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Originally Posted by albertGQ
Thanks for telling me how to raise my son, but all I asked is about the product
While Albert may have been a little harsh here- as a moderator I have to agree. So often in the OT section people come asking if anybody has tried a certain product, the thread gets derailed, and the question doesn't get answered because somebody who has tried that product is afraid to admit it in that thread.
So let's try to keep it on topic; the validity of being able to teach a young child to read.
So we recently bought this for our 10 month old son. Has anyone heard good or bad things about this? Is this a good investment in our baby or did we get ripped off?
I don't think it was a bad purchase, as it's a tool to stimulate your child. I don't think it's going to put your child light years ahead of anyone, but it will help.
Anything that help your child learn is a good investment I think. But as other have pointed out, I wouldn't put all my eggs in this basket.
I think if you're a parent who is committed to taking the time to read to your kids and teach them, rather than just plonking them in front of the DVD and expecting that to teach them, it doesn't really matter what brand name you use of learning materials. I think it's the child's natural level of readiness combined with the parents' level of involvement that makes the difference. Both of my sons have been 'behind' milestones verbally up to about 2 years old. My eldest only said a very few words, but it was obvious that he understood a lot. We read to him constantly from a very young age and when he finally did decide to start talking, he was talikng in phrases and almost complete sentences. He is now seven and reads at a Grade 8+ level and is similarly verbally eloquent. My point is that we never invested in any particular products to enrich him, we just took it upon ourselves to read to and with him, and to challenge him to read more.
I am not bad-mouthing the product in question, and I know I learned to read at a very early age with the help of phonics flash cards, but I do think it was the time my mom spent with me, and the time that we spent with our elder son that made the difference. My younger just turned two, and like the older probably has a smaller than average spoken vocabulary, but based on his level of understanding I am not concerned and we'll keep investing the time to give him the same reading advantage that my older son has.
As a counterpoint, my sister has used Baby Einstein videos with her kids, but they didn't seem as ready to pick up reading as mine did, so there doesn't seem to have been a great advantage there. Her oldest is now in kindergarten and seems to fit in around the same level as most other kids. I think you have to use your judgment and try to keep it fun. Don't get your expectations to high, and remember that any time investment you make will certainly be rewarding for you and your child.
My son has been assessed now as gifted, so the actual applicability of my experiences may be questionable, but I do think the secret is the time you spend, and not the money you spend.
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Last edited by onetwo_threefour; 09-09-2009 at 12:44 PM.
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While Albert may have been a little harsh here- as a moderator I have to agree. So often in the OT section people come asking if anybody has tried a certain product, the thread gets derailed, and the question doesn't get answered because somebody who has tried that product is afraid to admit it in that thread.
So let's try to keep it on topic; the validity of being able to teach a young child to read.
I appreciate what you're trying to do but some of the best threads on CP have come from derailed responses. Discussions evolve from where they originated.
If we're only allowed to participate in this thread if we've heard good or bad things about this specific product but not discuss the teaching methods behind it, this is going to get boring quickly.
redforever gave his opinion on the best way to get children to learn to read. He then offered advice without any malice intended. I don't see where he went wrong.
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At the risk of being criticized for apparently telling you how to raise your kid, what is the point of getting them to read early?
I guess I just don't see why one would push that on their children at such an early age. Is it not true that most kids do learn to read as long as they attend school? Even kids that have slower development - speech, reading, etc, all eventually learn those skills (unless there is an inherent learning disability).
Maybe you wanna put yer kid on America's Funniest Home Video's reading Roots at 10 months. It is worth 10K.
At the risk of being criticized for apparently telling you how to raise your kid, what is the point of getting them to read early?
I guess I just don't see why one would push that on their children at such an early age. Is it not true that most kids do learn to read as long as they attend school? Even kids that have slower development - speech, reading, etc, all eventually learn those skills (unless there is an inherent learning disability).
Maybe you wanna put yer kid on America's Funniest Home Video's reading Roots at 10 months. It is worth 10K.
See, I think that's where you go offside, questioning a parent's motivation for wanting their child to do something at a particular age. I want my sons to read as early as possible, because they are able to absorb a lot more of the world around them in school and from books without having to struggle with the mechanics of reading. My eldest is never going to be an athletic star, but we have him in gymnastics as well to build up his physical skills. He has taken piano since he was 4, not because we are trying to force him to be some supreme renaissance intellect, but because it gives him options later on, and he enjoys it.
I'm sure some might see this as us pushing him, but in actual fact, he nagged us for six months before we let him take piano, we thought he might be too young. He is just starting gymnastics, but he's been nagging us about that for most of this year as well. As I said before, for me it's a quesiton of the child's readiness and the parent's commitment to spending the time necessary.
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I don't think there's the intent to 'push' anything on children per say, but parents do have to realize that there's a responsibility to educate your child upto, and beyond the school systems. I too read at a higher level than my peers at an early age, and I credit my parents for keeping me interested in reading, and other activities.
There was never any pressure on me, and it kept me interested. I think that's the intent of the OP. Not to 'force' reading on their child, but to provide other oppertunities to learn.
And for what it's worth... I do have a cousin who went throught the public school system, not too sure to what point, but is in his 40's and can't read... so the idea that regular school systems work on thier own... I have a hard time buying that.
And for what it's worth... I do have a cousin who went throught the public school system, not too sure to what point, but is in his 40's and can't read... so the idea that regular school systems work on thier own... I have a hard time buying that.
I can attest to this. I completed public school over 4 years ago and I still can't read or write.
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I think if you're a parent who is committed to taking the time to read to your kids and teach them, rather than just plonking them in front of the DVD and expecting that to teach them, it doesn't really matter what brand name you use of learning materials. I think it's the child's natural level of readiness combined with the parents' level of involvement that makes the difference. Both of my sons have been 'behind' milestones verbally up to about 2 years old. My eldest only said a very few words, but it was obvious that he understood a lot. We read to him constantly from a very young age and when he finally did decide to start talking, he was talikng in phrases and almost complete sentences. He is now seven and reads at a Grade 8+ level and is similarly verbally eloquent. My point is that we never invested in any particular products to enrich him, we just took it upon ourselves to read to and with him, and to challenge him to read more.
I am not bad-mouthing the product in question, and I know I learned to read at a very early age with the help of phonics flash cards, but I do think it was the time my mom spent with me, and the time that we spent with our elder son that made the difference. My younger just turned two, and like the older probably has a smaller than average spoken vocabulary, but based on his level of understanding I am not concerned and we'll keep investing the time to give him the same reading advantage that my older son has.
As a counterpoint, my sister has used Baby Einstein videos with her kids, but they didn't seem as ready to pick up reading as mine did, so there doesn't seem to have been a great advantage there. Her oldest is now in kindergarten and seems to fit in around the same level as most other kids. I think you have to use your judgment and try to keep it fun. Don't get your expectations to high, and remember that any time investment you make will certainly be rewarding for you and your child.
My son has been assessed now as gifted, so the actual applicability of my experiences may be questionable, but I do think the secret is the time you spend, and not the money you spend.
Great post! I have experienced a similar situation.
My daughter is starting kindergarten this year and we have read to her constantly since she was born. It is just something we enjoy doing with our kids. I would say this is a great way to spend time and educate. They will learn at whatever rate is comfortable to them.
Before she was 3 she could "read" 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'...I am sure as others mentioned that at first it was memorization as she could "read" 'The Cat in the Hat' and a bunch of other Dr Suess books, Diego and Dora books, Franklin, different animal books... I would guess roughly 50 - 60 different books by age 3. That has progressed to sounding words out to the point where she is reading now. I guess we will find out what level she is at, as the teacher (we met today actually) says they evaluate where each student is at and encourage them and challenge them to read to their ability and keep progressing.
Both my kids love reading and we could/can read to them for hours. My son is 3 and we are experiencing similiar circumstances although I would say he is not quite as far along as she was at his age.
See, I think that's where you go offside, questioning a parent's motivation for wanting their child to do something at a particular age. I want my sons to read as early as possible, because they are able to absorb a lot more of the world around them in school and from books without having to struggle with the mechanics of reading. My eldest is never going to be an athletic star, but we have him in gymnastics as well to build up his physical skills. He has taken piano since he was 4, not because we are trying to force him to be some supreme renaissance intellect, but because it gives him options later on, and he enjoys it.
I'm sure some might see this as us pushing him, but in actual fact, he nagged us for six months before we let him take piano, we thought he might be too young. He is just starting gymnastics, but he's been nagging us about that for most of this year as well. As I said before, for me it's a quesiton of the child's readiness and the parent's commitment to spending the time necessary.
Great post and I think the bolded part sums it up well!
People are wondering what the purpose of these products is, and its quite simple:
Take advantage of yuppie parents who have big hearts and big wallets.
Nothing against people who do purchase these products, but this is a huge industry that is set up to exploit university and college educated parents who have a lot of disposable income and think this is a short cut to their kids becoming eventual brain surgeons.
Nothing really to add, other than when I first saw this infomercial I mentioned it to my friends who have two young children, and they watched it and did some research, and decided it wasn't a bad thing, but they figured their kids could learn as much in the traditional ways (being read to, phonics cards etc.) so passed on it. It's probably fine, just not necessary. And as some have said, how can you lose with another learning tool?
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But you can lose, with these so called tools. The study I linked to is one of several that have shown that watching TV for infants and toddlers can be detrimental to their development.
I bought the entire baby einstein set for my son off of ebay. It's ok but i rather just play classical music in the background and read picture books with him. Out of the 26 dvds we have watched 2 of them. He is a 18 months now and likes reading books by himself. Well flipping through them.
Hmmm i think i need to post something in the buy/sell forum.
You quite simply don't need to anything but read to your kids on a regular basis and if you want do some learning while playing (alphabet bath toys that sort of thing). Our nearly 3 year old daughter gets at least 3 stories a night and stories throughout the day if she wants and has since before she was 1. She loves stories. The consequence is that she recognizes many words when she sees them and she certainly has many books memorized based on the picture on the page.
It looks impressive to outsiders when she picks up a book and "reads" what is on the page but ultimately all she is doing is repeating the words we read to her off a visual clue (the picture). She's not really reading and she certainly is not sounding things out to figure out words. It's no surprise that the books she "reads" are her favourite ones she has heard over and over again.
Not that it is a bad thing for her to recognize words just that it's quite a leap from recognizing words to being able to recognize strings of words and actually read them.
Her brother on the other hand can't sit still long enough to read the shortest of nursery rhymes. He'd much rather climb something. Complete opposite to his sister who has always loved to sit in a lap and read stories.
Over the past few weeks as she has started part-time daycare she is being taught a little more rigorously the sounds letters make (the day home she goes to runs more of a pre-school in the morning rather than simply free for all play time). Again she loves it. She'll be a book worm when she grows up.
Oh the other thing that helps from knowing several kids and how they were raised it seems that if you don't constantly talk in baby talk to young kids they progress more rapidly early on. Talk to them like they are actual people who have thoughts and interests and they'll repay you with the ability to carry on a conversation!
Now all this isn't to say she doesn't watch some TV as she does but a lot of what she gets to watch has some learning (sesame street) and helps reinforce the letters and numbers. And we talk about what's happening on the screen. It seems so simple but reading and talking likely is the best way to develop those skills in your children. Go figure.
