About the author Mom is boring

In the recent past, I was a software engineer. Favorite platforms ASP.NET, MS SQL. 14 years of experience in programming. Blogging since 2013 (year of Yana’s birth). In 2018, I turned my hobby into my favorite job. Now I'm a blogger!

Post navigation

Doman's technique feasibility of application: 62 comments

1. Ilya

   At first I was enthusiastic about this technique, but since my child is healthy, I took only partial moments for education. Training of the vestibular apparatus and “crawling” (from 3-4 months), until the child was one year old, classical music was constantly playing in the bedroom, in the evening he does not want to sleep without reading books. Now (4 years old) he plays Lego for 5-6 years old, puts together appliqués very carefully, his fine motor skills are excellent, he loves mosaics, he calmly puts together huge puzzles, he rides on carousels like an astronaut. But I didn’t teach reading and arithmetic, I agree that this is overload and not for the Russian language. In the future I will definitely learn to program and I think in elementary school we will master Lego mechanics. The most important thing is not to leave your child to watch TV.

2. Julia

   Any technique must be approached wisely! I work as a speech therapist with children who have various disorders (speech, intellectual, physical). We use the Doman technique for non-speaking children whose articulatory apparatus and speech centers in the brain are not impaired and who can speak. When using this technique, it is MANDATORY to use headphones; the cards must be accompanied by the correct pronunciation of the names.
   This technique is used to start speech and expand vocabulary. Works great! If you use it correctly. The non-speaking children of our center begin to speak, after which we work on expressive and impressive speech.

3. Oksana

   An absolutely mediocre article, written by a person who has not studied the topic. Although he claims that everything has been studied. Initially, the method was created for children with brain damage. He helps them. As for “Your child is a genius,” this is a later version. So parents of children with cerebral palsy and autism can rest assured and use the method. If you are not lazy and really want to help your child develop every day, this is what you need. I use a lot of this method to restore my child. I know a fairly large number of children who, using this method, managed to form very high-quality connections. The method is suitable even for very complex children, for whom, due to medical history, much of the classical methods cannot be used. Only a mother whose child is healthy can write about ineffectiveness. And thank God. Healthy people really don't need to use it. It just doesn't make sense. But I highly recommend it to special people.

   1. Post author

      Oksana, I wonder why you are commenting on an article you haven’t read? Read, think, formulate your thoughts (don’t rush, if you don’t get it, re-read) and only then welcome in the comments. 🙂 We’ll definitely have a detailed conversation.

      1. Oksana

         I have carefully read the information. The habit of reading carefully and drawing conclusions. The Doman method for individuals, especially complex ones, is very good. In principle, this is all I would like to comment on. This is important, not for you, of course, for them. Unfortunately, you could not even competently explain to the reader how and by whom the method was created. From which I draw my conclusion, you have not studied the topic well. The rest is generally “pitchfork in the water.” To start using this method, I devoted a lot of time to this issue. I simply had no choice anymore. You have it, so the approach is not so thorough. But these are details. In any case, thank you for the work done and the negative feedback about the method, there are not so many of them, but such reviews and conclusions as yours also have a place to be :)

4. Vika

   Mom is boring! I only read the first line and decided to go straight to the commentary. Our children and myself will control tomorrow. but the children of your worldview, unfortunately, will only be slaves. those children with whom we worked on time.

5. Sergeev

   To be honest, I don’t really understand how this technique can be used to teach Russian reading. In English, learning is initially done with whole words. There it makes sense to show a card and name the item. Even if I say this differently, you can’t teach it. But the Russian word consists of syllables, we have a letter-subjunctive principle, so it’s easier to explain the painful flow of a consonant into a vowel than to show long words. Do not agree?

6. Post author

   Thank you, Olga, but I already wrote a post about bathing newborns from my own experience. Actually, nothing new has been invented yet - diapers, swimming together with mom.

   P.S. later all offtopic will be moved to the appropriate topics.

7. Chrisy

   Mom is a bore, the issue of naturalness is also very controversial. Human babies born in a yurt and babies born in the tropics have completely different ideas about nature or the need for certain skills. The downside of the educational system, in my opinion, is that someone decided that all children at this moment should study exactly this. Personal preferences and level of development are not taken into account. I am also against homeschooling; even the youngest children, in my opinion, need to communicate with other children of completely different ages. But we are not talking about a group of 20 people.

   1. Post author

      Chrisy, you apparently misunderstood me. I am for individual education and training, but with the right approach! I think any modern mother knows the importance of socialization and when choosing an individual approach, she will definitely make sure that the baby has peers with whom he can regularly communicate. If I had such an opportunity, there is a high probability that I would take advantage of it).

      The difference in geographical location does not allow us to assert that swimming is a natural activity for humans. In accordance with their adaptability to life in a certain environment, the following adaptive types are distinguished among mammals: terrestrial, underground, aquatic, arboreal and flying forms (there are also transitional groups). And a person belongs to the terrestrial type, regardless of latitude. There is no latitude where people are forced to regularly spend at least some time in the water. But the feeling of danger from water is quite natural, and I am inclined that it is the genetic memory of danger that brings so many tears during water procedures. As the baby grows up, the knowledge gained about water displaces unconscious fears based on genetic memory and bathing becomes a pleasant process.
      And by the way, physiological features still depend to some extent on geography - babies in the tropics need a completely different amount of the same vitamin D and I assume that there are other differences.

8. Chrisy

   Olga, there really is no point in forcibly feeding knowledge into a child who will be sent to a regular school. The difference between “timeliness” and its opposite is subjective. Most people trust kindergarten programs, but apparently have little idea of ​​how limited it is in a real situation.
   Early development methods are aimed at expanding the child’s horizons and satisfying and maintaining innate curiosity (Montessori). This is an alternative view compared to gardens that are relics of communism. An attempt to identify the true needs of the child, to develop individuality, and not stereotypes and thoughtless obedience.

   1. Post author

      When using techniques, each parent pursues his own goals and, in the best case, this is -
      “An attempt to identify the true needs of the child, to develop individuality, and not stereotypes and thoughtless obedience.” , but I didn’t see this in Doman’s method.
      In my opinion, the Domanov method is the imposition of certain types of activities. “The main condition of all early development methods is that the child must like it” - with the correct presentation of activities, children can like anything and the task of the parent is to choose what his child specifically needs, and not rush to slogans about the most effective method.

      1. Chrisy

         Choice comes with practice :) By the way, I also disagree with many things about Doman, but this does not make me an ardent hater of him. Of course, dynamic gymnastics is clearly not for everyone, but, for example, moderate crawling, early swimming and learning signs look like interesting solutions for me personally, since the further benefits of these skills are obvious.

      2. Chrisy

         What else would I like to add regarding expert opinions? My teachers at the university were entirely doctors and candidates. A psychologist with a doctorate did not consider it shameful to humiliate students, which indicates professional unsuitability. An academic degree, especially a theorist, is far from the last resort, maybe he has never even seen a child .Teachers, speech therapists and psychologists have a classical base. Often the teacher’s opinion on the selection and presentation of material is conservative, subjective and presented as an immutable truth. This is why so many specialists spend so much time thoughtlessly continuing the traditions of education without even trying alternative teaching methods.

         1. Olga

            Chrisy, then our school is also far from “ideal”. And in general, the whole system turns out to be imperfect. You know, I’m in the style of the site owner, I want to go against stereotypes and stand up for the kindergarten. Everything is quite normal there. And again, the notorious human factor plays a major role. Normal activities, according to age. You can conduct them formally, or you can do them with interest. And classical classes are not bad. Montessori is, of course, good, but children have their own ideals and life in society. But you won’t be able to take care of your child and protect him from everything all his life. And you need to be able to adapt to living among people, to “socialize.”

            By the way, early swimming is a very questionable element of development (especially in the first months of life). Even terribly traumatic at times. I advise you to study this issue before starting.

            Another argument for kindergarten is that if a person is genetically normal, no kindergarten will spoil him. Almost all Soviet children grew up from an early age in kindergarten, which is why they have not ceased to be unconventional thinking people (to which I consider myself). And they don’t walk in formation all their lives. So the matter is clearly different. Which generally casts doubt on modern developmental theories. Nowadays, if you and your child don’t study according to theories and don’t do “early development” at all, they almost point a finger at you, so much has it become part of the minds of modern mothers. As a result, the child will still absorb what he sees in his environment. An apple from an apple tree.

         2. Post author

            Chrisy, the statement “there is no point in forcibly feeding knowledge into a child who will be sent to a regular school” contradicts the theories of Montessori’s sensitive periods, Vygotsky’s zones of proximal development and the hypothesis of the irreversible extinction of opportunities for the effective development of abilities. By developing children correctly, we “lay the foundation,” otherwise we may miss the moment. By the way, let's distinguish between the concepts of “stuffing with knowledge” and harmonious development. These are different concepts and often mutually exclusive)).
            I agree with Olga’s remark about early swimming; its benefits, like other unnatural activities for human children, are a controversial issue. I know from the experience of instructors that the first classes are always stressful, and if you take even short breaks from regular classes, then returning to classes is accompanied by repeated stress. At the moment, I am of the opinion that for kids who easily accept everything new, the benefits of swimming outweigh the harm from stress, but for most this is not the case. Let me give you a personal example about sensitive periods: just a month ago my daughter cried when her grandmothers appeared (they visit us quite rarely), but now the appearance of ANY guest in the house is a reason for uncontrollable joy. For water procedures, I believe that each baby also has its own age.
            As for education without kindergarten and education without school with a COMPETENT approach, of course, this has a lot of advantages, but let's be realistic for the vast majority (as well as for the economy as a whole) it is an unaffordable luxury for the mother not to work, but to take care of the children, so home education and training cannot be an alternative in modern society.

9. Chrisy

   Mom is a bore, as stated in your article, reading (and counting) according to Doman’s method is memorizing pictures (this is how a child perceives words and numbers). So the opinion that the material supplied is harmful is unfounded.
   The main condition of all early development methods is that the child must like it. And Doman especially emphasized that classes should always end a little earlier than the child would like in order to maintain his interest. I am “for” early development methods, but it is necessary to develop my own “symbiosis”, since not a single method is complete for me personally, this is normal, since each of its creators pursued their own goals.
   By the way, Doman’s goal was to reveal the maximum capabilities of a person. It shows what can be achieved and how, but this does not mean that you need all this.

   1. Post author

      Chrisy, Firstly, you did not take into account a lot of information about the dangers of early learning, which I have already described in some detail in the comments to this article, including the importance of a certain sequence of maturation of various parts of the brain and the various consequences of disproportionate brain development with excessive stimulation of one of them. areas of the brain.
      And secondly, I ask you to get acquainted with my views on development before drawing any conclusions about my opinion, because I am for a mix of methods, but Domanovskaya sympathizes with me to a lesser extent.

10. Olga

    I really liked your site. I find your arguments reasonable. There were intuitive doubts (by the way, I wasn’t the only one). The big question is: why? Will a child learn to read at three years old, so what? The only time is if the child himself wants to learn and shows a clear interest (option: the genius Lomonosov, who came to Moscow to pick up the convoy - a thirst for knowledge :)). But I haven’t met anyone like that, because it’s rare. Examples with super-developed children who at the age of five know a bunch of languages, read, write, etc. They talk about nothing except the show-offs of the parents of these children. Because the difference between a “developed” child and one who learned to read at age 7 may not be noticeable at age 20. It is unknown what the child's choice would be if he had a choice. You need to mature for everything, both morally and physically. No one has canceled common sense. The only criterion is who will grow out of this child in the end. But here I already have many personal examples of adults who were bullied with “development” in childhood. Smart, but at the same time there is some kind of “fucking” in the person.

11. Maria

    And I will add my opinion, by the way, for the first time on such a site.
    Dear Mom Bore, I started reading your site only because you described why you are a bore and I saw myself (diapers, bare bottom)), I prepare complementary foods myself, etc.). But on the issue of the Domanov technique, we disagreed.
    Since birth, I have not been fanatically doing exercises according to his method. And at our 7.5 months. weighing 11.5 kg, the boy is very mobile, active, and interested. Doctors predicted “sausage” in connection with severe weight gain. We only completed 1 course of massage (therefore, I don’t consider it relevant to justify physical activity).
    At the same time, the child’s father was lazy, did not like to crawl, sat down for about 8 months. I wasn't very active either. (A note about heredity, because I think that it often influences).
    But our relative at 6 months old. does not crawl, turns over with difficulty, barely holds his torso in his arms while on his stomach, there is no talk of anything else. At the same time, according to doctors, the child is a very healthy child, with an Apgar score of 10, by the way.
    We see the difference in the interests of children - she doesn’t need to crawl towards toys, she’s not interested in touching sockets and wires, etc.
    And I believe that only through knowledge will a child’s mind, intellect, and ingenuity be developed.
    I won’t teach reading in Doman, but I’ll start showing cards with pictures. The child shows interest in them. I don’t show all of the sets, but only what a child can encounter in the world around him (for example, a tiger, without the Ussuri, Bengal varieties).
    And I agree with the girls who wrote that you just need to take care of your children, the most important thing is contact, and it doesn’t matter what method you choose.
    And regarding the frontal lobes: my husband began to speak at 6 months, he was not yet sitting on his own, and by the age of one year he was reciting poetry. I started reading early. His mother did not know any techniques, but simply talked to him a lot and his grandmothers played actively, and did not leave him alone in the crib. And a healthy man, I tell you, has grown up!
    And most importantly: IF THE CHILDREN WERE HEALTHY! Same to you)))!

12. Olya

    everything is good in moderation. We practiced Doman at first just fanatically, soon in a very truncated version (since preparing all the materials and demonstrating them exactly “in the Doman style” is unrealistic) and in the end without much effort (well, it’s true, it took a maximum of 10 minutes a day “showing” cards), by the age of 2, the son started reading (namely, reading any words, with full understanding (if he already knows it in life), and not “memorizing instead of reading.”

    I really share your excitement, because... Indeed, there are no longitudinal normal studies (and it is impossible to conduct them), and therefore we are unlikely to see research on effectiveness. and yes, I’ve met (virtually) a lot of moms who are overly focused on RR. this is overkill...

    I can only say that early reading opened up another channel for my child to perceive the world: where an ordinary two-year-old will pass by, ours will read the name of a metro station, the name of a product in a store, he himself will read and remember a poem in a book.

    I’m not saying that this (early reading/mathematics/EL) is mandatory for every child, but I didn’t see any serious arguments against it in your article.

13. Elena

    Ekaterina, unfortunately, I don’t have personal experience to express my pros or cons, but the topic interested me, I can’t pass it by :) Before my eyes there is an example of a girl who was developed using different methods, including the use of Doman cards. Everything is fine with her, the child is well developed, but you are right - it was not the full version, but a simplified version. Interesting facts are given in this article. The author's position can be traced, which I consider reasonable - you should not blindly and exactly follow any developmental methodology, something can be applied, something should be abandoned in favor of the natural development of the baby. Did I understand the main idea correctly? 🙂

14. Maria Ledda

    I am “for” the Doman technique because I put it into practice for my 8-month-old daughter.

    The article is somewhat categorical and one-sided, since it did not take into account the positive experience of mothers from using the Doman technique. And the general problem with boring mothers is that they get hung up on one method and put learning before the child.

    My daughter and I used many early development programs and did not take into account the opinions of “would-be specialists”, but were guided solely by my own sanity. It is obvious without any scientists that dynamic gymnastics is nonsense and harmful, showing cards a million times too. I chose my learning rhythm based on the age and needs of my baby and studied. At the same time, we played many other games and spent 5-6 hours outside every day.

    Now my daughter is 5.5 years old. She is developed beyond her years - this is noted by her teachers, other mothers, and everyone who knows her. Speaks fluently in 2 languages, a little in a third: plays the piano, can read in one language, can write in 2 languages, knows counting and simple mathematics in three languages, curious, inquisitive, athletic, flexible in thinking, so in the body. Of course, we can say that I was born this way. But I am convinced that development programs played a role. The only secret is no fanaticism!!!

15. Mother

    Dear mothers, believe me, no matter what you do with your child, it will only bring benefits. Nobody asks you to stupidly follow the methodology, add your own, “put your heart into it,” so to speak. There will be results. Believe me, none of the methods are based on nothing.

    1. Post author

       Mom, let's be realistic, there are many activities with a child that, if used untimely, can cause harm. “There will be results. “None of the methods, believe me, is based on nothing,” I agree, but the results can be very different, including negative! This is why I am so careful about using techniques.

    2. Christina

       I completely agree.

16. Christina

    And then Ostap got carried away... :)
    I’ll probably be bombarded with tomatoes now, but I’ll write my own opinion since this article is open for comments.
    After reading this article my hair stood on end! I can imagine the picture a mother who is not familiar with the technique sees: a small, unhappy child is bullied by parents who, no matter what, want to make him a genius. The baby is shown cards all day long, which causes blood to constantly rush to the little head, causing illness. Moreover, besides cards, the mother does not do anything else with the baby, limiting communication only to training. The child tries to crawl away from all this, they overtake him with the words “and now we will count!” Brrr! Dear mothers, why do you like to exaggerate so much? Yes, the Doman technique is described mechanically here. But, you have your own head? Look again at physical development according to Doman. Have you never pushed your baby's legs when he was lying on his belly? He tries to push away and every (yes, 100%) mother smiles at least once and tries to help. Place a stop under the legs so that the small caterpillar moves a few cm. This is just normal charging for Doman. You don't have to follow all the recommendations. Let him crawl, he’s tired - turn him over, and don’t wait for the required distance. You don’t want to force him to crawl 250 times, so don’t force him. Don’t forget, Doman’s method is aimed at teaching special children. Yours are healthy. Haven’t you really seen in a healthy child’s room, during massages, at an orthopedist, pediatricians, how doctors and massage therapists take a child by the arms and begin to lift him up (this is an exercise from the age of one month). This is normal and a test of reflexes. Have you ever lifted your child above your head, spun with him or rocked him? This is an exercise for the vestibular apparatus. You do all this, I'm sure. It's just not methodical. Rather intuitively. So, physical development according to Doman, we have the same exercises for infants and infants. at the expense of the intellectual part. Doman - American doctor. His methodology cannot be transferred to Russian-speaking children. Let's start with the fact that our language is much more complex than English. We have a revised methodology. Those who commented are familiar with her.
    I myself practice “Clever Girl” with my baby and I know for sure that this is not at all true. Why is early development contrasted with the ordinary joys of childhood when activities are included in these children's joys? We look at cards, listen to fairy tales, swim, and hug to our heart's content - the child and I are completely happy. In fact, we don’t even do anything that the average mother wouldn’t do. Have you never read books to your child, played nursery rhymes, or looked at pictures of animals? And if you did, then stop immediately - it’s terribly harmful! Let the child develop harmoniously on his own. Forgive my emotions, but, honestly, I’m tired of all-scientific and false authoritative statements about teaching a child from those people who have never taught themselves. I respect your work, you have processed a large amount of information and concluded what is best for your baby. I respect your choice, although I fundamentally disagree with the criticism of the methodology. You just need to understand the classes. At the first stage, the child visually remembers the cards. Agree. But the learning doesn't stop there! Then you start playing word formation with your child. Make up phrases and sentences. A child who has visually memorized the word mom will notice changes when it becomes mamU in the phrase. . After some time, the child HIMSELF comes to the conclusion that all words consist of the same symbols (letters). Perceiving oral and written speech at the same time, the baby begins to independently build logical relationships between what he sees and hear, and comes to the concept of a letter, i.e. understands that the sound “a” on the card is indicated by the “A” icon. Subsequently, the baby can already read short simple words (for example, “house”, “cat”, “mom”), and then long and even unfamiliar words. And what is written here is simply taken out of the context of the methodology.
    I agree, fanatical adherence to the methodology will indeed bring little benefit, because... They do not take into account the desire and mood of the child at all. But, if you watch the baby’s reaction, if you listen to his wishes, then such a problem will not arise.
    And at this age it is very difficult to overload a child with information. Kids won't watch what you show just out of respect. If they are tired or bored, they will simply leave, crawl away, or turn away. All. There is no overload if mom watches the reaction. But if she forcibly tries to cram all the planned information into him, then the mother’s ambitions are at play here, who wants to make a genius out of the child.
    Is the method not valid? And you ask these 9,000 mothers who share lessons, best practices, and advice every day, because... have reached their final goal. Dear Christina! Firstly, in my opinion, the Doman-Manichenko technique has little relation to the Doman technique. And if you first became acquainted with the Doman technique, it really was something to make your hair stand on end. Take the same fundamental fact of the Domanov method - a huge amount of physical exercise that is not age appropriate. In general, this article only indirectly touches on the Doman-Manichenko method - in terms of early reading. Your position on reading with words (I remember words) is clear, but I have more confidence in the specialists mentioned in the article. And you forgot to comment on “premature development of the frontal zone of the brain during early reading and counting,” for us mothers this is a very critical moment.

    1. Alya

       I'm sorry, but how is premature development of the frontal zone of the brain diagnosed? Can you post a link to studies of young children (not opinions, but research results), where this is clearly stated? What are the criteria or symptoms of premature frontal lobe maturation? Or how to distinguish, for example, the mathematical or linguistic inclinations of a child from the consequences of premature development of the frontal lobes? I googled, articles on the neurophysiology of the frontal lobes in school-aged children studying in the school curriculum mainly concern the IMMATURITY of various centers of this area of ​​the brain in children with academic failure and other learning difficulties. And from my everyday observations, I don’t notice any particular socialization and emotional maturity, as well as creative expressiveness, in modern preschool children, hanging out in front of the TV with cartoons, toys on tablets, but yes, freed from “harmful” techniques.

    2. Christina

       Regarding the methodology, it’s purely Doman. Aw! It's for special children! Of course, in order to bring a special child to the required level, he must be forced to work. You cannot feel sorry for such children, otherwise there will be no result in their development. Therefore, the tasks are difficult for them in order to prolong their learning.
       But your kids are normal. Therefore, no one uses the pure Doman method. This is even stupid (forgive me for this, throw slippers at me). Why force a child to crawl a lot if everything is fine with his motor system? We crawled a little and that was enough. The same applies to everything else. Well, yes, during classes the children do not look as beautiful as in the photo. But my daughter was already able to hold her head confidently at the age of one month. And not for a couple of minutes. Accordingly, my horizons expanded. What's bad about it? The doctors unanimously said NOTHING at the commission.
       Regarding the frontal lobes... If a mother’s goal is to make her child a genius, then at least do something, at least give her some authors and scientists as examples. Useless. This is ambition. And if the mother is adequate, then she will not spend all day teaching her child only about reading and math. They will still sing, and in due time they will begin to draw. so the child will clearly develop harmoniously. And the physiological characteristics of age, wave-like attention - no one has yet canceled them. Honestly, until you mentioned it, I hadn’t even thought about the frontal lobes. She played and played with the child. So, this issue did not bother me and does not bother me. And, judging by the commenting mothers, they are also not very interested in this issue.
       As in the previous post, I will once again specifically express my thought: Doman is for “special” children with disabilities. Those who have healthy children, use your heads and leave your ambitions. Children are not toys. If you take on teaching, then follow the child’s desires and interests. Then there will be no problems with the frontal lobes, overload, or nervous sleep. Because if a child takes exactly as much as he needs at the moment, then he is happy. And if mom gives as much as she planned, then that’s her problem.

17. masher

    What conclusion did you draw for yourself? Will you continue to learn to read?

    I doubted something. We have been reading for 3 weeks now. After your article, I felt a desire to put it aside for a while. And study the colors, look at the pictures.

    Or maybe you could write an article about the Lupan technique? I'm so lazy to read the book)))

    1. Post author

       I have now put our cards aside, I am experiencing my disappointment in the methodology :). Initially, I purchased them with the goal of introducing them to the outside world - i.e. not show for 1-2 seconds as in Doman, but fully for several minutes with discussions of the image. Probably, in this full-fledged mode I will continue to introduce the pictures. I will definitely put off reading until 3-4 years, unless I find a refutation of the information about its early harm (and this moment is critical for me - I really wanted my daughter to start reading early). I’ll definitely write about Lupan when I figure it out myself. I also read a lot of good things about Montesori. I agree with the opinions of experts about the dangers of using techniques. In fact, using one technique implies monotony - and this is already the wrong step. I believe that some methods can be sources of activities to add variety to everyday life, so I will select activities that suit us from different methods.

       1. Irina

          My husband really liked your article. he said that for a woman)))) it was presented very logically and without emotion. do you have a humanities education?

          Do you have cards from the smart girl or some others? I really liked the description of their kits, the world in the palm of your hand, I was thinking of buying them to introduce them to animals and geography. You can, of course, watch all this on TV, but it seems to me better to communicate more with the child.

          and by the way, I started reading with my son not so that he would learn to read or become a genius, but simply because I didn’t know how to kill time. My son is bored doing the same thing. And it’s also hard for me without intellectual activity, so I was very excited about the idea of ​​early development. It turns out this game is more for parents.

Most modern parents believe that from the very first days of a child’s life it is necessary to develop comprehensively. Today there are many pedagogical systems developed by both foreign and domestic specialists aimed at the early development of the child.

In this article we will talk about one of them, popular for several decades, the author of which is a neurosurgeon from the USA, Glen Doman. This author’s technique, which promotes earlier development of children, is now widely used throughout the world. It is used both with healthy children and with those with any developmental problems.

Who is Doman?

Before we begin to consider the technique, let's say a few words about its author, Glen Doman. In 1940, he successfully graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, after which he worked for a short time at the hospital as a physical therapist. He served throughout World War II in the infantry, rising from private to company commander.

Returning to civilian life, he resumed his medical practice, and subsequently began rehabilitating children with serious pathologies and diseases of the nervous system, as well as various brain dysfunctions. In 1955, he created and then for a long time directed the Philadelphia Institute for the Development of Human Potential. As a result of many years of research and practical work with both sick and healthy children, many discoveries were made and the Glen Doman development method was created.

Basic provisions

When developing the early development system, Doman and the team of the institute he headed relied on the following principles:

1. Only with constant work can it grow and develop.
2. A child’s intelligence develops best with intensive brain activity from the first days of life until the age of three.
3. Good physical development of a small person contributes to more intensive formation of the brain and motor intelligence.
4. During the active growth phase, which lasts from birth to 3-5 years, the child’s brain is programmed for learning and does not require additional motivation.

When to start?

Based on the basic principles developed by Glen Doman, the early development method can be used starting from 3 months, when the child is already responding to objects. Classes begin with the demonstration of cards that depict a variety of real objects - fruits, animals, toys, birds, transport and others. Thanks to such activities, speech, attention, photographic and auditory memory develop. Parents who used Glen Doman's method leave positive reviews, since for the child it is an exciting game, and not a boring learning experience. This technique is designed for children under the age of three, since later, Doman noted, the ability to assimilate new information is significantly reduced.

Motor intelligence

The more intensively a child’s brain is loaded, the faster it develops, Glen Doman found out as a result of research. The technique he developed proposes to develop a child’s mental activity through the formation of “motor” intelligence, that is, by mastering a variety of motor skills. To “boost” the development of movements, Doman developed a special simulator - a crawling track. This is a narrow space, limited on both sides by sides. The width of the track should be such that the baby’s hips and forearms touch the sides. All this is aimed at creating an imitation of the intrauterine space and awakening in the child’s memory the “first reflex”, thanks to which he was able to be born. Such a simulator allows a baby to actively crawl and “conquer” quite long distances by the age of 4 months, thereby developing his motor intelligence, brain and ability to perceive new information.

You can make a similar structure from two ready-made bookshelves, covering the walls and the space between them with a soft blanket or blanket. To interest the baby, you can install a bright toy at the end of the “path”.

Main tool

In parallel with the track simulator, special cards are used for the early development of children.

They are made of a certain size and contain realistic images and inscriptions, which helps the child perceive information and receive the brain load necessary for development. It is enough for the child to show cards with images of the concepts being studied, and the child will find the rules to which they obey. As Glen Doman himself argued, this technique, if applied correctly, can raise a child prodigy and a genius.

Where can I get them?

If you are interested and want to work with your child, you can:

• buy;
• find kits online and print them;
• choose pictures and make cards yourself.

It’s just important to remember that if Glen Doman’s technique is used, the cards must have a white background on which a large, and most importantly, as realistic image of the object as possible is placed.

At the bottom, in large red font, is written a word that denotes the object, object or phenomenon depicted in the picture.

Creation Rules

For those who decided to make Doman cards with their own hands, here are their main parameters and characteristics:

1. Dimensions: 28 x 28 cm. As many parents note, a reduction of a couple of centimeters did not affect classes.
2. Each card contains one image.
3. The background is only white.
4. The image must be clear and as realistic as possible.
5. We write the name of the item shown on the card below it in large red block letters. On the reverse side we duplicate the inscription in pencil. In the future, you can write down interesting facts and information there.
6. The information offered must be new and unfamiliar to the child, otherwise he will quickly lose interest.

How to conduct classes?

How often and for how long the classes will last, parents decide for themselves, focusing on the physical condition of the child and his regime. It is worth practicing only when the child is calm and cheerful, has had enough sleep and is well-fed.

For classes, you need to select 5 cards related to one topic and show each one to your child for a few seconds, while pronouncing the name of the item, recommends Glen Doman. The technique involves replacing one card from the set with a new one after three lessons. Thus, all pictures will be replaced. In about a week, you can slowly get acquainted with both the method itself and the cards.

• prepare 5 sets of words of the same or different topics in advance;
• During each lesson, one set is demonstrated once;
• lesson time is about 10-15 seconds;
• up to 15 demonstrations are held per day;
• Each set and card is shown to the child three times a day.

Learning to read

Glen Doman's reading method is based on the child's mechanical memorization of the entire word at once, rather than putting it together from individual letters and syllables.

First, the child is shown and voiced individual words, then phrases, and then simple sentences. Reading books follows the same principle as working with cards. For several days, an adult reads a book two or three times a day. At some point, the child will have a desire to read the book on his own. Since the baby remembers the whole word and does not put syllables together from letters, seeing it in the text, he recognizes and reproduces its sound.

Foreign languages

If your child masters his native language without any difficulties, then Glen Doman’s method will also help him master English and another foreign language. You can start practicing from the age of two.

Before starting to learn any foreign language with their child, parents must adequately assess their level of proficiency in it. Good pronunciation and knowledge of grammatical basics will be enough to help your child learn a new language. If you doubt your own pronunciation or knowledge, it is better to find a teacher.

Regardless of whether there is a teacher or not, you can organize the following flows of information for your child, which will facilitate learning the chosen language:

• Songs and audio fairy tales, television programs in this language, which can be turned on as a background when playing or putting children to bed from birth to two years old. The child most likely will not look at the screen, but his brain will “record” words and sounds.
• Starting from the age of two, when a child can already focus attention on a moving image for quite a long time, you can start watching animated films, fairy tales, and theatrical productions for children in a foreign language. This will help the baby correlate situations, movements and objects with sounds and understand their meaning.
• From the age of three, you can teach your child to use educational interactive language programs on a computer or other device.

Thanks to the enormous work done by Glen Doman, it has become very popular. Many parents take it as a basis and optimize it for the development and health status of their baby, often combining it with elements of other systems. Remember that for a child this is a game, and it should be fun, interesting and exciting.

Today there are many early development methods. Children are the most important and promising part of society, our future. And as you know, you need to work on the future in the present.

To date, no system has caused as much excitement, controversy and controversy as Glen Doman's early development method. Many parents and specialists are categorically against the advice of this American physical therapist, but even more mothers are ardent supporters of his system.

Nevertheless, the need to study the early development of children objectively exists. Every sane parent strives to instill in their child the most essential skills from an early age and to maximally prepare them physically and psychologically for adulthood.

Who is Doman?

Glen Doman (born 1919) is a neurophysiologist who developed a program for the early physical, intellectual and sensory development of children. Glen worked as a physical therapist and military doctor, but found his calling in helping children with neurological disorders. In 1955, Doman founded the Institute for Human Development in Philadelphia. He also published a series of books about the rehabilitation and harmonious development of children.

In 1966, Doman received the title “For services to children around the world” in Brazil, and in 2007 he was awarded a medal from the Italian Senate for his work with children.

Director Doman died at the age of 94. He had three children, two of whom - Douglas and Jeannette Doman - continue the work of their great parent and run the institute in Philadelphia.

For whom was the technique originally created?

In the post-war years, Doman worked as a neurophysiologist and was involved in the rehabilitation of children with brain injuries.

Brain damage of various origins leads to a whole range of diseases, which in medical practice are usually designated as diagnoses: “cerebral palsy”, “cerebral stroke”, “epileptic syndrome”, “autism”, etc. Brain damage of varying degrees can also be accompanied by genetic diseases, the most common being Down syndrome.

More than 20 years of daily work with children with neurological disorders preceded the invention of the Doman comprehensive rehabilitation system. Even in the early stages of his interaction with the younger generation, Glen clearly realized that classical methods of working with patients with damage to various parts of the brain work less than 15%. These techniques include massage, passive exercise therapy, paraffin and ozokerite applications, orthopedic surgeries, prosthetics, plaster casting, botulinum toxin injections, etc. Their action is aimed only at solving symptoms and does not in any way affect the cause of the disease - brain damage.

At the same time, it is unfortunately impossible to restore, build up or patch damaged areas of the brain, but the potential of this mysterious organ is underestimated, and it can be developed to a hitherto unknown level. Thus, according to the Doman method, it is possible to develop intact areas of the main brain as much as possible, and they can begin to perform the functions of dead cells.

Dr. Doman argued that most diagnoses, at first glance, inconsolable (“cerebral palsy”, “Down syndrome”, “stroke”, “neurological blindness”, “deafness”, “muteness”, “autism”, “epilepsy”), are just medical terms, not sentences. A team of doctors led by Doman was able to prove that the human brain has enormous, invaluable resources for self-healing. He introduced the term “neuroplasticity” into the medical lexicon.

Doman has proven through numerous studies that “there is no connection between brain injury and mental retardation.” On his active initiative, the term “mental retardation” was removed from the official list of diagnoses in America.

The essence of early development methods according to Glen Doman

The whole essence and global meaning of the multi-level rehabilitation method according to Glen Doman is contained in one sentence: “The brain is irreversibly improved when learning complex skills.” . But at the same time, the brain degrades if it is not used.

He noted that children with brain damage have enormous learning abilities; it is only important to find the right approach to them and begin rehabilitation from the level at which the child is.

Doman is the author of a method for assessing a child’s skills called the “Development Profile.” This is a scale for assessing the baby's sensory, physical, and manual skills. For healthy children, assessment according to the “Profile” is not necessary, but for children with brain injuries it is necessary.

Institute for Human Development

This is a group of scientific non-profit institutions that have been providing assistance to children with brain injuries and teaching a unique technique to parents and professionals from around the world since 1955. After the death of the founder, the institute is led by his son Douglas Doman.

The Institute's branches are located in Japan, Mexico, Italy, Singapore, Guatemala, Brazil, Spain, and France.

Mostly, the institute accepts children with special needs for courses, where they are thoroughly diagnosed and parents are taught how to work with children at home.

How necessary is Glen Doman's early development method for healthy babies?

At the stage when hundreds of thousands of children from all over the world with varying degrees of brain damage were undergoing rehabilitation using this system, the institute’s specialists began to observe strange things. Some skills in children with brain injuries who were intensively trained were much more developed than in healthy peers. Naturally, the cause of this could not be a cerebral injury. Scientists realized that if special patients can be ahead of healthy people in development, then children without neurological disorders are also able to develop much faster if they study using the same method.

Thus, the global popularization of the concept created by Glen Doman began. The method of this American neurophysiotherapist was no longer perceived only as a rehabilitation system for patients with brain injuries, but also as an early development method for all children.

It must be emphasized right away that Glen Doman and his followers never tried to motivate parents to make their children world champions or generally recognized leaders. They emphasized that classes according to the system are simply an interesting part of the life of little people, and it should not be a burden to either the children or their parents. But such training provides a high-quality basis for the child’s further development.

What books should you read before you start teaching your child?

Parents whose children have developmental problems should first read the book “What to Do If Your Child Has Brain Damage.” In it, the author writes about the creation of institutions and how Glen Doman's methodology developed. The author also describes the main problems associated with brain damage (such as neurological blindness, hearing impairment, imbalances in muscle tone, pathological reflexes, epilepsy, delayed speech development), supplementing useful information with practical recommendations for activities with children on all points, as well as statistics on children’s results in the program.

The book “The Harmonious Development of Your Child” will be useful to parents of special and healthy children. This is a kind of action plan that tells you how to study according to the program, how to integrate the acquired knowledge into everyday life. All subsequent literary works of Doman are already in-depth versions of this book, which detail the program by profile:

• "How to Teach Your Child to Read."
• "How Smart Is Your Child" (co-written with his daughter Jeannette Doman).
• "How to Give Your Child Encyclopedic Knowledge."
• “How to make a child physically perfect.”
• "How to develop your child's intelligence."

Physical development according to Glen Doman

It doesn’t matter whether the child is sick or completely healthy, but in order to develop physical intelligence, the cub needs to move.

Meaningful movement is the basis of life. That's exactly what Glen Doman said. The development methodology is practically based on providing the child with a life in motion.

According to Doman's concept, the best place for a newborn in the first months of life is the floor. And the best position is on the tummy. The most important skill for every person is crawling on his stomach, then on all fours. Doman insists that the child does not need to be forced into an upright position, led, or placed in a walker or other device. Children should not miss the period of crawling, which helps strengthen the muscles of the back, legs, arms, and develops breathing, vision and speech.

He recommends putting the baby on the floor whenever possible. In this case, the floor needs to be made comfortable and safe; ideally, a gymnastic mat or covering should be laid, as on children's playgrounds. The child’s legs and elbows should not be dressed in order to have good grip on the horizontal surface.

Often children with developmental delays cannot crawl on a level floor. Doman advises their parents to build a crawling board, with sides, the right covering, and place it at an angle at which the child can crawl.

Doman does not recommend leaving the child crawling on his own. Instead, he recommends that parents always stand at the finish line with interesting toys and exaggeratedly praise the child for his achievements.

Development and correction of vision, hearing, sensory perception according to Doman

Glen Doman's early development methodology "0 to 4 years" includes a mandatory sensory program. The doctor noted that sensory pathways are the main incoming channels into the brain, which the child uses from the first days.

It is vision, hearing, smell, and tactile sensations that give the baby the opportunity to form the first picture of the world around him. In children with brain injuries, outgoing neural pathways are most often disrupted, that is, the functions responsible for transmitting signals from the main brain to a specific action (meaningful movement, verticalization, speech). Such children also often perceive incoming information distortedly or do not perceive it at all. Their vision, hearing, smell, and tactile signals are impaired. Moreover, the curvature can be towards both hyposensitivity and hypersensitivity. For example, some patients have sensitive hearing, notes Glen Doman. The method of rehabilitation measures for such children is very multi-level. It is described very well in the book What to Do If Your Child Has Brain Damage.

But it is also important for a healthy child to experience the full range of sensory signals every day. They not only themselves influence the development of brain functions, but also prepare the main organ for the perception of more complex information.

Doman advises developing a child’s vision from an adequate level. That is, there is no need to give a one-month-old baby cartoons or works by Picasso. From birth, children's sensory receptors are still underdeveloped. At this time, the cub perceives shadow and light more. Glen Doman's early development method recommends starting with flashlight training. In a dark room, turn on one light bulb or flashlight for a few minutes and teach the baby to look for a ray of light in a dark space.

Then you can prepare the child's vision to perceive contrasting images by showing him black and white pictures. Then you can add one color at a time.

Also, a child’s tactile perception can be developed by giving him the opportunity to feel things of different temperature, density and texture: warm and cold, hard and soft, smooth and rough, etc.

If you observe the behavior of a baby, you can immediately understand that the initiator of such sensory experiences is often the baby himself. He smells everything, feels it, puts it in his mouth. This is how the child perceives the world around him. He should not be scolded for trying to explore space, even if they lead to damage to household property. You just need to secure this very space, remove unsafe, valuable or very small objects.

How to develop a child's intelligence?

Parents who want to develop their child’s intelligence can often hear complaints of a similar nature from the first months: “Don’t touch the child, let him live happily, let him have a childhood, otherwise he will be tired 200 times over from all this training.” . He still has kindergarten, school is ahead.” This is indirectly influenced by the system of acquiring knowledge in our country. Education is perceived as something forced and painful.

But Western experts, including Doman, insist that a child is happy when he learns about the world around him. The process of learning something new is as natural for him as breathing. In addition, in early childhood the brain is so plastic that it can absorb and process an endless amount of information. It is only important to present knowledge to the child in a playful, non-forced form, to praise the child for any initiatives, successes and attempts.

Doman advises developing intelligence by practicing exercises with cards - “bits of intelligence.” You need to start with primitive information: colors, shapes, objects in the apartment, animals, etc. For example, prepare several cards depicting geometric shapes. Show them one by one, calling: “This is a rhombus, a triangle, a circle, etc.” Praise the child for his attention and finish this little lesson. According to Doman's research, it is enough for a child to look at one card for 5 days, five times daily, in order to forever remember the image on it and its designation.

Many people are interested in Glen Doman's progressive reading method. It is based on the fact that it is difficult for a child to perceive symbols and letters. They essentially do not mean anything, but words that consist of symbols have real designations. Doman recommends teaching your child to read words. Write on the card in large letters the words that are most understandable to the child: “mom,” “dad,” “baba.” The words should be shown to the child quite quickly, clearly voicing each one. They need to be written in a large font, each letter with an approximate height of 7-10 cm.

Glen Doman's teaching method in mathematics is also based on the fact that numbers essentially mean nothing to a child. These are just symbols. But they can mean a number of items. You need to start learning mathematics by counting objects, and then include the study of numbers that represent this quantity.

Glen Doman: early development methods at home. Reviews from parents and specialists

The essence of the Doman method is based on daily home care provided by the parents themselves. Doman took the role of a parent in a child’s development to a new level. Domestic doctors like to focus on the fact that parents have become “so smart that it’s scary” or “specialists know better.” But Doman partially rejects this approach, emphasizing that the parent is the main character in the life of the child. He is the one who knows his little one better than anyone. But you need to be vigilant and judicious. It doesn’t matter whether the child is sick or healthy - you should start Doman classes only after reading his books. Training should be conducted in a free, playful, relaxed atmosphere.

Doman himself outlined the following guidelines for parents:

• Encourage your child to move in any way. This is the basis of life and development. Do not limit your baby to special devices (playpen, walker), do not tell him to sit down.
• Whatever physical action the baby does, let him do it on his own. This is exactly what Glen Doman advises. The technique that is practiced in his institutes completely eliminates “nodding” over the child and all body movements in the spirit of: “Stop running, sit down and calm down” or “I will do it myself, otherwise you will break it, break it, scatter it, etc.”
• Teach your child to be proud of what he does so well and is successful at.
• But don't force your child to study when he's sick or tired.

Glen Doman's technique was created more than 50 years ago. At the time of its creation, this rehabilitation system was the most advanced, holistic and comprehensive. But even today, many parents raising children with brain damage observe positive dynamics in them only after Doman classes.

Several dozen Russian children are even patients at the institute in Philadelphia. Their parents create forums, actively discuss the methodology, and share impressive results. To be fair, it is worth noting that parents of children with cerebral palsy and autism share mostly positive reviews about Doman’s method. Every child who is treated conscientiously has been helped in some way by this system. But parents of special children rarely start new rehabilitation methods without preparation. They carefully re-read books, consult with a good neurologist, and perhaps even contact institutes.

However, there are people who speak negatively about this program. These are mainly those parents who did not bother to comprehensively study the philosophy of the method, did not re-read the books, did not ask a specialist, but heard that the child needs to read 25 words every day, show pictures, cram in unnecessary knowledge, force him to crawl for a kilometer, etc. . Some experts also speak negatively about the Doman system, especially those who promote their early development systems.

Despite the contradictions that, according to some experts, Glen Doman's developmental method has, it is still the most comprehensive system for the rehabilitation of children with brain damage in the whole world. I cannot count the number of children for whom this rehabilitation has helped them realize the happiness of their first steps and first words. And Director Doman was able to prove, using the example of many brave and purposeful children and parents, that the capabilities of the human brain are limitless. And every parent can multiply the potential of their children if they believe in them and make efforts for their development.

Good afternoon, all those who are interested in early development methods, of which there are a huge number. Each technique has its pros and cons. And each parent decides for himself how, when and what to teach his child.

Many of us have already heard about Glen Doman's early development method. In this article, you will learn how this technique originated, in which areas development takes place according to the Doman system, how to practice using this technique, as well as what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Doman technique.

Glen Doman (1920-2013) is an American physical therapist, author of a method of intensive intellectual and physical development of children from birth.

Glen Doman is the founder of the Institute for the Development of Human Potential (1955). Doman, along with his family, treated children who suffered from various brain disorders. Various unique techniques have been created and developed, with the help of which it became possible to restore damaged cells. While treating and rehabilitating children with lesions of the central nervous system, Glen Doman came to the conclusion that the human brain develops most actively before the age of 6-7 years. Glen Doman considers the period up to 3 years to be the most active period of brain development.

During classes with sick children, their healthy brothers and sisters were also present, who happily repeated all the exercises and quickly achieved good results. Then Glen Doman decided to develop a method for healthy children.

This is how Glen Doman’s early childhood development method arose, aimed at developing and stimulating brain activity in healthy children.

Glen Doman showed us how enormous human potential is. Doman believed that it was necessary to “give children unlimited opportunities in life.” Children who were taught using this method at the age of 2-4 years read fluently, mastered mathematics, knew many different facts, and had good physical fitness.

Glen Doman developed his own method for 3-4 year old children, based on the fact that at this time the human brain is most actively developing. Glen Doman proved that the brain actively develops when it works and the more intense the load in the first years of a child’s life, the better the child’s intelligence will develop.

In what areas does a child develop according to Glen Doman’s early development method?

• Reading. Cards - red words are depicted on a white background, which are also shown to the child several times a day, gradually making them more difficult. You show the card and read what is written on it, that is, the child learns to read entire words at once. The child remembers words mechanically.
• Mathematics. It is believed that the child represents quantity, not numbers and signs. Therefore, you need to teach the child by showing cards with a certain amount of something.

It is important to start classes when the child already understands the phrase “there are three oranges on the table, and next to them two pomegranates.”

White cards with red dots on them were chosen for display. To teach mathematics, you need to show these cards to the child regularly and one by one, devoting 1-2 seconds to one card, and the lesson should last about 10-15 seconds, there should be several such lessons a day. When showing a card, you need to say how many dots are shown on it.

• Encyclopedic facts. On the cards we show various information in the form of pictures. Facts are the basis of any knowledge, skill or profession. Facts should be clear, distinct, interesting and consistent. Glen Doman also believed that facts must be systematized. Facts are systematized into sections (biology), categories (plants, animals), bits - units of information (photo of a zebra, cow).
• Physical development. Glen Doman believes that it is necessary to pay a lot of attention to the physical development of a child in the first year of his life. To do this, he developed a system for the physical development of children.

You can make your child his own selection of cards on a specific topic or make a presentation on the computer. An example would be the presentation “wild animals”.

How to practice according to Glen Doman's early development method?

• You need to work with your child from an early age;
• show cards and say their name. 1-2 seconds are allotted for each card;
• classes should be short so that the child does not get bored with them;
• replenish cards with new ones daily, the same card does not need to be shown more than 3 times a day;
• The baby should be in a good mood;
• rejoice at your child’s success;
• conduct classes systematically and regularly;
• teach only if both you and your child like it;
• Don't test your child's knowledge.

Like any technique, the Doman technique has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Doman technique

I would like to add that it is not at all necessary to scrupulously follow one single technique; you can take the best from each technique and implement it. Each child is an individual, with his own personal qualities, skills and desires.

If you have seriously decided to develop your child using this method, I can suggest you purchase Doman cards on DVD. This set includes 5 DVDs and contains first words, everyday words, animals and phrases (designed for children from 0 to 3 years old).

Let's make the lives of our children interesting and varied!

Have you used this technique for your child? What results have you achieved? Does your child enjoy looking at flashcards?

P.S. Subscribe to updates and be the first to learn a lot of interesting things about the life of the blog!

Last article updated: March 30, 2018

Today's parents devote a lot of time to early childhood development. This is also facilitated by original training programs, which have not lost their popularity for many years. Surely mothers have heard about Montessori materials or Doman cards.

Child psychologist

The system of American physiotherapist Glen Doman, which will be discussed in the article, is built on the principle of conveying large amounts of information to the child through visual perception. Special cards help in this process.

Doman’s early development method, according to the author and his followers, can significantly expand a child’s innate abilities and even raise a real genius. However, opponents of this system are convinced that it can harm the child. Where is the truth?

If you are interested in early childhood development programs, be sure to read the article in which a psychologist explains what it is and what the basic principles of this popular educational system are.

The future author of the popular developmental methodology was born in 1919 in Philadelphia. In the early 40s, Doman began physical therapy practice at the clinic. The main goal of his work is to study the laws and features of the development of the children's brain.

However, the ongoing world war forced the scientist to interrupt his work and volunteer for the front. For his military service as a member of a company of infantrymen, Doman was even awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest among American military awards.

After the end of hostilities, Doman returned to work and began to specialize in children with severe damage to the cerebral cortex and serious damage to the central nervous system.

In the mid-50s, he organized the private Institute for Achieving Human Potential. The fundamental basis of this research institution was the method of Glen Doman.

For two decades, the scientist, together with his colleagues, conducted various studies, experimented, and summarized information in order to create a system for the rehabilitation of children with delayed mental and intellectual development.

Glen Doman was convinced that first of all it was necessary to cure the cause of mental difficulties - the imperfection of the brain, and only then deal with the consequences - weak speech, imperfect movements, etc.

In 1960, Doman published material in a specialized scientific publication about the peculiarities of his work with children diagnosed with brain damage and the results of their rehabilitation. This article brought him wide fame in scientific circles.

It was from this time that the Doman early development method began to be actively used not only by specialists, but also by parents, and its use was expanded - now healthy children were also trained.

Full information about the development system can be found in books by the author himself:

• “How to teach a child to read”;
• "Harmonious development of the child."

In these books the reader will find a “clean” system, without additions or corrections. In Russia, the Doman technique is popular, which is adapted to Russian linguistic and cultural specifics by Andrei Manichenko.

Children's capabilities will increase day by day if you work with your child constantly and on a regular basis. The author of the method was convinced that the brain can only develop with daily training.

However, this process is uneven. That is why, up to the age of 3, it is necessary to convey the maximum amount of information to the child, and in the next 3 years, until the age of six, to constantly support the child’s skills and supplement his “baggage” with new knowledge.

Doman's child development method is based on based on several important principles:

1. Early classes. Classes with children to improve motor skills and intelligence should begin almost from the first days of life. Immediately after birth, Doman recommended incorporating exercise into your daily routine. It is necessary to stimulate the child to crawl, grab, roll over, and stand. You should also teach your baby to swim. The author convinced that such reflexes are natural for children.

   Intellectual development occurs with the help of sets of cards. The child grasps the picture, remembering it at the subconscious level. This allows you to “pump” large amounts of information into the baby.

2. Regularity of exercise. According to Doman, classes must be held daily and cannot be missed. Only in this case will the child’s brain work and develop fully.
3. Taking into account the child's interest. Classes should be carried out only when the baby is interested in them. If he experiences any discomfort, he should return to exercise after 2 to 3 hours.
4. Creating conditions for learning. Doman cards are a prerequisite for a child’s development. This toolkit consists of pictures, dots or words. Cards are introduced into the process gradually so that the baby can quickly remember everything.

Physical development according to Doman

The development system for the little ones includes a very serious set of physical exercises. Dr. Doman believed that there was a relationship between motor skills and intelligence.

Adults who regularly engage in certain exercises with their children stimulate cognitive processes. Thus, the more physically developed the baby is, the higher his intelligence will be.

In order for the baby to be active, certain conditions are created. First of all, you need a special crawling track, which needs to be positioned at a slight angle. The child should be lightly dressed during exercise.

The complexity and duration of the exercises will depend on the age of the ward.

• Almost from the first days of life, a child must, using the innate repulsion reflex, crawl a short distance along a special track. Such charging is performed 10 times a day. Total duration - 4 hours a day;
• development of manual skills. The child is offered an index finger or a smooth wooden pin of similar size for grasping. When the baby grabs the finger, the mother lifts his torso. Perform lifts 10 times a day. Duration - 10 minutes;
• development of balance. This type of exercise involves improving the vestibular system. The parent rocks, rotates, and tosses the child in various planes. In total, this complex for newborns consists of 15 different exercises. Duration - 10 minutes.

From 2 to 7 months

• development of motor skills. The child crawls on his belly for a toy. He needs to crawl along the track a longer distance than before (a good level is one pause for the entire distance). The exercise is performed 15 times a day. Total duration: from 4 hours per day;
• development of manual skills. The child grabs the parent's finger, and mom or dad raises the torso so that the baby hangs a little. Perform hangs 15 times a day. Duration increases from two to 10 seconds;
• development of balance. The mother rocks, rotates and tosses the baby in various planes. Again, the same 15 exercises are performed as in the early age period. Duration of improvement of the vestibular apparatus: 10 minutes.

From 7 to 12 months

• development of motor skills. The child crawls on all fours. It is necessary to carry out up to 30 series of such exercises per day. Total duration: minimum 4 hours, preferably up to 12 hours a day;
• development of manual skills. The child hangs on the crossbar, and the parent belays him. Perform hangs 15 times a day. The duration of each exercise is 20 seconds;
• development of balance. The child is rocked, rotated, and tossed in various planes. At this age, a set of 10 special exercises is performed. The duration of such charging is 20 minutes.

From 1 year

• development of motor skills. The child walks, and he needs to start with one or two steps. Up to 30 walking sessions are carried out per day. Duration: minimum 2 hours per day;
• development of manual skills. The child hangs on the horizontal bar, and then gradually moves along it using interceptions (this method must first be demonstrated). During the day you need to perform 10 interception exercises and 5 series of sagging exercises. Duration - 5 minutes;
• development of balance. A set of 10 exercises is performed to passively develop balance. The parent shakes, twists, and tosses the baby in different planes. Duration: 20 minutes.

To ensure that nothing interferes with physical activity, Doman recommended that parents wear a minimum of clothing on their newborn. This way the child will move his arms and legs freely, which will speed up his physical maturation.

Read more about this in the article by a child psychologist. From it you will learn how to create conditions for walking and what exercises will help increase your baby’s physical activity.

In his works, the author indicated the optimal age for mastering this skill - 12 months. In addition, in order to control the acquisition of knowledge, it is necessary to ensure the child’s ability to speak, since after a week of training the baby must “read” the words shown.

Educational cards for children have a strictly defined size: 10 by 50 centimeters. The words on them must be bright red, and the height of the letters is approximately 7.5 centimeters.

According to the Doman method for teaching reading a certain pattern must be followed:

1. First day: The child is shown 5 pictures with noun words four times. Pauses between classes are no more than half an hour.
2. Second day: the parent performs three displays of 5 words each, already demonstrated yesterday, and three displays of 5 new words. The result is 6 lessons, during which 10 words are studied.
3. Third day: Mom carries out six sessions of 5 cards, already shown on the first and second day, and three sessions of 5 new words. The result is 9 lessons, during which 15 words are studied.

It should be remembered that a 30-minute break is required between exercise sessions. In this case, the child’s nervous system will have time to rest, and the result will be noticeable faster.

As soon as the word has been studied for five days, it is removed from the demonstration, since the baby should already remember it. The author recommended that for better control over the replacement of cards, write the start date of presentation on them.

Teaching a child to count using Doman

According to Glen Doman's method, parents and children count differently: an adult imagines a specific number, and a child sees the number of apples, candies, etc.

That is why on the cards that will be shown to the child, the author depicted not numbers, but red dots that correspond to this number. This will make it easier for children to learn counting.

The demonstration material consists of white cards, the size of which is approximately 27 by 27 centimeters. The diameter of the red circles is slightly less than 2 centimeters. You will need 100 similar cards, on which there will be from 1 to 100 circles.

Learning to count is similar to learning to read and includes the following actions:

• the child is quickly shown cards with circles;
• the lesson consists of three sessions of 5 cards each;
• every day you need to add two new cards and remove 2 cards with familiar numbers from the session;
• then the adult introduces additional pictures with more circles and increases their number.

Doman's counting method suggests that if a child regularly looks at cards with circles depicted, then very soon he will learn to set the number of objects automatically. This will allow him to perform mathematical operations on large numbers.

A child needs to be constantly developed, as Doman believed, the purpose of life is to gain knowledge. Information materials consist of so-called “bits of intelligence”, which represent some specific fact.

The author of the method believed that the explanations are not of particular interest and do not provide any benefit to the child, since his brain can only perceive pure facts - that same bit of information.

Cards for child development help to gain deep and versatile knowledge if:

• each element of the image is clearly visible;
• there is only one item shown on the map;
• the parent pronounces the name of each item;
• Previously, this image was unknown to the child;
• the map is quite large;
• it is clean, without image noise or dirt.

The formation of encyclopedic knowledge occurs as follows: the mother shows the child a card for 2 seconds, clearly pronouncing the name or description of the image.

Glen Doman believed that this technique is aimed at developing the speed of the nervous reaction. And if at first the child does not understand anything, then (subject to regular training) he develops faster memorization and photographic memory.

Initially, you need to show 10 cards three times a day, then little by little the number of cards shown increases to 120. As soon as the picture has been viewed 30 times, it should be replaced with a new one. Therefore, mom needs to keep a record of how long each card was shown.

Demonstration material is sold in stores, but many parents are increasingly choosing to make cards themselves, since hundreds, or even thousands, of pictures and images will be needed for training.

What other ones can you use at home? You can find out about this by reading an article by a child psychologist with the most detailed description of useful activities for kids by month.

Glen Doman's technique allows you to make cards from scrap materials. The simplest and most reasonable option is to download it for free from the website and print it on thick, high-quality paper using a color printer. You can make cards by cutting out pictures from magazines and newspapers.

The printed material, if used carefully, will last quite a long time if the hard paper is additionally laminated. You can even lend such cards to friends who also want to teach their child using this method.

It is imperative to sign the back of the card in advance so as not to turn it over during the demonstration, because nothing should distract the baby from the process of contemplating the depicted object or word.

The cards need to be systematized and divided into certain sections. Eg:

• poultry;
• musical instruments;
• body parts;
• vegetables;
• Russian writers, etc.

If for the youngest children 10 cards for each section are enough, then for older children the number of pictures increases sharply. In addition, subcategories appear in sections. For example, in the category “birds” “waterfowl”, “birds of the Arctic”, “birds of prey” appear.

Doman's technique in the words of the author

An American physiotherapist compared the child's brain to a perfect computer that collects and analyzes “bits of intelligence”. The author believed that it is not common for children under 1 year of age to perceive overly intelligent thoughts.

The child should be presented with specific, clear and as accessible information as possible. As an example, Doman suggests paying attention to how a child meets a dog.

When a kid looks at Sharik running by and asks what it is, a parent can:

• refer to being busy and refuse to explain;
• tell the child: “This is yap-yap”;
• simply say that it is a dog;
• explain that this is a poodle dog;
• show images with dogs;
• demonstrate cards with different breeds of dogs and show where the St. Bernard, Shepherd, Dachshund, Setter, etc. are depicted.

The last explanation is the most complete, since without additional explanation the child can understand that all dogs have common features - four legs, a tail, and fur. However, pets differ in size, color, etc.

That is, in a short time the baby independently does a lot of intellectual work and accelerates brain activity.

Early child development according to the Glen Doman system is popular among domestic mothers. Typically, parents express positive opinions about the results of regular activities, since the baby is actively interested in bright images, words and dots.

Glen Doman's cards attract children's attention, so the child remembers a lot of facts and information that his parents offer him.

However, many experts are not so optimistic about this technique, highlighting several serious disadvantages:

1. The system is based only on visual and sound perception. The child passively receives information, does not analyze it and is often unable to apply it in practice.
2. The lessons do not provide for the development of creative abilities. For example, without developing fine motor skills, it is impossible to improve a child’s intelligence. However, when working with cards, the child does not draw, do not sculpt from plasticine, or play.
3. According to the method, the text is accompanied by a demonstration of cards. In the future, the child has difficulty reading texts without images and does not always understand the material read. Such training is fraught with a lack of desire in children to engage in uninteresting activities.
4. Every baby is a bright personality with his own preferences. One wants to sculpt from plasticine, another strives to collect puzzles, the third wants to engage in active activities. Not every child will study Doman cards without doing anything.

Increased stress on the nervous system often leads to undesirable consequences - mental disorders, changes in emotional background, problems with appetite, communication skills, high anxiety, and tearfulness.

Neurologist's opinion

Many experts speak quite negatively about Glen Doman’s method. For example, neurologist Elizaveta Melanchenko opposes early developmental systems, including Domanov’s.

Children often come to see neurologists with various problems such as tics, obsessive movements, and enuresis. Such symptoms are the result of teaching the child too early. What causes psychological and neurological disorders?

The maturation of a child's brain occurs gradually. First of all, centers are formed that are responsible for the functioning of the respiratory and digestive systems, then for movement, emotions, volitional processes and reading.

If this sequence is violated (when a child is taught to read before he begins to walk), the baby’s development may deviate from standard indicators.

Due to intellectual overstrain, spasm of the head vessels occurs due to blood flow to the brain. As a result, the child has a headache, tics, enuresis and simply increased emotional lability.

Unfortunately, some mothers do not listen to the advice of specialists and intellectually overload their children. As a result, the child becomes uncontrollable, aggressive, cannot master the kindergarten curriculum, and then switches to home schooling.

In especially severe cases, children are even prescribed serious medications to reduce the manifestation of neurological disease. The conclusion, as they say, is up to you.

Doman cards are part of the popular developmental system of the American physiotherapist. Some parents talk about obvious positive changes in the development of the baby, while other mothers are convinced that accumulated knowledge is forgotten with age.

Hello, I am Nadezhda Plotnikova. Having successfully completed her studies at SUSU as a specialized psychologist, she devoted several years to working with children with developmental problems and consulting parents on issues of raising children. I use the experience gained, among other things, in creating articles of a psychological nature. Of course, I in no way claim to be the ultimate truth, but I hope that my articles will help dear readers deal with any difficulties.