The IAHP Developmental Profile

The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP)'s Developmental Profile is to child brain development what the Periodic Table is to chemistry.

Clean. Concise. Well-organized. No-nonsense. And more importantly, "clear and straightforward so that any parent can study it and, what is much more important, use it easily." (from How Smart is Your Baby, chapter 7)

In their own words,

"The Institutes Developmental Profile is a delineation of the significant stages of development that normal children pass through as they progress from birth to six years of age. It reflects progressive brain development. The Profile was developed after years of research and study of how children develop."

I can't copy and publish the chart for copyright purposes, but the whole chart is available on their website here: IAHP Developmental Profile

When you go to their site and look over the chart, you will see that the chart is divided into six columns.

They are:

1. Mobility competence (gross motor movement)

2. Language competence (speech) 

3. Manual competence (use of the hands) 

4. Visual competence (seeing)

5. Auditory competence (hearing)

6. Tactile competence (feeling)

The first three functions are motor functions, the last three are sensory functions. Simple, right?

For each of the columns, there are seven different colored rows.

The bottom row, red, represent the child's brain function at birth. For example, in the manual column is the grasp reflex. In the visual column is the light reflex. In the auditory column is the startle reflex.

The next row, orange, represents the next stage of brain development (achieved in the average child by the age of 2.5 months). For example, in the visual column we will find the ability to see outlines. In the language column, we will find the ability to cry more seriously in response to things that the baby finds threatening.

The rows keep going, to yellow (seven months), green (twelve months), blue (eighteen months), indigo (three years), and lastly violet (six years).

In upcoming posts, I will go over some more details about why the profile is important, how it can be used by parents, why the ages set as averages are not set in stone, how parents are able to influence their child's brain development with specific activities for each stage and category, and also more background on the profile and its uniqueness and how it can help you understand the incredible design and ability of your child's growing brain.

Until then, I will give it over to the man himself as he introduces the profile in his own words:

For more info please see:

"...and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him." 

Judges 13:24

Thank you for your comments! 

Seven Month Old Developmental Check-In (Stage III, Midbrain and Subcortical Areas)

Damien, the day he turned seven months old

Early last June, sitting in a hospital bed holding my tiny newborn, all wrinkled, blotchy-skinned, and helpless, it was hard to fathom that in just a little over 200 days he would be creeping [crawling], standing, "talking", understanding, and charming at the level he is now.

Seven months passes by in the blink of an eye.

Seven months is also another benchmark age on the Developmental Profile for the average age for babies to achieve stage III brain function (using the midbrain and subcortical areas).

In speaking of the profile, the IAHP says

"The time schedule is highly variable and depends, not upon genetic factors, but rather upon the frequency, intensity and duration of the stimuli provided to the brain by the child's environment, which is notably and most often his family."

The idea is that the brain grows by use, not by some biological alarm clock. Opportunity, frequency, encouragement, and to a lesser decree, personality will determine development. Our goal is, of course, to give our baby as much of these things as possible and do all we can to help him, not hinder him.

Damien, 5 months, pauses his creeping adventures for a smile

1. Stage III Mobility: Creeping on hands and knees, culminating in cross pattern creeping

Age achieved: 5 months, 2 weeks old

Description: "Creeping" is what most of us know as "crawling" - that cute little hands and knees movement that typifies the picture of babyhood. "Cross pattern creeping" refers to the cross pattern exhibited when a baby uses his opposite extremities simultaneously to move while on his hands and knees - right arm and left leg go forward, then left arm and right leg go forward.

Damien achieved the official "cross pattern creeping" at five months old. He has been "crawling" in other formations - more or less scooting, hopping, lunging, twisting, and rolling - since four months. He has had movement on his stomach (pushing his legs off the ground and propelling himself forward) since birth.

His most current interest is pulling himself to standing, which he does essentially all day, every day, creeping around the house finding different pieces of furniture that can act as a support frame for his vertical position.

Damien, at four months, babbling on

2. Stage III Language: Creation of meaningful sounds

Age achieved: 1-2 months

Description: "Creation of meaningful sounds" is when the baby essentially begins to make noises, beyond a basic cry, that have meaning attached to them. He begins to be able to communicate not only his needs, but his wants, moods, feelings, and preferences. These are not necessarily first English words, but words for him nonetheless.

Damien began creating meaningful sound at about 1-2 months old. He began to coo when he was happy, "yell" when he wanted attention, and whine when he was tired.

At four months, Damien said his first English word - "dada". He still attaches meaning to that word and says it when he sees pictures of his dad. His second English word, "more" (which comes out more like "muh" or "mah") began the day he turned seven months old. Ever since then, he creeps up to me and says "muh" when he wants food, or while we are eating and he wants another bite. (So he has achieved stage IV language development, "Two words of speech used spontaneously and meaningfully", an average 12 month milestone).

Damien, at six months, practicing using the prehensile grasp with small objects

3. Stage III Manual: Prehensile grasp

Age achieved: 3 months

Description: The "prehensile grasp" is when a baby is able to voluntarily pick up objects using his whole hand. The four fingers and palm are mainly used, while the thumb is usually not.

Damien achieved the prehensile grasp at around at the end of his third month. The first object that he was able to easily grab and pick up were some of Hunter's nerf gun bullets. He is now working on the pincer grasp (picking up objects with thumb and forefinger) and has nearly mastered it (an average 12 month milestone).

Damien, at two months, had grown tired of his detail board and was looking around the room for new things

4. Stage III Visual Competence: Appreciation of detail within a configuration

Age achieved: 1.5 months old

Description: At birth, babies can see only light and dark. Soon after, babies begin to see outlines. The next step is being able to see "detail within a configuration", for example the details of mother's face within the outline of her head.

Damien achieved this stage of development at approximately 4-5 weeks of age. He began to smile in response to facial expressions (without sound). He began to study detail on his daddy's camouflage uniform, or the patterns on his bouncy seat. By two months, he was studying details from across the room.

By 5-6 months, he had achieved the next stage (level IV) of development: depth perception. At seven months now his depth perception is quite good - he creeps quickly and easily without running into things much anymore, and reaches well with good accuracy.

Damien, seven months, quite happy with himself that he is no longer afraid of the vacuum

5. Stage III Auditory Competence: Appreciation of meaningful sounds

Age achieved: 2 months

Description: Baby listens to many sounds in his environment from birth, and will soon begin to understand their meaning. For example, the bathtub water running, the door opening, and mother's voice. In family members' voices, he begins to understand the tone of voice and their meanings.

Damien began to be comforted by a soothing voice at around two months old. He started laughing at silliness, and being scared by upset voices. He was deathly afraid of the vacuum for a while, now he seems to have proudly conquered his fear.

Between one and four months, he also achieve the next stage (level IV) of development: "Understanding of two words of speech". At four weeks he began to understand the meaning of the word "nurse". Other words soon followed, including "potty" (and other words associated with it) and "up". 

Damien at two months, laughing with a tickle

6. Stage III Tactile Competence: Appreciation of gnostic sensation

Age achieved: 2 months

Description: "Gnostic" comes from the Greek root word for knowledge, "gnosis". Gnostic sensation means, literally, "knowing sensation". At birth babies cannot feel very well - they may not respond consistently to pain, hot, or cold. Soon they begin to respond to these more intense sensations quickly and instantly. The next stage is to be able to respond to more variances in sensation and be able to appreciate them - for example, the subtleties of cool and warm, the peaceful calm of a soothing massage, or the humor of a boisterous tickle.

Damien achieved this stage at about 2 months old. He began to respond to tickles, enjoy his infant massages, and notice the differences in textures and what made him comfortable or uncomfortable. At four months, he achieved stage IV, "Tactile understanding of the third dimension in objects which appear to be flat". This is when he started to notice small things (like specks on the floor), or things that clearly looked flat (like a piece of paper) and started feeling for them and trying to grab them.

Summary

So in summary, this is what my notes on Damien's little Developmental Profile look like (in the back of my How Smart is Your Baby book) for him at seven months, one day old:

Motor:

 Sensory:

He is still perfecting his stage IV (green) areas, but overall is doing very well. Environment really does make such a huge difference!

Thank you for your comments!

Damien is 7 months, 0 week old

"Explosive" Brain Growth: Baby's First Month

Damien (at 5 weeks), in the hat that he wore home from the hospital

"From the moment of birth, the rate of growth of the brain is on a descending curve. Each day the brain grows a little less than it did the day before. During the period of greatest growth, the baby is able to take in raw information at a rate that is truly astounding. But this process will be a little bit slower each day." 

Glenn Doman, How Smart is Your Baby?

Brain growth is an inverse property of age, right? The younger you are, the more rapidly your brain is growing.

On the day he turned one month old, I took Damien's measurements. He had gained a whopping two pounds since birth, and grown a full inch. But the most miraculous, I believe, was the growth in his head circumference.

His little brain grew 5 centimeters in his first month.

As an example of what that looks like, compare the picture above of the one below:

Damien at one day old

On a side note, he jumped from being in the 50th percentile (35 cm) for head circumference at birth, to being in the 80th percentile (40 cm) at one month. In short, his brain really is growing at a higher than normal rate.

Incredible, isn't it?

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." 

2 Peter 3:18

Damien is 5 weeks, 1 day old

How Smart is Your Baby Program Weekly Logs & Checklists

Weekly logs for various stages of brain development and stimulation 

Seven pages.

If only you knew what went into these seven pages.

For the past er, week or so I have devoted almost every spare moment to perfecting this little document.

This may or may not have resulted laundry that didn't get done and other menial tasks put off for another day.

I have been working on making my own, customized versions of weekly logs for the Doman motor and sensory stimulation programs as outlined in How Smart is Your Baby.

Am I the only one who ever asked why the book didn't come with these?

Oh, I know. The book has checklists. But the checklists in the book are a full page per day. And that is a full page per day for each aspect, which actually would come out to three full pages per day. Not only would that make for an unusually high paper budget, but I needed something a little more compact, at a glance, all-in-one.

So I made my own.

I am publishing these documents now as some sort of appeasement to myself for all the hours I spent on them. Don't ask me why it took so long. It just did.

And now that I am done, Hunter might have some more clean socks.

Hopefully some other people will find some benefit out of my toil. If you've got a newborn or a little baby (or are expecting one) and are planning to implement Doman's book, enjoy!
Stage I-III Doman Program Motor & Sensory Logs

If you've never read the book that these logs are meant to be a companion to, they may seem a little, er, weird. I'm certainly not going to even try to explain everything right now, but essentially the exercises on these logs were developed as a means to intentionally help your baby develop and grow, and in turn reach their milestones sooner than if it were left to chance. It is also a means of evaluating your baby's neurological health, noting any issues long before they would be otherwise apparent.

The exercises were developed after years and years of research from the IAHP on how the brain grows and why, with the original focus of helping to heal brain injuries in children. Many of these same exercises are still used today to help grow and heal the brains of brain-injured children.

I will be writing much more about the program in time come!

"And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record..." 

1 Chronicles 16:4

Baby boy #2 is currently 25 weeks, 1 day gestation

My Take on Prenatal Stimulation

"The human body is such a miracle and even more of a miracle is the brain that runs it... Want some examples? If you happen to be pregnant at this moment and happen to know that you are, try looking at your watch for one minute. Do you know what happened during those sixty seconds? At the end of the sixty seconds, your baby had a quarter of a million more brain cells than he had when you began counting, sixty seconds earlier." 

-Glenn Doman, How to Teach Your Baby to Be Physically Superb

I am continually amazed by the miracle of human development.

When I first began discovering the incredible world of early learning three and a half years ago via Glenn Doman, this also led to the discovery of the interesting, semi-related topic of "in utero learning", or prenatal stimulation.

BabyPlus

While I recognize that the unborn human infant is most definitely a living, learning, thinking, growing, and incredible creature, I am leery of most commercial "prenatal stimulation" products promising, usually: smarter, more alert, better-sleeping, better-nursing, faster-developing, calmer, happier newborns, without any real basis for their claims.

BabyPlus comes to mind, for example. The devise promises all these results and more, by playing different heartbeat-style sounds for your baby for two hours a day. The website is filled with fanatical parent testimonials, but as I read I began to wonder - how do the parents know a difference versus what their baby would have been like without the $150 sound box? Isn't this a classic example of "placebo effect"?

I am not entirely critical or skeptical of the idea that playing heartbeat sounds could one day be found to be somehow beneficial to the baby (the idea is that the baby learns to differentiate between his mother's heartbeat and the artificial heartbeat, supposedly making him more aware of his surrounding and stimulating curiosity in his environment).

But for a product to make such hefty claims, boasting everything from babies that nurse better to heightened school readiness, seems to me to smell a little of snake oil.

The idea of unborn babies learning to differentiate sounds seems like it's pretty obviously already happening - the differences in mother's heartbeat when she is resting, vigorously active, or somewhere in between; the difference of the intestinal sounds as mother digests different foods or when the digestive system is at rest; the different sounds of mother's blood flowing at different rates; the sound of his own self as he swooshes around in the womb; and, of course, all the different external sounds that he hears, from music to voices to the sound of traffic, or the difference in the noise level at daytime and night. Differentiation of sounds for the unborn doesn't seem to me like something BabyPlus invented.

Stimulation I Believe In

What shall we say then? Is the idea of influencing the unborn child laughable, or is there merit to any these techniques?

I understand and recognize from the growing amount of research how much of a "little person" unborn children are, everything from being able to dream, play, acquire tastes for certain foods, and enjoy Cat in the Hat. Unborn babies can hear, see light, feel, taste, and even smell. At birth they recognize their mother's voice and even can distinguish and prefer their native language. Certainly, learning is happening long before baby makes his exit from the womb.

So what is my take? I...

Talk to my baby  We all do. Mom, dad, and big brother. He's never too young to benefit from hearing language, and he is learning to recognize our voices, which will hopefully be a comfort and familiarity when he makes his entrance.

Play cause and effect  When he kicks, I like to gently poke back. And talk to him. It is a fun give-and-take little game, and often it actually seems like he is playing with me. Theoretically, he is learning about cause and effect, but I'm sure he is already learning about this in other ways too. I just see it as a fun bonding experience.

Play great music  No, I don't strap headphones to my abdomen. But since music, especially classical, is so beneficial to everyone, it certainly can't hurt to expose him to it now. Hunter listens to it daily already every afternoon for several hours, so little guy gets to get in on it too. Currently, we are on Tchaikovsky.

Read  Again, baby boy #2 gets in on the reading I do with Hunter every afternoon. Also, the "baby's chapter" is Proverbs chapter 3 (the first 24 verses), which we read every night. I got the idea from someone I read about who used to read Proverbs 3 to their boys and Proverbs 31 to their girls on the day of their birth. To me this is more preferable than the Cat in the Hat, and hopefully the baby will not only benefit from the beautiful language currently, but will recognize "his" proverb when I continue to read it to him nightly as he grows.


Even with these "stimulating" these that I do do, I still believe that the most important gift, advantage, and interaction I can give my baby is giving my body (and his) the proper nutrients (and keeping out as many toxins as possible), exercising regularly, and avoiding stress.

All these "stimulating" things are fun and I do know that my baby is already learning from his environment (with or without my help), but nothing can compare to the gift of health (which includes a healthy brain)! 

"For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." 

Luke 1:44

Baby boy #2 is 25 weeks, 0 days gestation

The Principles of Teaching Tiny Children

Glenn Doman proposes that you can teach a tiny child absolutely anything.

But how?

Most people would argue that a one-year-old is, by default, unteachable. A three year old, in the same manner, should not be taught, it is argued, for in order to do there would be a need to apply undue pressure.

But Glenn Doman begs to differ. He believes that the younger the child, the easier they are to teach. Scientifically speaking, he is right. The brain absorbs information at far greater ease and far greater speed at the tiniest of ages. The ability to absorb raw facts is, in fact, an inverse function of age. 

And as science is continuing to show, babies and tiny children not only absorb those great many facts, but they put them together in surprising and fascinating ways to form deductions, draw conclusions, and discover by experimentation the rules that govern them.

So how is it that you can teach a very tiny child?

Whether you want to teach your tiny child how to play the violin, speak Japanese, learn sign language, read, understand math, appreciate the arts or sciences, swim, do gymnastics, or whatever else you would like to teach him, these are Glenn Doman's principles for the teaching of tiny children:

1. Teach joyfully

You must approach the game of learning with the same abandonment and enthusiasm you would approach the game of patty cake or peek a boo. All children are drawn to joyousness. Your attitude towards a subject determines his. Never approach your teaching with soberness and seriousness. Learning is the greatest game you will play with your child: keep it as such. Present learning as a privilege he has earned: never, never as a chore.

2. Teach clearly

When we talk to tiny children, we naturally talk to them in a loud, clear voice. Teach your tiny child in such a voice and make your materials large and clear. Present the information in an honest, factual, and straightforward way. If you give a tiny child the facts, he will discover the rules that govern them.

3. Teach quickly

You must teach your tiny child quickly and briefly. He has much to do and can't stay in one place long. You must be content to teach him for only a few seconds at a time. That is all it takes. Present him with a set of information, and then come back to it later. When you teach in many ten- and fifteen-second sessions, you can accomplish more than you ever imagined possible.

4. Always leave him hungry for more

You must always, always, always stop before your child wants you to stop. Always stop before he wants to stop. Be sensitive to your child's attention and mood, and leave him hungry for more, every time, without fail.

5. Teach only at the best times

The key to teaching your tiny child is to only do so at the best possible times. Never try and teach him in a distracting, chaotic environment. Never try and teach him at a time when he is hungry, tired, or out of sorts. Never try and teach him when you are out of sorts. You must be ever-discerning of your child's temperament and mood and be willing to put your teaching away for the morning or day if needed.

6. Teach with consistency

If you are to be successful in teaching you must teach with consistently. If you child is to remain interested you must keep the ball rolling. Starting and stopping constantly will cause him to lose interest because he will believe the information you are bringing out again is old hat. Organize yourself to teach in such a way as to be able to remain consistent in your endeavors.

7. Teach new information

You will be surprised at how quickly your tiny child learns new information. Don't go over the same information over and over again when he already knows it. You must be keen to sense when he knows something, and regularly give him that which is fresh and new. 

8. Teach as a gift

We have come to equate teaching and testing as two sides of the same coin. You must forget this notion if you are to be successful in teaching your tiny child. Teaching is the process of giving information, as you would give a gift. Testing is asking for it back. Never test your child. It is essentially disrespectful and he will sense that you don't trust that he knows the information. If he learns that your teaching always has strings attached, he will push you and your teaching away. Learning is a gift, the most precious one you can give your child. Always remember that.

And lastly, Glenn Doman's fail-safe law is this:

If you're not having a great time and your child's not having a great time, stop. You are doing something wrong.

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:" 

Isaiah 28:9-10 

If you would like to learn more from the source, please see Doman's How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence 

Doman Quote of the Month: The Land of Knowledge

"At this moment there is a world - a world of great beauty, of great truth, an enchanting, beguiling, thrilling, bewitching, and enriching world of facts - out there in fact land. It is a land of great riches. There are riches for the soul, there are riches for the spirit, there are riches for science. It is a land beyond imagining, but strangely it is very uncrowded. It is crowded only in spots. There are lots of artists looking at great paintings, and there are lots of musicians listening to orchestras, and there are lots of scientists looking at space shuttles, and there are lots of doctors looking at hearts, and there are lots of mathematicians looking at numbers, but very, very few people are seeing it all... They're a group called "Genius"... True geniuses have always been few in number and immensely curious about everything."

Glenn Doman

How to Give Your Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge

Socialized to Adulthood

Hunter with my father-in-law, whose side he was glued to for a week

"One of the great modern myths is that children need other children to become 'socialized.' The exact opposite is true. The notion that little children learn how to be civilized from being with each other has little to recommend it. What can a three-year-old teach another three-year-old? Answer: How to behave like a three-year-old." 

-Glenn Doman

Hunter likes adults.

And, in fact, as far as I've seen, he prefers adults to other little children.

Whenever there's another adult in our house, whether it's a visiting relative, a friend come by for dinner, a maintenance man, or a visitor from the office, Hunter tends to flock to them like moths to a street light. He will show off his books or toys or latest invention or drawing, chit-chatting incessantly, often to the point of us having to send him off to give our guest a break from his undivided attention.

Sure, he likes other kids.

He always enjoys leaving mom behind and running around the neighborhood when all his friends get out of school. He has buddies that he looks forward to going over to their house. He has thoroughly enjoyed going to vacation bible school, going to kids programs at the youth center, making friends at the pool, and the list goes on.

But what really caught my attention today is that, Hunter likes and prefers, one-on-one time with adults.

And isn't that the way it should be?

After all, that is what he is learning to be, right?

When I think about my choice to homeschool him, and I think about all the innocently ignorant parents out there badgering me about the infamous What-about-socialization question, I kindly say, thanks but no thanks.

Because I really don't have a lot of faith in a herd of five year olds teaching my son too much about how to be a man. 

I would rather have Hunter learning from those whom he is trying to grow into (an adult), not those whom he is trying to grow out of (a five year old). 

Does it go against the status quo?

Of course.

But I'm used to that by now.

"My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." 

Proverbs 23:26

Hunter is 5 years, 5 months old

And the Tables are Turned...

Two five-year-olds, with two very different 
school years ahead of them

"I was happy as a child with my toys in my nursery. I been happier every year since I became a man. But this interlude of school makes a somber grey patch upon the chart of my journey. It was a unending spell of worries that did not then seem petty, and of toil uncheered by fruition; a time of discomfort, restriction and purposeless monotony." 

Winston Churchill

It's funny how, so quickly, the tables have turned.

The other day I went with a friend to pick up some backpacks and school supplies at a military event.

She started talking about how her son - just three months older than Hunter, but in first grade due to California's December 2nd cutoff date - is likely going to have a difficult time at his new school's lunch period. Which is twenty minutes long, from class dashing to the cafeteria to cleared tables and ready to head back to the grinding room.

There were a lot of other demands of the first grade that she was loathing about.

At once, I thought, Wow. I'm glad my son doesn't have to go through that every day.

Yes, I'm sure Hunter could handle it. Just like millions of other kids do every day. Lines, bells, sitting, waiting, transporting, homework, peer pressure, tests, stress. The works. He'd somehow manage the jungle.

But is that the point? Is that what's really best? What ever happened to childhood?

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

Benjamin Franklin

I've never, quite understood, how the same person who will condemn you for teaching a tiny child "academic" concepts at an early age, never had a second thought about throwing a child into an academic rat race once the child reaches the magic age of five or six.

You are stealing his childhood, so they say. Why can't you just wait until the first grade. There is plenty of time for academics, later.

But I'd rather, for my own son at least, start early.

No, not start the rat race early.

But start learning early.

And then, by the time he reaches first grade, not say that his childhood is magically over.

Not essentially say, "You've had your fun, now your new life purpose is to study for the next thirteen to twenty years."

I'd rather make learning playful, make learning part of real life.

Teach him things. Teach him big things, while he's tiny, while learning is still easy and fun.

So that when all of his other five-year-old friends hop on the big yellow bus for days full of waiting, busy work, waiting, busy work, waiting, busy work, that Hunter can still be playing.

So he can say, "Yes, I spent my preschool years with duplos and presidents and swing sets and math. 

I learned how to read while learning was still a game. 

I learned to love a great many interesting and wonderful things while my wonder was at its highest. 

And now I'm not in a race to catch up and keep up. 

I'm just filling my hungry appetite for knowledge.

I'm living and learning, in real life, with my childhood still ahead of me."

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" 

Isaiah 28:9

Hunter is 5 years, 4 months old

Physical Excellence: A Day's Hike in the Mountains

"Our hope is for them to be participants in life, not spectators. Our definition of Physical Excellence includes being able to solve any physical problem encountered during life. This may include saving one's own life, or saving someone else's. Physical Excellence should also help children expand their intellectual and social horizons. At The Institutes, our formula is: Physical Excellence = The Ideal Environment + Maximum Opportunity." 

Glenn Doman

"LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong..." 

Psalm 30:7

Hunter is 5 years, 3 months old

Pet Stores and Encyclopedic Knowledge

Window shopping education. Who knew?

We have recently discovered the educational (and entertaining) joys of window shopping at Petsmart, a fun little venture that came about by us randomly wandering through the strip mall stores in town for lack of anything better to do and essentially, because it was fun.

We have been on little excursions to pet stores before. The last time I wrote about one was when we went to this little downtown shop, over two years ago. But although our previous pet-trecks have been great fun and also quite educational, our more recent visits to Petsmart have been all the more enlightening because of one simple thing: labeling.

See, Glenn Doman believed that, if at all possible, you should give your child the most exact, precise, and clear information you can. That means telling your child that "There is a pretty robin!" not just a "bird" (or even worse, "birdy" or "tweet tweet").

Even better than telling your your child there is a pretty robin would be to tell your child that "There is a pretty bird called an American Robin [its actual name] and the pretty bird's scientific name is Turdus migratorius!" If you have that information, of course.

They both take the exact same amount of time and effort. But as you can quite obviously see, they both don't have the exact same amount of impact or effect by far.

And while browsing through the awesome variety of reptiles, small mammals, arachnids and birds in the super store, we were delightfully enlightened by such precise, clear, discreet (and interesting) names as the veiled chameleon, the red-eared slider turtle, the rose-haired tarantula, the ball python, the bearded dragon lizard, the zebra finch, and the fancy green-cheeked conure, just to name a few.

What was equally delightful was that they not only had such wonderfully specific names below each creature's cage but also little bits and pieces such as its scientific name, its habitat, lifespan, species' characteristics and fun facts.

What a splendid (and free) way to not only enjoy the turtle munching lettuce or the mice flipping each other on the exercise wheel or the parrots having conversations but also to learn so much right then and there without any effort or researching on the parent's part.

All at just a stop at the mall.

"And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." 

Genesis 2:19

Hunter is 5 years, 3 months old

Doman Video of the Month

"You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do."

Exodus 4:15

Mothers and Glenn Doman: A Photo Journal

“Every baby arrives equipped with a mother—there is good reason for that.” 

GD

“We believe that mothers make the best mothers and fathers make the best fathers.”  

GD

"Children are the greatest gift that we will ever receive. The world over, we cherish our children. Mothers have performed heroic acts and displayed incredible physical strength to protect their children from physical harm. Universally, parents want their children to accomplish more in life than they ever accomplished." 

GD

“From the moment a baby is born, a struggle begins. Mother does her best to keep her baby close to her, and the world does its best to separate mother from baby. This is a mistake because mothers are the best teachers in the world for their babies. It starts with the well-meaning hospital staff who often whisks the baby away to a nursery far from mother. Later, there are the professionals who are certain that a two-year-old is better off in a day care center than home with mother. On their heels comes the school system where the child will spend the better part of his life to age 18. Educators now say they want the child at the age of five, four, or even three. There are strong forces at work to separate mother from child, and most people have come to regard each of these encroachments on mother’s domain as normal. It is as if that is the way it has always been.”  

GD

"She looks into the eyes of her baby and to her utter astonishment and her amazement she sees an intelligence for which no one has prepared  her. Father sees it too. For a moment they are stunned. They are overwhelmed by the potential they sense in the baby, and by the responsibility they have undertaken. They make a thousand unspoken promises to their new baby." 

GD

"Professional mothers are fulltime mother who approach their work with the same passion and dedication that other top-flight professionals devote to being engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc. If you are a fulltime mother, you are a member of the oldest and most honorable profession in the world... You have the most important job in the world - protect it."  

GD

"They love their children very much (as do almost all parents). They respect their children and their innate potential to be magnificent. They enjoy their children immensely. They have given their children a higher priority in their lives in terms of time and energy than have most families. They do not feel this to be a sacrifice of themselves but rather a high privilege. They think that it is more fun to teach their kids than it is to bowl or go to the movies. They are more interested in their kids than the are in the latest craze in television shows... They are lively, bright, aware, happy, effective people who are less involved in worrying about the world and a good deal more involved in doing something about it by raising happier, more effective kids." 

GD

"Every mother who embarks upon this adventure expects to expand her tiny child's ability. She does this with such vim and vigor that she hardly takes the time to assess the changes that are taking palce in her own abilities and viewpoint, until one day when she finds herself happily preparing to teach her child calculus or nuclear physics and is brought up short by her own bravado. She is startled, but not for long. 'I always secrety knew I could learn anything' she says to herself and gets back to work teaching her child."  

GD

"...we have the thrill and honor of taking this superb learner and gently lifting him onto our shoulders. What broad shoulders our professional parents have and what a panoramic view they provide for our tiny kids." 

GD

"Mother have known more about babies than anyone else since the world began. It is mothers who have successfully brought us from prehistoric caves to the present." 

GD

“After almost half a century of nose-to-nose experience with mothers, we have learned that parents should never do anything with their babies that they do not understand and agree with one hundred percent. If parents do something with a child that they do not understand fully, it could actually be dangerous for the child. If parents do something with their child that they do not agree with completely, they will not do it well. If someone must decide what is best for children, thank heaven it is parents who have that right. Parents, and only parents, should decide what is best for their children. They make the best decisions.”  

GD

“Mothers are the very best teachers. They know their children better than anyone else, and they love their children better than anyone else. And it turns out that kids are pretty crazy about their mothers too.”  

GD

"It must by now be obvious to the reader, as it is to all those who know the staff of The Institutes, that we have for all babies' ability to learn and all parents' ability to teach, a respect that borders on reverence."  

GD

“Is it a revolutionary idea that parents and children belong together? Children don’t think so. If every baby had his way, he would have mother or father by his side every minute of every day.” 

GD

 

“In contrast to [the] patterns of modern society, all mothers know intuitively that the first six years of a child’s life are the most important. In this they are absolutely correct.”  

GD

“Every mother, whether she is new to the job or highly experienced, has a marvelous ability and opportunity to observe her baby, and then to act intuitively based on her observations. On her worst day she will do this better with her own baby than most others would do on their best days.”  

GD

"The means to accomplish this gentle revolution are simple, straightforward, and clear. Parents. Parents are not the problem in the world of kids, they are the answer." 

GD

Happy Mother's Day, to all the amazing mothers in the world who often go unnoticed or unappreciated for all you do. You are your child's best teacher and more important than you will ever know. Don't let anyone try and convince you otherwise.

"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thouwalkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." 

Deuteronomy 11:19