Encyclopedic Knowledge

 We have been doing Doman style "bit cards", also called bits of intelligence, or encyclopedic knowledge on & off since K was a baby.  It's never actually been on her neurodevelopmental program, but we did do it infrequently as part of her home program for the first few years, & she really enjoys it, so we have continued on, although never on a regular basis.


Doman bits of intelligence are very large, 11 inch X 11 inch cards with a picture on one side & a series of 10 facts one the other.  Of course, you can vary your size, number of facts, etc, when doing home made bits.

With a baby, you would start by just naming each cards, then, after showing a certain number of cards, you would start reading one fact at a time from the back of the cards.  I like to show bit cards as often as I show flashcards.  

First, buy a copy of How to Baby Encyclopedic Knowledge, or check it out at your local library.

Or, this book, How to Multiply Your Baby`s Intelligence will be great too, & includes a section on bits along with chapters on reading, math, etc.

Bits are available directly from IAHP, & I do have a few of these,but shipping to Canada is not cheap - perhaps because they are an odd size? Whatever the reason, it made the final cost pretty high.

When creating home made bits, I have used several sources. 

I haven't tried these myself, but the above picture is of blank 11X 11 bit cards that are available from IAHP. 

I found these 11 by 14 cards at the local dollar store.  They could easily be trimmed to 11 by 11 - they were 10 for $1.00 -  by what a deal!

 Ideally, you would cut the picture to make it very clear & concise that you are talking about the kangaroo.  K is old enough that I don't think it matters, but with a very young baby,  I would cut it out & mount it on a card so it was very obvious.

Calendars - If I can get the calendar inexpensively enough,  this is a wonderful way to make bit cards.  calendars often have wonderful, clear pictures.  & come in a huge variety of subjects, making them great for bit cards.

I often will just use 8.5 X 11 card stock to make bits.  I find a clear, high quality image, either one that I take myself, or use google images, print it out, type out the facts to put on the back, & laminate them together.

The other source that I stumbled upon the other day, is the above pictured poster.  It is part of the book pictured below & has 30 posters. It only cost $7.99.  The pictures aren't all exactly what I would pick & there are some repeats so I won't be able to use them all, but for the price that I paid, they are well worth the investment. I will just add my ten facts about the horse breed on the back, & will be all set to go.  Sorry for the sideways picture.....

I have heard of buying old encyclopedias or other similar books with large pictures, cutting out the pictures & gluing the picture on one side of a 11 X 11 card & using those for bits.  I haven't done this myself.  I just can't seem to bring myself to cut up the books.  I actually bought a set at the rummage sale a few months back, just for this purpose, but I don't like the idea of cutting them up.  When I looked at them again the other day, I realized that they are actually pretty good books, with a large picture on one side of the page & some facts on the other, so I think I'll leave the book intact & just read the facts & show the pic the same way I would if I were doing bits.

 I usually include 10 clear concise facts on the back of each bit card. I've found that I have to keep them short.  Even now at 4.5 years, K sometimes gets bored if the facts aren't pretty short.

When searching for facts for animal bit cards, I have found this site pretty helpful:    A - Z Animals
 I'm sure there are lots of good ones, so let me know in the comments if you know of any.

You don't have to do any of these activities in any one exact way.  As long as you are giving input, your child will benefit.  Use materials that are available & affordable & have lots of fun doing it!