Your Baby Can Read - Edmonds,WA

I found the DVD set new on eBay (flashcards not included) for around $35, so I bought it. I wasn't interested in teaching my 22-month-old to read, but I thought it might help him with language development. He has never watched much TV, either. Just a couple of Baby Einstein DVDs, and only for about 15 minutes a day, tops.

He hasn't graduated from the starter DVD yet, and he's already picked up a few new words from it. He repeated "keys" the first time he heard it on the DVD, and now says it every time he hears or sees a set of keys. Because he can say keys, we worked on similar words, and he quickly found out he could say "cheese," too.

I don't follow the prescribed program, with frequency or flashcards, but I think it's doing the job that I hoped it would for my child.

Hi, great question! I am a former Early Childhood teacher and have a masters in Ed with a focus in early literacy, so for what it's worth, here's what i think:

My advice would be to steer clear of this program for several reasons. First, your instincts about not wanting your baby to watch TV are right on! TV watching actually changes brain wiring so that the brain develops to be more passive. With infants and very young children, even an "educational" program still has this effect.

Second, any TV watching takes time away from babies' most important developmental tasks- forming relationships with others and developing a positive sense of self. TV can NOT help babies do either of these things.

Third, there is absolutely no research to support this type of program. Even with "success", which in this case means getting a baby or toddler to read words off flashcards, this in no way predicts future school success. A toddler may indeed be able to decode or recognize sight words, but this does not mean that he/she will have improved reading comprehension. In other words, being able to read single words does not mean that the child will be able to read a story and understand what he/she has read. And after all, isn't that the point of reading?

This type of program may make it appear that a child is "ahead" of his/ her peers, but the gains are superficial, and offer no benefits that can't be taught at an age that is more developmentally appropriate. In other words, a baby who learns to read from a DVD is not necessarily going to be smarter, more creative, or more successful than a child who has rich early experiences and is taught to read at age 6 or 7.

Research shows again and again that young children learn best through play and through their relationships with others. The best thing we can offer our children, especially through the toddler and preschool years, is periods of uninterrupted, self-directed play time with developmentally appropriate materials. (for babies and toddlers, think simple: blocks, dolls, balls, animals, play scarves, anything that requires imagination to use)

The biggest predictor of reading success is whether or not the child has been read to and how many words have been spoken to the child in the early years. So..... read to your child, talk to her about the pictures, teach her new vocabulary words, let her see you reading for pleasure, take her on outings and talk to her about what she sees, play rhyming games with her, sing songs, do fingerplays, point out the letters of her name, let her draw, tell her stories from your imagination, tell her nursery rhymes, let her tell you stories, help her develop her imagination.

Children who have a rich imaginative life tend to be better readers because they can hold a picture of what they are reading in their minds. To help your daughter develop a rich imagination, steer clear of toys that do all the playing for the child (electronic toys) and keep toys simple (if your grandmother played with it, it's probably a good toy. well, except for the lead paint ;)). Avoid TV as much as you can (hard I know, but we put ours in the basement and it hardly ever gets used- out of sight out of mind I guess)

Sorry this is so long, but believe me, all of these things that you are probably already doing with your daughter are going to benefit her a LOT more than any DVD will, no matter what they promise!

Good luck!!!

Your baby sounds like such a lucky little girl--

I will share my opinion ( taught preschool for 20 years-) -- . I don't say ''' don't teach her to read'''--- but I DO say- as loudly as I can '''' help her do what gives her joy right now'''' -- Is she interested in throwing balls? Climbing stairs? - pretending to clean house??? - DO WHAT GIVES HER JOY-- she will show you with perfect clarity what she is enthralled with- drawing- talking-singing-counting- climbing-throwing- threading yarn into patterns---- and whatever makes her little face light up - THAT is what you should teach her about--- making songs on a piano-- singing the hymns that Grandma sings to her- trying to draw a smiley face--- let her lead YOU --- ( and then help her discover a little more and a little more about what is exciting for HER.) If she brings you books and asks what words are- or blocks with ABCs and wants to know--- or =-======= This way of teaching is called ''emergent literacy'' and is very powerful--- AND a child whose parents and early teachers use this strategy is NEVER going to get burned out or bored - they will shine in school-.

Whatever you do - or don't do--- if there is joy in it for her ( HER joy- not her delight that you are happy) --- she will be fine.

Old Mom
aka- J.

As an early childhood specialist, programs like this bother me. These kinds of programs are gimmicks and are not proven to have any sort of effect on future learning. Sure, by all appearances, the kids in the commercials for this program are shown reading books that have big words, but do they really, truly understand what they are reading? I don't think so. Their brains aren't developed enough to truly understand and comprehend what they are reading, so what's the point?.

Studies have shown that this is NOT how children learn best. Children this age learn by playing and exploring their surroungings with all their senses, not by sitting in front of a televison. Children are sponges, and absorb so much at such a young age.

I think one of the worst things we do to kids these days is stick them in front of a television of computer when they can be out running around and exploring the world instead. In my opinion, the less media exposure, the better.

Also, nowadays, there is so much pressure on childen to perform academically in school, to be the best student in every subject, and to be the captain of the football team and to be the president of honor society, and.... and to what end? The pressure to succeed is tremendous these days, and it seems to me that we are asking our children to grow up so fast that they hardly have time to play and be children. I don't see the point in placing even more pressure on our infants, toddlers and preschoolers to be whizz readers by the time they reach kindergarten.

There are other ways to help your child be ready to read when she gets to kindergarten. Read to her. Take her to story time at the library. Sing to her. Talk to her about every day objects in her surroundings. Identify colors, objects, letters, numbers, etc in your day to day environment. It's called emmergent literacy.

I know this is probably a longer response than you wanted, but please reconsider before you allow your daughter to use this program.

Good luck in figuring out what to do.

I'm sure I'll get a lot of flack for saying this - but from my experience I really don't see anything wrong with letting your kids watch some tv. What matters more is that the content is age appropriate, and that you do a lot of other things together too. But I guess I take a more laid back approach to parenting, and if letting my kids watch little einsteins or dora while I'm trying to make dinner keeps the family happy, then I think that is great. My 3 year old is not violent or hyperactive, he is a very kind and sensitive little boy who also loves reading books, knows all of his upper and lower case letters, numbers, shapes, colors (colors & numbers in spanish also), playing outside and all kinds of physical activities.

We have a dvd that shows all kinds of different nature scenes and babies and kids playing and says different words "summer ... beach ... sand castle ..." and the kids LOVE it. I thought about getting the series you are talking about but didn't want to fork out that much money on it. I say if she enjoys it go for it - our job as parents is to make learning fun and that involves all kinds of things.

I know this doesn't really answer your question about the program specifically, I just had to throw in my 2 cents because it seemes like a some of the responses are implying that you don't read books or spend "quality" time with your daughter just because you were looking into letting her watch tv.

In my opinion it's nothing other than a money making scheme. If you really think it's beneficial for her to learn reading as a toddler you can buy a bunch of flashcards (or make some yourself) and practice with her. Your baby can read is no different, except it is taped and you can just sit her in front of the TV.

Now I am a big proponent of fostering age appropriate development. There is NO evidence whatsoever that teaching your toddler to read is beneficial for their future learning or success. Instead of teaching her how to read, I would suggest you focus on teaching her to love books, by reading to her, looking at pictures, taking her to storytime, etc... maybe she will pick up on a few letters or even words, maybe not - but learning to love books as a toddler had been shown to increase her odds of being successful in school.
Just my two cents.

As a former k-1 teacher, I recommend enriching your baby with life experiences that she can't get a school. There will be enough reading at school. Take her places, do things, laugh and love with her.

I once had a child in class had been through a teaching your baby to read curriculum. By the time he was in my Kindergarten glass (at three) he was reading things like Mark Twain, Shakespeare, etc.

Thing is he didn't know how to play, count, run, laugh, tie his shoes.

So in my class, he read easy, age appropriate books that made him laugh, he learn to count and do age appropriate math, he learned to run and play.

Play, laugh, and love. Keys to success.

I think the absolute best thing is to curl up on the couch and read books together. That's what will inspire them and you get so many good stories to reference life experience to. You want to instill a love of books and reading - not making it a chore.

There's no substitute for spending loving time with your children.

C.

The AAP recommends no screen time (any type of screen) for 2 years, it's not good for them and they don't understand what's happening anyway. Read to your child. Try it when she's 2, also OPB has wonderful pre-reading and reading programming.

My input is on the t.v. only

Our kids have very structured/limited t.v. time and I love it. Only educational shows, example absolutely no sponge bob, ben 10, fairly odd parents...shows like that. Most anything on pbs they can watch. They only get about 2 hours total a week of t.v. time. They do get to watch kids movie we watch a lot of veggie tales movies, etc. Now I am not saying that there are not the times when we have watched more. Example of when we are all sick. I actually think it makes those times even easier because they are not use to watching it all the time. I think a lot of shows are educational and help. But you have to choose the right shows. My daughter also loves LOVES that she can read about the bearnstein bears and then see them on t.v

I agree with the responses about letting you child learn through play. I have two very different boys and they are both very high level readers. The oldest didn't learn to read until the summer after 2nd grade and the younger one learned to read before kindergarten. They learned on their own when they were ready. I loved reading to them since they were very young. I read books to them until they were old enough to say: " Mommy I want to read my own book to myself tonight". That was a sad day for me who loved to read to them but a great day for them.
Our children watched very little TV when they were young (through grade school) and when they did I always sat with them and we talked about things.
These videos(that want to teach really young children academic skills too early) seem to play with parents fears that their children wouldn't be brilliant enough to get into the right places later. If a place is going to judge your child by how well they read only then I wouldn't want my child in it, as they don't understand child behavior and growth.
Learning to get along with others, figure out things through play, and get enough exercise are more important than being academically advanced at a young age.

Megan said it wonderfully. I was so worried about getting my son ready for school because they are required to know so much before entering school. Amazingly enough - he learns quite a bit from the TV shows on PBS or OPB. Those are pretty much the only shows he is allowed to watch. And in all reality he doesn't just sit there in a coma either - he's up running around playing with his "lego guys", playdoe, cars, blocks, balls, anything that keeps him busy. He recognizes letters and numbers and tells me colors and such. As we interact with our children on a daily basis they pick up so much information. It is truely amazing how smart them little guys are.
I really don't want to pressure him into learning so much to exceed and loose his childhood either. I let him run, jump, climb and everything else a child needs to do. I agree that the media and in today's society there is so much pressure for children to exel and to be so smart acedemically that they forget that these are children who need to use their imagination and creativity - not to know what x+y=t square before middle school.
Anyway - I could go on....Just enjoy your time with your little girl. They grow up so quickly - every day is so precious. Pretty soon - she will be telling you what to do.

Hi-
Here is my two cents...unless you can find it used and you feel like it is a good idea for your child, then I would not do it. There is no proven fact that early reading leads to a more intelligent child later in life.
It is a skill that some children develop quite early and others later. If you think your child might be developing the skill earlier, I would just encourage you to read more with her. You can point out words and relate them to pictures on your own. Kids learn so much from playing and doing. My daughter loves flash cards. You can make your own or buy them at a learning store. There is so much learning you can do together and make it more fun. My friends son was a natural reader and by the time he was 3, almost 4, he was reading books. I know that she never bought one of these type things, but she just followed his natural lead, let him do what he loved and it just came natural. Now, the problem is, he is 8 and bored in school because he has already done most of the stuff the other kids have done. But luckily my friend is very proactive about working with the teachers and the school to find alternatives for him.
As for watching TV or dvds, I let me daughter have limited amount of TV time. We watch mostly educational type or music based shows. I am amazed at the stuff my daughter has learned from some of these shows. We don't use it as a babysitting tool, rather another source of learing. We talk about the shows, etc. I know many people shun TV but it isn't bad if you use it the right way.
Just remember sales people are sales people and they know how to target people - especially parents because we always want to do more to help our child. :-) I see those commercials all the time and think about it too. But there is just one part in there that gets me every time. It is a two year old reading a book and it looks like she is actually reading it. How do you not know that she isn't just reciting her favorite book? My daughter does that all the time. We have read certain books over and over so many times that she can read it word for word. As a matter of fact, we went to the library, she pulled out the book, sat down at the kids table and started reading it. This older lady just looked at her with her mouth wide open...asked me how old she was and then exclaimed that she must be gifted. I laughed out loud and then told her it was her favorite book and she knew it by heart. So, you see, things can be deceiving...now when I see that commercial, I am reminded of my two year old reading her favorite book.
Anyhow, sorry I got carried away....I am quite sure you will make the best decision for your daughter. Sounds like you are already a pretty excited and caring mother to think ahead like this. :-)
All the best.

I would be leary of anything that's trying to "teach your baby to" ski/ drive/ cook/ skydive/ sew/ program/ read/ compose/ do photography/ etc/etc/etc. Why would a baby NEED to do any of those things?

I say this as both an avid reader, and as someone who has accidentally found herself in the "early" boat.

My son taught himself to read at 2.5 ...well, to be precise he STARTED teaching himself to read at 2.5 and was reading kid-type chapterbooks by 3 (we're not talking War & Peace, or the Illiad in the original greek), just things like Jack & Annie, Hardy Boys, etc.

He taught himself until he got to a level that he was happy with, and quit in favor of learning how to move his body in weird and interesting ways (aka bouncing off of and climbing walls/rolling down hills/ falling out of trees/ jumping off of stairs and couches and other random obstacles/ floating face down in the tub...you know all sorts of things designed to give us grey hair). I was fine with him starting and fine with him quitting in favor of something else shiny and fun. He did the same thing with math...got up to multiplication/division/fractions/basic algebra...and quit in favor of something else more interesting. I think at the time it was skateboarding....could have been drums.

In any event...my point here is that he's turning 7 tomorrow (wow!!! WHERE did the time go)...and he still reads at the same level that he did when he was four, and you know what? That's soooooo totally okay. He'll come back to it when his mind has developed enough that there's something new & fun & interesting about it. Reading was a game, math was a game, swimming/skateboarding/gymnastics/music...they're all fun games. None of those things were things we set out to teach him early, he just grabbed onto them early...and then predictably set them down. <grinning> As expected...he's exploring his world...I'd get worried if he narrowed his focus to one little tiny area like academics. And other kids have caught up. Early isn't special. It's just early. He's not a genius...his brain still has to grow and develop and make it physically possible for him to be moving on in any of those areas. He's just having fun.

Many kids his own age are actually better readers or at numbers than he is, even though they started later...it's still fun and challenging to them so they keep pushing and exploring. I suspect he'll actually have to get a bit behind his peer group before he'll get back into it.

My overall point here, is do what's fun. Any company that's selling something to give a TODDLER a competitive edge is preying on our own strident desire for the best of everything for our wee ones, and taking ruthless advantage of any insecurities we may have in that area.

One of my son's favorite things (apart from having mummy read real books to him, which is STILL one of his favorite things, even if he can read them on his own) was www.starfall.com

They're free...and they're wonderfull...but I wouldn't even worry about it yet, were I you. Just enjoy the snuggly time you've got while you've still got it.

:) Peace be with you

Hi W.,
Some of the other moms already said it, but I would avoid this program and others like it. I have heard that if you push your child to do things before it is developmentally appropriate, she may miss buildling blocks to those skills that she may need later. Keep reading to her and let her explore books on her own terms. When you read to her, she will be seeing and hearing the words, but will also be getting bonding time with you, rather than listening to some stranger on the TV. I do let my 23 month old watch limited TV. We watch Sesame Street together and we discuss what we are seeing and what the letters and numbers are. I try to distract her and turn it off before Elmo's World starts. And hour straight of TV is too long! She does also LOVE Curious George and although the lessons in it are beyond her understanding at this point, we still watch together and discuss what is happening in each epsiode. Good for you for wanting what's best for your daughter!!!! :)
J.

i'm with most of the other readers. there's no rush, she'll learn when she's ready. i also wanted to add that i saw a show that featured babies who were whizzes when they were toddlers. one baby knew all the presidents and different model airplanes. they came back and talked to him later and not only did he not know any of that information anymore, he was an average student.

Hi W.,

Well after reading all of your responses so far it sounds like I am the bad apple because I did get this program and I do let my 17 month old daughter watch the DVDs. This is the only TV time that my daughter gets and she adores her videos. She actually points to the DVD player and asks for them and then jumps up and down waiting for it to start. Then we sit her on her little chair far away from the TV and she sits with us in the room for about 20-25 minutes watching words, animals, babies, and kids appear on the screen. I don't really use the flash cards and I don't make my daughter repeat all the words or make her watch the videos if she wants to play instead. In fact, I started the videos when she was about 11 months and she just really wasn't that interested in them so we only played them for her occasionally. But after a few months she just fell in love with them. She has really picked up a lot of words from the programs and she is getting to be so much happier now that she can begin to communicate a little.
My husband and I still read regular books to our daughter. She is just a little one that loves words so I don't think that this program is so bad because now she gets to see words on a screen as well.
I personally like the DVD series but like I said earlier I don't follow the program and I am not pushing my daughter to learn and repeat all of these words. I use this as another avenue for her to see and hear more words. I just have my daughter watch the videos and we (the parents) say the words with her and she really enjoys interacting with us while watching the words.
Also, in response to one of the moms postings there is not a strange mam on the screen the whole time reading the words to your child. All of the words are spoken by kids, the songs played on the DVDs are sung by kids, and all the pictures related to the words are animals, kids, or colors. So the way the DVDs were made makes your child feel like they are interacting with other kids. My daughter loves to see the babies on the screen! Also my daughter loves all of the songs she just gets up and starts dancing when they start to play.
Many moms obviously don't recommend it but I am happy with my decision. As a mom you can tell if your child is enjoying something or not. My daughter gets enjoyment from the DVDs but not the falsh cards so we only play the DVDs when she would like to watch them and we do not do anything with the flash cards.

We've had the videos for probably about 6 months. My daughter is now 20months and can read several words. We've also been teaching her sign for much of her life (she is not deaf) so for many of the words she will give the sign for the word rather than saying it. I think the program works, but I also think just reading to your child constantly (not just books at night) with your finger following what you read is probably just as good. My daughter has a huge box full of books that she has access to and frequently throughout the day she will choose a book and bring it to myself or her dad to read it to her. She will also take a book, line up some of her stuffed animals and pretend to read to them. The videos are pretty hokey and boring for parents to watch. I do think some of the books and flashcards that come with the videos are useful. good luck

I thought about getting this when my son was younger, but got flash cards instead (Super cute Paul Frank ones with bright colors and funny creatures) We make a game out of them and he (now 2years old) has not stopped loving them. We sing a song like "Big A little a, what begins with A?" flip it over "Aligator! A-a-A" Kinda like the doctor Sues book.. Get the super sturdy cardboard so she can drool on them and bang em around and they dont get hurt. The nice part about the Paul Frank ones were that if he didn't enjoy them, they were cute enough to put on the wall in his room...

I agree that books are by far the best thing to have your children interests in, bottom line, hands-on activities are ALWAYS number one with teaching children. I don't think that these "shows" are really as horribly terrible as some people have made them out to be. No mother wants their child to sit like a zombie infront of the television or to drill it into their brains that they HAVE to read by the age of whatever! Silly silly things that we feel pressured by to do,.. OR not to do by other mothers! In the end know that they will all learn when they are ready. My son recieved "Hooked on Phonics" for his 2nd birthday the set was designed for 3 year olds, came with a dvd, work books, chart/sticker rewards, a computer cd with games and only god knows what, etc,.. We figured it was probably a bit advanced for him, but we popped the dvd in just to see what it was all about. I have to say I was VERY impressed. The way they put the stories and songs of different subject together was just awesome! My son did not just sit and stare like a zombie,.. but interacted, repeated things, got into the stories and was up and dancing to the funky music! I was SO happy to see that he, on his own, truely enjoyed it, he even enjoys busting out the workbooks and thumbing through the pages looking at all the pictures and activities (sometimes drawing on them!) which I plan to use with him in the next month or two. The point is it was designed for a 3 year old, and he enjoys it. I do not feel that I am pushing him to be advanced, but like Judy said below, if she enjoys it, she will let you know and he did. I don't think there is any harm to using the tools that we have today, within reason ofcourse. Just because you decide to buy "Your baby can read" doesnt actually mean that she's going to learn to read or that she will be watching it 5 times a day. I say if she enjoys it and MAYBE learns a word or two from it that is a success.

My husband bought a Caillou computer game learning cd for our son we don't play it often, but when we do Reece really enjoys it! It was probably 5 bucks or so, but theres hundreds short of matching games and such and he really enjoys playing them with me. I have to say every time we do, I am impressed by how much he truely knows! Plus being able to have play a game on the computer makes him feel like a really cool dude, for the 10-20 minutes that he wants to do it! Which is okay with me!

As far as wasting money, I made this mistake,.. I bought the V-tec V.Smile Baby Infant Developement System. (Basically an infant video game learning thing) It had just came out around christmas time when my son was about your daughters age and I thought I just HAD to have it. It was expensive at the time and he had no interest in it what so ever and guess what,.. neither did I! THIS would be a PERFECT example of an unnecessary buy! Lesson learned!

Hi W.,

My two cents: Wait until your child is older! If you truly want to teach your child to read yourself, get the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". It is far and away the best 1-on-1 teaching program. You can buy the book on ebay for about $10. I've taught 2 children to read with this program and it's fantastic! But...it's not for babies. It's for older children (3-1/2 years or older) who have not been taught to read yet. Good luck!

Best,
~P. G.
US Preschool Directories
http://www.uspreschooldirectories.com

We've looked into it a bit, but ended up deciding that it wasn't the right choice for us. We read with our daughter A LOT and talk about what we see and read. She's 2 and recognizes and knows the name of some letters and numbers. We're not sure if she recognizes words yet but she really has quite a bit of time before we really worry if she can read or not.

There's a whole lot of educational material out there and tv isn't inherently evil in my opinion. My daughter doesn't watch any of the "character" shows like Dora or Elmo, but she does occasionally watch sign language DVD's and has learned quite a bit from them. She probably watches 1 a week for a total of 25-30 minutes of tv time. Considering the amount of time she's awake and doing various things each week, 30 minutes is reasonable to us.

At this age, there are other things your child needs to be learning. She is already busy at this, observing her world, making conclusions, forming relationships -- why add this burden when she can easily learn to read at a later date?

Sure, reading is a measurable skill, so once she learns to read, you have something tangible to focus on as proof that she is smart and you are doing a good job.

I just don't see the point. I've seen it with parents teaching their babies to swim, too (or trying to.)

I would focus on just marveling as she develops naturally. I would focus on talking to her constantly as you go about your daily tasks and encouraging her involvement and response.

(I will confess -- we actually tried the toilet train your baby method! Where you were supposed to sit them on the potty at 3 months!)

Hi there - I did get it and cant say either way if it has helped. I think I waited too long to get it and my baby was interested in other things. I think if you only have your one baby right now it would probably be good. My son has an older brother by 3 years and would rather play with him and do what he is doing than watch the vidoes. I wish that I had just kept on it and will probably try and go back to it since my older son is going into kindergarten. It will help him too!

I have never heard of the CD's but know that children under 2 should not be watching TV. you should talk to your doctor if there are any benefits