Eating Thistles

"Look Hunter, it's Eeyore's favorite snack!"

And that's what started it.

While we were cleaning the gym today and dumping out the mop water, we noticed that the field behind the building was now bursting with beautiful purple thistles. I first pointed out the liking of these plants of Eeyore (a Winnie the Pooh character) and then recalled a childhood episode of eating these pleasant flowers, as there is a sweet nectar to the little petals.

"Look, Hunter, you can eat these."

I put a little purple petal in my mouth. "Mmm!" And that's how you get a three-year-old to eat a flower.

I never lie to him, never make a game out of trying to trick him, and as a result he trusts me. He eagerly ate a bite without hesitation, even though he's never eating a weed off the side of a building before. "MMM!" he replies. "Tastes like candy!"

Well, I wouldn't exactly call it candy, but I assume he was referring to the sweet taste of the nectar.

I carefully pulled off a few more petals and ate them myself, and before I know it I turn around, and there's Hunter shoving entire flowers - leaves and all - into his mouth, all the while saying, "Mmm... tastes like candy!"

Now, note that you really do have to be cautious with eating wildlife: don't take this advice and head to the woods to eat whatever looks good. Some plants are poisonous or partly poisonous, such as the leaves of raspberries. So make sure you know what you're doing before exploring edible wildlife. But once you do that, it sure is fun to know how many edible things there are in the woods. I don't know anyone who wouldn't take some sort of small rush of confidence in knowing how to identify edible plants in the woods. The idea that, you could win if you were ever to have to battle nature is a reassuring thought, even if you may never have to use it. Then again, it's also just a little rush of fun to pick up a weed off the lawn, pop it in your mouth and say, "Mmm... yummy." Either way, it's a fun learning adventure for a child.



"And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:12

Stringing Beads

Today I got out some wooden beads my mom had in the basement and a big, sturdy string and let Hunter go to town.

I thought that this was something that Hunter would be interested in, and I was right. A lot of times I get puzzles and other sit-down activities out that he just doesn't seem very interested in, but this one held his attention. Especially since the end product was to make a pretty necklace for Mommy! Below you can see me wearing it.

He's developed very consistent sidedness (that is, the organization of the brain that makes it so you are either left- or right-handed, footed, and "eyed"). He is right-handed, for sure, using his right hand in the dominant roll and his left hand to assist, as well as kicking with his right foot. Doman recommends activities such as these to develop the manual dexterity controls of the brain. Some activities that use this function (uses a dominant hand and an assisting hand) are:

• Pouring liquid from a pitcher to a cup (right hand pours, left hand holds cup)
• Picking up objects and placing them in a container (right hand picks up, left hand holds container)
• Cutting with scissors (right hand cuts, left hand holds paper)
• Stringing beads (right hand strings beads, left hand holds string)
• Playing a violin (right hand holds the bow, left hand holds the violin)
  
• And one of the most sophisticated tasks, writing (right hand writes, left hand holds paper)

I'm sure there are a hundred more examples of this brain function, but I think you get the point. Crawling, creeping (crawling on hands and knees), and brachiating (doing monkey bars) really help develop this coordination between brain hemispheres that enables a child to do these things with skill and ease. I am really concentrating on providing him with more opportunities to use his hands on activities such as these, because he often becomes frustrated when he can't draw something like he wants to or can't cut or write something the way he thinks it should be.

Him helping me more in the kitchen is one of the best ways to use his hands in a skilled way, pouring, measuring, sifting, stirring, squishing, cutting, dividing, etc. I'm also going to let him play with a lot of puzzles during J.E.L.I.C time and focus on drawing together more (we haven't done much art lately). Playing with blocks is another thing that is really good that we haven't been doing much. I also really like the cutting strips I made him a long time ago but haven't used. I found this picture (to the right) of Montessori cutting strips that are just different types of lines and designs that can be cut out. Straight lines and triangles are the easiest, circles are the hardest. I made a bunch myself and we're starting with the simplest ones until he becomes more skilled. I'll have them available to download soon. :)

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Ephesians 2:10

Boys and Guns

If the world were full of stable, humane, sensible, and righteous people...


...there would be no need to lock your car, keep your purse close by, teach your kids not to take candy from strangers, or carry a gun. But as we all know, this is not the case. Evil exists in this world. When it comes to parents and the sensitive issue of boys and guns, what is our responsibility to the issue of evil in the world? Should we deny it, simply accept it, or counter it?

To deny it
The heart of liberalism says that it is possible to create a perfect world, if only we will give them control of it. And since our media, education, and big corporations are filled with liberal ideology, we have been told over and over again that boys should not be allowed to play with toy guns, because doing so will interfere with the perfect, weapon-free world they believe they can create. Is little boys running around playing toy swords, bows and arrows, and guns going to create a generation of rapists and murders? Is this long-held pastime of child play the reason why there is so much violence in the world? Hardly.

The nature of little boys
Boys and weapons have long been synonymous. Boys play by fighting, even male animals do so. For little boys everything goes out with a bang. Any parent or bystander has observed this phenomena. Does this mean that boys are inherently evil, and we need to drug them, discipline them, and feminize them until they become perpetual house cats? Our culture believes so. But do you? If playful fighting, aggression, and dominance is an inherent trait in little boys, little lion cubs, and little puppies, could it possibly be there for a reason? Is it possible that God, in all his wisdom, gave little boys a tendency towards fighting for a reason?

Thank God for little boys!
Did we ever stop to think that God gave little boys the tendency to fight for a reason? Is it possible that little boys (and animals) fight, wrestle, and are obsessed with weapons to prepare them for later in life, when they will need those skills?

Thank God that the parents of our founding fathers allowed them to roll-play acts of bravery, courage, and defending the weak and young that they would one day grow up to be brave soldiers countering the evil in the world! Thank God for men of nobility that are willing to lay down their lives in the line of fire fighting for our freedom and safety!

Little boys need to be allowed to be little boys. Again, liberals and parenting "experts" would like to tell you that the only reason boys and girls are the way they are (different!) is because parents have made them that way. If parents, they say, would stop being so sexist, then all the gender differences would magically disappear in just one generation! Then we would have a unisex, non-aggressive, non-oppressive, peaceful and perfect world!

Maybe I'm not the only one for whom this is a little too much to swallow. Any person with half a brain who has been around little boys and girls for a few minutes knows that when you give a little girl a stick she'll turn it into a baby doll or a broom. Give a little boy a stick and he'll turn it into a gun or a sword, whether or not they've been exposed to "violent television" or their parents put "stereotypes" by buying them certain toys or pressuring them to act a certain way. This is absolute nonsense and any parent could tell you the same. The problem is, no one listens to parents.

Boys are aggressive for a reason! And letting a little boy play with a toy pistol is not going to make him a murderer. The last thing we need is more poor excuses for men in this world that know how to run a fax machine and drive a Lexus but couldn't protect their family from a robber or survive a day in the wilderness without a cell phone and clean clothes.

Counter the evil in the world!
Our world needs men of courage, strength, and dignity. Parents should raise their children to counter the evil in the world, not deny it. Taking the guns away from the good guys is not going to make a perfect world, only a lot of endangered people. Aldolf Hitler said that "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing." As a matter of fact, all mass murders have agreed in one thing: gun control works! Just look at the view points of Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Qaddafi, Castro, Jong-Il, Pot Pol, and others and see how they made mass conquering and murdering easy: taking away the people's ability to protect themselves!

Take guns away from women and make the streets a safer place for rapists. Take guns away from citizens and make the roads a safer place for car-jackers. Take guns away from business owners and make the city a safer place for robbers. Take guns away from families and make the world a safer place for mass murders, conquerors, and oppressors. Evil exists, and so should responsible ownership of the means to protect yourself. Guns save lives and protect people. Don't count on a lucky rabbit's foot to protect you: when the bear attacked, it didn't save the bunny! Let's raise our children to be men of virtue, men of courage, and men of responsibility. If guns kill people, than pens misspell words. One day, that little boy may very well save your life with that gun you taught him how to use. When that happens, thank God for the right to raise our children with courage and dignity!







"Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me."

Psalm 144:1-2

Alphabet Mat

A few days ago I got the idea to get Hunter a floor mat to use for tumbling exercises. I picked out the alphabet one from toys r us that has twenty-eight squares and measures about seven foot by four foot.

It was not very expensive, only about $25 for this set. It sure is a lot nicer to have this, so we don't have to get out the little mats we were using before every time we do our rolls.

Some different games we've played on it so far are: doing our exercises. We do somersaults (forward and backward) and rolling like a log, both clockwise and counterclockwise. The purpose of these exercises is to stimulate the vestibular portion of the brain and help develop balance.

We've also: jumped in different patterns, such as diagonally, forward, backwards, and sideways, spun around on it, and played on the hopping ball on it. He plays with his blocks and other toys on here now, and it is nicer than the floor since it's not so cold.

Because of the letters in it, I anticipate using it for a lot of language games, such as spelling and three-letter word making (think running to different letters as you spell, say, hippopotamus).

It was a fun investment, and I know it will enhance our physical excellence program in a fun way.

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them... And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

Isaiah 11:6,8-9

The Zoo!

Wednesday was our first field trip of the summer. We went to the city zoo about an hour away and it was quite enjoyable. Hunter’s only regret was that “We didn’t see the bears” (we ran out of time).

I enjoyed pointing out all the animal names to him. I told him their real names, for example, saying “Look at the black howler monkey!” instead of just a generic “monkey”. The zoo made this easy for us since all the real names are by the displays. They also had all the scientific names, but we haven’t gotten that far yet (but we will as soon as I make the bits!)

I really enjoyed learning so much with Hunter (I didn't know their real names!), and I know he enjoyed receiving it even more. It’s sad to see parents hauling their tot around in a stroller, occasionally pointing out the “pretty bird” or the “horsy”. Kids are capable of benefiting from and appreciating so much more. And it definitely makes it more interesting and enjoyable for BOTH parties when you are teaching them something worth remembering.

I’ll have to admit I became a little bit distracted video taping and taking pictures. But we still did have a lot of fun together. And hopefully next time it won’t be quite as cold. I’m really excited about looking into all the community resources that are available. There are so many wonderful educational opportunities, and they are NOT just obtained through the schools. In fact the schools tend to mess it up a lot of time: you learn so much more and have so much more fun when it’s just your family, rather than a large group to be tallied.

I plan on taking him there a few more times this year. Next time I go I'm bringing a note pad and taking note of all the animals that are in each display so I can teach Hunter about them between visits. I can't wait to see how much fun it is going to be when we know about all the animals!

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee."

Job 12:7-8

Building a Brachiation Ladder (May 26)

bra·chi·a·tion [brey-kee-ey-shuhn]

–noun Zoology.
locomotion accomplished by swinging by the arms from one hold to another.

Yesterday we finished the first portion of our long-awaited, much anticipated brachiation ladder. After several months of saving the money I am finally able to create this wonderful learning tool for my son. I altered the design so that it can fit over our bed to save space in our 150-square-foot living space.

"Brachiation ladder" is another name for a set of monkey bars. Glenn Doman began using brachiation as a therapy for brain-injured children several decades ago at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. Brachiation is a very powerful and extremely beneficial tool for the growing brain and body, as it builds the lungs, strengthens the upper body, and coordinates the brain in such a way as to build the necessary skills for writing, reading, and violin playing. Children on their physical excellence program have ALL been able to write stories, do gymnastics, and play the violin superbly by the ripe old age of three years old, and a large part of that program is brachiating. To say the least, we are very excited about the opportunity to finally make one of these.

Assembling the ladder was very easy even for a wanna-be handyman like me. The next step is building the frame and then we're ready to go! The lumber is fairly inexpensive and I believe the cost is generally less than $150 to make one. And of course, the benefits and fun are priceless!

I am documenting our project with video and pictures so I will have a how-to video and download-able instructions coming soon.

"...and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob"

Genesis 49:24

Memorial Day (May 26)

Hunter has been really interested in soldiers and war lately, and, among other things, fighting in general. Which made a perfect entrance to our discussion about Memorial Day.

I haven't been quite so organized yet to be able to plan up to these holidays, getting coordinating books from the library or planning our learning activities around them. Soon though. I'll get there. But nonetheless, words are free. And giving your child your knowledge, well, that's priceless.

"Today is Memorial Day, Hunter. It's a special day where we remember all the men who have been soldiers. Soldiers help keep us safe, sometimes there are bad people in other nations that want to hurt us, but our soldiers protect us and defeat the bad guys. They take guns and missiles and tanks to kill the bad guys that are trying to hurt us. Sometimes when they are fighting the bad guys, they get hurt or die. We're always thankful for the brave men who die for us, because if they didn't fight for us, the bad guys would get us and we wouldn't be safe anymore. So today we thank God and thank our soldiers for fighting for us and keeping us safe."

Not exactly rocket science, but I try the best I can to express patriotism in a way that he can relate to and understand. Whether you agree with a war or not, remember that those soldiers are out there dying for your right to carry those protest signs.

In closing, I thought I would share this fairly unknown second verse of our national anthem. We live in a great country, which is currently very morrally ill right now, and in need of divine assistance, but God has blessed us dearly.

Our National Anthem, verse two:

O thus be ev- er, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes And the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, May the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made And preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, When our cause it is just; And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free And the home of the brave?

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

How I Became a Human Calculator

Meet Hunter, who is barely three years old. Hunter doesn't know how to count yet, and if you asked him what symbols such as 2, 7, 10, or 59 mean, he couldn't tell you. But even without these things, Hunter is a mathematical genius. Hunter has a calculator installed in his brain.

Now, don't be alarmed by that last statement: this is not some new fad for rich parents hoping to make their offspring a child genius. In fact, there was no surgery involved. Just some paper, 5,050 dots, and a little game that takes less than five minutes a day.

You see, before Hunter learned to count, he learned about numbers. Real numbers, not symbols such as 4, 9, IV, or VII. He learned that:

This is "one", "two", "three", "four", "five", and "six". These are REAL numbers, or true quantity. And while counting and symbols are completely abstract, true quantity is about as concrete and easy as it gets.

But I did not stop at six, or even ten, or even twenty. With just ten weeks of teaching (showing him "quantity cards" three times a day [which takes about ten seconds per session]) he was able to learn all the true quantities up to one hundred. This means that he can tell the difference between a card that has twenty nine dots and the card that has thirty dots, or the card that has ninety nine dots versus the one with one hundred dots. Hunter can perceive the number of dots instantly, no counting required. If you don't believe me, watch one of our videos. Seeing is believing.


But how on earth can he do this? It is a built in function of the human brain. The human brain can differentiate between twenty nine dots and thirty dots, instantly, without counting. Or ninety nine dots and one hundred dots. Instantly.

Then how come I can't do this? Because by the time a child reaches about two-and-a-half, the ability can no longer be activated, and that part of the brain is closed off forever. Remember, the eyes see but cannot understand what is seen: only the brain understands. The ears hear but cannot comprehend that which is heard: only the brain comprehends. So although you can physically see the dots with your eyes, your brain cannot comprehend what is seen. But a tiny child's brain can. Have you ever wondered why a 99-cent piece of plastic and wires we call a calculator can do better math than our amazing, complex brains? Now you know - our brains truly are more sophisticated than a calculator - we just simply have known, and have failed to activate our potential.

Dr. Glenn Doman discovered this incredible reality about little children while working with brain-injured children. As a result, he wrote the book How To Teach Your Baby Math which is the program we have been using (we started in August of 2007, when he was 29 months old [just under two-and-a-half]).

This is an incredible ability, but what does it have to do with mathematics? How does that make him a human calculator? Well, the answer is quite simple.

Once we had learned the numbers one through twenty, I began introducing him to addition. It was very simple: I sat him down and said, "Hunter, I'm going to teach you addition!"

I showed him the a card with one dot on it and said, "One," then quickly pulled out a two card, "plus two", then quickly pulled out a three card, "equals three!" I did not have to act out what was happening (for example, adding two marbles to one): I simply showed him the facts. The idea is that, by seeing the words "plus" and "equals" used in action, they will be learned just as "mine" and "yours" are learned: by seeing the words used in action.

And the result? Well, I showed him about seventy five or so different addition equations over the course of about two weeks (nine equations a day, split into three "sessions"). With no explanation, and simply showing him the facts of addition, he is now able to do absolutely any addition equation. Tell him an equation, he knows the answer, instantly. No rote memorization, no counting, no calculating: he sees the numbers. He sees what's happening. With the same ease you and I can "see" one plus two equals three, he can just as well "see" thirty two plus twenty seven (actually see the numbers coming together).

We did the same routine for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division: showed him the facts, and allowed him to figure out the rules and apply them to all numbers. Soon we will be moving onto the world of fractions, sequencing, algebra, geometry, and beyond. The world of mathematics is now his oyster.

And it is as easy as that.

And you see, because Hunter can literally "see" the numbers and perfectly understands and actually comprehends what is happening, he has, in essence, had a calculator installed into his brain: simply tell him an equation and he knows precisely what it is, instantly. He will never memorize his multiplication tables. He will never work through long division problems. He will not spend his first two years in school practicing and practicing and practicing the same addition and subtraction problems over and over and over again. He will never throw his hands up and moan, "I hate math! I can't do it!" He will never have to bring a calculator to the store to add up his grocery list. He knows math. He understands math. What a beautiful gift to give a child.

Now, after this story, you may be thinking that I am going to try and sell you some horridly expensive program that promises to give you the same results. But I am not. World's Best Education is a non-profit, pro-bono online organization dedicated to helping parents help their children, no strings attached. I would like to give every parent and child the wonderful opportunity to learn about the exciting world of mathematics, so I am making available to everyone the materials we used, which are, like I said, merely paper, 5,050 dots, and less than five minutes a day. All you need to teach your baby or toddler math (about three months to two and a half) is some 8x11" card stock and a printer with lots of blank ink. Or, you can use the computerized program that I have prepared. All these downloads and instructions are completely free. I'll take you through every step of the way, giving you an already made schedule of equations you can use, checkoff sheets to track your progress, and tips to help you guarantee fun and success. All this can be found at worldsbesteducation.org/teachyourbabymath.asxp, and takes less than five minutes a day.

Be encouraged, be inspired, and then go help your child discover his amazing potential.

For videos of Hunter and Anthony doing their mathematics, click here. (coming soon)

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

I Know Addition!

Our math program has been horribly inconsistent since we began back in December. But today Hunter took his first addition "test" (the candy game) and amazingly understood the concept just fine.

The Doman math program (How to Teach Your Baby Math) uses a very simple, straightforward way of teaching babies and toddlers the realities of numbers and equations. You simply show them the facts, and they discover the rules.

For teaching a toddler addition, this translates into gathering three cards and showing them: "One" (hold up a card with one dot on it) "plus two" (show the card with two dots on it) "equals three" (show the card with three dots on it).

No explanation, just show the facts. Since they can actually see the true number of dots, they understand what "plus" means because they can see what is happening. Therefore, tiny children who have been taught true quantity (see blogs under "Teach Your Child ... Math" to learn more) can learn what plus, minus, times, and divided by mean in the same way that they learn "mine" - which is, by seeing these words used in action.

Hunter has probably seen about fifty or so addition equations such as this at scattered times, and he understands. Today I "tested" him for the first time, placing a fourteen and a twelve card on the floor and asking, "Hunter, what is eight plus four?"

He knew.

Later I asked him two more problems. Bingo. Once again, he understood.

It is such an exciting thing to see that this program is really working. When I first read the book, I laughed, then stood in suspicious awe, then dove into the program in faith, thinking, "But what if it DOES work..." But, as I am here to tell the world, you really CAN teach babies and toddlers the reality of math. And it's fun. And easy. And a very noble thing to do.

"The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips."

Proverbs 16:23

"Grocery shopping"

A couple days ago I took this picture of Hunter "grocery shopping" in the basement pantry.

My original reaction was to tell him to put everything back as he was "making a mess", but what harm was he doing, really?

He got this baby doll cart and started shopping for food. Of course, he put it all back when he was done, but it was cute to see him pretending that these shelves full of food was a grocery store. And fun, too.


"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

I Corinthians 13:11