Your Baby Can Read Program - Arlington,TX

Updated on February 25, 2011
A.B. asks from Arlington, TX
17 answers

So, what are your thoughts on the Your Baby Can Read Program? Have you tried it? I have read a lot of conflicting info online and wondered if anyone has actually tried the program and what their outcome was.

I personally am doing this program with my 3 yr old, started around age 2 went all they way through except the last dvd, which is the review dvd that is suppoed to be what ties everything in. We moved and I misplaced the review dvd so we put a hold on the program as I do many other educational things with her, (arts, crafts, read books to her, etc). I recently found it and decided to retry it out. That's when I came across some online controversy. So, I just wondered what you guys all thought. I respect all your opinions!

Btw, I am not pushy on the educational thing, I started with minimal sign language at around age 10 months to give her an outlet to communicate so that "tantrums" would be lessened, and low and behold she took off with it! She absolutely loved it and it was obvious her thirst for learning, so I kept it up and by age 22 months she was signing over 200 signs. That amazed me! Yes, your babies can do this too! Mine is not a prodigy by any means, just had been blessed with a stay at home mom that felt that she didn't want to deal with tantrums! Blew my mind to see how much and how fast these little ones can really learn. Also, I could tell immediately she was so proud of herself. I strongly feel self esteem is incredibly important for any child and I am an advocate of that whole heartedly.

So back to YBCR program.... thoughts?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my question! Thanks in advance for all your responses!

1 mom found this helpful

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

My daughter was reading independently at the age of three, and I never "taught" her to read. I just read to her, and tracked the text with my finger as I was reading. One day, she pointed to a spot on the page and exclaimed, "That says So Wipe (Snow White)!" It actually said "Sneezy," but she had made the connection between the letter S, the sound it made, and the fact that names started with capital letters. From then on, there was no stopping her.

2 moms found this helpful
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A.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

They memorize site words, its not that they learn to read...so I've read, and with my experience as an aide in an elementary school that is how we learn to read, eventually. I dont see any harm if you already bought it, but I wouldnt recommend it to anyone. Studies I read online didnt show any advancement in comparison to kids that didnt go through the program. If it made her excited, good for you!

2 moms found this helpful

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K.M.

answers from New York on

My Sister gave me these. Frankly, they are junk. The truth is, if you want to your baby to read... read to them. My little one just turned four and reads small words. There is no miracle. They can memorize, but if you want your child to really read, the statistically proven way is to read to them.

8 moms found this helpful

B.K.

answers from Chicago on

Sitting your baby/kid in front of a tv to memorize words (that they'll have to re-learn phonetically down the road) isn't good. The people who invented this program have done well sucking money out of hopeful parents' pockets. That's about it. People should take that tv time and use it more wisely -- playing, reading, singing, going for a walk, etc.

5 moms found this helpful
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D.S.

answers from New York on

Let the teachers teacher your child to read in kindergarten and first grade when they need to learn to read. Just teach your child to be kind, loving, independent, and have good morals. This comes from an educator and a mom of adults.

5 moms found this helpful
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L.D.

answers from Dallas on

I work in education, and I think the program is a little silly. I think its BETTER for children and toddlers to be playing than looking at flash cards. Its better for them to be exploring their worlds at this age. If you actually WATCH your little girl or guy play, they are doing little experiments all day long. They are asking themselves, "What happens if I do this?" or "How can I make this happen?" or they are doing make believe and, in the process also developing fine and gross motor skills.

It also gets to your definition of what "reading" is. Is it more important for a two year old to associate the letters d.a.i.s.y with a flower, or it more important for a two year old to touch a daisy, smell a daisy, feel a daisy, and pull its petals off? When both children get to first grade, and see the word daisy in some text, which will have a richer understanding of the word? The one whose mom taught the word, or the one who gave the flower?

Kudos on the sign language. Sign language is supposed to be great at developing regular language (and reading) skills later on.

Sounds like you are working ahrd with your little girl!

4 moms found this helpful

C.B.

answers from Kansas City on

i had thought to do signs as well, but between working full time, and my son having great communication skills, turned out we didn't really use it anyway. he never had a tantrum until he was 2 or so, and by then he was VERY capable of telling me exactly what the problem was lol. it's great that she is such a little sponge and enjoys learning so much.

my basic problem with the YBCR problem is that it claims exactly that- that your baby can READ. it's not reading. it's memorizing sight words like AG has said. i'm sure that any learning in this area can be beneficial, but it is a scam imo and ripping parents off is never okay. especially to the degree they are doing it. the programs are WAY overpriced, and the commercials are on nonstop and it's ridiculous. i would never spend the money. not to mention the time involved, from what i understand, most of it in front of the tv. there's no reason for it. no school teaches reading by memorization and if that's how a person learns to read they will always have issues. to really benefit a child for the rest of their life they really need to be taught phonics and how words/letters work, not just memorizing them.

as far as i can tell, the only ones who benefit are the company who sells it and those parents who use it for bragging rights. not that you're doing that at all. just saying.

4 moms found this helpful
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K.S.

answers from Columbus on

I also think it's a waste of money. I have a friend who bought this used for a pretty penny. I haven't talked to her recently about how well it's working. When she asked for my opinion, I told I thought it was a waste. Your results & those of J B. can be obtained without the expense. Like J B., my daughter was speaking complete sentences at around 2 yrs. & has been learning to read at 4. I didn't need to spend any money, I simply read to her & talk to her.

3 moms found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from New York on

I've posted on this topic before b/c there is absolutely no genuine research that supports this program. Yes, for many children it gives them the ability to "word call" through memorization, but "word calling" is not the same thing as "reading".

Any initial "bumps" you see in reading skills are completed leveled-out by first grade when comprehension, predictions and writing become equally important. So yes, there is an initial "spike" in "reading" during toddler, preschool and K years but there are no long-term gains from ANY of these programs.

The research on early literacy development does support reading to your child daily for 20 minutes on varied topics and engaging them in dialogues about what you are reading. This builds vocabulary, concepts of "book & print", comprehension and generalization (making connections b/w life and text). Much more beneficial in the long run and much much less expensive.

3 moms found this helpful
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J.V.

answers from Chicago on

I think it's great that your daughter was signing 200 words by 22 months, but maybe if you didn't put her in front of the TV she would have been talking in full sentences by now..

Good education is "interactive," and "dialogical." End of story.

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C.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

No reading programs, but you are right! They absorb so much at such an early age. I have an adult daughter and 5 YO. The adult (1st child) I educated in a pretty minimal way, however, did work with her. The 2nd child, we all work with her and she really picks things up. During our library visit, I pulled a weather book off the shelf and read it to her. She squirmed all over the place with boredom, but was turned on by the tornados and rainbows. Anyway, I told her, "Let's trick Daddy and ask him to read this you (Dad loves weather) and he will be amazed that you already know so much about it". She thought that was funny and agreed, so we checked the book out and studied it over and over, same day. She knows weather now. They do amaze me!

I think it is the attention you are giving them.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from New York on

IMO it's just memorization. If you want to TRULY teach your child to read, start with teaching her phonics...there is a great parent program called zoophonics that starts with the letter sounds (in an animal shape) the children associate the sounds with the letter then you can eventually start blending the sounds to gether. The parent program is only $38, I believe. This is the website... http://www.zoo-phonicsathome.com/p-1-essentials-at-home-p...

1 mom found this helpful
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B.

answers from Augusta on

Teachers hate this program because it does not teach reading it teaches memorization, period.
Most children that have " learned to read" on this program have to be retaught to actually read by phonetics.
And do you REALLY want a toddler to read,
to a toddler warning labels read like instruction manuals.

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M.H.

answers from Dallas on

Hi, this has been asked many times so you might want to do a search to see all the various feedback given over the last few years.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

I do this with my son. He is 25 months and speaks in sentences. I thought it was a joke but it turned out to be great. I would put it on and he'd watch it. The only tv he will watch. I don't force it on him. He will ask for them. So I do it with him once a day for 30 mins. We started the final DVD today. He loves to learn. It's really helped with his tantrums. He's able to say "mommy I'm mad" and we talk it out. Some of my friends love that I do this with him, others say im wrong for doing it. But I don't think it's bad. I am helping him learn, we too do arts and crafts and play and he has fun. He's a happy little guy. And it makes communicating with him easy!

1 mom found this helpful

K.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

It is teaching SIGHT WORDS not how to read. Now learning sight words is good and can really help in giving a child a jump start on reading but I think the program is wrong in saying "teach your baby to read."

Learning the different sounds of each letter, sounding out words, applying the rules about the letters, and learninga few sight words is learning to fully read. I think only applying the sight words method will onlyhave the child re-learn how to learn to read further down the road.

I started the program with my daughter but quickly got rid of it because I wanted her to learn more then sight words. Since I only didthe first DVD I have no idea if this series goes further then sight words but I thought it was a waste of my money and sent it backASAP. My daughter is gifted in the reading area (she did not get this from me, I still struggle to this very day, daddy is the same reading ahead of schedule)and she is only 4 1/2 years old and reading at a 3rd grade level.

Personal any parent can do the same thing by reading, making flash cards, going to the library,pointing every sign along the road or in a store and teaching the various aspects to a child instead of spending the money on the program. If your child is just eating it up keep expousing them to what they enjoy and that love for learning will keep growing.

J.C.

answers from San Francisco on

I am curious what your reasons are for doing it? Is it just so she can get a head start on reading? I have to say.. I'm a kindergarten teacher and I have mixed feelings about this topic. On one hand, it can't harm your child to do it--unless you're pushing it on her, which doesn't seem to be the case. But on the other hand, there's no rush on getting your child to read early. Your child will be ready by the time she is 5 and in kindergarten. Although your child may be "more ready" when she starts kindergarten, it still isn't a huge indicator on how successful your child will be as a reader. I have had children come to school not knowing a single letter and ended up being advanced in reading at the end of kindergarten. You just really never know... So I say go with your gut. If you don't feel like you're pushing her, then do it. But I wouldn't expect too much from it. Good luck!

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