I can give you a different perspective than any of these moms. Why? Because I DID teach my baby to read - 25 years ago. How? When I was pregnant with my 1st I read up on everything I could about stimulating babies. I found the "Better Baby Institute." This institute would take kids who had damaged brains (brain cancer, car accidents, etc.) and work with them extensively to try to repair damage. They could get kids with parts of their brains removed due to the above things reading and learning on an almost normal level - like nothing had ever happened. They wondered "If we can do this with a child with a disease or an accident, what could we do with a NORMAL child?" So they started employing the same techniques on normal kids - with amazing results.
The Better Baby Institute sold a flash card system to teach babies to read. I couldn't afford the system, but I read their books so throughly I got enthused and I MADE my own flash cards. With posterboard and markers I went to work. I made flashcards and began showing my baby flashcards from the time he was born. I had his caregiver showing him the cards.
Results? He was reading BEFORE he could talk. How did I know he could read? I would hold up a flashcard with a word like "television" and he would crawl across the room to the "television" and pat it. He literally did not talk until he was nearly 3 years old - then he burst forth in complete sentences like "Mommy I want a glass of juice" overnight.
The Better Baby people said your child would not be a good speller - but they would be an excellent reader. Spelling could be taught later. Why not phonics? Think about this - READING is actually a LANGUAGE - just like the English language or the Spanish language. Do we learn language by SOUNDING OUT LETTERS? NO! We learn language by listening to complete words. We can learn to read by LOOKING at complete words.
You don't teach your kid to talk by saying "MMMMMMM" "AAAAAAA" "MMMMMM" "AAAAAAAA" Mama!
Fast forward now. My kid that I "ruined" according to the skeptics like a couple of moms that I read here.... he was the smartest kid in his school! He graduated the valedictorian of his class. He was accepted to Texas A&M and got scholarships. He is about to finish BAYLOR LAW SCHOOL. That was 25 years ago.
Some may say...he just came from a bright family and had good genes. Ok, maybe. But let's look at son #2.
Son #2. I did NOT teach him to read. I wish I had. He made A's and B's and a couple of C's through school. Kid #1 made maybe 2 B's total in his entire school career. Kid #2 is now in 2nd year of college and has flunked out of several classes and is costing us tons in wasted tuition payments.
He has lower self esteem.
Son #1 had ADHD too. I'm so glad I taught him to read. I think every parent should teach their kids to read.
I can't tell you a thing about the "My Baby Can Read" series because I never used it. You can do what I did. The Better Baby Institute said to make your first flash cards very large and in red letters. As you train your baby's eyes you make the flash cards smaller and smaller until they are finally in black letters. Then you teach them all the words in their first book before you actually show them the book. Son #1 had 450 children's books in his room - all of which he had read before 2nd grade.
He writes beautifully (and is also a good speller). He speaks beautifully. His vocabulary is enviable. He is a well rounded child. He played football in high school as well for 3 years and plays the piano. His SAT scores were off the charts as were his LSAT scores to get into Law School.
I see the other moms answers that they got "bored" with the system. Well, I got pretty bored too showing my kid the cards again and again every day since birth - but it sure paid off. An education is the one gift you can give your child that no one can ever take away. It is the most valuable gift you can ever give your child. In this very competitive world your child needs every advantage they can get. I'm so glad I taught my child to read and he thanks me for it too.
