My Baby Can Read

[Monadami]

I was flicking through Sky and came across an infomercial for the "My Baby Can Read" learning system by a Dr Titzer. It looked pretty impressive with babies as young as 10 months old being able to recognise words and 2 year old children able to read books.

Has anyone tried this system and if so what did you think? I'm in two minds wether to purchase it, partly because I like my 14 month old behaving like a typical young toddler, but on the other hand, would like to help him develop his learning skills.

Thanks

I could ready way before I went to school. Was always in the top 2 in class. I wasn't bullied either. However, not sure i would buy this. You'd do better just to share books with your child and maybe use flashcards - make it fun & if the child is into it he'll learn.

I learned to read very early, was reading Enid Blyton 'The Faraway Tree' (ahhhh - loved that book - still do!), by the time I was four. But that's because I LOVED reading and still do.

My DD is 15 months and we have read a story to her every night from about 6 weeks old so I'm hoping that she will love books and love to read, but there's no point in pushing them in my view.

If they show an interest, then obviously encourage them, but let them find their own path. I'm a firm believer that EVERY child is talented in some way, some academically, some in sport and some in the arts. I'm hoping that I'll still have this view when my DD is older and I'm hoping that whatever she's good at, I will encourage. Of course, if she does turn out to be a novellist, I'll happily proof-read her work!

If your LO wants to learn to read, give him some books to play with and explore on his own aswell as reading to him at night. My DD has baby books in the back of the car and will turn the pages and babble to herself as if she's reading - very cute! But really, don't push at this stage.

Just my opinion though!

Far better to engender a love of reading through reading storybooks together- there's no advantage whatsoever in being able to decode words early if they can't understand the narrative well. Ds1 was decoding single words at 2 anf reading 'fluently' at 3, but I've always been concerned that his comprehension lagged behind his precocious decoding. Annoyingly, nursery teachers etc have assumed we shove flashcards down his throat on a nightly basis, whereas the impetus has always come from him. (tbh think it might be indicative of subclinical AS traits) Anyway, I worry for him now on the cusp of primary school, and think he may be bored witless for the first couple of years til the others 'catch up' (as they undoubtedly will). So I think this sort of merhandise is bollocks- there's nothing particularly desirable about early reading, as other posters have said. Hopping, imaginative play, making a mess are far more important at that age.

mine were early readers, we just didn't teach them. none of them were bored at school - tbh they just get reading books from other year groups rather than their own classroom shelves. being able to read fluently on entry hasn't affected them either way tbh, so i wouldn't worry too much. none of the other kids give a monkey's who can read or not - it's the angsty parents that sidle up to you in the playground and ask in hushed tones if it's true...

(they are quite skilled at making a mess and playing greek gods as well (thanks to percy jackson) but dd2 is shite at hopping.

if it happens, it happens, but i wouldn't push it.

(we thought dd2 had memorised and was just repeating stories - it was mil that babysat one night and next day informed us that she had read the lion the witch and the wardrobe the night before )

That's encouraging to hear nickoftime - thanks

Poor Baby. Babies don't ned to learn to read, Just read books to him and have fun.

You need a better party trick than that. How about juggling or one-armed press ups?

Reminds me of my cousin, she used to phone up and ask how my DS was getting on and then without drawing breath tell me something fabulous that her DC could do. I used to tell her that he was out cycling (9 months) on the laptop (1 year) and making me a cup of tea (13 months).

At two I taught him the difference between a one tailed and two tailed hypothesis (using a picture of a cat in my text book) that totally shut her trap! He had no idea what he was saying though

I was in a very high stress, high pressure job before I left to have dd and I was still on that achieve achieve achieve treadmill after she was born. SO I bought the Teach your Baby to Read book and flashcards and assiduously held them up in front of her saying brightly "This says Dog!" Until one day, she grabbed a card at random and said "Dis say Silly". I learned a vvery useful lesson that day!

Some kids are ready to learn to read early - if so then it's pretty easy to teach them the phonic alphabet and then drip feed the rest bit by bit in 30 seconds chunks while you're reading them their bedtime stories (I used the sound effects in picture books, "BANG" etc, and we read the Ladybird Phonics books together). DD was an early reader, and has never suffered at school for it.

Learning by DVD seems insane though - babies that age should be learning by proximity to a loved adult.

I have seen the advertisement for this and although it looks fascinating I wouldn't purchase it that said I am teaching my DD1(2 and a half) to not read but recognise words/letters/colours/shapes etc by using peg boards and you can buy them from £1 each and they have the word underneath. Also flash cards in home bargains if you have a store near you 75p a pkt BARGAIN considering she loves to carry them around in her bag and pass them around.we even play snap with them.

look at me waffling on. So yeah I think it is good to teach at home before they start nursery because it gives them a bit of a head start.

won't make any difference long-term whether they start reading at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.

Signing is much more fun at that age. More useful too.

Just a thought, is it possible for a child to read before s/he can talk?

How could you tell?

My two and half year old is very bright. He is currently working on a new project - rearranging the outdated numerical system. Apparently it now goes one, two, nine, five, eight.

You have to admire the confidence he has in his convictions. He wont have it any other way

what they do is hold up the card and the child points to their foot if it says foot, that kind of thing. thats how they indicate they learned how to read in those videos

My two sons loved the "Fun With Phonics" series on BBC/CBEEBIES.I bought the DVD,which came with a lovely big poster,which I put up near the TV. I didn't "teach" them anything,they just loved the programme,and having the poster there,they were able to do all their phonic sounds/alphabet.It helped me too,as the school uses phonic alphabet,so I knew it,and many of the other Mums didn't know it so I lent them the DVD,which they loved too,LOL! They weren't ahead in school,wasn't arsed about that at age 5,but it was great to see their pleased little faces when they said "look mummy,thats a "teh" when we went to Tesco,aged 3.I got ot from Amazon,here

YANBU to think its a waste of money. The alphablocks/numberjacks on cbeebies is great for watching educational TV. DS who can read as hes just turned 6 still loves it now.

My parents taught me to read at 18m and it was rubbish. When I started school I was quite well-read and whilst the other children were learning to read I felt very left out. I think it also made it harder to relate to other children as my frame of reference was too big IYSWIM.

And FWIW the other children definitely caught up.

My ds was reading fluently at 3 and consequently when he started school he was considered very advanced.

The upshot of this was an assumption that the 'reading' box was ticked and from half-way through year 1 nobody in school ever bothered to read with him again. This meant that it was never picked up that he had little actual understanding of what he was reading, which didn't become evident until he got into Y4.

He's now 11 with a diagnosis of AS and ADHD and is a very long way behind his peers in terms of social and emotional understanding.

Reading early didn't benefit him at all. He was largely ignored because he was 'so clever' and that meant his underlyng problems went unrecognised far longer than they should.

Don't buy the package. Let him learn the other important things in life and let reading come when he's ready for it.

I think I must have had one of the happiest learning to read experiences anyone could have. Being born in Sweden I did not go to school until nearly 6 1/2 (could have deferred until 7 1/2 being a December baby), but on my 5th birthday some friend of the family gave me a reading primer (a bit of a classic, very nice illustrations). So I taught myself to read. No pressure, lots of excitement and feeling good about myself because I was clever enough to have learnt to read at 5. That self confidence stayed with me all the way through university: I still think in my heart of hearts that I must be rather clever because I learnt to read at 5 .

Ds' experience otoh was rather unhappy. He was a prem late spring baby who had to start school a few months after his 4th birthday as there is no January intake in local infants schools. He was nowhere near ready to learn to read or write at 4, and his confidence has never really recovered. He learnt to think of himself as "not very clever" and 6 years later that still influences how he thinks of himself.

So yes, early reading can no doubt be fine- when you're ready for it! For some children that will be at 3, for others at 6.

streakybacon - your story resonates with me wrt ds1 (4:6) I'm constantly being told how 'clever' he is at nursery school because he reads, loves numbers and capital cities- all things he's picked up early (and not pushed by us). I can't help but wonder if these skills are indicative of AS (I believe my brother has undiagnosed Aspergers).

Do you mind if I ask what the warning signs were with your ds? Were there other early behavioural indicators?

Sorry, hope you don't mind the questions- as you can probably tell, it's on my mind a lot atm!

Thanks

Babies need to explore the world through their bodies and their senses imo. I would not bother teaching a child under 5/6 to read. I read at 2/3, my children all learned at 4/5, but I'm not going to bother doing anything except letter sounds with the baby before she's 5. If she learns to read with that information (I did) then so be it. I refuse to hot house an infant into doing something a couple of years earlier than others and make their life a misery in the process.

woofie just wanted to say my ds2 (nearly 6) developed similar skills to your ds at nursery - although it was the London Underground map rather than capital cities. I was much the same. My dad was even worse. None of us AS. My son has dyspraxia though, but I have no idea if this is linked or if he has just inherited a way of thinking.

Woofie, ime the early reading and long lists of capitals/car models/dinosaurs whatever can just be an indication of a bright little boy; ime boys tend to go for this list approach to knowledge. One of the boys at toddler group was just like this, no Aspergers tendencies whatsoever, just a bright (but not abnormally bright) little boy.

So surprised that many of the replies on here make learning to read early sound like a negative thing.
I personally don't believe you need to use a special 'reading system' with a baby. I taught my son to read by 4. He is now 5 with a reading age of 9. This is how I did it:
All you need to do at the age your baby is now (10 months) is start reading to him on a regular basis. Give him books to touch and get books with flaps and sounds. By 2 years old he should know which way to hold the book, what a book is and how to turn the pages. Unless he is a genius, he won't know much else!
At 2 to 2.5 introduce the alphabet. Get him to recognise and name the letters.
By 3.5 to 4 years introduce flash cards.
It's worked for my son and my Mom did this with me and I was an early reader too. All the other kids did catch me up by about 7 or 8 but it was good for my confidence. My son loves to read and loves the fact that he is ahead in the reading scheme.

Why would you want your baby to read???
Children learn and develop at their own pace. 'Hot housing' is only ever done to satisfy the needs of the parent. let your baby be a baby.