Anyone Tried Your Baby Can Read Program?

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/issues/babies.html

Please read the expert policy statements about TV (including "educational" DVDs) aimed at babies and children under 3.

The best thing to do is to simply continue reading aloud. Keep showing him books and reading aloud. Go to the library to find NEW books all the time. That's the way to keep it new.

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/

Read through Jim Trelease's website. He does not endorse that product.

Young children need to play, pretend, experience the multi-dimensional world.

I have a 4.5 year old who is also very interested in learning how to read, but I won't buy that program. We can do it other ways.

We simply read books together and she (this is child-led) is asking me "how do I read this?" and I read the story, she will follow along and repeat after me, trying to memorize it herself, without any prompting from me.

I have a friend whose daughter at age 3 taught herself how to read essentially the same way. This is very rare. Most children are not ready to read till 8 or 9. Their eyes are not developmentally read to track words, despite the schools attempts to push reading in K.

Take him to the playground. Let him roll his body, swing his body through space, push himself, run, jump, climb... this will help him down the road. Him reading on his own can wait.

My mother saw this on tv and insisted that I buy it for my 20 month old son right away. After some research I finally found the $200 price tag! I'm sorry but for that price my son can learn the old fashioned way- by me spending time with him and lots of reading together!

I did not use this program and my children read beautifully and it didn't cost us a dime. The secret, public library. I made a habit of going to the library on a weekly basis picking out new books and reading to my children as much as possible. As I read I followed the words with my fingers, point out certain words/letters and match them to a picture. The real key though is paying attention to your child and using what he already loves to enhance his skills. If your son doesn't like tv to much, then any tv based show isn't going to work, no matter how wonderfully developed. My children love singing, they learned a lot, all I had to do was turn it into a song. In closing, do your research on this (any learning product) do not look at the results or how quickly they will accomplish whatever, but look at how they go about teaching, then ask yourself does it fit your child's personality.

Ha ha! Am I the only impulse buyer in all the land...
I bought it. We've only looked at the first DVD of several and one book of a stack of different learning materials included. It's nothing special, so far. Word on the screen, narator says word, example on screen. It may have been an innovative concept when this guy made his video for his child, but now adays, there are quite a few choices. This guy was just smart enough to market his package and charge $200 a hit for it. :) My sons (29 months and 9 months) enjoy other DVDs that display words, more than they do the Your Baby Can Read DVD. The delivery is better than some, but a little dry.
Their favorite is Baby Know-it-all ABCs & Animals. They also make a Colors & 123s DVD. RENT them! Since I have sold off my life for children ;) I have devoted our Blockbuster online acct to the search for the perfect kid's DVD. We probably spend some time each day watching TV (I know, I know, we're not supposed to, but...) and I am VERY selective about what they watch.
In a nut shell, I'm not sure I should have spent the $200 on it. They instruct you to show your child the video twice a day for a month, then move to the next video. That's a lot. The other materials are probably the more valuable items in the set. Flash cards and such.
A less impulsive (maybe even less lazy) person than myself might just buy some quality books and rent some good videos all geared toward teaching reading and get the same or better results a less of a cost.

Good luck with that!

If you aren't opposed to the internet and computer for your daughter, a website called STARFALL.com has lots of great phonics and reading games and kids love it. I also agree with the Montessori idea, as a Montessori teacher and mother of a daughter who started reading at 4, I can tell you the kids who are ready for reading early have every opportunity to acquire this skill.
Have fun,
Wendy

I'm a SpEd teacher, reading therapist for kids with Dyslexia, trainer for kids with Autism, but have not used YBCR.

The best programs I have found are research based 1)the Orton-Guillingham programs and 2)Reading AtoZ (a web resource program http://www.readinga-z.com/).

Whatever you choose, it should be research-based.

Dear R.:

I've never heard of that program. All I can tell you is that both my children learned to read with a $20 book called AlphaPhonics. It's as plain as can be but before you even get to the 20th or 30th page, your child is reading and "gets it."

But, reading starts way before decoding. The best thing is to keep up what you're probably already doing. Talk a lot, read aloud a lot to baby, sing, and grow their vocabulary by discussing everything around you. Then, move into symbols like the "so big" game and "Deep and Wide" so the child begins to see that your hand up high means "tall" and your hands out to the side mean "wide". When putting the toys on the shelves say, "This toy goes first, then the next toy in the middle and this one goes last," all in a left to right fashion. They get this and all of this is free!

I had a boy and a girl so I had to keep it very tactile as well. I'd get a cookie sheet and fill it with sand and wet it down. Then I'd have the children trace things for me like, "Show me what makes the "uh" sound," and they'd trace a "u" in the sand. It was like their first spelling test! If at any point it wasn't fun, we were on to something else.

Also, be sure all of this is child-led. There is research that shows that reading too early shuts down certain "discovery areas" of the brain. I can't cite you the research but it was compelling back when I read it. What you want to be sure of is that each stage your child enters is relished and fully developed before moving on. Sure, there's overlap and kids develop at their own unique pace but by hurrying them, they miss things. As long as they seem delighted with what you're doing together, you know you're on the right track!

As far as that program you saw, I believe it. Many children read by three but I don't believe that it should cost anything to accomplish that. Your smart baby will surprise you!

Best wishes,

M.

Hi R.,
Thank you for your post. I too am way too tempted by infomercials (or at least I used to be!) :) I'm happy to see advice against it and will definitely pass on it. I did have one additional recommendation though, my daughter (2)really responded well to the LeapFrog Talking Letters Factory and Talking Words Factory. They are DVDs that you can find for $10-$15 at Target. It's a cute program and with lots of reinforcement from Mom and Dad she learned her letters. She can identify each one and knows the phonics for each one as well. It's a fun game for her.
Have Fun!

If you are truly interested in early education for very young children then you must find a Montessori school for your daughter. Don't bother with fads, save your money for tuition. Montessori is worth every penny. Research it. Good luck.

I saw one of the dvds from this Baby can read program and did not think it was worth buying even if it was cheap.Don't waste your money!On the other hand there is a great free program on educational channel /KCET,ch28 for us,but i don't know where you live/ everyday around 11am i think-Word World,it is awsome for children learning how to read and write.have you seen it?it's afarm and all the animals and buildings,everything is made out of 3d letters,they sing,dance and build words out of letters.both my 5yo and my 20 month old love it!my 5yo started spelling words soon after he started watching it last year when he was 4.when my ds was 2 he was also fascinated with letters,so i bought him several sets of magnetic letters,sometimes they sell them with a little board,but mostly they go on the frig.he could play with them for hours.also i bought foam letters for bath and other kinds of foam letters,o and don't forget alphabet puzzles!
O,almost forgot! at Target they have all the toys related to Word World and sets include lego letters so that your child can build words as he watches the show along with it!
Have fun!
M..

Hi R.,
I am not familiar with that program, but I thought I would share with you what I did with my son. He too is very interested in letters and books and words, and I'm very big on anything educational, and things we can do together =) So together we made our own alphabet book. I took him to many places, including the zoo and took a picture of him with at least one thing for every letter of the alphabet, ie for Z he stood in front of the zebra pin and I took his picture. Then we went home and looked through magazines and printed stuff from the internet of his favorite things that started with each letter. Mind you he was only 2 1/2 when we made this, but I would try to encourage him to tell me what letter each object, thing or animal started with as we collected them all. I then made a scrap book, using alphabet stickers, colors, shapes, the pictures we cut out together and the pictures of him. Each page had a different letter, and before putting it into a three ring binder that would be easy for him to move the pages, I had them laminated so they would not tear or get damaged. It helped him with his ABC's and is a great keepsake for me with the pictures of him in it. By his third birthday in October, he was singing the entire ABC song, he can spell many words now, and tell you the first letter of each name of the kids he goes to school with. I am very proud of him to say the least. He enjoys the book as much as I do. It was a fun thing to do with him, and kept him interested in learning the letters and the names of different things. I hope this helps =)
Take care, and Happy New Year! =)
-H.

Hi! We bought it for our 17 month old daughter for Christmas and she loves it. She has loved books since she was only a few months old and we go to the library twice a week to pick out books so it is an absolutely great program for her. We do the video once or twice a day together, only about 17-20 minutes long, then we do a book that she loves turning the flaps on and a few cards that has the words and then she pulls out the picture of an animal or body part. It is very fun and interactive. This program goes very well with her personality and what she loves, which is reading and it is challenging for her, but not overly. I have been signing with her since she was 2 1/2 months old through the signing time program and that has helped her vocabulary and communication with us in more ways that I could have ever imagined. So when my Mom told me about this program, I went online, saw the testimonials and felt it was exactly what we were looking for. I really believe in doing my part as a parent this program does require a lot on my part, but I am willing to spend the time with my daughter and the bonding is great! Books are her favorite thing to do so why not teach her how to read them herself, and it is at her own pace, if she is not interested in reading, I do not push her. Also, in 3 days she was able to read the word tiger, and now its been 2 weeks and she regonized a total of 3 words. Regardless of how long it will take her to learn to read is beside the point, its bonding its fun, and she is learning a helpful tool that will benefit her the rest of her life and we are doing it together. Its fun & rewarding for the whole family. Sorry for the long post but the program works for us and is worth every penny. Best of luck.
E.

I saw this late at night and wondered about it??
I started my boys on the Hooked on phonics program when they were 2. I started with teaching them letter sounds before letter names.
There is a lot of research that says phonics is the only way to learn to read.
My oldest is 5 1/2 and reads at 3rd grade level. My 3 1/2 year old is reading at beginning 1st grade.
I hope this helps. :)

I have not tried this program, but I do work with my 20 month old alot. Right now she has a vocabulary of at least 200 words, and as of right now, she knows the word mommy, daddy, cat, and her name. I just wrote the words on index cards and that works just fine. You don't need to spend the money. I usually work with her during breakfast, and through out the day. I tell her it's time for school, and she knows what to expect. It's very fulfilling knowing that I am teaching her skills that she would have learned in school. I want her to have a head start. She knows many shapes......but for some reason, everything is the color pink. LOL
Good luck!

My newly turned 2 year old loves the flash cards but i have not watched the dvds with her yet. I bought the complete set(yes very expensive). I suggest if you want to buy it, do it if you will be consistent with your child and have the time. otherwise i would think twice about it. You dont want to have your child sit in front of the TV too log too many times. Children now a days are already learning earlier and quicker than we did 30 years ago. But like I said-the flash cards are fun because it shows the word and picture to allow the child to encorporate the word with the object.

Hi there,

My husband and I recently purchased this program for our girls (4 and 18months). I saw a lot of late night infomercials for this program and became very interested in it-especially since my girls already love to read and have been learning sign language since they were about 6 months old. Anyway, we've only had the program for a little over a month and so far it's working. If you haven't seen any of the infomercial, you MUST find one. That will be all the convincing you need. My girls will be moving on to the second video in the set in about a week or so and they are both beginning to recognize words already. The program says it will usually be about 6 months before you start to notice that they are recognizing stuff but every child is different. I think mine are already recognizing words because we've always read to them and have been working on letters, words, phonics, etc. anyway. But I definitely recommend it. The price is kind of high though, but worth it. I saw that the whole set was something in the neighborhood of $200 on the infomercial but my husband found the whole set (brand new) being sold on eBay for just under $100. You might want to try that. Good Luck!

My 18-month old just received this program for Christmas. It came with several books that make sounds (a book about ducks that quacks, a book with about nighttime that sings a lullaby, and a book about the telephone that responds when 9-1-1 are pushed - "9-1-1 emergency, Let's Go"). She loves those books. It also comes with flash cards and other learning aids in addition to the video. We did put the video in twice for about ten minutes each time and by the second time, she was doing the "arms up" and "arms down" portion with the video. She already knows how to point to her mouth, but they also ask her to "open" her mouth and she did that too. It was quite amazing. I don't know how often we'll let her watch it. They recommend a short period twice a day in the beginning, but we only tried it on one day, since Christmas. Good luck with your decision. The relative who purchased it for her has co-workers that have used it with their grandchildren and they say it really works.

We got it for our daughter in November (she was 19 mo. at the time) and she loves it. I have chosen to find a comprosmise in terms of screen time in that she watches once per day instead of two. No one has mentioned the songs and rhymes interspersed with the vocabulary and the word games at the end of the footage. She already recognizes words and we interact with the video together. At first I was put off by the price, but after the 30-day trial I figured that if it worked it would be worth the price and if it didn't, we still got a whole set of videos, books, flashcards, etc. that she enjoys and now asks me to watch and play/read with her.

We bought it for our granddaughter at 17 months and our daughter-in-law says she loves it. She uses it all the time with her. Grandaughter is now 20 months and her 7 month old brother is also being exposed to it. We all think it was worth the investment.

C. D.

Hi there,

The program will work if only your son will sit in front of the tv and watch it and you run it on over and over. He will pick up here and there.
My 20 month old will only be able sit and watch for 5 mins the most and he walk away. And he dose pick up a few word.
The best way is still reading with your kid as much as you can.