The Hawkins Family from Phoenix, Arizona

Our daughter, Perri, was about 6 months old when we were told about The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. Close friends of ours had met a family in California that were doing the program with their son and our friends knew right away that Perri would thrive on a program that was based on the belief that a tiny baby could learn.

On a small piece of paper was written www.iahp.org and our friends handed it to us and said it was a gift for Perri. I immediately went to the website and learned that books were available and went right out and got a used copy of How To Teach Your Baby to Read. Within 24 hours I had read the book, explained it to my husband and went back to the IAHP website to find out how I could learn more. Within days I was registered for the How To Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence (HTM) course in October. That was 2003.

I waited to start the program in earnest with Perri until I went to the HTM class – doing it right was very important. At that point Perri was 10 months old, and fortunately for us was well positioned on the developmental chart but still had plenty of room to improve. The program was intense but with each day I knew that not only will the program work with our lifestyle but also provide Perri with the stimulation she needed. For the months prior to introducing the program we struggled to keep Perri focused and stimulated throughout the day, and I refused to resort to the electronic media to entertain her.

Like all new parents, we want the best for our daughter. In the mainstream marketplace are many toys and gadgets purportedly designed to help children learn. For Perri that was a very short curve to get over. Everything seemed to come to her quickly. All the new-parent marketing seemed to present items that would be ‘the answer’ we needed, although intuitively we knew these items were not really what we wanted. We knew we wanted to be more active, more interactive and involved with Perri.

Upon returning from the HTM course, fully armed with my bookstore purchases – Bit of Intelligence cards (Bits), word cards, red markers—I enlisted my husband and best friend to help start Perri’s word library. We made words, organized Bits and put together our plan for introducing Perri to this new lifestyle. We agonized over how to best get Perri started, but our concerns and fears were immediately put to rest when Perri took to the program wholeheartedly. She loved everything – words, Bits, the physical program!

By time Carlton took the course in March 2004, Perri had gone through hundreds of words and Bits and was progressing in the multiple physical activities. Since we had already begun the program and Carlton was an active participant, his goals for the class were to gain information to help better fine tune our program with Perri. It also gave us a renewed energy to continue our program. Perri was now 15 months old and was enjoying many physical activities – in swimming she could rollover and back float independently and swim 5 feet to the wall and get out of the pool. She could run and was learning how to jump on one foot. We don’t have stairs in our home so Perri did not have much opportunity to learn how to walk stairs. Being at the hotel while Carlton was taking his course, Perri mastered walking up and down stairs! She could do so much more than she ever would have without the program.

There was nothing that Perri didn’t want to learn—parts of the body, Presidents, chemical elements, art masterpieces. When we introduced Perri to the brachiation ladder, it was the best fun! She loved spending time on it and her most favourite thing to do was brachiate her way down the ladder to get her surprise Bit or word card.

One of the greatest gifts we have been able to give Perri are homemade books. The books have covered many different topics but all have had something to do with Perri and her world. We have introduced her to distant family members, developmental changes, and travel opportunities, as well as more routine things like eating, manner,s and mathematics. Perri’s excitement about her homemade books has made this program more remarkable than I could ever have wanted.

One of our most incredible moments came while I was attending the HTM Graduate Course in May 2004. Perri stayed home with Daddy. It was a phone message from my husband that led me to ask an Institutes staff member if it really is possible that my 17-month-old daughter could read. Perri had gone swimming with Carlton and when going in the door pointed to a sign and said, “Daddy, no diving.” Carlton called me to find out if I had been teaching Perri about the sign. It was upon telling this story to a staff member when she said to me the four words that made my heart leap—“Your daughter can read.” Our program has never been the same since then—of course everything changes when you’re given proof that what you are doing is working!

Since we introduced the program, Perri has amazed us beyond our expectations. She has done more things by the age of 3 than we could have hoped for her—because when other people told us it was not possible our friends at The Institutes not only told us it was possible but gave us tools to help make it possible. We are forever grateful—for your openness, assistance, cheerleading, patience and dedication to helping parents give their children the opportunity to achieve their potential!

Thank you kindly,
Sara and Carlton Hawkins

March 5, 2006