The Doman Method Books: Why You Should Read them All
By Douglas Doman
If you are interested in Child Brain Development for well babies or special needs children, then you should definitely read all of our books. They cover the most important aspects of how to help children develop cognitively, physically, and socially.
We have been told by our publishers around the world that ours is the number one best-selling series of books on the subject of child development. It certainly has the longest track record. I remember as an eleven-year-old going to the Doubleday Books store in Manhattan on 5th Avenue, which was the biggest and most famous book store on the East Coast at the time. There was no section of books about “Parenting” because the term had not yet been coined. In those days, there were only two books about raising children. One was my father’s “How To Teach Your Baby To Read” (1963). It had been weeks on the bestseller list in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The second book was Dr. Spock’s book. This was a bestseller as well. As my father used to say, his book was about the baby’s brain, while Dr. Spock’s book was about the opposite end!
All of the Doman Method books have been translated into many languages and continue to be published around the world today. “How To Teach Your Baby To Read” has been published in more than 20 languages. The books are constantly updated in new editions and translations. The beauty of this series of books is that it applies equally and important to the development of well babies and also of special needs children. How is this possible? All of the whys and hows in all of the books come from our work with special needs children. We researched brain growth and development and developed methods that could be taught to the parents of special needs children. Once we instructed the parents, they went home and applied the program we had given them. We learned we could develop even profoundly and severely injured brains.
My father decided then to write the books for the benefit of all children; both well and with special needs. The books are far more important for children with neurological problems because their needs are so great.
After the great success of “How To Teach Your Baby To Read” my father put all his time and effort into writing “What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child”. Although it was not his intention, the Read book generated hundreds of requests from the parents of special needs children. This is because the first chapter of the Read book tells the story of Tommy Lunski. Tommy was a three-year-old child with “cerebral palsy” who could read better than an average eight-year-old. It was Tommy who started what my father would call “The Gentle Revolution”. At the end of the Reading book, my father explains his dream of a revolution where ALL children read independently with great pleasure and gusto at the age of three.
The next book in the Doman Method series was “Teach Your Baby Math”. Again, after the Reading book, hundreds of parents wrote to my father asking for this method of teaching early math. The current edition of the Math book has a picture on the cover of my wife, Rosalind Doman, and our youngest baby at the time, Spencer Doman. It would be extremely gratifying for Spencer’s grandfather, Glenn, to know that after his grandson launched his highly successful online Reading Before School program, parents would insist that an online Math program be made available. This exciting new online course will launch on July 15th, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. DomanLearning.com takes my father’s books and brings them into the 21st century. All of the words and materials are now available in Spanish, Russian, Italian, Polish, and Serbian. All of the Math materials for the first six months will be supplied with the course.
The cognitive series of Doman Method books include “How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence” and “Give Your Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge”. These two books introduce Doman Cards. This is the ideal way to provide your child with general knowledge joyously. Both books also include the Math and Reading programs.
“Fit Baby, Smart Baby, Your Baby!” lays out the entire physical program from birth to six years. This book details a physical and Balance Development program for each level of a baby’s development: crawling, creeping, walking, and running. Our Manual Competence program improves your child’s hand function, from birth to age six. As in the cognitive books, it is essential that the physical program is done joyously. It will feel like a game from your child’s standpoint. Children love physical activity and the opportunity to be outside, running, jumping, and especially learning to swim. In the 1970s I had the pleasure of going to Australia and learning from the mother of baby swimming, Claire Timmerman. I learned from Claire and returned to the US to start our Baby Swimming program. “How To Teach Your Baby To Swim” covers teaching a baby all the way up to a six-year-old. Swimming is not just fun and superb exercise, it can also be vital to a child’s safety to learn. All of our babies can be enthusiastic water babies.
We learned that our basic physical program permits any child to become physically robust and develop the appropriate brain stages. We learned that babies who learn to swim also become physically excellent, as respiration is particularly well developed by swimming. Finally, we learned that the ideal combination is for children to have our physical and swimming program simultaneously.
The final book in the series is “How Smart Is Your Baby?”. This is a 21st-century book that lays out a total cognitive and physical program for a newborn baby. All of the important programs are covered, taking the baby all the way up to 12 months. This is our “Better Baby Book”. It is ideal for all newborns. It teaches parents how to do an initial neurological evaluation and determine their baby’s neurological progress at every stage.
The Doman Method series is not yet complete. It lacks our nutritional program, which is state of the art. It was a godsend in 1970 when Adele Davis, the mother of modern American nutrition, came to us and initiated our nutritional program. Our medical and nutritional staff have kept this program at the forefront, and thousands of families have seen vast improvements in their children’s function once their nutritional needs are brought into balance. The problem for parents is not a lack of information about nutrition, but rather too much conflicting information. We have learned what is beneficial and what is not, and continue to add to that knowledge.
In this day and age, there is a tremendous need for a book about social development. Our social program has been successful for over 60 years. It addresses parents’ need for straightforward, respectful ways to address social issues and behavioral concerns as they arise, from an 18-month-old child to the teenage years. I’m happy to say, our newest book which is being published this summer of 2021 does address both our nutritional and social programs. The new book is the second volume in a series specifically for special needs children: “Answering Autism: The Doman Method® Plan for Autism, ADD and Neurodevelopmental Delays”. it is possible to order advance copies through this link.
