Glenn Doman method: how to teach reading before the age of 3

Education is and always has been a fundamental issue. for the human being. There have been multiple theories and methods elaborated with the purpose of favoring learning and improving the educational system and the acquisition of knowledge and skills and the promotion of exploration, the interests and abilities of each individual.

In addition to the most classic and used, there are a large number of alternative methods to educate. One of the best known is the montessori method, but there are also other methodologies equally valued and used today, such as The Glenn Doman method of teaching very young boys and girls to read. In this article we briefly explain what this method is, specifically in its program for learning to read.

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The Glenn Doman method for reading: definition and objectives

The Glenn Doman Method proposes that human beings are capable, curious and even want to read at an early age, having potential for this capacity from its first years of life. From his point of departure, it is considered that in the first six years of life the ability to learn is much greater than it will be during the rest of life.

Initially It was designed to help promote the learning and development of subjects with disabilities and brain injuries., but with the passage of time it has expanded to childhood at a general level. Although in this article we focus on learning to read, the author also generated programs for early stimulate other skills and abilities such as learning mathematics, music or physical activity.

Some theoretical foundations of the method

The author proposes that it is from the age of two when the most appropriate and most useful time to learn to read begins, because it is a time in the subject's life when there is a high level of curiosity and one has plasticity that allows acquiring small information with great ease and enthusiastically. It is suggested that from then on it will be more and more difficult to learn to read. It is considered that a child can learn to read words as early as one year of life, being able to read sentences from the age of two and simple books from the age of three.

The original idea is for parents to apply it at home in a flexible way and trying to make it fun, like a game. The methodology implies the use of cards that are going to be shown to the child several times a day, in short periods of time and in series of 10 stimuli. It is intended to enhance learning by stimulating and optimizing the curiosity and desire to learn of babies. This facilitates teaching and learning, enhancing capacities and hindering or preventing possible difficulties.

Be part of the idea of ​​intelligence bits, basic units of information that the child can come to understand or understand. It is necessary that said element is representative of a single idea and that this is new to the subject. Based on this idea, the baby can learn to associate the letters without having to know the alphabet: it is about her understanding the concept itself and associating it with the word.

The bits must be chosen carefully, creating five series that each have 5 of these elements. They will introduce themselves briefly, each one of them being read aloud by the adult and allowing a few seconds to pass between one series and another. After finishing, it is essential to reinforce the child's behavior, and learning should be celebrated and experienced as a fun and communicative game.

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To keep in mind before teaching...

There are two elements of great importance when using the Glenn Doman method and generate a real learning of the ability to read: the attitude of the parents/educators and the use of a suitable material for the abilities of the child.

The attitude of the parents

One of the most important aspects and that in fact is to a great extent what can allow the acquisition of skills as complex as this is the focus or approach that is taken in this regard by those who use it. impart.

It is essential to consider reading as a game, as a rewarding activity that is carried out for pleasure and that is appetizing in itself. Reading should be a reward, not a punishment. The child is fundamentally interested in learning and exploring, but he won't if she ends up associating him with something aversive.

Another aspect on which the author places special emphasis is the duration of the learning sessions: they must be short and end before the minor wants and expresses that he wants them to end. It is about the little one not only not getting tired, but wanting and feeling called to read, even requesting it.

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Material

We are teaching a child under the age of three to read.: We are not going to start with Don Quixote or a work by Shakespeare. The material we use must always be adequate and take into account the abilities of the minor.

It is necessary that we use simple materials: It is recommended to use white cardboard of a certain level of rigidity. On it, a single word or a phrase (in more advanced phases) will be written with clear lines and always with the same type of letter (which must be easily visible) per cardboard, in lowercase letters. The size of each letter must be very large, and maintain a certain separation between letters and with respect to the margins.

The author proposes that among these materials we include words like dad and mom, parts of the human body, words about the world or close environment, vocabulary to build sentences and paragraphs, a book with simple vocabulary and a series of cards with the alphabet. The size of the first words is initially recommended to be 12.5 by 10cm, and each card is 15 by 60cm, in red. The size of the letters and the cards will be reduced as we progress in learning, changing the color to black from the words that would correspond to the nearby environment.

Set it up as a children's game

It is likely that many people are interested in this method in order to make their baby early learning the skill of reading. However, it must be taken into account that no matter how much the baby may have the ability to acquire this ability, it should be highly assessed whether or not it is adequate and how this is put into practice method.

And it is that it is essential to make learning fun and enjoyable for the baby and not an imposed and repetitive obligation. It is about considering it as a game, which allows them to experiment, communicate, socialize and have fun. In this way, the baby associates the fact of learning with something that gives him joy and stimulates him. In fact, if it is considered as a simple imposition, the baby ends up hating said learning and may have greater problems in its acquisition.

Proposed phases for learning to read

The Glenn Doman method, in his program for learning to read, proposes the realization of a series of phases to be applied in short batches, expressing joy and making the process an element of leisure and union between parent and minor.

visual differentiation

Initially, it is essential to teach the child to read with few words, proposing the use of two. Later they will increase. The place is also important, being necessary to look for a point where there are no major distractors.

The procedure is simple: put the word before the child, and indicate what he puts without further explanation. The word can be seen for about ten seconds, to later remove her from his sight and proceed to show her affection for a minute or two, after which the process will be repeated again. And so a third time. The previous batch would form a session, which would be repeated five times on the same day separated from each other by at least half an hour.

This process is done on the first day. During the second, it begins to carry out the same carrying out two sessions. In the third session of the second day a small modification would take place: The word is presented to him and he is asked "What is this?". Wait about ten seconds. If the minor responds with the word, a great level of joy will be shown, congratulations will be expressed and pride and affection will be expressed, even physically through hugs. This reinforcement is only affective, not accompanied by something material.

If the minor does not say the word or is wrong, do not reprimand him nor show any kind of disappointment. We proceed by happily indicating “this is X, right?”. As a general rule, learning is fast. No other word is taught until the first one has been learned.

The same method would be used for this. It is important not to overlap words until the child has learned them separately.

After knowing them, we proceed to show the child the first one and ask him to identify it. After that, the first word continues to be shown and the second word is taught with the other hand, which they are also asked to identify. Once this is done, the two cards are placed in front of him and the child is asked to point to one first and then another. It is about teaching him to visually differentiate stimuli. Generally, simple and basic words such as mom and dad are used in this step.

The vocabulary of the body

In this second stage it is based on the same principle as the previous one, but adding the sense of touch to sight and hearing. First of all, the part of the child's body we are talking about is taken and it is indicated what it is. After that, the cardboard with the corresponding name is attached and it is indicated that this is also the name.

An example: The word hand is first taught by holding the child's hand and saying that this is a hand and then the card is shown and the same thing is said.

The rest of the procedure is the same as the previous phase. You have to be careful of do not present several words at the same time until the child knows them separately, do not show consecutive words that start with the same letter and try to increase the number of letters in each word progressively, starting with short words.

domestic vocabulary

A third stage, in which words related to elements present in the subject's daily life will be shown, generally familiar objects, family and even actions. The font size has been reduced. It is suggested that approximately the child could be learning a word per day at this stage, although this will depend on the rhythm of the child. It is important to remember that it should continue to be considered as a game and that it be carried out briefly and without the child getting bored.

Read words within sentences

In this phase, a little more complex learning is carried out. They will go from recognizing single words to trying to compose a sentence. The parent must generate a card with each word of the phrase to learn. Each word is learned separately. Then they are put together and ordered, and the child is asked to indicate what word each of them is. It is about learning to read related words.

reading sentences

After choosing a simple and appropriate book, with few words and large print, phrases are extracted that can be worked on little by little. It begins with short sentences, which are read slowly and clearly. while we point to each word separately. Then we ask him what the card says, pointing to each word separately. Once read, it is celebrated and reinforces its activity. As you learn to read a page, you move on to the next but rereading the previous ones.

reading a book

It is about making the child read the book from which we have extracted the sentences. It must be taken into account that the size is smaller and smaller in each phase (in this specific phase it is proposed that the letter be about six millimeters), which is more difficult for the little one. If there are difficulties we can find and prepare larger letters.

alphabet learning

Although it may seem strange and contrary to what happens in formal education, It is possible after learning to read to learn the alphabet. The reason for this is that the letters are abstract elements, which can be more complex to interpret than bits of information referring to known elements. In short, it is considered in this method that it is much easier to read a word than the elements that compose it.

Is it appropriate to use this method? Criticism of this methodology

The Glenn Doman method is controversial, due to the age at which it is directed. It is suggested that overstimulating children at an early age can cause them difficulties and that it makes it easier for many parents push the child to learn to read as early as possible, making it difficult for them to experiment and play. And we must not forget that at these ages everything is new and is yet to be explored.

Nor should we forget that at that age our nervous system is still immature, and that although we can learn to read early, the comprehension of what has been read will be complex and difficult to carry out, since the language is not yet fully automated.

Likewise, it also raises the fact that when the time comes for them to go to school, these children they would be ahead of their classmates and could become bored, hindering their own learning later.

However, many of these criticisms were foreseen by the author himself, who stated that part of the problem is a overprotective attitude and anticipating that the child will not understand the process or the content of the reading due to his age. In this way, we would be limiting its potentiality.

Although there are no tests or studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, the idea of ​​reinforcing behavior and considering learning as a leisure element in which the minor also has the opportunity to bond emotionally with their parent makes this method something that can be positive for he.

Bibliographic references:

• Doman, G.J. (2000) Teaching Your Baby to Read: The Peaceful Revolution. Editorial EDF.