"My Baby Can Read" : Yay or Nay?

[murphysaangel]

I've been researching the My Baby Can Read system and there are two very opposite thoughts on it: it's awesome and you NEED to have it, and it's a horrible SCAM and actually detrimental to a child's education. I'm not sure I believe either side, but I would like to hear from actual mommas who've tried it.
Anyone?
thanks!
(mods, feel free to move this if it's not in the right area. I thought it could go in one of a few different places, and just chose this one first.)

[wanderinggypsy]

Well, I think it's counter-intuitive, and that babies have more important things to be 'learning' than reading.

I also know that whatever literacy is gained in infancy will almost surely be lost in the preschool years when the synaptic pruning process begins. There are just so many truly important skills and concepts that little ones need to learn in the first few years, and reading just doesn't even show up on that continuum until much, much later.

[boobs4milk]

Originally Posted by wanderinggypsy

Well, I think it's counter-intuitive, and that babies have more important things to be 'learning' than reading.

I also know that whatever literacy is gained in infancy will almost surely be lost in the preschool years when the synaptic pruning process begins. There are just so many truly important skills and concepts that little ones need to learn in the first few years, and reading just doesn't even show up on that continuum until much, much later.

ita! besides, they will have plenty of time later on to be 'drilled' and 'tested' aka schooling. we all like to brag about how smart our kids are (and they are!) but do we seriously need to pressure them into reading at 9 mos? i'll be ge dandy thrilled with my 9 mo old who splatters her food everywhere and babbles 'mama' and 'dada.'

[CrunchyKnitter]

Originally Posted by boobs4milk

ita! besides, they will have plenty of time later on to be 'drilled' and 'tested' aka schooling. we all like to brag about how smart our kids are (and they are!) but do we seriously need to pressure them into reading at 9 mos? i'll be ge dandy thrilled with my 9 mo old who splatters her food everywhere and babbles 'mama' and 'dada.'

I agree as well. I think it's just weird to push that stuff on a baby. Do people think they are NOT learning and developing exponentially as babies that they need to do stuff like "read",etc? They are busy learning the basics of life and how their bodies and brains work!

[Coconut Chronicles]

We received the whole system as a baby shower gift. I haven't really had time to look at it but DH watched the first DVD before our son was born and said it was "cute." It comes with a bunch of short DVD's that feature kids and babies singing songs (like Twinkle Twinkle) and visiting a zoo, a farm etc. It also comes with a bunch pop up/slide board books (so if nothing else DS will have a few more books he can chew on )... Not really sure if we will use it.

[sunshynbaby]

NAY! I don't see the point in pushing this kind of thing on a baby when they have so many other developmental things to learn. The kids who don't learn to read before kindergarten will catch up to those reading babies within a year anyway. It just seems like a waste of precious baby time to me. The use of flash cards on a baby just makes me cringe!!!!

[Auraji]

I dont have it, but I say NAY. First I'd think that for this to work it would require to put my DD (almost 8 months) in front of the tv for her to learn how to read and we dont put her to watch tv, ever. I want to avoid any tv until she's a toddler and then it's still going to very limited.
I dont know why does a baby needs to read? I think things happen in their own time and there's no need to push them to learn something.
I do have picture books and animals flash cards and I dont see anything wrong with this. DD enjoys looking at the pictures, holding them, passing the pages, eating them... Im not trying to teach her how to read though, but it's more like a fun recognition game.

[Sk8ermaiden]

It is sight reading. My friends who were taught sight reading in school instead of phonics can still barely read at an acceptable level. Their comprehension is not so hot and spelling and grammar are horrible. They are the first to scream from the rooftops that this program is very likely to impair the future learning of kids who use it.

My mom (3rd grade teacher for 30 years) yells about it too. I don't think it's a scam, but I do think it's just a way to teach your kid a party trick that may or may not prevent them from being able to read well at an older age.

[AntoninBeGonin]

Well hey, if that's all it is then it doesn't sound too bad, especially if you just ignore the whole "teach a baby who can barely crawl how to read!" part of it . Since my kids are in preschool, it might be fun for them. On the other hand, even though I love to read and am all for encouraging kids to read, I don't think this is a good program for preverbal babies. I haven't looked into the program but what I know about child development tells me that it would just be time better spent elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Coconut Chronicles

We received the whole system as a baby shower gift. I haven't really had time to look at it but DH watched the first DVD before our son was born and said it was "cute." It comes with a bunch of short DVD's that feature kids and babies singing songs (like Twinkle Twinkle) and visiting a zoo, a farm etc. It also comes with a bunch pop up/slide board books (so if nothing else DS will have a few more books he can chew on )... Not really sure if we will use it.

[Plarka]

I have to nicely but totally disagree with you all! I don't have the program but I've heard of it. I did some Glenn Doman flashcards with my daughter from about 14 months and she did learn to sight read lots of words. And she loved it! It was a fun game for her! I also taught her letters and sounds, and then how to read phonetically. She could read phonetically by 2 yrs 2 months. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying kids and babies can learn stuff early and they love it if you make it a fun game! It helps their brains grow, which is good. And they can also learn all the other 'normal' baby stuff too. You're only doing flashcards for less than one minute a day, if you do like 5-10 words for a second each. I think the flashcards helped her learn what words are, and helped her eventually be able to read phonetically.

You don't have to be pushy about it. You only do it if they want to, and stop before they want to stop. It's fun! Sorry, I'm not answering your question about the program Your Baby Can Read, but I just have to defend the whole 'teaching babies things early' thing, because I know it can be fun and it works! I know days can be long and boring and I like having extra things to do, like reading games, and so does dd!

[dislocator3972]

Wow, no one who has actually used it yet? For a program advertised so much, I'm surprised!

[Plarka]

There are people on this site who use it, you could do a search and read what they say there!

[Sk8ermaiden]

Originally Posted by Plarka

I have to nicely but totally disagree with you all! I don't have the program but I've heard of it. I did some Glenn Doman flashcards with my daughter from about 14 months and she did learn to sight read lots of words. And she loved it! It was a fun game for her! I also taught her letters and sounds, and then how to read phonetically. She could read phonetically by 2 yrs 2 months. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying kids and babies can learn stuff early and they love it if you make it a fun game! It helps their brains grow, which is good. And they can also learn all the other 'normal' baby stuff too. You're only doing flashcards for less than one minute a day, if you do like 5-10 words for a second each. I think the flashcards helped her learn what words are, and helped her eventually be able to read phonetically.

You don't have to be pushy about it. You only do it if they want to, and stop before they want to stop. It's fun! Sorry, I'm not answering your question about the program Your Baby Can Read, but I just have to defend the whole 'teaching babies things early' thing, because I know it can be fun and it works! I know days can be long and boring and I like having extra things to do, like reading games, and so does dd!

I also agree about teaching things early. I think it can be a lot of fun, and good for a baby's growing brain!

However, every person I know who who works in child development says this program is bad news.

[Coconut Chronicles]

Originally Posted by AntoninBeGonin

Well hey, if that's all it is then it doesn't sound too bad, especially if you just ignore the whole "teach a baby who can barely crawl how to read!" part of it . Since my kids are in preschool, it might be fun for them.

I hear ya! And I think you are right about your preschoolers probably getting a kick out of it. Like I said I haven't even looked at the program so what I wrote was just DH's review.

Originally Posted by dislocator3972

Wow, no one who has actually used it yet? For a program advertised so much, I'm surprised!

Me too! Until I saw this thread I actually forgot I even owned it. Its stuffed in a closet upstairs along with some useless stuff we got at our shower

DS is only 4.5 months so even if I did start using it it would likely be awhile before I could report any "results".

[murphysaangel]

Hmmm. I actually wasn't aware that the system used so many DVD's . I thought it was more like flashcards and games and stuff. In that case, if I want to do something like that, I'll make my own flashcards. Anyway, I'm not looking to make a prodigy out of my child. I'd just like to stimulate his mind a bit and get him used to reading and words so that he accels at it when it's time in school. But, as with most things, including books, I let HIM bring them to me to play!

As far as NOT doing anything based on the idea that learning to read by sight rather than phoenetically is interesting too - but wouldn't that be saying that you should also not READ to your child at all? Because he might memorize the words on the page? I'm pretty sure that is how we ALL begin to learn words, and not all of us are illiterate bad spellers. I think what is MOST important is how you are taught in school, the methods used there.

[Conifer]

Hi,
I haven't used this program, but it seems pretty innocent to me as long as you are totally crazy and force your kids to watch tv all day long. Board books? Videos with songs and words...doesn't sound any worse than sesame street?

We lived out in the sticks with no cable tv when my oldest son was a baby (he's 9 now). I would read to him for an hour a day or more and he LOVED it. We played word games at his request. In my opinion kids love to interact with their parents and play (learning is playing to kids!). I never never forced my son to learn, he wanted to!!! By 3 he was reading on his own and has never looked back. It has been wonderful to have a child that truly loves to read.

So...do I think we should stick little babies in front of tvs all day and force them to drill flash cards?...NO!
I do think that including word play and an occasional fun video into a child's day as a fun parent/child activity is perfectly reasonable...only if the child seems to enjoy themselves and it is not taken seriously.

[Conifer]

As far as NOT doing anything based on the idea that learning to read by sight rather than phoenetically is interesting too - but wouldn't that be saying that you should also not READ to your child at all? Because he might memorize the words on the page? I'm pretty sure that is how we ALL begin to learn words, and not all of us are illiterate bad spellers. I think what is MOST important is how you are taught in school, the methods used there.

I agree
Actually, I've seen studies that have shown that whether a child learns by sight or phonetics, they eventually level out. There is only a short amount of time where one is better than the other. A child is either going to break the code or struggle regardless. I think it is wrong to say that you should not teach a child sight reading...they can definitely learn both and be better off because of it!

[askew]

We use it and like it, but we are using it for a different reason. My DD has a brain injury from birth, ad teaching things like this help repair pathways that were damaged in the brain. We don't care if it teaches her to read, but that it puts down the pathways for future learning. KWIM? There is a lot of research about these types of early learning systems. You can look also at the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential and NACD.org.

For the PP that said learning by sight makes one a bad reader, I have to disagree. I learned to read by sight, and I have many advanced college degrees. A child under 3 can not comprehend phonics, so if they read it is sight. Phonics understanding comes later, as another layer of reading.

[BirthKathy]

We received it as a gift, and we've let our son watch the first DVD occasionally. I like it. It's interesting how they repeat the words and concepts in different ways. There are a lot of children and animals in it, which he seems to like. We stay with him, and when he gets bored (after about 10 mins) we turn it off. Don't know if he's learned anything yet!