Your Baby Can Read...Has Anyone Used It?

I too am very interested in this program. I am thinking about buying it - but would like to hear more than the testimonals on tv.
thanks
L.

We have never used it but my daughter has a little friend who does. Now, this friend has ALWAYS been very bright. She was talking and saying her colors and alphabet WAY before my daughter, and that was with out any program. But her mother started using the program and she is reading words now. She is 2 and a half.

But why would you want your two year old to read? Let her be two.I truly believe there is an age for kid's brains to learn stuff; they may be able to memorize early but do they really GET it? And do you really think sitting them in front of a TV is the best way to learn? Walk around and interact with your child- point out words if you want to - or better- letters. But really, even if they learn to read early - that doesn't mean they will read better or enjoy it more. At some point the kids all even out -and whatever it is that they enjoy is what they will do best. My 13 year old used to be able to "read" all of the Disney movie titles by recognizing the fonts of the titles. We would cover the pictures on the spines of the movie boxes and she could "read" off all of the titles at the tender age of 3. And she is the one that is dyslexic and struggles the most with reading. My oldest had a pre-k teacher that wanted to hold him back because she felt he'd do poorly because he wasn't interested in letters or reading. In second grade he took off and is my best and strongest reader and LOVES to read. He reads mostly non fiction stuff about the environment, our food system, world politics- not necessarily exciting reading but don't get into a debate about these things- he knows his stuff. And my third taught herself to read at 4. Enjoy your two year old, teach her about the world and let the reading come in time. (And, yes, just my opinion- but you asked!) Good luck !!

My personal opinion on these types of programs is to let your toddler be a toddler and learn to read on her own.

My oldest was reading by 3. He is one of the rare people who was literally born knowing how to read. My other 2 read at 5. They are all extremely smart.

Hello R.,

We bought this program for our 2 y/o son also. He was interested with the video at first, but then he got to when I played the video, he would start playing with his toys. The videos are not that long, but almost as if he was bored with it or it wasn't what he wanted to see. He does well with the cards and the book that it came with. I was going to send the program back after the trial period, but I decided I was going to keep it and use it when he got older and was more interested in learning. I tried reading to my son when he was younger and he just showed no interest in it. He would get the books and just tear the pages or when I had a book in my hands, he would grab it from me, close it and put back in the basket where I kept the books. I don't know if it's just my child or if this is something that they go through. I can say that he did learn some words from the flash cards. He sees the picture and knows what it is. If he learned to read the word...I can't say!

It's not a bad program and we'll make better use of it in due time. Right now my son would much rather watch Word World, Curious George, Mickey Mouse and Baby Eienstein. I am one of those moms who lets her child watch TV (limited time), but it's not just whatever is on TV. It's educational programs.

God Bless,
E.

I don't think you need one of these programs to teach your child things. My daughter knew her letters, numbers and colors all before 18 months just because I played on the floor with her and told her what color everthing she was playing with was. She had blocks with letters on them, so we would talk about what letters were on the blocks. Now, I think my daughter is exceptional and has a photographic memory because she is now almost 3 1/2 and is writing all of the capital letters and knows how to read small words. I didn't even teach her how to write most of the letters, she just sees them in her head and can put it on paper. So, my point is that your 2 year old may not read (and doesn't need to), but you can start the process of teaching the letters and their sounds and colors and shapes without the aid of some expensive program. I do agree with the others that say let your toddler be a toddler. I never pushed my daughter to learn these things, as I said, she just picked them up so easily and is actually interested in it. We practice writing and math (she can add and subtract small numbers) only as long as it's fun for her and she initiates it. I have never pulled out a stack of flash cards and insisted my child "learn"! We practiced addition and subtraction with Cheerios or some other snack, but now she can do the math in her head. Just let your daughter learn through play and you will not only be encouraging the academics, but also the creative side of her education (my daughter loves to draw and tells me she is going to be an artist...yikes...starving artist!). Don't limit her to one thing. I know it's hard in this culture not to want to push your child to succeed, but there is a time and a place for everything and 2 years old is just too young to start the pushing.

R.:

My aunt bought this program for me when my youngest was 2 1/2. I know it is very expensive but it comes with DVD's, flash cards, books and a detailed explanation on how to utilitze the program. I had never heard of it so when she bought it I was pretty excited to try it. I can tell you that my daughter loves Noggin and all the shows on Noggin and Nick. We put in the first DVD and she watched it, pretty excited to see all the kids and animals on the TV. So far so good right? well, that was about the extent of it. The novelty wore off pretty fast and then it was back to "I want to watch Dora". I can tell you the flash cards are great and my oldest daughter even likes using them but this program requires your child to watch the DVD's pretty consistently and only until they have learned the words on the first DVD do you move them to the second one.

so, my opinion and my opinion only is that I'm sure for a child as young as 6 months old this program is good for them but once your child reaches 1+ yr or so and can make their own choices on what they watch, they will lose interest pretty fast. I remember asking my daughter if she wanted to watch her "words" DVD and she always said no. I'm glad I didn't buy it myself, for that price I could buy my daugher all sorts of interesting books and she and I could have a field day reading all of them.

okay, just my opinion of course. Good luck with your decision!
M. B

R.,

I LOVE this program. I was a little cautious at first, because like many of the moms said, I didn't want to push my daughter (she is 14 months and we have been using it for 1.5 months) to do anything she didn't want to do. Now she brings me the DVD and hands it to me...wanting to watch it. She gets really excited and dances around when it comes on. She sits in my lap (I always watch it with her instead of using it as a break) and we say the words and do the actions together. SOmetimes she does seem to get bored with the video and I just turn it off. I don't want to force her. She adores the books and flashcards - it is actually kind of annoying sometimes because she won't let me put them away. People are amazed at what she can say and respond to. I understand that all kids may "level out" eventually but if it is something she enjoys and helps us communicate right now then I am all for it.

Just a tip - maybe try ebay to find it less expensive.

Hope this helps.

We just bought it a couple months ago. I have a 15 month old and yes I do believe that it is working. Her vocabulary is excellerating at a very fast rate. I think that is the first step, then word recognition. I have seen her point to the word baby and say it, and once I heard her say bubbles when it came on the screen. I'm very satisfied with the tapes, and she loves the books that come with it. They have words that slide in and out to reveal the picture inside. We let her watch Elmo on the weekends, b/c she loves elmo, and put on her reading tape in the morning and while I;m cooking dinner at night. I try not to force it on her, and make it a fun game..."look at the puppy! and I point to the screen. The tape will say "ARMS UP" and before they show the girl hold her arms up, my husband and I will hold up are arms up in fake competition. If anything it helps with getting dressed in the morning, she knows how to commuicate with us better. We say arms up and she knows what that means. (Just an example) Hope this helps, good luck.

We have it for our son who is now 2 years old. He got it last Christmas. He likes it. I use it for a break for me. Instead of some silly tv cartoon I feel that this is better. We don't do it everyday but he can recognize some words on t he flash cards.

I did not read all the responses and you have some very good answers to think about. I was a Kindergarten Teacher for 15 years and one thing I know is not all children learn the same way or the same rate. If you feel your daughter would benefit, try it. If it is not interesting to her at this time, stop. As long as it is working and is not frustrating to her it can't hurt. I personally not familiar with this program, but trust your judgement for your child. Have fun!!

When my children were small the Phonics program was very popular. We asked the principal of my son's school at the time what she thought about the program. She said that although it works, kids usually level off at around 4th grade and end up on the same reading level. Regardless of how soon they learned to read. We decided against it and my children were both above average in elementary school and in K level classes in Jr. High & High School. Personally I would be afraid that if your child already knew what most kids will just be learning when they enter school they might get bored and become a discipline problem. In other words, these programs might end up doing more harm than good as well as costing you money unnecessarily. Just a thought. God bless.

Yes, we are looking at the videos. Please be advise that you have to be committed to helping your child and she may get tired of the videos but you have to make it fun. Reading this instructional piece, it seems as though your child can not look at any t.v. or you have to minimize your child with looking at t.v. because something else can grasp her/his attention. Over all, we like it.

People are suprised at what my daughter can say at 1 now. I had people saying their child couldn't say hippopatumus at her age and that is what Your Baby Can Read tells them. How to say words you wouldn't expect them to know now. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!

The money is expenive I saw it on a enformercial so I didn't have to pay a lot but I like the cards and the books and so does our daughter. But the older she has gotten it seems to be harder to keep her still and we don't try to we just go to cards and books.

It's up to you if you want to do though. Good Luck..

I will tell you what...my twins are 4 yo and I am seriously considering it, especially as my son is so close to reading on his own as it is...

I will be watching your responses to see if anyone posts who has used it...I hope you don't mind...

Hi, I have no personal experience with it, but my sister bought it and said that it does work......if you want to stay home and have him/her watch tv all day long. She said that the children memorize the cards that's why they do what it says. Her 3 year old was bored with it after 5 mins. Maybe if you start them at a younger age, not sure.

Hi R.! It's great that you are interested in educational programs for your child, so let me tell you what my experience has been with this program. I bought it a little over 7 months ago for my daughter and for the kids in my childcare program, and the results have been mixed. My 3 1/2 year old will watch it if we are driving or if we are at home by ourselves, but loses interest if other kids are around althought she does enjoy the books and plays with the cards, the same goes for the other 3 children that I watch all between the ages of 3 to 4 years old. I have tried everything to make them interested in the videos but nothing has worked, they will watch it for 5 minutes and soon after that they lose interest.
Having said that, I also provide care for 2- two year olds and one infant-10 months old that show a lot of interest and excitment everytime I put the DVD'S on, the 2 year old girl as soon as she hears the music at the beginning of the program runs excited saying "the baby video yes!" and will sit and perform all the moves and repeat all the words in the program, she has learn a lot of words and speaks very clearly. As for the older kids they are learning their phonics, sight words, etc. with other programs a lot less expensive(not T.V. related) and are doing very well too.
So I have come to the conclusion that if your child is older than 3 years old and a fairly active child this program will probably not work for them, but it might work for children 2 years old and younger who will sit for 20 minutes to watch a video without losing interest and the younger they are the better. So if you are really serious about the program try to limit or even better eliminate the time they spend watching other videos or T.V programs. It also works best when used with one or two children at a time instead of with a bigger group and this program requires parental involvement, so you will need to spend time not only watching the DVD with your child but also using the books and word cards included in the program.
My advice is check with friends and family ask if anyone has bought the program and can let you borrow it for a few weeks, or take advantage of the 30 day trial period just to see if your little girl shows and retains interest in it. It is a good program for very young children like infants & toddlers, but is not appealing to older preschool age children who by this age have seen many more videos or T.V. programs that capture and retain their attention.
I for one decided to make the investment since I plan to provide childcare for many more kids in the future, but I wish I had known about it when my little girl was younger. Let us know what you decided and how it works out for you. :)

We use the original program that came from the Institutes for Human Potential at our school, Light Way Schools, and it is an amazing program. We are looking forward to having children under 2 because it is even more effective for babies. The Institutes has several programs. We use the math and the reading.
It's really wonderful. We are going to offer parent training too. Our program is not computer based but hands on and much more interactive between caregiver and child. Not to say that the computer/DVD program is bad. It's just not what we use.

I bought this program for my 15 month old granddaughter. It is an amazing program. She is learning to read and responds to the requests in the dvd like touch your nose, reach and clap. She is also learning to identify different animals. Another plus is that she loves to watch and wants to see a different dvd everyday, so I let her watch as much as she wants. She also loves the flash cards and books. She is at the point where she can identify and pronounce words from the cards and books. If you decide to purchase, it will be a great investment in your child's future learning process.

I have read some of the responses on here and you have recieved great advice, I just wanted to share my current experience with this program. I purchased this program @ one month ago for my 3 yr. old. He does enjoy watching the videos, b/c it does keep his attention with songs, and animals. He repeats everything the video says. He greatly enjoys the slide cards and books that came with the program. I am at the moment helping him with his alphabet and that each letter makes a sound ,his phonics. I can say that my daughter who just turned five actually enjoyed the program better, she is at level 2 on the program after a month and playing teacher with my son using the flash cards. So my experience I believe is a positive one. I have used the program as a fun and creative way to introduce words and phrases. I feel that I would have spent the same exact money on other learning books, videos etc., but this was a complete package, so I feel I got a great deal. If you decide to buy the program it will be worth it, but always remember to keep learning fun, and enjoy your little one, they grow up fast.

We have the videos and books. My 11 month old loves them. I don't know that they have taught her to read yet but she knows a lot of words and phrases that I might not have even thought to teach her. She loves the videos. They are very entertaining to little ones. They last about 20 minutes which is perfect for short attention spands.