We received this product as a gift. It is not something I would normally purchase. I would like to know if it is worth keeping or should I return it? I have read and heard mixed reviews, but still can't make a decision. Is it worth all the time that goes into it? Will she learn her letters and learn to read, or just memorize the words?
My girl is just about 2 years old and very verbal. She knows the majority of her body parts, some colors, a few letters and numbers. She will sing parts of nursery rhymes with me. She rarely sits still, very active. She will be starting nursery school 3 half days a week starting this coming school year. Not too interested in tv except for Thomas the Tank Engine and another show here or there. It is worth a lot of money so I could get her a bunch of stuff instead that might be better for her.
Opinions please and thank you!
A few developmental therepists and speech therepists that we have seen have strongly advised against the product. "you have to crawl before you can walk" theory they have seen kids become delayed in other areas or have confusion etc because they did this program too early, plus it's not really reading its recognition.
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I would return it. I'm sure it does help toddlers to learn and recognize letters and words but probably no different than you reading her books or even doing flash cards with her. Why sit her in front of the TV? Also, if she's going to nursery school 3X a week she'll get a lot of exposure to letters and numbers through activities. I'd put the money toward some other educational learning toy, that might be easier to explain if the person who got you the gift asks how you like it :)
Return it and get something useful.
Hi there!
We also received this as a gift from my in-laws before my daughter even turned one.
She had no interest at the time and now, like your little one is a busy bee and doesn't like to sit and watch tv (which I personally think is a good thing!! let them run I say :))
We decided to keep our set to use periodically now, for example if my daughter is feeling sleepy but doesn't need a nap we pop it in for her to watch. She doesn't make it through the whole program, but its better than nothing.
We also thought since we had the set already- the flash cards, books and DVDs might be a great learning tool for her when she's a little older (around K-1st grade) as fun reinforcement at home for what she's learning at school. Our daughter is a talky type of girl too, so we know she's absorbing the books, tv, and conversations she's getting when she does actually sit still lol.
Best wishes!
Hi L.,
I answered a post about this awhile back, so this is a cut and paste based on our experience.
We bought this off of ebay for a third of the price. As someone who did part of my master's work on the literacy skill acquisition process, this program seemed sound.
Of COURSE they're memorizing - how do you think you learned words at first? You were immersed in sounds and symbols and as you became older and made more connections, you realized which sounds went with which symbols. There are books that kids will "read" over and over, memorizing the words and not actually reading them. This is part of it: seeing the words in a familiar context and then, later, identifying them in an unfamiliar context. Along the way, the videos point out phonetic similarities between words, making this a bit of a hybrid between phonics and whole language.
Much of the success of this program is based on the level of parental engagement. If you're being intentional about using the words in outside life and reinforcing them by pointing them out in books, acting them out when possible, and showing the written form (flashcards, video, etc) the baby WILL identify them and begin to make connections outside of the video.
I think we underestimate the value of memorization as a learning tool, but there is a definite place for rote learning, especially when it comes to reading. Also, do not underestimate the value of carrying on a running dialogue (or, depending on the age, monologue - ha!) of the day with baby. Just being surrounded by words and language is training their ears to develop a vocabulary, which makes literacy much more attainable, because they already have a connection to the words when they see them.
Don't forget that to babies and toddlers, this isn't school and it isn't work! It's fun - our son LOVES it. Everything about a child's world at this age is about the joy of discovering, learning and making connections. As long as you're not forcing anything for your own reasons, what's wrong with facilitating the process?
UPDATE: I wouldn't pay full price for this, but if it was a gift, I don't see the harm in giving it a shot as a supplemental learning tool. I just wanted to give some information as someone who is experienced with the product as well as the literacy process so you could make an educated decision for yourself. A lot of people just blew it off w/out reason, so here are mine for why it could be a good addition to what your daughter is already learning. That will make it even more engaging for her - to recognize words and phrases she's been hearing all along. It also has games and songs that my son (20mos) loves.
Run back to the store and return it! A. your child wont sit through it like you said, B. Why does a 2 year old need to learn to read? 3. She will have to be taught to phonetically read not sight words.
If you search on this site you will find question after question on my Baby Can Read, and 99% of the answers would be don't waste time or money on it. Well for you it would only be time.
Return it and get something that is more fun yet still educational; like real books or building blocks or something that will stimulate her imagination. I think kids that age should be learning by playing and being active and not by sitting in front of a DVD on television.
My friend, who was also my children's PreK teacher said it's a teachers worst nightmare! The kids who have used it have a very hard time with sight words and have trouble reading because they memorized and didnt learn letter sounds.
The program depends on shape memorization. This is not the same thing as reading, and does not teach how letters combine to make certain sounds. Elementary teachers complain that kids who have learned to "read" are often more resistant to learning phonetics, so the "early reading" actually slows them down.
Yes, exchanging this gift for other stuff would be much better for her.
Honestly, I thought about getting the set, but at about the same time my daughter started "reading" words from her books. Like Amyj says below, it really is mostly just "memorization" at this point anyway. My daughter knows what a word "looks" like and associates it with the sound of a word. Same thing with "spelling"...my daughter can "spell" words because she memorized it.
If you're 'involved' with your daughter learning new words (flash cards, writing, reading, whatever) you probably won't get much out of the set (especially if your daughter isn't interested in tv).
