Baby Can Read

[KenReeves]

does anyone have any experience with these dvd/reading program -- good or bad - for their kids? Thx!

[amldaley]

My personal experience with this is limited. I have a friend whose daughter is 11 months older than DD, so she often shares toys and gear with me.

She bought it and I agreed to buy it from her a year later. We didn't get there. She had it for a month and said that her daughter was not at all interested in the videos - not at all. So she tried to return it and had a HUGE hassle. There were hoops to jump through and they were really very tricky. She ended up going through her credit card company for the refund and having an attorney write a letter. It was not good.

I can't speak for the usefulness of the program, but I would consider buying it on Ebay or Craigslist rather than new.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

have no experience but i've read that the main problem with this program is that it teaches babies/kids to read by "sight" (recognizing a word) as opposed to phonics (how kids normally learn), where you learn how to pronounce individual letters and how they interact to produce sounds/words.

so for example, while a baby could learn how to read the word "kick" just by recognizing it, if you showed them the word "kicking", they wouldn't know how to read or say it.

not sure if that is a big deal though...u can argue some learning is better than nothing.

[swrc00]

have no experience but i've read that the main problem with this program is that it teaches babies/kids to read by "sight" (recognizing a word) as opposed to phonics (how kids normally learn), where you learn how to pronounce individual letters and how they interact to produce sounds/words.

so for example, while a baby could learn how to read the word "kick" just by recognizing it, if you showed them the word "kicking", they wouldn't know how to read or say it.

not sure if that is a big deal though...u can argue some learning is better than nothing.
:yeahthat: I am a certified reading teacher and this is exact problem with the program. The program does nothing more than teaching sight words.

[llama8]

I have no direct experience with this program, but I feel that sometimes, kids should just enjoy being kids and maybe it is not the best idea to rush reading programs before a child is developmentally ready. I am a teacher (I was also an early reader at 3-4 years old and I love books and academics), but I would rather my DD learned phonics at the appropriate age (when she is ready) than sight words from this program. (Is it really reading or just memorization??)

Just my 2 cents for what it is worth.

It may be a worthwhile program, but after seeing the informercials, I am skeptical.

[DebbieJ]

I would rather get something like Signing Time. My DS enjoyed these a lot. He went on to be an early reader, but you know correlation does not prove causation. ;)

[Kindra178]

I agree with the previous posters. Kids should be kids, and teaching early reading (especially via sight words) doesn't make much sense to me. I want my kids to learn how to play and build and run and jump and not read yet. They have sooo many years in school to read, yet so few years to climb and jump.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I can think of no reason why I need my baby to read.

Beth

[christiedavid3]

I can think of no reason why I need my baby to read.

Beth

:yeahthat:

[Staraglimmer]

I am a reading specialist. Please don't buy this. It does not teach your child to "read" because it does not teach decodeing or fluency. It is not "bad" for your child because it does teach sight words. I would rather see parents spend their hard-earned money on something that could help with phonemic Or phonetic awareness. Anyway, I think it is a HUGE waste of money.

[cilantromapuche]

or do the best thing and read to your child. it works guaranteed and your relationship also benefits. then when they get older and they love to read--they entertain themselves anywhere and everywhere by reading!!!!! they even read to their younger siblings which is a huge boon to you!