Glenn Doman and the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential
“Every child born has, at the moment of birth, a greater potential intelligence than Leonardo da Vinci every used” – this is the philosophy of the child developmentalist Glenn Doman. His Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential began with helping children with brain damage, and later moved to cover all children. Doman believes, and has proved, that you can teach a baby absolutely anything that you can present in an honest, factual and joyous way.
According to Doman, the parents are the best teachers, and the best time to start education is at birth! Newborns have the ability to learn, and they love to learn. In fact, they are learning all the time. So, discarding all notions of anything being too much or too early, Doman and the staff at the Institutes have begun a revolution in education, the ‘Gentle Revolution’. They have a set of teaching methods and tools, simple and straightforward, that teach the children to read, do math, assimilate knowledge and stay physically fit.
Children are taught using flash cards. These cards have words, pictures or numbers, and are flashed to the children a few times daily. Children, it can be seen, remember and learn at an amazing speed. The institute conducts programs and has books, CDs and Video tapes available to guide parents and teachers. Many schools all over the world have adopted the principles of Glenn Doman and benefited from them. Children as young as 1+ begin to read and do math on being schooled using these methods.