From: watson@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (laura.k.watson)
Subject: Re: How to have a smarter baby?
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 13:36:13 GMT


Um, let's don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, okay?

I've read a lot of the Doman 'Better Baby' stuff, and have tried
a little of it, and have mixed feelings about it.  First off I
comletely agree with Laura F. that there's absolutely no way
I would even begin to follow all those formulas of what to do
how many times, etc.  Yuck-o.  Also my daughter at 19 months
grabbed the word cards and threw them over her shoulder, no 
interest at all, so we gave up on that real quick.  She liked the 
picture cards with the pancreas (organs of the body) and the screech 
owl (birds), though. She was quite uninterested in the presidents, 
though.

However, she did seem to learn to recognize quite a lof of written 
words from some Frank Schafer cards that had pictures *and* words on 
them, which Doman specifically says *not* to do.  He says not to present 
them with a picture and a word at the same time, it confuses them.
But not my daughter.  In fact she loved them.  For 4 or 5 months 
they were one of her favorite toys, she was always begging me to 
"Play with cards, Mommy!"  She still likes them once in a while now.  
I'm getting a closed caption decoder for our TV now to try it out 
as sort of a passive way of teaching her reading.  Just sort of 
exposing her to the same words she's hearing.  Only $129.

Anyhow, I think a lot of Doman's ideas and concepts are good, even if 
his methodology is not.  Such as things like swinging the baby around
in different orientations through space helps them develop balance 
needed to learn to walk.  And teaching them to read early before they 
start school is a way to kind of 'schoolproof' them.  I'm pretty sold
on that, if not all the rest.  And just generally getting as much 
different stimuli into their brains will result in more growth of neural 
pathways.  I learned a lot from his books, even if some of it I just
don't have the time or inclination to do.  (Music, gymnastics, etc.)

Other sources are primarily in agreement with Doman with regads to 
the benefits of early learning, if not about how to go about it.  
_How to Raise a Brighter Child_ (subtitled The Case For Early 
Learning) by Joan Beck discusses long-term studies of children who
learned to read at an early age.  Also Beck cites studies that show
phonics is a more effective way of teaching reading than sight-reading.
It gives suggestions for structuring your home atmosphere to foster 
intelligence, quite different from ramming a bunch of trivia down 
the kids throat.  Also has a capter on Montessori techniques you
can use at home.  And blasts the 'eduactional establishment' which
tries to get you to think that only teachers whould teach.  It's 
probably my favorite book on this subject.

-- 
Laura Watson           lkw@falcon3.att.com   lkw@burt.att.com
                                 
Mom of Stephanie W. Zolayvar ( 2 yrs, 3 months ) and
       Eric W. Zolayvar (8 weeks)
From: joanne@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Joanne Petersen)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 20:31:02 GMT
Subject: Re: Birth control during breastfeeding?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard PAITC Data Center