share a similar foundation. It is only necessary to give the set of cards from 1 to 5 and from 5 to 10 adequate attention at the start of the lessons.

It’s also necessary to introduce the fundamental movements with dots. For instance, show the matching cards with three dots, a minus sign, two dots, an equal sign, and one dot when teaching subtraction of 2 from 3. Pronounce the action (three minus two equals one).

Even in half a minute you can teach a lot

Glen Doman compares the most sophisticated computer, which summarizes the results based on the facts, to the human brain. He thought that explaining something to a child for a long time and then expecting him to come up with intelligent ideas and make the right decisions about the actions he takes was completely pointless. The information must be given to the child in a clear, accurate, and accessible manner. In order to clarify his remarks, he provides the subsequent example.

The child looks at the dog and asks you about it. Actions that you can take:

• wave him off with the words: "Leave me alone, I have no time";
• tell the little one: "This is a woof-woof";
• answer briefly: "This is a dog";
• say: "This is a St. Bernard";
• show pictures of dogs;
• show pictures of different breeds of dogs and say: "Look, here are animals called dogs everywhere, but they can be different. There is a poodle, a German shepherd, a Doberman, a chow-chow, a dachshund" and so on..

The child will be able to learn a little bit from the last response, understanding that while all dogs have fur, a tail, and paws, they can also differ in terms of size, color, length of fur, ear shape, and other characteristics. Thus, a child can increase brain activity and perform a significant cognitive task in just thirty seconds.

Obtaining encyclopedic knowledge

If you are to follow Doman, you must realize that the goal of a person’s existence is to acquire multilateral knowledge about the world in which he lives. Children’s brains can only process facts, so providing them with explanations will not help them in any way.

For a child to receive truly encyclopedic knowledge through card training, they must:

• All the details on the cards were clearly visible;
• On each card only one item was depicted;
• All depicted items had a name;
• This subject was previously unfamiliar to the child;
• the cards were large enough (28*28 cm);
• The cards were clean.

It takes you thirty seconds on average to deal with cards.

Negative moments

Everything in Doman’s methodology seems to be presented in an understandable, logical, and clear manner. She does have drawbacks, just like any other methodology, though.

• It is not enough for a child to just know the facts, he must be able to apply them in life, use them. Otherwise, all the information he receives will be just junk in his head.
• A heavy load on the baby"s brain can lead to negative consequences in the form of mental disorders, mood swings, lack of appetite, communication problems, increased anxiety, vulnerability, sensitivity.
• It is necessary that the training corresponds to the child"s age. If a baby sees a dog, he will associate its image with the word "dog", and according to Doman, this word will cause an association with a card. For example, having seen a giraffe or an elephant in reality, the baby may simply not recognize them.
• Passivity of the child, lack of creative and constructive moments in training. The child does not learn to independently find information, curiosity is dulled.
• The baby has practically no time to communicate with friends, play. No attention is paid to aesthetic, emotional, moral development. Parents spend a lot of time preparing for classes: making cards, sorting them, selecting suitable ones, etc.d.
• Not all senses are involved. No tactile development, no sense of smell or taste.
• Mechanical memorization of words when learning to read. If a child encounters unfamiliar words in a text, he will not be able to read it and understand the meaning of what he reads.
• According to the method, it is necessary to accompany the text being read by showing pictures. In the future, it will be difficult for the child to learn to read texts without illustrations, he will have difficulty understanding what he reads. All this can lead to the child"s lack of desire to do something that is not interesting to him or that he is not good at.
• Lack of active play activities, in which it is easiest for a child to learn new information.

The premise that every child, especially in the early years, has an amazing potential for learning is emphasized by the Glen Doman method. It motivates parents to take an active role in their child’s growth by introducing information in a method that is structured, consistent, and enjoyable. This approach has the potential to lay a solid foundation for a child’s future education.

The Doman method promotes early intellectual and physical stimulation, which aids in the development of young children’s reading, math, and even physical coordination skills. Parents are essential in this because they provide a caring and encouraging atmosphere that promotes development.

Although each child is different and may react in different ways, many families have discovered that this method works well for helping them reach their child’s full potential. The approach emphasizes the value of spending quality time with your child, resulting in an enjoyable and fulfilling learning process for both parent and child.

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