My Baby Can Read??? - Santa Maria,CA

I was wondering the same thing! I really wanted it when I saw it on TV. But all the other moms are right. I totally agree with them all.

This program drills babies on the shapes of words, and if repeated often enough, babies can sometimes learn a word as a visual pattern. This is NOT reading, has nothing to do with letter sounds or how to recognize letter combinations.

Babies need play. Free play, exploratory play, pretend play, manipulative play, and more play. This is the baby's real "work." This is what allows the brain to develop properly. Early reading will take time away from real play.

If you want your baby to learn to read when (she?) is ready, read to her, enjoy reading yourself, and talk to her about everything in slow, clear sentences. Don't use baby talk. The single best predictor of a child's success in school is a big vocabulary and the ability to use language well.

I have heard several teachers comment that "My Baby Can Read" actually confuses kids when it's time to learn real reading. They can be resistant to giving up the simple "memorization" approach, and therefor have trouble learning letter sounds.

Save your money!

your child needs mom and dad to read to them from the minute they are born. that is the scientifically proven most beneficial thing you can do for your child.

that program tells you to put a BABY in front of the television. the sooner you allow television, the sooner your child will prefer that over all other play. its inevidable, just look at the average amounts children and teens spend watching television. children should be playing, interacting, and watching living humans in front of them. your child should be talked to by a person, not the tv.

aside from all the negatives associated with television watching, the simple fact is these DVDs teach them memorization, but not the true mechanics of reading.

I can't add anything new, just agree with all the posts against this program. I am a certified reading interventionist with a masters in reading. I taught myself to read at age 4 using an antique set of Dick and Jane readers my mom had (true story!). My 4 year old is learning to read using Hooked on Phonics. Like riding a bike, it is a teaching process that begins on a very basic level with modeling during read alouds to your child and natural conversations about letters, pictures and words you see everyday. If you want to use a flashcard approach, label everyday objects (milk, cup, crackers, bath, bed, etc.) and point to the object and the word as you use them. No need to drill, just a quick reference to the object in real life repeated often enough will help child recognize common words. If you need a tv program, I personally love SuperWhy on PBS because each superhero has a different reading skill-spelling, ABC, rhyme, context clues. Make sure you turn on the closed captioning so child can "read" along with the characters. A child needs to develop each of these skills, and use them fluently together, in order to be a successful reader. Most children's brains aren't mature enough for this until ages 4-7.

It encourages you to sit your baby in front of a tv for hours. And why does your baby need to read so soon anyway? Isn't 5 or 6 good enough?

I had a friend who bought into this program and discovered it was a total scam and waste of money. I'd spend my money on other things and spend my time reading to my baby and enjoying him/her.

woooo, you are about to get a whirlwind of info

Your baby cannot read, and does not need to. It is not within the developmental limits for babies to read, and if they could read, they would not need this program and you would need every penny you might spend on this program to help them with that huge developmental oddity, because that would be a truly gifted child who needed enrichment beyond typical home enrichment.

You really do not want to upset the apple cart of development anyway. If you really teach a skill that the child is not ready to learn, what do they NOT learn that they are supposed to learn (since development is linear) while they are distracted with this skill that is not part of the typical develomental path?

A last note, the reason most mothers feel compelled by this program is that they really want to give their child a boost academically. They want to be certain that their child will not only not have a reading disablity, but they would like to see them excel or be a gifted child. It does not work that way. Any gain that your child makes before the age of 8 or 9, or late 3rd, early 4th grade, may not be retainable anyway. Some children learn the basic skills very rapidly, and some do not. But, by and large, byt that 3-4 grade mark, most of the children are at the very same place academically. That is why good giftedness programs begin around this time. Many children who learn to read, write, and recite math facts early, do not continue to learn so rapidly once the focus changes to doing these things to learn. These are two very different skill sets. I am seeing this increasingly with what I do as an educational advocate. I usually help parents whose children have disabilities, but increasingly, every year I can count on a call or two from parents who thought that their child should have been placed in the gifted program but did not make the cut. The child is disapointed, and the parents cannot accept it either, because they began to think of thier children as gifted, and suddenly, they aren't. It is very sad, and there is nothing I can do to help them.

What I am trying to say is, there are many reasons why you not only do not need to spend this money, but that you should not even try to do a program like this. All you really need to do is free. Read to your little one every single day and let them see you reading and enjoying books. Talk to them all day long about ordinary interetsting things, like the shape of grass, or the colors of the food on thier plates. Talk about texture, and let them explore the pots and pans and sing songs. That kind of enrichment is all they need. If they are going to be gifted, they will do that with the free program you have at your fingertips right now.

Finally, if your child is going to have a reading issue, you cannot bypass it with this program because it is the wrong kind of help, even if it is way, way too soon. Children with neurological issues that cause reading disablities need targeted reading programs, Orton gillingham based reading programs, that babies are not nearly ready to digest. Be vigalent, and if you child, when they are ready, has an issue, act sooner, rather than later and be their advocate.

For now, relax and enjoy your baby. There is only so much that is really in your hands. That should be a great releif to you. You are not to blame if things do not work out to be rosey and wonderful for your child at school, and all you can do is give them the opportunity to use what is already there to begin with. I think that all kids would be better off if we relaxed, let development take it's course, and simply enjoyed enriching our kids enviornment to the max, with ordinary words, lots of them, and books read to them and in front of them.

Good luck!
M.

Mom, there are several previous posts on this topic if you do a search. As a teacher of young children, I wouldn't waste my money let alone the special time with my baby. Invest your $ in some cute children's picture and board books You and Dad should read every day to your child not put him/her in front of the TV. The special bonding and parent / child interaction that goes on between you and your baby when you read is so much better for your child's brain,psychological and personal development than being plopped in front of a TV video program. The concept is ridiculous to me and a waste of money.

So not worth it - don't waste your money or your time. It would be better spent on some good children's books and actually reading them with your child every day. And making regular trips to the library. And putting the money into a college savings fund.

My own mother kept seeing the ads on TV, found out one of her friends' daughter was using it on her daughter, and started wigging out. In that she thought I needed to be doing it too and offered to buy the kit for me herself. I told her, with utmost respect, to chillax. I reminded her that all she did when I was a kid was read to me every night at bedtime and I turned out fine.

Here are responses from when this question has been on here before (I wrote similar responses to each post):

http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/17140454192519970817

http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/4764928107134189569

I have seen those commercials and thought the same thing - should I consider buying this. It looks amazing and wow, 3 year olds that can read - that is amazing. I have not used the program (so I can't give you what you are actually looking for) but I started just doing research myself and what I found is that there is no proof that this system actually makes a difference in the long run. Some children are just pre-disposed to read at an earlier age than others. But there is no physical proof that your child will be smarter or brighter than the average child if they "read" early by doing this program. This program reinforces sight words, not phonics, letter recognition, word building,etc.

Just keeping being the good mom you are and invest in books and read to your child. That one on one time is crucial and provides more than a program can. Keep talking to your baby/child about everything. I talk alot to my daughter - about what we were doing, what we see, have her look for things, play games and she is almost 4 and she is really building on her knowledge and is showing "pre-reading" signs. Sometimes I think that all my talking has really made her into a talker and now she never stops talking! LOL.
Sorry that this was an opinion only and not an actual "buyer" of the program. I hope you do get some answers from actual buyers to see what they think.

I echo every response so far.
I would like to add one additional piece of information, however.
When your child is older, if they are interested in learning to read and you are interesting in taking the time to teach them, there is an excellent program that you can do at home in less than 30 minutes a day. I did it myself with both of our kids, very successfully. And it is not expensive at all. The workbook styled book is called "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" by Siegfried Engelmann. You can buy it in a brick and mortar Barnes & Noble for about $20, or you can order a gently used copy online for under $10.

You can click the link below to "look inside" through amazon. They recommend beginning no earlier about age 3.5 years. I cannot recommend the book strongly enough, for when your child is ready. It is a much better way to learn than flashcards or sight words. And you don't have to know how to teach. The book literally tells you what to say when teaching your child. Just be sure you read the instructional pages to the parent in the foreword section.

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child-Read-Lessons/dp/06...

My sister and her BF bought it for their baby - DUMBEST thing they ever did. First of all, they have no money to waste like that. Second of all, it requires so much time in front of the TV. Show your baby a ball...repeat the word ball, when when your baby is older show them some flash cards. So spend time playing with your baby (we count buses, call Punch Buggy colors, etc) instead of trying to put them in class so young!! It looked okay until my sister got it, and it's total nonsense :).

This program doesn't teach children to read, it teaches them to memorize. If you want to use a "program" that will teach the phonics that children need to learn in order to read, you may want to check out zoophonics. There is parent kit that is only $38. It uses animals to teach the letter shape and sound. I started using it with my just turned 2 year old and she knows a-f and the sounds..........We use it as a fun, silly time game....no drills, etc.....

I agree with the others! I wrote a pos about this http://www.ramblingsofastayathomemom.com/2010/10/there-ar...

WE should be teaching our children to read, NOT some videos. It does not teach true reading, but, as a previous poster said, word recognition, and not phonics.

I was reading at age 2....this was long before any crazy baby reading program. My mom was a pre-school teacher and I had an older sister who would sit and read with me. I could read full books by 3 and loved chapter books by age 5. I now have three children of my own. My daughter is 9 and LOVES to read my son is 7 and is dyslexic and reads two grade levels below where he should be. I do not believe that these gimicks are anything but money making schemes. I believe that every child is unique and has their own developmental track. I have a one year old son who is able to sign a handful of words and may or may not read early. Through my researching of dyslexia I have found that many of the brilliant minds throughout history struggled to read, yet they did things like invent the telephone and the light bulb. If Thomas Edison didn't read until after he was 9yrs old why are we worried about our children waiting until they are at least school age? If your baby is going to read they will not need a $200+ program to do it.