Babies: 9 - 12 Months

Your Baby Can Read...anyone doing this program?

What do you think about this program?

Re: Your Baby Can Read...anyone doing this program?

  • Just started.  Videos are cute & hold DD attention for awhile  I would rather her watch this than some other things! 

    Seems to make sense, too.  It's about teaching DC to learn all aspects of language at the same time - the sound, the written word, the meaning of the word.  It's not just memorization & flash cards.

    I like it - we'll see what happens.

  • Eh, a few people have asked this before, and I have to admit when I saw the infomercial I was sucked in at first.  I decided to ask my sister who is a elementary school teacher and she had a very strong opinion (as do other nesties who are teachers) that the program is a load of crap and only teaches babies to memorize.  Your time is better spent reading books to your baby (every day if you can), relating what she sees in the books to every day life, and talking to your baby.
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  • Ditto Jaysgrl (and yes, I taught elementary for a few years)!
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  • It's not just memorization as anyone familiar with the program knows.  It also encourages you to read to your child - A LOT!!!!  And eliminate most tv programs.
  • MIL mentioned it to me on Sunday.  She wants to get it for DD#2 and our niece (who's 4 months older).  I don't know anything about it, but she was so amazed at these babies/toddlers that can read, blah, blah, blah.  I guess if she's going to buy it, we'll check it out.
    image
    DD#1~8/17/96------DS~10/24/05 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Very opinionated teacher here....

    Babies should play...not read...I'm not going any further than that.  Spend your $$ on buying books, and your time reading to your DC.  They have the rest of their life to read! 

  • I just got it as a gift and was wondering. I played the DVD for my daughter and she was laughing and seeming to love it. I have been reading to her since she was in the womb. So I figure that we will continue to always read to her. Just wondering if this has worked for anyone.
  • I am also a teacher. I have the program and use it every day, but I also read to DD every night too and make sure she has plenty of time to play w/o the TV on. We'll see what happens. For now, it's good entertainment for her, so I'm not sure exactly if she's learning anything from it. Some will say, and according to some child development experts, that babies cannot possibly learn how to read that young, but why not try it if you have the money and are also willing to not just use it as a substitute for reading to your kid.
  • imagems_mellor:

      They have the rest of their life to read! 

     

    Exactly!  What is the hurry here?  

  • imagetrixR4kidz:
    imagems_mellor:

      They have the rest of their life to read! 

     

    Exactly!  What is the hurry here?  

    It's really not that I am in a hurry. But if it is true that the brain is 90% fully developed by the age of 5. And if it's true that they can learn to read, speak languages, and other things like they learn to speak during this time, then I figure I might as well give her the edge and make learning later on easier on her. I haven't done much research on this, but so far it seems like a good idea. Or should I say that it doesn't seem to hurt anything.

  • Michelle110 - that's exactly how I feel!!! 

    If these 20 minutes 2x a day are all the tv DD watches and she seems to react well to it - no harm.  The video is fun, cute, has real people & animals DD likes to watch - not dumbed down music & puppets that bore DD.

    This is not a substiture for reading to you DC - it actually encourages reading and playing with your child.  It's definitely doesn't look like it hurts!

  • I've taken many a child development/linguistic courses and I've never heard that learning to read earlier is helpful.  It IS easier to learn other languages because kids eventually lose the ability to produce every sound.  But they have to be fully emersed  in both languages to do this correctly.

     

    I don't think it can hurt anything.  If you've got it and your LO enjoys it, go for it!

  • I considered buying it for DS.  Don't think I am going to.  I'd like to find out if there are any long term advantages of this program.  Learning to read early is good I guess. Not sure what it really does long term.  Eventually the rest of the kids DS age will catch up, so why do it? 

  • imagems_mellor:

    Very opinionated teacher here....

    Babies should play...not read...I'm not going any further than that.  Spend your $$ on buying books, and your time reading to your DC.  They have the rest of their life to read! 

     I totally, 100%, wholeheartedly agree.  Please don't teach your children things for which they are not developmentally ready.  It only leads to lack of motivation when they do start school.  I've also heard other nesties say that they know people who have done this with their babies and when they were learning to read in school it was a VERY frustrating experience for them because the way they "learned" as babies had nothing to do with phonics. 

     LET BABIES BE BABIES!!!  Play is what babies need.

  • To OP, since you have admittedly done very little research regarding this topic, I encourage you to read the book Einstein Never Used Flash Cards.  There is a whole section in the book devoted to the detremental effects of teaching kids things for which they are not developmentally ready, like reading before age 5. 
  • imageRob&Heidi:
    imagems_mellor:

    Very opinionated teacher here....

    Babies should play...not read...I'm not going any further than that.  Spend your $$ on buying books, and your time reading to your DC.  They have the rest of their life to read! 

     I totally, 100%, wholeheartedly agree.  Please don't teach your children things for which they are not developmentally ready.  It only leads to lack of motivation when they do start school.  I've also heard other nesties say that they know people who have done this with their babies and when they were learning to read in school it was a VERY frustrating experience for them because the way they "learned" as babies had nothing to do with phonics. 

     LET BABIES BE BABIES!!!  Play is what babies need.

    I'm tired and don't want to get into it today.. ;) But as a reading specialist, I completely agree with this! I know there's another reading specialist on this board too who also agrees. Don't waste your money. They're not developmentally ready at this age. You're MUCH better off just reading to them as often as possible, exposing them to reading, print, letting them see you read and enjoy it, etc.. Reading readiness is what is important at this age.

    CP 3/07
    BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08.       BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
    TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
    BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
    BFP 11/14
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