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March 14, 2009 8:15 AM

What's your take on My Baby Can Read?

Well? Can they read? Or what?

I read reviews of the well-known video and flashcard series, and the negative ones say any baby would do as well given as much interaction with or without the videos. My baby, however, spends most of her time with her grandparents, who could probably use a structured program like this to follow.

So, does it work? Are there better alternatives? And what about signing? That too, or not?

Thanks!

posted by atchafalaya to education (26 comments total)

I think it's also been shown that these kids don't do better further down the road, so seems like a lot of work for no gain.

I worked in a bookstore for 4 years, and had a parent (father) come in and ask for book recommendations for his kid. "He's just not interested enough in reading," he said.

I asked, "How old is he?"

"He just turned one."

"Well, I have some soft books over here that he can chew on."

I'd seldom seen a customer get so mad. And the thing was that I was serious.

I've read some stuff about the signing just out of interest in language acquisition and even a cursory web search shows that once you ignore the pages of the people selling these products that the rest seems split on their opinions. My opinion though is that we've been learning language the same way for a pretty long time. I don't see a reason to spend the effort to changing this in a the face of lack of evidence to efficacy.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:25 AM on March 14 [10 favorites]

I think stuff like this is pointless. Baby doesn't need baby educational videos or flashcards.

A better alternative is to simply read to your child each day. Don't drill her with flashcards. That's boring as hell and just because she can memorize something, it doesn't mean she is more intelligent than the neighbor baby that isn't watching Baby Educational Videos. One of my kids could hardly sit still for a story until he was four or so, so don't expect too much. Read what you can and make it fun. Have plenty of books around and most importantly spend time talking and interacting with your child. Your baby will gain much more by playing and interacting with grandma and grandpa, and her environment, rather than sitting in front of a video.

It's likely that your kid is going to be subjected to endless hours of television, video games, and computer screens. Why add more screen time at this age? I'm in the mind of limiting TV, especially in the younger years.
posted by Fairchild at 8:36 AM on March 14 [2 favorites]

I'm only 20 and I'm not a parent, FWIW.

I've always loved reading, I read at a level above my peers constantly, I read books during class and got into trouble for it. I have an incredible vocabulary and a knack for spelling and grammar that my friends just never seemed to grasp. I attribute this to my love of reading and seeing the words constantly. I never sat in front of a television except to watch Sesame Street or Mr. Roger's Neighborhood occasionally, we never had cable in my house growing up.

Like fairchild said, it's more important to spend time with the grandparents, any interaction is better than sticking them in front of a television. I'm a firm believer that those videos don't do jack except for distract the child with bright colors. Not that having it as a back-up is a bad thing, it's just not what should be teaching a child.
posted by InsanePenguin at 8:45 AM on March 14

What about baby sign language? My Baby Can Talk is for babies 10 - 36 months and seems pretty popular. There are DVDs (you can get them used on Ebay) and they have board books now as well. That would give the grandparents something interactive to do with your child, and signing babies are very cute!

(Plus, enabling your child to say "I want CHEESE, not Cheerios, you MORON" before they are verbal has to be pretty damn handy.)
posted by DarlingBri at 8:46 AM on March 14

I read somewhere that learning sign language can delay the development of spoken language. (Now would be an appropriate time to take a grain of salt.)

I would encourage not getting a structured program, but instead asking your grandparents to read to her a lot, and play with her to keep her stimulated and used to interacting with people. I have not ever heard a positive thing about exposing a child to television at any age. Like, seriously. Not one thing.

I am not a parent nor an expert, so you know. Take another grain of salt.
posted by Nonce at 9:01 AM on March 14

Just read to the kid, and make that fun. It goes a long way toward the kid enjoying books when it is time to learn to read. I have a 9 year old and a 3 year old, the youngest is just starting to learn letter shapes (but he loves reading and will make up his own story reading through a book).
posted by shinynewnick at 9:05 AM on March 14

I just read whatever I am reading out loud. My 10 month old doesn't care what - he just likes listening to the sound of my voice. Sometimes he cracks up over the sound of a word - Shinjuku is a good example - the sound must just please him.

We have started signing and that also amuses him.
posted by gomichild at 9:12 AM on March 14

InsanePenguin comes very close to describing me growing up! But now I am 45 and the parent of a 4 year old, so I can add that perspective as well. The idea of minimizing TV time, whether "educational" or not is endorsed by many pediatric medical organizations, as is simply reading with your kids. We took the "read with your child" approach with our daughter from a very young age; it was good together time and now she enthusiastically reads at a level above most of her peers. Whether she continues to outpace them or not is irrelevant to us; she has an activity she enjoys, can do alone, and is considered good.

We tried the baby sign thing as well; I never really put the time in necessary to get very good at it and even my wife didn't get as far as the testimonials made her think she would. Even with the very limited vocabulary we got to DarlingBri's point that communication at that age is handy is correct.
posted by TedW at 9:13 AM on March 14

As a former literacy teacher in K, 1, 2 who trained in cognitive literacy development: don't bother with these commercial programs. They don't help. What does help is what others have commonsensically said: surround your child with reading and a literate environment. Read to your child, every day; read signs and words around you in the enviroment out loud; talk to her as she grows about how you are deciphering directional and commercial signage and menus and stuff using your reading; and let her see you and other members of the household reading. Have a lot of books and magazines around at her level (of course) and above, and let her read whatever she wants.

She will learn to read. If there are any learning disabilities or other problems that form a barrier to the normal acquistion of reading skill, they'll become apparent later, but chances are there aren't. There's no advantage to using these programs, and the risk is that they begin to make reading a task or chore and the child feels tested and bothered. Explore reading joyfully together in natural contexts.
posted by Miko at 9:29 AM on March 14 [4 favorites]

Well, this is anecdotal so you can take it with a grain of salt but an informal poll of friends who learned to read early tells me that the one thing they seem to have in common is a parent who read to them every day from the time they were infants. This was my experience. My parents loved to read and read to me constantly. I started reading on my own quite early and, like InsanePenguin, consistently read at a higher level than most of my classmates throughout my school years. I think simply sharing your own love of reading on a regular basis makes the biggest impact.
posted by lysistrata at 10:07 AM on March 14 [2 favorites]

The "Inventor" of Your Baby Can Read, Robert C. Titzer, likes to make the following statement:

Dr. Titzer has become a recognizable expert in the area of infant learning and his work has been published in scientific journals -- including the prestigious Psychological Review.

A Google Scholar search, however, reveals only two published articles in the past sixteen years for Dr. Titzer--though they are vaguely related to infant learning. Dr. Titzer is not listed as the primary researcher for either study. He did appear to publish one article on infant and toddler visual acuity right around the time he started Your Baby Can Read.

His main academic credential appears to being a former assistant professor of kinesiology at Southern Louisiana University in the late 1990s. I can find no evidence of any training or work in educational or psychological research or developmental studies before launching his reading program. As someone literally more qualified to speak on the subject than Dr. Titzer, Your Baby Can Read was put together with the same quality, attention to detail, and solid research that other great "As Seen on TV" products*.

/takedown

*George Foreman grill notwithstanding.
posted by Benjy at 10:18 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]

this is anecdotal so you can take it with a grain of salt

Not just anecdotal, that's supported by a tremendous and utterly convincing body of research. That same research was what gave rise to the creation of Head Start programs. IT's reliable.
posted by Miko at 10:26 AM on March 14

I'm another kid who read early, and read a ton as a kid. My parents followed the advice of the people above: they read to me a lot, and had lots of books around for me to read. I used to bring my parents stacks of books to read to me, and they always obliged. They also took me to the library often as a small child, and then whenever I asked when I was older. I do remember one episode of them trying to get me to read- I was three or four, maybe, and my mom had bought some learn-to-read books for me. She didn't try to force them on me, though, they were just around. I tried them, got frustrated, put them away, and picked them up again a few months later of my own volition. If you create a reading-positive environment, eventually your kid will want to read on their own.
posted by MadamM at 10:36 AM on March 14

It's even a good thing to read to a child while it's still in the womb. You can begin teaching ABC's, counting and music before the child is born, too. My nephew was taught this way, was reading aloud as soon as he could talk at 1 yr. old and reading at 4th grade level when he was 4. He now heads his own high-profile, cutting-edge tech company.
posted by wsg at 10:48 AM on March 14

My parents are not educated, but they read to me a lot as a kid, and my grandmother worked in a used bookstore, and I would go with her and look at books while she worked sometimes. I could read at a fairly young age, before kindergarten, and always read at a high level for my age. My sister was the same way, but she didn't catch onto reading as fast or as well as I did.
However, kids I knew who were pressured by their parents to read at 3 or 4 didn't seem to do any better in the long-term than kids who weren't. Not all of them read at a higher level than their peers, and some kids who didn't learn to read until during kindergarten could read at a high level fairly quickly.

Every kid is different, and reading to them a lot and encouraging them to read is probably the best you can do to help them learn. They all will end up learning at their own pace.

WSG, your nephew could read at age 1, or they read aloud to him when he was 1?
posted by fructose at 11:23 AM on March 14

My parents loved to read, but they didn't read to me at all. I remember my mom taught me some rudimentary Chinese when I was younger, and then set me loose on a pile of books.

I think what's most important, and what is partially helped by having parents read to you, is just an environment where literature is seen as valuable and as something to spend time on. I remember seeing my parents with books all the time - both the giant books that looked boring as hell that they used for their research, but also really worn novels that they must've read dozens of times over. By the time I got old enough to read novels for hours on end without taking a break and incite my mother's ire for not resting my eyes, the idea that "reading is awesome and to be treasured above all" was entirely engrained in me. I usually have at least one or two books with me when I go out, even the likelihood of me having time to read is infinitesimal.

The question becomes entirely different, of course, depending on what your purpose for having the child read is. Do you want her to do well academically, or do you want her to enjoy reading for itself? Because I get the feeling that shows like Baby Can Read are very much geared towards a culture of being the first, the best, rather than deriving enjoyment out of the simple pleasures of life. To achieve the latter, all you have to do is to love reading. To achieve the former... well, I suppose you could drill her in flashcards and all that, but it won't be very much fun.

And as for the allusion to the Dick and Jane books, the typical criticism is that it focuses too much on letter and word recognition and basic rote skills, rather than appreciation for reading. Take that however you will.
posted by Phire at 11:48 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]

I was reading at 3, which I attribute to having parents who read to me, letting me look at the words and pictures as they did. I'm also another one of those kids who didn't have a lot of access to television as a small child, and who fell in love with books early. My parents and grandparents were all big readers, and not big TV watchers. And my early reading wasn't something my parents were trying to foist on me; they just liked reading to their kids.

I myself give most of the credit to Dr. Seuss and A.A. Milne for being so damn compelling.
posted by OolooKitty at 11:48 AM on March 14

Our two year old loves books. We read at least 3 books before bed every night and then any time she asks during the day. She'll grab a book and lay down in the middle of the floor or on her bed and flip through. She's at the point where she has some of them memorized and can start reciting them. She also has a pretty advanced vocabulary for her age.

We read to her from the very beginning, we keep books all over the place, she sees us reading and we make regular trips to the book store. That said, she definitely gets her share of TV time too. Probably more than she should, but even then, we use it as another way to interact with her and teach her little things.

So... probably just not worth the money.
posted by speeb at 11:55 AM on March 14

He was reading when he was 1. He brought a can of milk to his mother and said "milk." She didn't know if he was reading the can or if he just knew what it was, so she wrote the word "milk" on a card and showed it to him. He read it. So she wrote down other words on cards (simple words like "cat") and he read them without prompting from her. That day she made a stack of cards 2 inches thick of words he could read.

He was always a Sesame Street junky and had taught himself. His parents never pushed him, but they did encourage him. I remember him laying on the couch when he was three reading the TV guide to see what was coming on that night. It was back in the 70's so we didn't have a camcorder, yet, unfortunately, but they filmed him at a local university when he was four and that's when they said he was reading at a 4th grade level.
posted by wsg at 11:58 AM on March 14

I have read several studies that show focusing on teaching reading too early is counter-intuitive and delays literacy. I guess an analogy would be that since we teach teens to drive at sixteen if a parent decided to get a head start and teach their ten year old. Well a ten year old does not have the same physical or neurological development as the sixteen year old and would get frustrated that they weren't "smart" enough and be more likely to give up and not try when they turned sixteen. Does that make any sense?

By baby, I assume you mean a child two and under? At that age you are looking at teaching limited pre-literacy skills. These skills are best delivered one-on-one, not through flash-cards or electronics. ALA has revamped the approach to children's programmes over the past five years. What about looking at whether your public library offers any Ready to Read programmes? Another useful programme to look for is a Mother Goose-type programme that teaches classic nursery rhymes (some public libraries offer them too). Rhymes really help children learn phonemes and it is amazing how many children/adults do not have the classic rhymes as part of their cultural literacy. Programmes like this are great for the grandparents as sometimes caregivers need adult interaction or need more guidance on what is developmentally appropriate for children.

As for baby signing, I do like it personally, especially the DVD series Signing Time. In most of my programmes I sing classic songs while using the ASL signs and the children really enjoy it. Some research has indicated learning ASL aids later literacy (and coolness). A class in ASL for babies (not made-up baby signs) is another option for the grandparents.
posted by saucysault at 1:37 PM on March 14

As far as the videos go, a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed no effect of TV watching on children under two years old.

Nthing what others in the thread have said, I was an early reader, and my mom always attributes this to the fact that she read to me every day when I was little.
posted by rebel_rebel at 2:23 PM on March 14

I was reading books with chapters on my own before kindergarten, and I remember at least part of the process of learning to read: my mother read to me (a LOT), pointing to each word as she said it. She had long nails that were usually painted red, so none of that +/- 1 line error in determining what she was pointing to that you get with stub-nailed fingers. We learned a letter each week in kindergarten, and some of the names of letters were new to me, but that hadn't stopped me from reading all the time.

Like InsanePenguin, I also watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and not too much else. I don't think anyone did formal reading-education programs with me -- my family just talked to me a lot. And instead of restricting their vocabulary too much, they explained words when I asked about them (I remember this, and Mom has said it was her strategy).
posted by ecsh at 2:28 PM on March 14

I suspect that the grandparents are doing with your child exactly what they did with you or your partner. If you like the way you and your partner turned out, I wouldn't worry too much about how they are spending their time. There's also a great big "don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs" aspect to this-- they've done this before. If you're comfortable enough to leave your child with them "most of the time" you need to trust them to use that time appropriately.

Okay, you didn't ask for a sermon. When reading to your child (and really, interaction, not knowledge acquisition is the key for early reading), make sure the child can see the book and the pictures, point to the words as you're saying them, let the child interrupt and ask questions, and interrupt yourself to embellish and emphasize the connection between the spoken and written words. The best technology/system for this is (wait for it) a book with words. Nothing fancy.

All young parents take note: Pretty much everyone learns to read. What everyone doesn't learn is to love books. That's what you want to be teaching your child.

(oops, I said the sermon was done)
posted by nax at 4:06 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]

People, thanks for the answers. I guess I should say more.

My wife and her parents are not readers. My wife and I work, so her parents take care of our daughter most days. They are wildly affectionate, but spend most of their time watching television. I have asked them explicitly not to let our daughter watch TV, but I suspect they watch to some degree while I'm not there.

I don't know if I can rely her parents to read to our little hamster every day while we're gone.

Knowing all that, I'm wondering if this MBCR program, however cheesy, might provide a structured way for them to help our daughter to develop since both parents are away so much. I myself would read to her at night, but I work offshore. My wife would, but she works until midnight many nights.

Obviously this is not the ideal setup. Still; will MBCR help, or is there a better way?
posted by atchafalaya at 5:20 PM on March 14

. I myself would read to her at night, but I work offshore. My wife would, but she works until midnight many nights.


Record your own voices reading some favorite stories and get her a cassette player. Keep the books and cassettes together so the GPs can play a cassette while she looks at the books.

Your goals are totally laudable. One of the reasons I left teaching, though, was the parental anxiety over reading. I can't stress enough that what nax says is true: almost everyone learns to read. Those who don't have a biological reason. What's important is making sure books and reading and the joy of those things are as much a part of her world as possible. Since she doesn't get to see her parents that much on regular days, that makes the time she is with you all the more special. Make sure that when you can be with her during the daytime or at her bedtime, stories happen.

It will all turn out OK. Some of our greatest geniuses were born to and raised by totally illiterate parents. This is nowhere near such a severe situation! Kids are excellent learners, little learning machines in fact, especially when they know they love stories and want to read them.
posted by Miko at 6:49 PM on March 14

It's tough when your caretakers have a radically different approach than you do, but you just don't have that much control over it. This sounds more like you just have a different approach to child rearing than they do, which is tricky, since they're relatives. If you can swing it financially and politically, it might be an idea to hire a nanny for a couple of days a week; you'll have more control over how she or he spends their time with your little swamp rat (that would be the atchafalaya swamp rat) than you do with the grandparents.

You can give them this baby reading tool, I doubt there's any actual harm to it, but they might not use it even if it's there. I agree that a child that young should NOT be watching so much screen; that's a fight you can have with your wife and inlaws (really glad I'm not you when that one comes up).

In another thread tonight, I recommended the book A Good Enough Parent by Bruno Bettelheim. Not really salient to the question about helping kids learn to read, but it really helped me when I was a young parent wondering if I was doing enough for my kids.
posted by nax at 7:33 PM on March 14