Your Baby Can Read - Deland,FL

My daughetr is 21 months old and has mosaic down syndrome (very mild form) and we don't follow the schedule to a "T"(we've been doing this for about 3 months) but I have noticed that she recognizes words. She loves the songs and knows all the motions to the songs. It has helped her to talk quicker. She knows her body parts( eyes, ear, nose, mouth, etc). She points out the words on TV if you same them. SHe knows what the small words are. She is more developed than other kids her age too(even with the down syndrome). So I believe it is working! Its worth a try!

Good Luck!

I am a graduate student in education and our child developmet class talks about what a scam this is all the time. There is no research this works and the baby is memorizing NOT READING. Please don't waste your money!

As a first grade teacher responsible for the reading skills of many children year after year I would say DO NOT purchase this program. I had heard of it before but not until I found out I was going to have a child did I really look into it.
The program is very very expensive and yes it will work at first. The program is based on Wholistic reading or the whole-word approach. Your child will learn to read quickly this is probably how many people on here or their parents learned how to read. You memorize words and eventually will learn the basic sounds that most letters make. Since the early 80's public education has switched to a phonetical approach to reading. When children at taught phonics it takes much longer for them to learn to read but they are better readers and spellers in the long run.
With a whole-word approach your child could actually have more difficulty reading in the long run. It will be difficult for them to recognize irregular vowel combinations/sounds. If you are using the public school system your child might actually have difficulty in kindergarten/first grade because they will know what the words are but they won't understand why it cat says cat. It will be very frusturating for them to have to go back and try to read you will have to explain to your five year old that yes they already know what the word is but they need to know why to learn how to read better.
In my professional opinion if you want to buy a program for the television Hooked on Phonics is a much better buy (if they even still make it) other than that teach your child letters and sounds and regular words to start with. Read with your child and make it fun!

It's a scam...don't waste your money on it. I think, especially as kids get older, one of the best things you can do for your children is let them see you reading!

I definately would not buy a product that encouraged me to have my young child in front of a tv screen. It's not healthy nor recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you want your child to memorize words, just make your own flash cards and spend quality time together each day showing the flashcards and demonstrating either the body part, action or a picture of the item you are trying to get them to memorize. The program simply uses the tv to replace you, the parent. If you really want your child to memorize words for some reason, I would do it yourself, not let the tv do it.

There is a reason that Disney us giving refunds to people who purchased the Baby Einstein videos for babies and toddlers.... There was too much evidence that it is not healthy and the general public
is being misled.

I really feel bad for all the parents that are sucked in by the late night marketing scams and for making them believe that this is somehow good for their previous little one- similar to all the diet pills and get rich quick schemes....but I feel even more sorry for the children that have to endure this in order to become the next party trick or be shown off by mom and dad. I think it's sad.

If you really want professional advise before spending $ or subjecting your child to this, I would talk to a good child reading specialist regarding whether this memorizing really helps kids read later on or not and also to a good pediatrician regarding the risks of tv for children...

Please educate yourself.... These tv marketing scams are simply that! This is no better than the "buying houses for free" and " lose 200 lbs by taking these pills and still eat McDonalds every day" scams..... But now this affects innocent children.

DO NOT bother with this program!! This is the WORST thing you can do to your developing child's brain. You are essentially making your child all left brained and that is not how babies are supposed to develop. They are supposed to develop through the right brain and that in turn "feeds" the left brain. You will end up with a child who has a complete brain imbalance. This might not show up till the 3rd-4th grade but it will show up in learning disabilities. Right now for the first 5 yrs sensory motor activities are the only appropriate stimulation children need. Forget about reading and writing. If you encourage early motor movement through swinging, sliding, crawling, jumping, spinning, rocking, running, rolling etc then your child will have the biggest advantage over anyone int he class later on. They will know their bodies. SO many kids today are disconnected from their bodies and this is how it happens. Parents are trying to make them smart which will only make them have problems. Please let them develop the way we did....without videos, flash cards, and electronics. Play, play, play. I highly recommmend a book called Disconnected Kids because the majority of kids I see fit this category. Also check out www.brainbalancecenters.com. It is common sense to let the brain develop from the bottom up, not the top down.

From an educational point of view... your child may learn those words & know them by sight. Sight words are not actually reading, they are memorizing... it will NOT help your child read. The APA recommends no TV before 2- so from their point of view- it could hurt. That said, MOST kids watch some tv- so I guess if you do it together & make it fun... it's up to you!

I realize that our culture is contantly pushing our children to learn more, much faster than ever before. I bought into it when my son was born. I had learning toys for infants and let him watch Baby Einstein videos (American Academy of Pediatrics recommends NO TV OR COMPUTER screens before the age of 2 and then none or limited amounts only). I then learned that they aren't ready before their brains and bodies develop to a certain point. If we push it, we are only teaching them to decode things that they can't understand. The pathways in their brains are not ready. We can turn them off and create learning and emotional problems. Check out the book "Einstein Didn't Use Flashcards". Natural toys, digging in the dirt, reading to them, etc. will allow them to thrive and get ready for more when the time is right. They will show you what they are interested in.

Hi E.,
I purchased the program for my home daycare. I like it and the kids are learning. So I don't have anything negative to say about the program, but if you had the time it's something that can easily be done without the program.
A.

If you do research you will find that the specialists say this is not good for your child. It does not actually teach them how to read but how to memorize the words. When they start school if not taught correctly they will have problems. Talk to the teachers. They prefer you don't use programs like these because the children have learning problems later on. It's sort of like playing a memory game in stead of teaching reading correctly.

I also had the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons" book that Victoria had. I did some of it with my daughter, who was very interested in learning how to read... BUT she was also in Montessori school, which teaches the same way (the sounds of the letters rather than the names)-- so I think it was a combination of both that had my daughter reading by her 4th bday.... BUT a REALLY big factor is that we found out years later when she was tested for the gifted program that she has about a 140 IQ... so who's to say that this book will work for the "average" kid. My son, who is a year and a half (and one grade level) older learned to read in kindergarten with the rest of the kids his age. He was also at Montessori school and had an opportunity to use that book with me, but he was not interested in learning to read early so that was FINE. In my opinion, unless they have a gifted IQ or a learning disability, all kids pretty much learn to read in kindergarten so unless they are begging to learn early, what's the point?

We have done it for a month now and my 11 month old is definitely learning! She has learned 3 things so far. My friend has a 2 1/2 year old and he will not sit to watch it. So I guess the earlier you start the better. we bought ours off of Craigslit for $50, much cheaper than on TV. So I would check that out also. I always see them selling it on there. Brand New! It is not the big complete set which goes for $300, but it has 5 discs which seems to be plenty. Good Luck!

I have it, did not use it everyday like I should have. What I did decide though, was that it wasn't really necessary for my kids to read so early and decided to let them learn in a more natural way and at their own pace. I spoke with several teachers and they all have said, that just because your child can read early will not necessarily mean they will be good students in high school. So I no longer find it important to make sure my kids read so young. Many kids who read late do great later in school. I would say, save your money

We considered getting this for our son who is now 2. However, once my husband started actually researching the program he found that most conclude that any advancement gained by the program is lost around 3rd grade when the child finally just falls into the average category for their age group and are no longer advanced. Additionally, this specific program has shown to cause difficulties with reading comprehension once the child is school age.

My son started learning his letters at 20 months old and knew all of them within a couple months, just from using flashcards and writing his letters for him when we would color. (We didn't teach him the alphabet song, but rather he recognizes the letters in any order.) He is 26 months now and can "read" all his letters in almost any font, both upper case and lower case. He is about the same with his numbers. No need for a special program, just a dollar pack of flashcards from Target and some time with mom and dad.

i have it and it works really good my 11 month old knows a few words and meanings i started to use it when she was 8 months ND U JUST LET THE CHILDREN WATCH THE VIDEOS FIRST THEN TRY USING FLASH CARDS n there was nothin negative to it

I have a grandchild and wanted to purchase it for him, but wanted more infor on the program...any information will be helpful

Wow. I didn't realize all the negative opinions there were on Your Baby Can Read. My 14 month old loves the videos. We have been watching them for 3 months now. He doesn't say the words but he does know when he sees them what they are. He knows when I do the flash cards what most of the words are. The videos are not very long, so my child is NOT sitting in front of the tv all day. Guess I will do some more research on them before I continue letting him watch them. I had a friend who did the videos with her son and he is very bright and reads very well for a 3 year old.

I have not had personal experience with this. But I have read up on programs like this. They aren't learning to read, they are memorizing what the words looks like. They aren't learning phonics, so they may have trouble later when they get to words they should be sounding out, and have to relearn words. Also, I have read that children before 3-4 need to learn all the basics and make those connections in their brain first. Things like colors, shapes, basic speech. Even letters and numbers (but not as words). Then they need to build on to the basics. The brain makes connections in a specific order as we grow up, forcing the brain to do things it wasn't meant to do early can cause odd problems to show up later. The same way that children who skip crawling and go to walking can sometimes have motor skill problems later. I'm sure it is successful to a point for some children, but for most, I've read it's not a good idea. It seems best to stick with nature. I did what the pediatrician recommended with mine. I read to them every day and always talked normal, no baby words. I started teaching phonics to my kids between 3-4. (A says... T says... AT says... etc.) My older two, 7 and 9, are excellent readers and are reading books like Harry Potter by themselves. My 5 year old is reading small, age appropriate books. Our house is full of books and the kids love getting them. Just encourage a love of reading and you'll be fine. You could definitely do phonics with your 3 year old if she shows an interest in it. My three year old likes to listen, but isn't focused enough to read it yet.

Sorry to respond "off topic", but since I am not familiar with Your Baby Can Read, I wanted to share what I AM familiar with.... "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons". Not for the infant, but perhaps your 3 year old might be ready sometime in the not too distant future. It is very easy to "do" and fun for the kids. My daughter was very anxious to learn to read (always asking what things said, trying to guess words on her own, recognizing sight words - like stop signs, etc). We tried it right at 3 1/2 but she had a difficult time with the rhyming concepts in the first few lessons. So we set it aside for a month or so, then gave it another shot. She loved it and did very well... even doing 2 lessons a day sometimes bringing the workbook to me and ASKING ME to do them..

The book can be found online for about $10 on amazon. It is a softcover workbook and you don't need anything else; although a magna-doodle for practicing letters is helpful. The book tells you word for word what to say, and how to correct mistakes.

My daughter could read (not simple 3 word sentences but juvenile chapter books like the "Henry and Mudge" and "Frog and Toad" series) and have full comprehension by her 4th birthday. It was amazing! She is still a fantastic reader, and due to being able to read on her own (and comprehend what she was reading) she is more advanced in other subjects, because she would read hand me down science workbooks for FUN on her own! Going to the bookstore became a road-trip essential for us!

The book teaches the sounds letters make first, not the names of the letters (M doesn't say "emm" it makes the 'mmmmmm' sound; and "s" doesn't sound like "esss" it sounds like "sssss" - like a snake; and they don't need to know what the name of it is anyway- just recognize when they SEE it what sound it makes), so it is important to read the parents introduction in the front of the book. But you can start lessons the first day. It is very easy. By the end of the workbook, your child will be reading page long stories and telling you what they expect to see in a picture (before they see the picture) about the story.
I HIGHLY recommend it.
p.s.
Perhaps I should note, much like Tammi mentioned... my daughter is currently being tested for the gifted program as well. The biggest thing is that your child needs to be motivated on their own. If it is something you are forcing on them (whether the workbook I mentioned, the YBCR program, or something else) then it is not going to do what you expect... and may negatively impact their attitude about learning later on.

Read, read, read, read to them! "I Spy" books were some of my daughter's favorites, but also all the "classics" (Dr. Seuss, A Fly Went By, Winnie the Pooh, Goodnight Moon, et al). These were the starting points for her developing interest in written words. Read every day! Naptime, playtime, bedtime. Every chance you get.

To those who think that reading is memorization... no. it is not. Reading is learning how to DECODE. It is NOT memorization!

You are actually not the first to post a question about this program. I'm still so surprised at the people who put down the set. In case most people haven't realized, reading IS memorization. It IS about word recognition. I did not purchase the program because of the cost, but my mother-in-law bought it for my step-daughter. She is 2-years-old and recognizes many of the words in the books that come with the disks. She knows all of the songs and it is one of the only "educational" dvd's she will sit through.

My biological daughter is almost 4-years-old and she is TV taught as well. She knows Spanish, sign language, and a little Chinese (care of Ni Hao, Kailan). She learned her ABC's and 123's from a DVD. As long as you sit with your child and reinforce what they watch on the TV/DVD's you are enhancing their learning.

Hi E.,
It "works" as well as any other time you spend helping your child read. We have the program for our 18 month old, and have had it for about 9 months.
The dvd's are terrible, they look like they were produced in someone's garage, I find them annoying, and my boy isn't interested in watching.

HOWEVER, the reading cards and books are GREAT! My son loves them and points to the words, loves to slide the cards and look at the pictures in the books. I wish they were sturdier, as they are falling apart quickly.

My son doesn't "read" any of the words, but he loves the concept of them. We don't work the program, we just use the tools in addition to books.

I used alphabet flashcards and color number shape flashcards and hooked on phonics. Hooked on phonics cost about 85.00 and is worth it. All four of my kids learned this way. I also used educational tv, and read to them. My 9 year old read by age 2 and is now doing 10th grade level work. My 14 year old struggled with reading, and even with help has had problems, or just dislike for it he also is doing 10th grade level work but does not like reading. My 2 year old can read, and speaks hebrew, chineese, spanish and english as do all my kids. You do not need the expensive program with a few inexpensive tools and a little time you can get the same or better results we have continued on to homeschool and my kids love it. I started out with working about one and a half hours every day for kids under 3. I increased the time to 3 hours until age 6. After age six we worked 6 hours a day.