Roland Said:

Why would a parent want to teach their baby to read?

We Answered:

I actually quite agree. Modern society is already pushing more and more things down upon the kids of Today, why begin pushing stuff down their throat at such an early age? Better communication - Hah, sorry, give me a second while I laugh...... How would that benefit the child's communication skills? Personally, I read around kindergarten - Much earlier than ... Well, almost all kids. And I read better than almost anyone - Older kids, too. The difference is that I could _actually_ read. I didn't just recognize a single word on paper - I could read words I didn't know the definition of, too. If your child can only read a few selective words, what does it matter?

Funny thing is, I wasn't taught. I wanted to learn, I taught myself. I already had a very large vocabulary as it was, and I figure that made it easier. My parents could easily carry conversations with me at an early age.

I think I learned to read because I was good at communicating - I didn't get better at communicating because I could read. Obviously it expanded my vocabulary - But _only_ because I was willing to spend time reading. if you force it down your child's throat, you'll regret it.

I read somewhere that products like; "Your baby can read" actually makes it harder for the child to develop proper reading/writing skills later in life. So, I'd not recommend it. Like, at all.

Beverly Said:

What can you teach a six month old baby?

We Answered:

Please don't watch TV with a baby...no matter what it is...it gives them ADD or ADHD...not good. What you're doing is fine, you can do the other stuff you're talking about too. Although they won't be able to fully understand what it is you're talking about, they're still absorbing it all. My son is 3months and I do things like sing the alphabet and count his fingers and toes, you can point to his body parts and yours and say what they are...it's all good. I wouldn't stress about it though, just do what you think is right.

Florence Said:

How can I teach my baby to read?

We Answered:

This depends on your child age. You can't teach your child to read to early he/she has to go through a learning process first.

Start of by buying books that are colourful and have pictures on them. Talk to your child about whats in the book. Point to the pictures not the words, tell him what the pictures are. Then as he/she gets a older you can buy books that have flaps on them and sounds etc that can be related to the pictures. Do this first and then as your child gets older he/she will be able to identify words to match the pictures.

Joe Said:

Has anyone tried using the 'your baby can read' book series to teach their baby to read?

We Answered:

I think about 2 1/2 is the perfect time to teach reading because then you can use a solid phonics method and it will be so easy and fun. The method I suggest is detailed in a $15 book by Sidney Ledson and is working quite well for my children. My children were older than 2 1/2, so it only took a few weeks, but he says a 2 year old can learn in a year with only about 3 ten minute sessions a week. The "your baby can read" program probably isn't phonics (it is probably whole word method, yuck) and it won't train the brain to automatically read left-to-right like Sidney Ledson's program (very few reading programs do this which is a big disservice to beginning readers and it does slow kids down in the long run). I think you should give your baby the best, so check out these links.

Ellen Said:

does the teach your baby to read work?

We Answered:

Absolutely! We have the whole set/system and we noticed a difference within about 2 months. My son's vocabulary (he's 18 months old) has doubled in 2 months. I wish we had purchased it for him when he was younger so he could have an even better head start, but it's still fun. He loves it!