Getting Program Done

 One of the biggest challenges to getting a neurodevelopmental (ND) program done is finding the time to get everything accomplished. There have been times when this has been really difficult for us but it is often possible to  incorporate program into daily life. K herself is in dance & downhill skiing, & her sisters are active in several sports as well. It's pretty hectic even without trying to get any program done!

First of all it is important to know that it is okay to take a break if you need to.  There have been times when life has gotten so busy that  we needed to take a short break.  I find it best to plan a set date to start up again though as it's easy to put it off & days turn to weeks or even months. I've heard it said that doing a neurodevelopmental program is not a sprint but a marathon so you need to pace yourself & I think this is very wise advice.

Equally as important, it's okay if you don't accomplish what you want to in a day.  Let it go!  :) Tomorrow is a new day - wipe that slate clean & try again. 

 It's okay to be flexible too. We've occasionally tried a different , much less intensive program when I knew things were going to be extremely hectic for a short time. 

When I went back & read over this list it looks like we are constantly doing ND activities & fitting something in at every moment of the day.  This is not true.  There needs to be balance in life & although ours can be very hectic K gets lots of free time to do her own thing too.

The following list is a work in progress so I'd really appreciate if you can add your ideas to in the comments or by email to jtkkmom@gmail.com & I'll add them to this list so others can benefit.

Some  things can be incredibly simple such as playing audio stories, classical music or other music recommended by your neurodevelopmentalist while your child is playing.

The  biggest thing that helped me was to associate a program activity with some part of our daily routine.  We would not forget to eat a meal or change a diaper so we did a program activity with each of these.

When K was very little, even  before we started an ND program, we tried to expose her to all kinds of sensory input.  Dabbing a little essential oil or her or my clothing was very a very simple way to help accomplish this.

After the bath  was the perfect time to fit in some baby massage.

Potty training is a great time to do some activities while you have a captive audience! Flashcards, encyclopedic knowledge, even eye exercises!

& again with that captive audience............... we've used bath time  to get some of the above program activities done too.

Fitting program in to your daily life can mean simple things like tossing the stroller & letting your child walk even when it mean that a trip to the store takes a bit longer,

Instead of lifting your child up onto the change table, high chair, car seat, etc, have them grasp your thumbs & hold on as you lift them.

Label items in your house so instead of a planned flashcard session, so you & your child can read them as you come across them in your house during regular daily activities.

Our schedule changes but at times I have been able to get oral motor work done as I am making supper.

We  try to combine activities as well & that is how we are accomplishing our oral motor exercises at the moment. K has special glasses that she uses each day while watching TV or playing on the iPad.  While she is doing that I often have her do one of her oral motor exercises.                                                                                                                                                                      
We do digit spans each time K wants the iPad or gets into the vehicle.

Now that K is 6 she can be a little more independent at some activities.  In the morning when I am making breakfast I have her work on her math book as well as do some handwriting practice.  By the time she's done breakfast is usually ready too.

We try to incorporate crawling into other activities too such as crawling while we pick up toys.

 When she has a question we describe things in more detail than I would have thought to explain to my older kids.  Like in Glenn Doman's book where he says Don't tell your child its a doggy.  Tell them it's a breed of dog called a Golden Retriever, etc. etc. Give them  lots of specific information on the breed of dog. It only takes a few seconds longer to give a detailed explanation but the knowledge adds up.

While I'm not a fan of letting your child sit in front of a TV/computer screen all day & I prefer to watch with my child so I can be engaged with them, there were times when I had K watch BrillKids Little Reader to teach her words, concepts, encyclopedic knowledge.  I created my own playlists which had the content I wanted to work on with her.  Here is a link on their program & very generous discount program.

That is all that I can think of at the moment but please remember to share your ideas in the comments or send to my email. I need some new ideas too!

Here are some ideas that some other moms have shared:

Melissa said:
1. Know your program really well so it is easy to include activities when walking on the beach or playing. Just adding some jumping and ball throwing for example if that is a part of your program.
2. I write my program activities up on a big white board or on 4x6 index cards in big letters and place it somewhere I can see it easily. I prefer the index card method as then I can group and arrange and change the orders of the activities. I stick them on the door or wall with blue tack. Then when I am sitting down nursing my youngest I can look over the program and keep myself familiar. I clump them in logical groups to me so that I can remember them more easily when I am out, with the most important at the top so I know to work my way down. As I am doing program with toddlers, I cannot stick to a rigid schedule, so this allows me just to glance at the board and quickly pick the next activity that I think will be accepted well.
3. You mentioned this, but tagging program activities to daily activities is a great idea. Flash cards at the start of a meal time - done. I had trouble encouraging my son to do his processing activities, but he loves his supplements and gets many throughout the day, so now they have become a reward, he does a quick activity and gets his fish oil! It is great as suddenly he has a need to try.

Jennifer posted some great ideas on FaceBook:
We use car rides for a lot of our program. I have my 6 yo and 9 mo on program. We use the car for audiobooks, iPad apps, and audio processing. I also keep a small therapy bag in the car and let my husband drive most of the time (we work together). This allows me to sit in back with my little one and read books, do flashcards and anything else I can do while she's sitting down. Great blog post. Thanks for sharing!

I forgot to mention it in my post but we like to do program in the vehicle too.  Oral motor, eye exercises, & now that she is older I can hand K her math book or some handwriting sheets to do. 

Brag Time! : Canadian Down Syndrome Awareness Week

K brought home her first report card ever this week. I was a little nervous as I opened the envelope.........it seemed to me like she has been doing well but I was still a little unsure about seeing it in black & white just in case.

The good news? She rocked it! 

There are 4 categories.:
1. I know/do this very well
2. I usually know/ do this
3. I need Assistance
4. I am experiencing difficulty with this skill

K got almost all 1's & every academic category was scored a 1 - even gross motor coordination which is a little tougher for a kid with lower tone. There were a few 2's & they were not a surprise. They were for things like exhibiting coordination in fine motor/ printing legibly(which is really improving) &  following  directions - which has improved drastically after that blip we had the first couple of weeks of school explanation here:

She did not get any 3's or 4's at all! 

We went for a child led parent teacher interview last night. The thing that excited
 me the most is that for the first time I was able to see how well K can learn in a 
large group. I am very confident of her abilities to learn in a small group & of 
course one on one but 15 kids is a big jump from the 5 or 6 kids that were in her 
preschool class. They are working in a phonics program that has little actions 
for each word. K was able to show me an accurate sign for each letter they had 
learned & even a few that they hadn't worked on yet. 

I'm so proud of this kid!

Brachiation Ladder Tutorial

This is the unedited version of this post. I have promised it to a few people though so I wanted to get it up right away. I am going to be busy & not able to get on the computer much for the next week so I thoughts I'd just post it as it is & try to read over it again later.  It's almost midnight & I'm falling asleep at the keyboard so there's probably a few typos too :)  If you have any questions or anything doesn't make sense please message or email me & I'll try to fix it or explain better.

I've been wanting to build K a brachiation ladder for quite a while. I even bought the dowel & hardware last fall but kept putting of building it because with the directions in Glenn Doman's Physically Superb book you need to drill holes & without a drill press it is hard to line them up just right...............at least for a carpenter with my experience ;) . I'm sure I would have ended up having to drill out the holes to get the dowels to go through & of course they wouldn't have been as snug.


Through the summer we have a old set of monkey bars in our yard but as fall closed in this year I again thought about ways to make a brachiation ladder. Being able to use them indoors makes a huge difference here in Canada where we have fairly long & cold winters. I posted the question on the Unlimited Potential (UP) group as well as the Down Syndrome Action Plan group. I got a great response from both groups & on the UP forum there were even a bunch of pictures posted. Check it out here.


None of the ideas seemed exactly right for what I wanted to do but they did get me thinking & I came up with a plan to make a brachiation ladder that was a little simpler to make.

This tutorial is for a ladder that is mounted directly to a wall or across a narrow room.  The plus side is that you don't need to build the end supports but the negative is that it's not as easily adjustable.

note:  I was concerned that because our ladder was going to be up against the wall that it would need to be a little wider.  As it turns out that really wasn't a problem.  This tutorial is to make a little wider ladder but you could always make the end boards & dowel a little shorter to make the ladder a little more narrow.  Basically you can just build it to what suits you & your child.
 

First of all - this brachiation ladder is meant to be installed across a narrow room, hallway or any space that isn't too long.  Before you get started you need to measure the length of your space to make sure you buy long enough boards.


Supplies

Tools - drill, hand sander, saw, tape measure, level, an extension cord will be handy

Materials -

Two long - 2X6's - This type of brachiation ladder is meant to be fitted into the wall or across a narrow room  so you will need to measure your space & buy the appropriate length boards

Two 23"  -  2X6's -  I explained about K's physical program & K batted her beautiful eyes at the nice lumber yard guy & he walked over to his scrap pile, found a large 2X6 & cut it into 3 large chunks - way more than we needed!

tip - many hardware stores will cut the boards for you after purchase. Measure carefully though as you want it to fit very snugly into the space you are putting it in.

1" dowel -for the length of ladder I was making I needed 3 lengths of 1" dowel.  Again, this may vary depending on the length of your ladder space & which lengths are available at your hardware store.

3/4 " hole straps - don't buy 1" ones like I originally did as they are too big & don't hold the dowel tight enough - even these were a little large (as you'll see as you get a little farther in the tutorial) you may even be able to buy 1/2 " ones but check first to see if the dowel fits through.

Sandpaper - I bought a few kinds - some courser & some finer grit

twenty four - 3.5" screws -  12 for putting the ladder together & about another dozen to secure it to the wall.

approximately forty eight - 1.5" screws



I just noticed that our newly adopted little dog & one of K's best buddies is in this picture.  Isn't she cute?

The first thing that I did, which I don't have a picture of is to sand all of the boards excluding the dowel, first using the coarser sandpaper, then the finer grit.

Pre drill 3 holes on each of both long 2X6's.

Cut the shorter boards to 23 " & use the 3.5 " screws to fasten them to the longer boards using the predrilled holes.

measure the dowel & cut to 23"

Re sand the spot that your daughter drew on because she was being a carpenter & had to write some fancy symbols on the wood -  normally I leave this kind of artwork but not this time :)

next you will need the hole straps.............................I mean clampy thingies (my brother told me to use that word in my tutorial as that's how I described them to him when telling him my plans for building the ladder).

This is what makes this method so much simpler than a traditional brachiation ladder.

Now here's where things get really technical ;)    for those of you that don't already know, we live on a farm.  Anything that can't be fixed with duct tape, binder twine or crazy glue can probably be fixed by bashing it with a hammer :)

The clampy thingies were still a little to loose so I bashed them with a hammer to make them a little flatter. 

 

Mark the sides of the ladder frame every 10" (or whatever width you decide you want).

After bashing the clamps with the hammer use the clampy thingies them to attach the dowels to the 2X6 frame with the 1.5" screws. Make sure they fit very snugly.  You don't want the dowel twisting as your child is brachiating. If they are a little loose then you need to bash the clampy thingies a little harder. 

 

I seem to have misplaced my copy of Glenn Doman`s Physically Superb book (I can`t seem to find it at the Gentle Revolution bookstore so this is a link to it on Amazon) recently so I didn't use their measurements. I did go by the measurements on another blog but since K is used to her monkey bars that have a very wide spacing & because she's growing & I want it to last longer I made about 10" apart with each end being slightly shorter to make the dowels all fit on the length of our board.  This seems to work very well for her.

 Continue to mount the dowel along the full length of the brachiation ladder.

At that point the main frame is done & it can be mounted to the wall of whatever room you want it in. If you have a stud finder this makes the job of screwing the ladder to a secure place on the wall a lot easier.  K's Daddy & 2 big sisters helped with this which made the job go much more smoothly.

K loves her new brachiation ladder!  We've had it up for about a week & she plays on it often including a before bed but after story session. She is never the first up in our house but she is often up as soon as she hears someone stirring which is usually around 6:45 on a school morning. Today at around 6:15 my husband & I heard some movement from in her room.  Several minutes later the light flipped on - yes she had woken up early & was brachiating in the dark before turning on the light! 

So far we've been mostly just letting K play on it & most of my pics look something like this:

"Look Mom! I'm hanging upside down!" 

Here is a link to another tutorial which is still modified but is closer to the Doman model

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!

More Questions About Reading & Speech

Here are another series of questions.  My responses are in black to make it easier to understand.

I have a few questions. I have been reading your blog for only a short time. You introduced me to so many wonderful resources and responded to my questions on BrillKids forum. If any of my questions are too personal or you don't want to answer, that is okay. I just wanted to ask.

1. What have you done so far that you are so glad you did? Something that made a difference in K. development and progress. 

I think the most beneficial thing that we have done is to have very high expectations. A healthy diet avoiding artificial flavours, colours, processed foods  and other junk is very important as is K's neurodevelopmental program using Glenn Doman's books & later, a program with ICAN.

2. Is there anything that was just a waste of time?

I'm sure their were  some things that were a waste of time, but off the top of my head I can't think of anything too important. Not anything that has made a lasting difference anyways.  Any time spent with your child is teaching them something, so even if we weren't getting the intended benefit, time spent with your child is never wasted.

3. Are you using a program based on something like NACD or other neurodevelopment program? If so, what made you decide to do it and is it worth the time?

Yes, we have been doing a program with ICAN for the last year or so.

4. How long were you working on flashcards before you noticed increased speech and reading skills?

This is a hard question to answer, because K was too young to be verbal when we started.  We did words from about age 6 months on. I have never experienced life with K being able to read but not talk because she learned to read first. As she became verbal, it became more obvious as to how much she was reading.

What I can say, is that the words that she learned through reading were spoken much more clearly than those she learned through hearing us speak.  Even now, she often reads more clearly than she speaks. 

5. You mentioned that K. is reading words at a 4th grade level, do you have an idea of her level of understanding/comprehension?

We have not tested her comprehension, but at risk of underestimating her, I think she is probably at a first grade level.  She is certainly able to follow written instructions well, and can tell me about a story she is reading. Sometimes I wonder if she is even at a 2nd grade level mainly because she enjoys reading that level of story best and seems to follow the story, but it is hard for me to tell. 

I'm sure she is not comprehending at a 4th grade level, but on the other hand, I would not have expected any 4 year old to comprehend at that level.

6. How is she with conversation and interactions with others?

She talks a lot.  The other day on the way home from town, I listened to a 20 minute monologue which in my family was likely only surpassed by K's 9 year old sister who truly taught me how much a little girl can talk:) I give this same big sister lots of credit for teaching K to talk too! K can tell me who she played with at preschool, whether or not she played on the playground, how she got hurt when playing in the gym, etc.  We always make her order for herself in a restaurant & discuss what sides & drink she want etc. It is rare that we have to interpret now.  She asks lots of questions and appreciates thorough answers too. She is always asking about the rest of the family. Where they are, what they are doing.  Of course, she is very good at getting her needs met. She is starting to joke around more, and think its funny to say that her sisters are crazy. Just a quick random example of her speech - Just now she was trying to open a cupboard door and something got caught.  She said.  "Mom, I can't get it.  I need some help please." She likes to talk on the phone and always has something to say!  She seemed to be a little harder to understand on the phone, however, lately I have noticed that she is being understood much more and able to keep the conversation flowing.

As for interactions with others, she has not always been the most social kid as she was pretty shy.  She does like playing with other kids and adults that she knows, but it takes her a while to warm up to strangers. In the last 6 or 8 months however, we have seen huge changes.  Her preschool teachers were just amazed at the difference in her over the summer.  She never wanted me to leave, and now she is so comfortable staying at preschool by herself.  I'm told that she even lets the others know when they are breaking the rules now!  She enjoys the other kids, and always talks about them, but she is also quite happy to play independently at times also.

The reason for some of my questions is that a speech pathologist told us that teaching our daughter to read would not help her be social and have conversations with others, which will be more important for her in the future. But her words seem to be coming more since we started with flashcards and Little Reader type programs and videos. There are so many opinions and resources, but only so much time. I want to maximize our time and use approaches that will help her. Thank you for opening up and allowing our questions.
Tina

 I am always amazed at the reasons some professionals have for not teaching reading. How can learning and understanding new words prevent speech?  The more words she understands means more words at her disposal to use during conversations.  I can't imagine how that is detrimental! I would love for your speech therapist to come have a conversation with my daughter. K has had very little speech therapy - 3 sessions in the last 2 years - Yay for government programs! (insert sarcastic smiley here) and to be honest, in the dozen or so sessions she has had in her life, less than 1/2 of them have been productive.  We were fortunate though, to get 3 sessions last spring with a wonderful SLP.  She included reading in many of K's speech activities which was wonderful.

One thing that I think has really helped is that we often try to use common phrases for reading practice.  If you wanted to focus on conversation, then do just that.  Teach her to read things like " Hello, how are you?" or whatever phrases you want to teach.

I always listen to the opinions of K's therapists, however, I have come to rely on my mother's instincts as well as other opinions, research etc, to help make my final decision.  I am realizing that my instincts are rarely wrong. Go with your instincts - if you are noticing more words and your instincts tell you it is helping then go for it!

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask away and good luck!

Another Question Post on Reading

Hi, I have a 3.5 year old son with DS that we adopted last year. He spent the first 2+ years of his life in an orphanage. Where do I start teaching him to read? He loves books, and loves to learn. His attention span is amazing for all things educational. My problem is knowing what to do and having the right amount of material to cover. I feel inadequate, the more I read, the more confused I get. I just need the bottom line, Thanks!

Congrats on your adoption! 

Don't worry about doing it "wrong".  Any extra stimulation he gets is going to be beneficial. I am so busy, especially in the winter that very often I am not able to be nearly as consistent as I would like, however I am still so thrilled with K's progress. 

If he already loves books, that is a big help, & a good attention span in wonderful.  Just make sure you quit when he is still enjoying it so that learning stays fun. When you read to him, run your finger under the words to help bring his attention to the text as well as to help him become familiar with the individual words.  

Flashcards are wonderful for a visual learner, which most kids with DS are, so of course I would start there. Have you tried Little Reader yet? Their flashcards have wonderful, clear concise pictures & many are free. The above link sends you to the details of their special needs discount which they are VERY generous with. 

As for the amount of material to cover, I don't think there is an exact right or wrong.  You have to consider his interests, enjoyment & as you mentioned, attention span.  In the beginning, when K was only about 6 months old, I did sets of 10 or 12 flashcards (word & pic) & showed them  about 3 times a day, but as K seemed to learn faster, I gradually moved up to an average of 45 words per week. 

If you haven't been to the Unlimited Potential forum yet, this is a great resources thread.  There are lots of resources mentioned that will be very helpful.

Have you checked out my important posts page yet?  It's a work in progress, but I'm trying to compile a section on teaching reading tips.

Lastly, have very high expectations for your little boy. Give him lots of input, lots of exercise, explain things, & most of all enjoy him!

If you want anymore specifics, please ask away:)

The New Unlimited Potential Forum is Going Strong!

In case you are unaware, there is a new forum dedicated to helping parents who are interested in a neurodevelopmental approach to helping their children achieve their full potential. Other topics include supplements, nutrition, early learning & any other (mostly non mainstream) therapies that parents are interested in.  The forum just got started this fall & already has almost 120 members! It is a public group & a very supportive bunch, so please feel welcome to join.
Hope to see you at the Unlimited Potential forum!

Awesome Website for Encyclopedic Knowledge (Doman Bit Cards)

This is not part of K's program, but she really loves this sort of thing, so the other day, I made her some bit cards just for fun.

I found this website called a - z animals - it is great for making bits! It has pictures as well as all kinds of information of each animal.  I actually haven't been using the pics too much, because it is easier to use google images & find a more clear, concise picture without lots of background clutter, but the information is so easy to cut, paste, & reorganize & use for the 10 pieces of information on the back of the bit.

They have an animal of the day, so if  you were doing a program including this, you could even make one card each day based on that animal.  It can't get much easier than that!

If anyone has a good website of pictures that can be printed off in an 8.5 X 11 size & still print really clearly, let me know please :)

How to Teach Your Baby to Read

How to Teach your Baby to Read is one of a number of books written by Glenn Doman of IAHP (Institutes for Achievement of Human Potential) and is co authored by his daughter Janet. It was this organization that first started teaching children with Down syndrome and other brain injured children to read.  This was the first early reading resource I found, and a many of the ideas we use came from this book. Even when using other programs, I often use methods from this book rather than what is suggested by the particular program. Some of these ideas include fast flashing, using huge flashcards with red lettering to make the words easier to read and more visually appealing and most importantly, that teaching your child must always be done joyfully. This book goes step by step through the process of creating a reading program for your child. I would highly recommend reading this book even if you choose to use an already made program. It is often available at local libraries or can be bought at the IAHP bookstore at the link below, or on Amazon.

http://www.gentlerevolution.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=G&Product_Code=0201-40

Learning to Crawl - Crawling Track

By the time K was about 6 or 7  months of age, I had been reading a lot about Glenn Doman & his organization - IAHP. 
http://iahp.org/

Some of the stories of kids with DS on this program are pretty inspiring

I bought a few of his books including this one:


Which can be purchased here:

http://www.gentlerevolution.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=G&Product_Code=0206

In his book, Glenn Doman talks about not helping our kids to sit until they are able to get into that position themselves.  He also encourages allowing them a lot of tummy time & encourages teaching them to crawl on their belly & creep in a four point position as much as possible. This made a lot of sense to me.  Not only that, I could understand  how a sitting baby could play with toys you give her in new ways, but a crawling baby has a whole new world open up for them to explore.  In my opinion, they are stimulated in so many more ways & exposed to so many new & wonderful things by being able to crawl.



We took Glenn Doman's advice from the book & built a crawling track. Ours was a home made crawling track.  It looked something like this, only ours was a little longer:



Here is a picture of our crawling track.  I can't find my original & for some reason the quality is really bad.  Hopefully you can get a bit of an idea.  The frame is made of wood & the covering is naughahyde.  It is a little dusty in the pic & leaning up against the garage wall, but it gives you a bit of an idea.  The darker patches were for contrast to help with vision & stimulation.  Some people use the black, white & red infant stimulation cards for this, & I actually did try to place things like that on the wall beside where we had the track.

The crawling track was wonderful for helping K to learn that she could be mobile, a little earlier than she would have realized otherwise.  At first we raised one end of the crawling track up.  By keeping the track on an incline, K was able to use gravity to help her begin to move.  Before long, she would begin to move her arms & legs & inch her way down the track. As she became more mobile, we lowered the track until she was able to crawl when it was sittingflat.  We were so excited the day that she crawled off the track & just kept going!  She was only 8 months old! 

K soon became very proficient at crawling on her belly, & by 12 months of age, she was crawling in a four point position & even pulling to stand.  Although she was pulling to stand, we encouraged her to crawl, not to walk & gave her every opportunity possible.  While on a family holiday when she was 14 months, we allowed K to crawl through museums, parks, beaches, etc.  I'm sure we horrified some first time, or germ concerned mommies, but K got tons of exercise & stimulation.  I did find myself washing her hands about every 5 minutes though & thankfully she never caught any type of cold or illness over it.

If you have any question about how we made our crawling track feel free to ask in the comments or just check out the Physically Superb book.  Also, there are a few videos on You Tube that you can check out.

This blog has a great crawling track tutorial.