Teaching babies to read

MrsH_08 · January 2010

Maybe I'm weird for wondering this, but is it really necessary or helpful for your baby to learn to read at 9 months? Is it admirable or a sign of genius? I've been seeing a commercial for a product that helps babies, as young as 9 months, to learn to read... sometimes even before they can talk. I guess I don't get it. I kinda feel like those kids are going to be pressured a lot in life (JMO).

Your Baby Can Read

AnnetteWalker · January 2010

I see those too. I worry that I am being a bad parent for not giving him the chance for super early learing. But I think the comercials are designed to make parents feel guilted into buying it. I love that my little guy gets lots of play time and exploring time we also do lots of story book time too.

I don't like the idea of making my child watch DVD's just so he can read at 2 years old.

He will learn to read when he is ready and at the correct development level to do so.

katielynn25 · January 2010

I am way into what is developmentally appropriate. Reading at 9 months does not seem right to me. I am a teacher and every day I have to deal the state asking me to teach things that I know my third graders aren?t ready for. It is such an injustice to our kids.

preston18 · January 2010

I think it?s crazy. My son will learn to read by being read too and school instruction.

I read at 4. My best friend had a lot of trouble. She has a PhD. I do not.

pearly1 · January 2010

preston18:
I think it?s crazy. My son will learn to read by being read too and school instruction.

I read at 4. My best friend had a lot of trouble. She has a PhD. I do not.

This exactly.

Mama_v2.0 · January 2010

I think it is a little extreme. I also must assume that the children working with this program just memorize words and everything becomes a sight word.....HUGE problem...they lack phonics and the ability to sound out words they don't alreay know..

Seattle_JiLLn · January 2010

It's not developmentally appropriate, nor does it give them an "edge" in later learning. It just gives the parents some bragging rights I guess.

Children can be "trained" to do things, but that doesnt' mean they're "learning" something. Flash cards and memorization are just not how little brains are wired to learn. Plus the kids who get pushed academically at such a young age are shown to burn out by about 4th grade. We talked about this at our BCC class recently - I dont' have the references, but it was really interesting and really showed how young kids learn best through play based experiences rather than academic type sit down methods.

keri1013 · January 2010

I agree with pp, I think it's not a good thing and could take the fun out of reading.

spacystasi · January 2010

I agree that it is not appropriate. The first year they are already learning so many things that reading should not be added to the list.

MrsH_08 · January 2010

I'm glad I'm not alone in wondering what's the point of making your child learn to read early. I'm all for lots of stimulating play and activities, but not pushing them to read that early. Are those kids going to be expected to move quickly through school, graduate HS and college early, etc? And for what... just to get into the work force early?

I agree with the idea that they are just learning words by recognition of the words, and not by the sounds. Good point!

misseshoneysett · January 2010

uh oh! we have it. my husbands grandma bought it for corbin. [i would NEVER spend $200 on something like that!] corbin watches the dvd's every three or four days. they are about 30 minutes long. he likes them and babbles along with them. but he likes any tv really. even oprah. i dont see anything wrong with them learning early, but i also dont see anything wrong with waiting. im not pressuring him into it either though like some parents might. i think some of them even teach you another language!

Seattle_JiLLn · January 2010

misseshoneysett:
uh oh! we have it. my husbands grandma bought it for corbin. [i would NEVER spend $200 on something like that!] corbin watches the dvd's every three or four days. they are about 30 minutes long. he likes them and babbles along with them. but he likes any tv really. even oprah. i dont see anything wrong with them learning early, but i also dont see anything wrong with waiting. im not pressuring him into it either though like some parents might. i think some of them even teach you another language!

well, at 5 months old, he shouldn't be watcing any TV either... the AAP is now saying no tv at all until at least 2 years old. We of course didn't do that, but I definitely didn't have any shows on for Ben to watch - it was more background stuff...

You might just want to look into it and do some research. There are much better ways to give your baby stimulation and learning experiences.

misseshoneysett · January 2010

Seattle_JiLLn:

misseshoneysett:
uh oh! we have it. my husbands grandma bought it for corbin. [i would NEVER spend $200 on something like that!] corbin watches the dvd's every three or four days. they are about 30 minutes long. he likes them and babbles along with them. but he likes any tv really. even oprah. i dont see anything wrong with them learning early, but i also dont see anything wrong with waiting. im not pressuring him into it either though like some parents might. i think some of them even teach you another language!

well, at 5 months old, he shouldn't be watcing any TV either... the AAP is now saying no tv at all until at least 2 years old. We of course didn't do that, but I definitely didn't have any shows on for Ben to watch - it was more background stuff...

You might just want to look into it and do some research. There are much better ways to give your baby stimulation and learning experiences.

i didnt mean he sits and watches oprah with me. he will just crank his neck to see anything anytime the tv is on. which isnt often. we listen to music mostly during the day. anyways, im aware that babies shouldnt watch tv until they are two but thank you for the advice.

Seattle_JiLLn · January 2010

sorry i misunderstood.

CDMay2006 · January 2010

I agree that it is not developmentally appropriate, but i do think that reading to small children is important to language development and later reading success.

FutureFung · January 2010

I agree with pp's who've said it's not developmentally appropriate and that kids aren't actually decoding the word, they're memorizing them. Not only that, they're likely not understanding what they're reading and making connections between the word they see ("apple") and their own representation of the word, based on their own experiences with it ("Oh, my mom was eating an apple yesterday"). Making connections between text and your own experiences with the world is one of the most important parts of early literacy. Without both parts, reading the word is useless...

Seattle_JiLLn · January 2010

FutureFung:
I agree with pp's who've said it's not developmentally appropriate and that kids aren't actually decoding the word, they're memorizing them. Not only that, they're likely not understanding what they're reading and making connections between the word they see ("apple") and their own representation of the word, based on their own experiences with it ("Oh, my mom was eating an apple yesterday"). Making connections between text and your own experiences with the world is one of the most important parts of early literacy. Without both parts, reading the word is useless...

You sound just like our toddler class teacher!

FutureFung · January 2010

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