"My Baby Can Read" - Arlington Heights,IL

Personnally I think such programs to push children is wrong. they should be allowed to learn at their own pace. I don't approve of pushing kids, stressing them out and taking their childhood away from them.

I can't understand the purpose of this??? Seriously, who cares? Children develop as they develope, why rush?

I have worked at a children's book store for 10 years and have worked with lots of kids who were advanced readers and lots of reluctant readers. We have seen TONS of products like this come and go. There is absolutely NO scientific evidence that they will 'teach' your baby to read. Rote recognition is NOT reading. My son is gifted and a very advanced reader and there are 2 very best things you can do to help your child be a skilled and life long reader:

1) Read yourself. Studies show that when children see parents reading for information or pleasure and reading material is in the home every day- books, magazines, whatever- that child is MUCH more likely to want to read and become a reader themselves.

2) Secondly and MOST importantly: READ TO YOUR CHILD!! Reading aloud will create a bond with your and your baby and help the child associate reading with positive things, like having mommy's attention, the sound of words, pictures, etc. Rhyming books are especially good for children around 2 years old. I totally recommend 'Read to your Bunny' by Rosemary Wells, and 'The Cozy Book' by Mary Ann Hoberman. I read these two books to my son almost every day when he was small and they were among the first things he picked up all on his own and sounded out and read back to me.

Don't waste your time on expensive gimmicks when all you need to do is read to your child and have books available to him.

Also, honestly, babies are SO busy learning so many other things they need to learn. They are soaking everything around them up like sponges. Why does your BABY need to read right now anyway? It won't 'give him an edge' or make him a better student later in life. If anything, pushing things on children- especially reading- can often set them up to dislike it or feel like it is a chore later on. I have seen this happen over and over with well-meaning parents who were pushy with their kids in trying to give them some kind of 'advantage'. Show your child by example and let them learn to LOVE books and reading. Then you won't have anything to worry about!!

Don't waste your money. This method of learning goes against everything we know about how a child learns. Children learn through play and hands on activities. The best thing you can do to get your child into literature is to READ to her, and read to her a lot. Point out letters, their sounds, play games with them, show them words in their environment. There is a lot more to becoming a good reader than just memorizing words. There is left to right correspondence, how to turn the pages, knowing how to follow and the order of a story, the phonetics of a letter, etc. My Baby Can Read does not teach children to "read." It also doesn't give a child a heads up from their peers, since studies have shown that even kids who are "reading" at two end up at the same level as their peers by the time they reach 2nd or 3rd grade. There are many more quality ways to introduce your child to books and reading than methods like this. Instill the love of reading in your child by reading to them- there is nothing else better.

I have the DVD's and my 22 month old cannot read! :) I cannot say I showed her the DVD's twice a day like the instructions say. I really do think it helped her with language development. She knows and understands the meaning of all of words it goes over. Overall, I think theses types of learning DVD's should be limited as all T.V. should at this age. I do think this is a great alternative to Sponge Bob and other garbage we turn on for our little ones!!! :) I am glad I made the purchase.

Also, the dvd uses the "whole language" approach to teaching reading. It does not teach letter sounds. If you would like a DVD that teaches letters and letter sounds try the Leap Frogs The Letter Factory. You can buy it at any Toys R Us for about $12.00.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

Don't spend the money, read to her often and remember there are certain developmental step she needs to acheive before she gets to reading that helps her brain make sense of it all. Also if her brain does actually learn to read, what developmental step is she missing and will it go back to that. Don't push her to grow up too soon. She will get there, just cuddle and settle down with a good book and read to her. Even if it is not one of hers and a safe one of your. It shows you love to read to. Kids learn from their parents interests.

I wouldn't spend the money. Spend 20 minutes, 2x a day reading with your child --before nap and bedtime. My 17 month old's favorite toys have been books since I can remember. She already knows a bunch of letters and is well aware that there are such things as "words."

The problem with programs such as "my baby can read" is that they assume that interaction and activity aren't pivotal to learning. Being able to say "Cat" when you see the letters C-A-T a million times is totally different than actually knowing how to read. Think of it as a training technique for dogs, not human beings that have interests. My biggest criticism of such programs is that they take the interest and interaction out of learning, and interest and interaction are two fundamentals (as is modeling).

For what it's worth, I have a Ph.D. in the philosophy of education, so I do know a thing or two about learning.

We started showing my son the "Your Baby Can Read" starter video a little over a week ago. He is 18 months old, and after 1 week he is already recognizing the basic works on the video and doing the actions (clap - arms up, etc).

I rented the videos from the library - I didn't want to pay $200 for the system. I can make my own flashcards, the videos were the important thing to have.

I bought that for my son when he was born. He really didn't care for the videos so I ended selling it on ebay. I work with my son a lot and at the age of 6months he knew his abc's and new all of there sounds by 1.5! He is now 3yrs and is now sounding out words and learning to spell! In addition to working with him alot and reading to him alot...I need to give some credit to Super Why (on PBS) He started watching it at 6months and around 2 or 2.5 he started to like and watch Word World! (also on PBS) If nothing else they made him think that letters and words were fun to learn and talk about!
My step mom is a kindergarten teacher and she has always told me that my son is way above the grid. Sorry,I'm not trying to brag but I wanted to let you know that she also told me ...that children are not always able to learn there letters early on!(Its up to there brains to be ready)
We always laugh because my son is super smart but very clumsy! People stop me all the time to ask me how old he is because he talks like he is 18yrs old but yet he didn't walk until he was older then 1! And he can tell you his name, how to spell it, his address and phone number but he isn't potty trained! Kids just learn at all different stages!
So if you still feel like you want to buy the program! I was able to sell it on ebay for almost as much as I bought it for! :) Hope this helped!

The commercial really make you wonder. My kids are 8 and 6 and the commercial still got my attention!

With that said, I always read a lot--books EVERYWHERE in the house and car and bathtub, etc. And we played with letters and all those normal everyday things you do with babies and toddlers. Both my kids happened to be early readers anyway. And they read phonetically, not by sight (which it seems the program emphasizes).

Out of curiosity I wonder if anyone not on the commercial has liked the program.

My friend is a grade school teacher and said that these programs actually put your child at a disatvantage when they enter school. She said that they have to be deprogramed, for lack of a better word, to be retaught how to read...phonics and such other techniques. She said read to your kids as often as you can instead.

I sell Barefoot Books for children. A team member of mine is doing this program with her 7 month old. She said so far, she has noticed that she would rather be read a book, than play with toys. She's not reading yet, but we will see what happens! :)

T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com