What to Do With 30 Seconds

An amazing man, by the name of Glenn Doman, gives some excellent counsel in his book How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence on What to Do with 30 Seconds.

We are all busy, right? Work, school, home, etc. Then add kids to the picture? This can be crazy, chaotic, and challenging to say the least.

So what are we doing to give our kids that little bit of extra? What are we doing to make them excellent?

If you are anything like me, I knew I needed to do something to give my kids a firm foundation to build their lives. I just didn't know what that something was. Yes, we went for walks, we read lots of books, but what else are you supposed to do?

From reading Glenn Doman's book, I gained priceless ideas of things that are EASY and QUICK that you can integrate into your daily crazy-busy life that will make a huge impact on the rest of your child's life.

One of my favorite ideas that Mr. Doman discusses is What to Do with 30 Seconds. Mr. Doman states that "The basis of all intelligence is facts. Without facts there is no intelligence."

That sounds lovely, but what does that mean and how do I do that?

Well, your child is a genius - literally. Every child! The only thing he is lacking is vocabulary and experience. They are thirsty sponges for facts - more thirsty than the Extra Thirsty Pockets on the Brawny Man's paper towels. They want to know everything about everything.

This is where using 30 seconds to saturate those Extra Thirsty Pockets comes in.

Here's the situation:

You are cooking dinner. Timing is crucial. If you don't juggle everything just right the main course will be overcooked and the side dishes will be undercooked. You are trying to unload and load the dishwasher, sweep the floor, answer the phone, and keep the dog out from under your feet.

You hear from the front room the voice of your sweet child:

"Mommy! Come look, there is a dog outside!"

You can do one of a few things.

1. Reply - "That's nice, Honey, but Mommy is trying to cook dinner," and brush off the request.
2. Turn the stove off and walk into the front room to your child. Spend the next 30 seconds with your child telling them everything you know about dogs.

Do you know what breed of dog it is? What color is it? Does it have long or short fur? Is it a small dog or a big dog? Does the owner graciously stop to pick up the poop the dog just deposited on your lawn?

Your child will devour these facts more readily and completely than the meal you are preparing in the other room.

What difference does this 30 seconds make? If you take 30 seconds every day to tell your child 10 things about anything at all (and I really do mean anything - about doing laundry, about driving a car, about brushing your teeth, about anything they show interest in) in one week you have given your child 70 new facts. This has taken all of 3-1/2 minutes of your time.

That's right - in less than 5 minutes a week you have taught your child 70 new things.

At this rate, in one month you will have given your child 300+ facts to fill their Thirsty Sponge Pockets in less than 15 minutes of your time.

In one year, you will have given them 3,650 facts in only about 3 hours of your time!

Isn't your child worth 3 hours of your time a year? You will feel much better in your role as a parent, and your child will feel much more satisfied in his job of learning everything about everything!

If you enjoyed this article, stay posted for my new e-course for parents to learn ways to Magnify your Child's Mind.
What are the 6 Forgotten Intellectual Faculties? How they will change your child's life. Let me show you...
Will be launched late summer 2009.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MyJob_IsMom
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyJobIsMom

To learn more about Glenn Doman and his programs, visit iahp.org.

How to Keep the Genius Alive and Thriving in Your Kids

The more I am learning about kids, the more amazed I become! Our kids are really, truly geniuses in small bodies. They are born using both left and right sides of their brains. The learn eagerly and with incredible rapidity! All they lack is experience and facts with which to assimilate and formulate into thoughts. That is where we, as parents, come in. We need to fill their brains with facts. We need to expose them to many different things and experiences. We need to teach in ways that encourages the use of both sides of the brain. This is a major shortcoming of the structure of the educational system. We teach them to use only their left brain. Consequently, the neuropathways to their right brain atrophy and become very weak and take much more effort to access. I believe this is a wonderful companion the Glenn Doman's method of teaching.

I am excitedly finding more information on this method. Here is what I have so far.

The Shichida Method (http://www.shichidamethod.com) is developed specifically to stimulate the right side of the brain to enable whole-brain thinking, or genius thinking. Here is an excerpt from an article by Andrew Loh reviewing the Shichida Method on Brainy-Child.com:

The Shichida Method: Right Brain Training
Professor Makoto Shichida has been researching education methods
of preschool children since 1951. He is thoroughly convinced of the theory that all babies are born geniuses. He is a well known public figure in Japan, having committed the past 40 years to developing techniques to stimulate early development of right-brain education in children beginning in the womb and continuing through adulthood. There are over 300 Shichida Child Academies in Japan.

The Characteristics of The Shichida Method Brain Training
The left and right hemispheres of the brain have different capabilities. The right brain possesses the ability to retain complete image of things seen at a glance in the memory. Also, it is the receptacle for inspiration and the site of expression for image abundant creativity.

The right brain controls the abilities to visualize images and the realization of those images physically. Nearly all-successful people, regardless of their field of expertise, demonstrate the right brain ability of distinct image visualization.

However, as the left-brain develops, it becomes harder to bring forth the abilities of the right brain. If the child's brain is stuffed with knowledge, it becomes very difficult to exercise and develop the right brain. (Note: This is where Shichida has different opinion from Glenn Doman teaching). The Shichida Method believes in not over-emphasizing on knowledge education, and that the cultivation of the child's ability to learn on his own is of utmost importance.

Right brain capabilities that all children possess are:

1. The five senses of the right brain. Corresponding to the 5 senses of the left-brain (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) the right brain also has its 5 senses. However, they are not the senses of sight and hearing in the normal manner, but the ability to see, hear, sense things through waves translated into images. These 5 senses of the right brain are its basic abilities. When these abilities are released, man becomes capable of seeing images as motion pictures.

2. The ability to see images in the form of motion pictures.

3. Photographic memory

4. The ability to do complex mental calculations.

5. The conversion of images to words, numbers, symbols and the reverse.

6. The ability to master foreign languages easily.

7. The ability to receive inspiration and use it towards unique creativity.

8. The ability of photographic speed-reading.

9. The ability to receive information on an intuitive level, and to use that information accordingly.

Here is one testimonial:

"My son started answering math problems in writing at age of 2 and a half years old. He has no problem solving the four rules of arithmetic in 4 to 6 digits. In a matter of a minute, he can solve all these problems" (T.K. mother of a 3 year old, Okayama)

Glenn Doman On Teaching Your Baby to Read

First Steps in Teaching Your Baby to Read

By now you have read Glen Doman's book How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence. If you are like me, now you are in absolute awe of your baby's intelligence and you are all fired up to get going on this adventure and teach your child to read! But, you are also a bit overwhelmed and you aren't quite sure how to put this program into place.

The absolute beauty of this program is that once you are set up, it is easy and quick to integrate it into your daily routines. It really is. If you show your child 5 sets of 5 words (total of 25 words) 3x per day, that is a total of 75 words which will take approximately 75 seconds, yes, only 75 seconds! Can you think of a better way to spend a minute and a half with your child?

Another amazing thing is that it is absolutely flexible and can be adjusted to your life (which is peppered with colds, teething, tantrums, vacations, etc.). Let's face it, some days it just isn't gonna happen, and not only is that okay - you should never do your program when you both aren't ready and willing. It is okay to put your cards away for a day, week, or even a month. When things have settled down, you just pick them up again and start right where you left off. You don't even have to start at square one - your baby's amazing mind retains all of what you taught. It isn't like when you give your treadmill a break for a few months (thank heavens!).

So, here is a little starter list for you to help get you organized.

• Start making some cards. If you don't want to make all your cards, you can purchase the premade kit from the Gentle Revolution Press. The kit is only about $50 and I am sure is about what you would spend on materials making them yourself (but would save you all the time of making them, which I think is the most daunting part of this program). If you are making them, spend the extra time to make a lot of them before you get started. That way you won't get behind and feel as overwhelmed when you get going with all this.
  
• To start teaching your child, you will need 15 words to start with. Pick words that are related to self (eye, nose, chin etc.) and names like Mommy, Daddy, pets, relatives, favorite objects etc. You want them to be words that are the most familiar and enjoyable around him. You don't want to start him out on words like "onomatopoeia" or "Aecidiaceae." Those will come soon enough.
  
• Separate the cards into 3 sets of 5 words. On the backs of the cards in pencil, write the date that you started showing each word. This will come in handy later when you start "retiring" words.
  
• Practice a few times flipping through the cards as fast as you can. You don't want to spend more than a couple of seconds per card. Remember - we don't want to bore the child.

DAY 1

1. Okay! Now you are ready. Pick a time of day when your child is rested, fed, and happy. Pick a location in the house with few distractions (i.e. no TV, radio, physical distractions, etc.). I have been using mealtime and bath time for reading sessions. My kids are secured to their seats so they can't run off and there are fewer distractions. This has worked pretty well for us.
2. Take your first pack of 5 cards and read them to your child with an enthusiastic voice, flipping through the cards as fast as you can. Example: take the word Mommy. Simply hold the card up just out of reach and say "this says Mommy," and go through the rest of the cards in like manner, staying on each card no more than 1 second
   
3. THAT'S IT! Congratulations! You have now completed the first big step toward opening the magical door to reading for your child!
4. Repeat this first set of 5 cards 3x the first day, each session being at least 1/2 hour apart. This should only take you 15 seconds!
   

You will have a total of 3 reading sessions on the 1st day -
reading 1 set of 5 cards 3x

DAY 2

1. Repeat the first set of words (set of 5 words) 3x.
   
2. Add a second set of 5 words. Show the second set 3x throughout the day, each set shown at least 1/2 hour apart. This should only take you only 30 seconds to complete 6 reading sessions.
   

You should have a total of 6 reading sessions on the second day,
2 sets of 5 words, each shown 3x.

DAY 3

1. Add a third set of five words.
   
2. You are now teaching your child 3 sets of 5 words 3x per day for a total of 9 reading sessions, each no longer than 5-10 seconds. This should take you less than 1 minute! Isn't this amazing and SO much easier and more FUN than the way we were taught to read as children? I love it!

DAYS 4-7

What do you do from here?

Continue showing these same 3 sets of 5 words for a total of about 7 days. Then we will begin adding more words and taking some away. Congratulations for making the effort in teaching your child to read! I can't think of a greater gift you could give and it will benefit them throughout their entire lives!