Approaching the Top of Hill

One of my earliest memories as a child is a strange one since it was a memory of observation. I was probably four or five years old. I was in the parking lot of my church with my Mom. One of my Mom's friends had her two or three year old son in her arms. He was reading a simple book without any promtings. The mom was calmly excited as she flipped the pages. I can still remember being surprised at this child. I am sure he was reading better than I was...(was I even reading? Probably not.) This memory has randomly popped up in recent years, especially since I've become a mom. I have wondered if this child was incredibly gifted-how does a toddler know how to read? I had even asked my mom if she remembered that incident.

Fast forward twenty years.

In November 2008 I was visiting my sister out of state and her friend came by. What a marvelous chance in time that I happened to be in town when she came over for dinner. I don't remember how the conversation came up, but she mentioned the Glenn Doman reading method. She told me how it was a simple flashcard method and that by age three, her son was reading. I was intrigued and wondered if it could really be as easy as flashing cards. I did a Google search that night. I found Janet Doman in some interviews on TV. I found the Gentle Revolution website. I did a search for "Glenn Doman blogs" and looked on youtube. I wanted to see anything from parents. I didn't find many results of parents sharing information, and I was disappointed. Surely if this was as amazing as it sounded from the information from the founders, a parent would be sounding off to share their experiences to inform other parents!

It took me several weeks to sit down and make the flashcards. I wanted to do it the right way, but I hadn't bought the book yet and I needed to know the mechanics of this approach. I found an article that summarize the technique. I sat down and made about 100 cards-in red-in large print. I was overloaded with excitement as I waited to show Ellie. (I didn't dare let her stand in my presence with that permanent marker.) After Ellie woke up (she'd surely catch me if she was awake), I was thrilled to show her the cards three Wednesdays ago. It was so simple, but I knew she was absorbing. I didn't know HOW fast though. The first week wasn't perfect in my delivery. I still hadn't gotten my book and I was nervous about doing it wrong. I learned what I needed to learn and six times of quickly flashing the cards, she knew them all. I didn't ask her to tell me-she told me before I could tell HER what they were. I was stunned each time she looked at the cards and told me the right words without hesitation. Then we whipped out the camera. I wasn't dressed for the day but couldn't wait. This is what we saw that morning.



Since then, I have ordered three books, (you can buy them here), signed up for the free e-newsletter, spent lots of time at the official site of the Institutes for Human Potential, founded by Glenn Doman. I hope to go to this workshop at one of their institutes in March. I think this is absolutely awesome since we are just a state away and people come from various parts of the world to attend!

I feel the urgency to share information with other moms who might do a search for "reading techniques" or something similiar. I keep a personal blog and as excited as I am to share this with friends and family, I am a bit hesitant to share every milestone or landmark there. Yes, I can write what I please, but really, I want to have other content besides this newfound interest on that blog. Knowing myself rather well, I don't think I'll be able to hold back the gush faucet on a regular basis in this particular regard.

I am thrilled that I was able to learn about this when I did with Ellie being in the important time frame when learning to read is easy, not work. And though its only been three weeks, I feel like I'm approaching the top of the roller coaster on the verge of approaching the best thrill yet. I'm so grateful someone gave me directions to this adventure land.