My Baby Can Read

I highly recommend it! My baby started at 3 months old. She loves watching the videos, reading the cards and books. Its not work but fun to her. Just like the commercial says. At 4 months old she would lift her arms up when the fuzzy dog and little girl lifted their arms up. She is 8 months old and claps when we pull out the card 'clap'. Its also nice to get a 20-25 minute break when I need to do something like get dinner started. She doesn't realize it because she's watching the video and enjoying it. I will sing the songs with her or to her. She laughs!!!!!!!

We are contemplating this program as well. When I googled it, there were mixed reviews. From what I understand so far, it's basically memorization; some people are pro, some are con and believe more in the phonics program. If you try it, would love to know what you think about it.
Thanks!
T.

I know moms that are using this program and moms that think it's terrible. The reviews truely are mixed, but it boils down to your individual child. My sister-in-law is a teacher and she started teaching her son letters, word sounds, ect... at a very young age. She did NOT use this program, but ordinary flash cards, games, songs, ect...He knew all the ABCs, could count to 20, and could spell simple words like cat and dog by 18 months, by 2 years he had developed a very large vocabulary and could read simple books. Alot of it was just memorization for a while, but at almost four he reads everything from billboards to his happy meal bag and loves it.
I've also been considering the "Your baby can read" program, but after alot of research I've decided against it. It seems that one on one work with kids does more then a dvd or cd.

I personally have no experience with this program, but I am a preschool teacher and am a full time college student studying child development. All the studies I've seen show that children do not learn well from TV, radio, dvds, etc. When a baby hears the voices on it, they cannot connect them to real people and so they do not acutally get it. The very best thing you can do to teach your child to read, is to read to your child. Children learn through 'modeling' which is simply they repeat what they see you do. When you read, they get the idea. As your baby gets older, pointing out the words as you read them helps them understand each is an individual word.

Parents are children's first teachers, and they respond best to what parents do and do with them. Reading with your baby daily helps them understand the most basic skills (how to open a book, etc) and gives them abilities which no computer/TV program will ever be able to give them.

I had a book in my library that said childrens (especially boys) eye muscles do not fully develop until they are between 6 & 7 years of age. There have also been studies of children (and I am going from memory, sorry) as old 9 who begin to learn to read and not only catch up but exceed their reading counterparts within 6 months. According to the book RECOVERING THE LOST TOOLS OF LEARNING, young children should be memorizing because they will retain it better than memorizing when they are older(ie prepositions, math tables, bible verses, Latin, etc...) and yes, you will need to be careful of who the kindergarten teacher is because my oldest was bored and held back by his teacher. My children are excellent spellers and they learn phonetically.

We purchased this set for my 1 year old. He loves the videos and has vocabulary has definitely increased. He is beginning to recognize words. We love to series and are happy that we purchased it. My son is now 2, so I do not know how this will affect him once he starts school. I thoughts were I want to do anything to help make school easier.

T. Burton
http://www.workingfromhomewithmyson.com

I did buy the program for my son almost a year ago. First of all I called and got a price on it and they took my name and information but I did not buy it then. About 2 mos later they called me and offered it to me for 20-25% off (cant remember which now) that is when I bought it. I do like the program, but you really do have to put the tapes in 2-3x a day every day for them to actually learn to read the words. I think the videos are pretty good, I would recommend it to someone if you think you are going to put the time in to use them like they tell you too.

I would not suggest this program for any child under 18 months.

Despite what the ads say, it is impossible for the infant brain to absorb and maintain cognitive learning of this type.

As far children over 18 months, I would suggest reading to them and pointing to the words as you read. Eventually their brains pick up sounds, words, and images.

It is a rip-off!

I wouldn't worry about them getting bored.....not all children in K are just learning sight words.

K is also where they begin the structure of the classroom, rules, basic learning the system.....a lot more then basic sight words, and things many children are already familliar with from at home and preschool training.

The fact that they know sight words (and some K's do read pretty well) will help them and they can enjoy the library and other educational resources offered with K as well as learning all the basics....socializing and getting along with others, following teacher and school rules.

We did not do that program....however, my daughter is much older (14 now). She started on Jumpstart Toddler and loved the Jumpstart series. We did that through 4th grade including the Spanish one.

Good Luck! Time flies when they hit K!!

I thought about buying this program and googled "my baby can read reviews" They said that the kids are memorizing the words like you would a picture of a bear. It is the opposite of phonics. They will have problems sounding out words that are not in the your baby can read program. That is just what I read but you'll have to check it out youself and do what you feel is best.

Hi,I purchased the program for my in home daycare. I have found the program to be very helpful as a learning aide. the children really enjoy the program. However, I believe the kids are more memorizing the video versus actually reading the words. I have also found the program to be much more effective with someone inforcing the video versus just letting it play. Overall I think its a good deal.But very time consumeing for the program to work.

I hold a Master’s degree in early childhood education and have worked in the field including teaching reading. The Your Baby Can Read program works because young children’s brains are developing so rapidly they can learn much of what we expose them too.

The BIG problem is that the material and methods used are not developmentally appropriate for preschool children and therefore could be HARMFUL to their development–mainly their eyesight and cognitive thinking skills.

Most of program involves things that research has shown if used too early in life can actually cause problems that show up in 4th-6th grade. Things such as vision problems, lack of concentration and comprehension, inadequate problem solving or reasoning skills, poor social skills and school burnout.

Spending time with the program also takes time away from the early learning experiences that any early childhood expert will tell you are far more important for lasting learning. It is better to spend time reading to preschool children, playing with them and providing hands-on experiences to provide a solid foundation for school and life. It has been proven that what makes children good readers is phonemic awareness not the ability to parrot or memorize, which is the lowest level cognitive skill.

Parents want to help their children be successful so, it is very important they be informed by unbiased experts in the field not, other parents or businesses trying to capitalize on new trends and parent desires. For the sake of your child’s future success in school, look into the research from early childhood experts who care about children.

Several books have been written on the subject including Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten by David Perlmutter, Start Smart: Building Brain Power in the Early Years by Pam Schiller, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek & Roberta Golinkoff, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk by David Elkind, Your Child’s Growing Mind by Jane Healy and Mommy, Teach Me to Read by Barbara Curtis.

Please read How to Teach Your Baby to Read by Glenn Doman.

I am so glad you asked this question. I was looking at buying it also. After reading the responses and researching online, I have decided against it. I have two older children who are A students and do not struggle at all. I assume that whatever I am doing is working and I don't need to push this on my almost 2 yr. old. And on top of that I am pretty sure I do not have the discipline to put it on several times a day! Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Hey A.
I think you're going to get a lot of mixed opinions about this program. I believe it boils down to what you do in your own home. Yes, it's better for kids to learn from people, not TV's, but if your child already watches Sesame Street or Barney, then what's the harm of letting your child watch a 15-minute learning video. Also, I'm assuming you'd be reading to your child anyway, so it's not like your child doesn't get human interaction too.

I think that the YBCR program is fine and gives your child a good boost for Kindergarten. Yes, they'll probably be ahead of their classmates for reading time, but so what? You can send extra books for him/her to read while the classmates are doing other activities. And YES a lot of the YBCR program is memorization, but that doesn't mean he/she WON'T learn the meaning too. Because think about it... lots of early reading is memorization too. Words like "heard" and "said" don't follow phonics rules. I think if a kid has memorized some words, then is exposed to other words that are familiar, it will be easy to connect the letter-patterns. And if a child can read "dog" and know it's a dog, then when they learn the phonics it will connect so much more quickly.

I do NOT have the program but have read a lot about it. If you search on Mamasource, lots of moms have asked about the program as well. You might find some more answers. Good Luck!

I have never heard of this program and am actually glad about that fact. I am a first grade teacher and have a pretty smart child that will soon be 4. I never push her to learn anything academic. Kids will have 13 years of school. Let them be kids. Read to them and answer questions about academic stuff when they ask. Most children will learn naturally. Who cares if a child can read when they start school? Teach kids rules to games, how to play nice and be fair. You learned to read as most of us did not because our parents drilled us and made us do "school" at an early age but because we had parents that appreciated us, cared, and were involved. Although I don't know you, it appears that you are already setting your child up for success by doing, probably, the same things that you had done for you. Let your kids have an imagination and pretend. There is a reason that pots, pans, cardboard boxes, etc. are still favorite toys of children. Good Luck with whatever you decide. Dream big!