Your Baby Can Read: Early Language Development System
Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 67
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 On: 2010-02-18
I have found quite a few of the flash cards to be spelled wrong! Umberlla and zedra! seriously!? You can just as easily buy index cards and write your own flash cards.
 On: 2010-02-17
I am excited to see that this actually worked better than anticipated from the reviews I have read. It was pretty obvious that sticking to the regime is the key to success. My two year old son has grown beyond my expectations and we have only gone through DVD #3.
Do yourself justice and do not rush this system or you will get frustrated by the results (as the previous comments show). Patience and discipline is the key.
Enjoy! We are!
On: 2010-02-09
My son is 15 months and is already saying Dog...He has been watching this for a week now. I would say that is pretty good if he only learns a few words i will be happy but i can already tell its working. It can be repeative as a adult to watch it but my son stays glued to the tv when its on so he loves it and that makes me happy. Would recommend it to anyone. If you are going to buy it buy it on here if you get it on the your baby can read website its $200 dollars, and i dont think anyone should pay that price when you can get it here in great conditon.
On: 2010-02-03
Ok so I think that its great that my son is learning some of his body parts and he was able to say cat the first time he saw one in real life, but this program would be better as an interactive computer program that parents could put in words and pictures that pertain to their family and maybe even songs that are family favorites. The classics are good, but if you are really showing this to your child as often as they say to hearing the same songs twice in the same video seems like a little over kill. Though I must admit he can point at all of his body parts in the song head shoulders knees and toes and we just started at Christmas. (1 month ago).
 On: 2010-01-28
I know that lots of people say that these videos are boring but I have to say that that has not been our experience at all! My son will not focus on ANY shows that are geared towards children but could watch these videos all day long if I let him. He gets so excited when we put him in his chair and start the DVD and has even learned to mimic this silly little baby sound that you hear when you push play at the beginning of each video. We have no idea how much he knows at this point but we have seen him respond to the word "wave" by waving and also wiggle his toes when he sees the word on the screen. He is still young and we figure that more words are to follow. We started this when he was 3 months old and he is now 7 months and seems to like it more and more every day! Oh and all of his favorite songs in the world come from this program. I sing to him almost contantly but the songs he responds to the best are the ones that I got from the videos. They stop him from crying every time!
As a side note I should mention that I have a very active, high needs baby who wants constant stimulation. He never ever stops looking around, grabbing things and trying to get picked up! The only times he ever sits still is when he watches his videos so it has become my favorite time of the day!
All in all, even if he never learned to read from this I would be happy simply because of how much he loves it. Its far better than having him watch meaningless cartoons which teach nothing.
On: 2010-01-09
my order arrived within days, and my granddaughter is glued to the tv while watching video. she is 2 and will get up and poin tot he words and already recognizes her name
On: 2010-01-08
We just got the videos. My son is 18 months and the videos are good. They keep his attention for a while. My focus prior was on the sign language -- we love Baby Signing Time. My son can tell me when he is hungry, wants to drink milk or water, when he is all done, he is tired and needs to sleep and so on. I am glad early on our focus was on communication and not reading only because it has been so wonderful to know what he wants. He has been signing for months so it was time to move on to a new challenge!
 On: 2010-01-06
Well who hasnt seen the commercials for "Your baby can read", and not shown some kind of interest. I got sucked into the infomercial and decided to pick up a DVD. I was very disappointed in the lack of grabbing your attention that these videos offer. How these keep the attention of young ones is beyond me. My children lost interest very fast. They are definately overrated. My son is at the age where he is learning to read, but I couldnt get him to sit still through a whole video. Very disappointed. On another note, a friend of mine let me borrow a video that she was given as a baby shower gift. Its the cutest thing Ive seen. It kind of reminds me of the Baby Einstein videos, but has a twist of teaching your baby to read as well. I thought well lets try it out since the other dvds dindt go over well at all. The characters Howie & Skip are adorable. They grab the attention of not only the kids, but the adults as well. We all find ourselves singing their theme song "Monki See, Monki Doo...lalalalalalala" Haha. My son kept his interest on the video and has learned several words that he now can read on his own in some beginner books we have at home. I would recommend these over the "Your Baby Can Read" videos any day. If you are interested in seeing for yourself Ill be nice enough to share the website. [...]. We only watched the 1st video, but apparently they have 2 new videos available so we need to order those ourselves. Just trying to be a mom helping other moms & dads find stuff that you will actually enjoy and benefit from. Hope this review is helpful. I just think before you make claims that your putting out videos that teach babies to read, you do your homework.
On: 2009-12-24
It was okay...however, when it came, one of the dvds cover was broken on the middle part. Maybe that was due to shipping (am not quite sure). Over all...it is very useful and I still commend the seller for their fast and efficient service. Even though that was almost holiday (thanksgiving), the package came on a timely manner...no delays whatsoever.
Thank you.
On: 2009-12-12
My 18 month old great granddaughter loves the tapes. She is on her second and can recognize many words. She loves to sing and dance with the music also.
 On: 2009-12-04
My Husband and I are very disappointed with this product. We fell for the "hype" from the commercial and didnt even do the trial period we just bought the whole system at the get go (140.00!) We have a one year old daughter who lasts about 5 minutes of the videos before she is off looking for something that will actually interest her, The parents on the commercial state that their kids "loved the videos it wasnt like instructional time". Not true. The words are repeated numerous times over and over again with rather "cheesy" music and pictures. We also have a 13 year old son who is an excelled reader and was ahead of his class in reading all through elementary school, he was taught using the phonics program and we read to him a lot. If you are considering the purchase of this product, do yourselves a favor,Dont! Instead read to your child often and books that they enjoy and take an interest in, I must have read this book on sharks to my son every night for a year, but guess what? He enjoyed it and took interest in it, and isnt that whats most important? Getting our children to learn in a fun interesting way? Your Baby Can Read Deluxe Learning Kit
On: 2009-12-02
Thats right six finger flash card ( not that there is anything wrong with people that have six fingers on each hand ) I am glad I did not pay the whatever $200.00 for this boxed set.
The flash cards are slightly confusing and one of the cards for "Hands" has a picture of 2 human toddler hands which have 6 fingers each for a total of 12 fingers. I know this is my baby can read not my baby can do math. but I would have liked to have the option to order the 5 finger flash card version.
Anyway.... my 18 month old grandaughter likes the dvds, enjoys the singing, I beleive it helped with spoken language skills more than "reading"
Dont waste your money on this item
Your baby can read - Mmmmm Not so much : )
On: 2009-10-28
I was so excited when I got these DVDs, hoping I could prepare my son for preschool and kindergarten. We watched the first DVD (youre supposed to watch it twice daily for a month) a few times, and he completely lost interest. Weve tried to make a game out of it, Ive tried making it more interactive, but the bottom line is that theyre pretty boring. The authors own children star in it, and the entire DVD is the children saying/demonstrating a word, followed by it flashing in big letters on the screen.
Perhaps if I had started my son at age 6 months or so, it would have been worthwhile, but as it stands I can hardly stand to watch it for more than 10 minutes. I would highly recommend Leap Frogs letter factory instead.
On: 2009-10-28
As a first time parent, its easy to be sold on products claiming to give your kid the leg up on life. If theres anything Ive learned in the last 19 months, its that face to face interaction and good book reading time can do more than any DVD set can do. Actually, I think the most fascinating thing my daughter learned to do was to use the control to turn the DVD player off.
I found the set itself disorganized, and far more repetitive with lessons than I liked. It really plays like an electronic flash card, and just flashes images and the words across the screen...not much more effective than me holding up a flash card with pictures.
On: 2009-10-27
I got the program as a christmas present for my newborn son. He is 1 now and absolutly interacts with the videos and has not been bored with them. I also have a 4 1/2 year old who calls them "baby videos" but sits and watches every moment. we laugh when I ask him why hes watching the "baby vedios". He loves the independence of reading "by himself" with the books and flash cards. He always wants to "do them again". He is currently learning letters and their sounds at pre-kindergarten and is advanced for his age. Seeing him write and learn to read is one of the most amazing moments so far in my motherhood. I really enjoy the product and so do both my boys. People shouldnt expect anything unrealistic. I dont really care if they actually learn to read from this program. We have fun together with it and i get to feel like im helping my children learn new things.... whatelse am i supposed to do as a parent?.... and lets be really honest... the only way i can shower by myself as a single parent is to distract my children for 20 minutes or so and hope they dont kill themselves while im in the bathroom. the movies work great! judge me how you will but the videos are worth their price in gold for that reason alone
On: 2009-10-27
While I understand that maybe this product is not for everyone, we experienced awesome results. My son was a preemie, born 6 weeks early and suffered a language delay. He was diagnosed with Sensory Processing/Integrative Disorder earlier this year. For Christmas last year, when my son was 2, I purchased this set with the idea that if he did not really like it, I could return it. We are NOT big on TV in our house and do not even have cable but I thought he could have a few simple educational videos. We never played it twice a day, once at the most and sometimes would even skip a few days. But the results were fantastic. He went from saying maybe 5 words to finally opening up and saying not just a lot more words, but complete sentences as well. Within days he actually started repeating the words back on the TV and within the first few weeks he was definitely recognizing the words in the accompanying books and flash cards. Within a month, he could identify every letter in the entire alphabet and began to read words not included in the program. It also threw him wholeheartedly into a love of books and now a day does not go by that we dont read together. He will amuse himself for hours on end with all of the books in his room.
I am just thankful because he was extremely frustrated before we started the program with his inability to use words to express himself. I feel that the program helped him to make necessary connections in his brain that were not there before. He still has some speech and behavior problems and a slight impediment but other than that I am amazed at how far he has come since I introduced him to this program. I dont think the program can hurt anything and at the best it can make a miracle! :)
Something I wanted to point out is that it is important that you share as much of the videos as possible with your child at the beginning. Simply inserting the DVD and expecting instant results is not recommended.
I saw some reviews say that the videos were "boring". I dont feel that to be true. They are actually more or less "simple" which is the way it should be and does not overload your childs brain with filler images and graphics.
As for the company, I had no problems with customer service. I ordered it at the height of the Christmas season and got it right away and chose the monthly billing method so I did not have to plop down so much money at once.
Overall, I think this is an excellent product and teaching tool.
On: 2009-10-25
This product is great. I know a person (started at 3 months) whos son is reading at age three from regular magazines and spelling 5 letter words. My daughter has been working with it for one month but loves the dvd and songs are her favorite. It has help her recognize that these are words instead of just letters. I am hopefully that she will keep learning.
On: 2009-10-22
My son has been watching these videos since he was 3 months and he is 14 months now. He watches a video every morning and we practice the cards and books twice a day at the table after he eats. He is very excited about the books. The only thing that he communicates at this point is arms up, where is your nose, and clap. This is pretty normal stuff that you could teach your kid anyways. Anything to promote education is wonderful but this normally cost $200! Luckly the grandparents bought it for us. He LOVES the videos and he loves for me to practice saying the words to him but I feel you can accomplish much of this by buying leapfrog materials. I would highly recommend this product but $200 is my concern.
On: 2009-10-19
I was really hesitant at first with buying "your baby can read" especially for the infomercial price. But when I seen it on amazon for a 3rd of the price I couldnt pass it up. I have twins that are 7 months about to be 8 months and they love watching it. They are so atentive, they watch it twice a day once in the morning and once @ nite and they are not tired, or bored of it yet. I am so happy with my purchase. not only are my babies learning how to read but with them watching it since they are so into it I can get some house work done!!! Come on lets be realistic your baby is not going to learn how to read over nite or in a month...(especially @ their age) but what it does is uses memory logic to get them to understand what words mean so they get a understanding.. then that leads to reading,and corresponding words. I cant wait to see what they will know in a few more months.
On: 2009-10-17
This system is truly wonderful. Its beautifully done with DVDs that show the word and then show the actual product, ex. dog. It keeps my 1 year old granddaughter and my 2 year old grandson attention and both ages are enjoying it as their mothers and me get to experience the DVD and the word pictures with them. A fun time spent together that really boosts the childs learning skills.
I am very pleased and will highly recommend it to all parents and grandparents for the little ones.
Geneva
On: 2009-10-16
I purchased this program when my daughter was 6 months old. Even at just 6 months she thought the videos were boring. She enjoyed the books most of the time, the flashcards got old quick. Its been another 6 months, and now shes a year old. The videos are still way too boring for her, the flashcards are only good for throwing, and even though she absolutely LOVES books, she doesnt want anything to do with these books.
She learned to clap and wave from this program when she was 6 months. Every word she has learned has been from us being out in the world pointing at things and telling her what they are. Thats the best way to teach your child about the world.
This program might work on children who zombie out on the TV for everything, but most children are curious about their world and arent going to sit still for this boring program. I dont suggest buying it...for any age. Its a waste of time and money.
On: 2009-10-12
I bought this system from Amazon because my husband wanted to try it out. I really didnt think much of it from the infomercials, especially since they wanted over $200 for it, but here it was much cheaper and I didnt think $10 per DVD was too bad so I bought it.
At first, with the starter DVD, I was pretty disappointed. It was slow and kind of boring and my then 9 month old, did not seem to pay much attention to it. After about 2 weeks though, and with me holding her on my lap as is recommended by the material instead of letting her sit and watch it herself, she became engrossed in the video and LOVES it. She started trying to sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and even learned the hand movements to "The Eentsy-weentsy spider." I was impressed just by that, but she has also started to recognize quite a few words, especially body part words and dog, cat, gorilla (we have a zoo memebership so she sees gorrillas often) and other animals.
Dr. Titzer is only on the first DVD and you can skip him, which I did. I also dont play the videos twice a day. It is recommended 1-2 times per day, we only watch it once and not even everyday as we dont watch them on the weekends. My baby is on the 3rd DVD now and I am confident that she will be a better reader than her peers who did not use this program. I myself learned to read from memorization and was always ahead of my classmates in reading and language arts, so Im hoping this will give her a boost as well.
I did not give the product 5 stars only because I feel that it is too slow paced for toddlers. I would not get this program for any baby greater than 12 months of age. My daughter is now 12 months and though she loves the program, I really believe it has to do with the fact that this is the only thing she watches regularly on TV or video-wise. Older children are usually more accustomed to other types of programs and may see this as too boring.
On: 2009-10-05
Wow, they really suckered a lot of people into buying this crappy program. Including me!
It is very cheesy. Boring and low budge. Dr Titzer talks for about 5 minutes at the start of the dvd like a creepy bald old man. So you feel like you are watching an infomercial every time you put it on.
The little girl speaking on the DVD has a lisp in some of her words.
It did not hold my babies attention for more then 30 seconds.
Spend your money else where.
Whole word reading just seems to go against any learning to read logic that I know. Sounding out words to put them together would obviously be much better for you child and this DVD does not do that. If you watch those smart kids at spelling bees who know all the word rules and letter sound combinations, you understand that.
Put the money you would spend on this in your kids college fund!
On: 2009-09-14
I purchased this set for my grandsons to use by their mother, but we are disappointed that their were no interactive cards included as was stated there would be. What can be done about this?
On: 2009-09-12
I saw this product through shopping channel and I find it too expensive to buy. I tried to browse at Amazon and I cant believe I can purchase it for my kids. I received my package in perfect condition and tried it right away. My kids loved it. Effective and fun for the toddlers too. Highly recommended!
On: 2009-09-08
The product was exactly as advertised, and we received it quickly. Our grandson, 15 months old, is recognizing words from the program. He hasnt had it long, so we cant give an involved review of the products outcome, but so far, we see a very positive response from him. He loves watching the program, though at his age, he cant sit through the entire show at one time yet. Still, he is saying some of the words, etc. We are very pleased we followed a hunch and got the program.
On: 2009-08-29
This item arrived within 4 days. Shipping was really fast! Also, the DVDs work great and my son is already enjoying and bouncing along to some of the songs. Additionally, flashcards were included for each of the DVDs with the words on one side and a picture on the other. I think that the pricing on this item compared to what the website asks for was amazing! Thanks! :)
On: 2009-08-25
I love My Baby can read. My daughter picked up on words and actions right away. I think this is a great tool as long as you keep up with playing it for your child, and interacting with them as they watch. Also, the service was great.
On: 2009-08-22
my daughter loves these videos. she may not be able to read yet but she loves the songs and watching the kids in the video!within the next 10 months im sure she will be able to read!!
On: 2009-08-21
This video system is okay but not really worth the money... I can see it working WHEN the children watch it but it isnt really something my children, or I would guess most kids, will watch twice a day every day as prescribed.
On: 2009-08-18
The concept is great. Most parents dont realize what they can teach their babies to do at such a young age. I am happy to be showing my baby videos that are educational and not just entertaining. However, I feel that the videos themselves are low-budget and am disappointed that they would cost $240 if bought from the company! Many clips are simple animation that anyone could do themselves on their home computer. The songs are boring with no background music--just kids singing loudly. If it werent for the educational factor, I would not purchase this product. And I definitely would not purchase it straight from the company for full price!!! Getting it used from Amazon or ebay is the way to go. Having said that, I do think its worth $50-$60 simply for the educational benefit of introducing your baby to the concept of reading.
On: 2009-08-12
I purchased the Your Baby Can Read DVDs for my daughter when she was five months old. My husband and I showed her the videos twice a day according to Dr. Titzers viewing schedule (1 month for the starter DVD, 2 months each for Volumes 1 & 2, and 1 month each for the remaining two DVDs). I knew that it would take 7 months for her to view the whole set, and so I decided to reserve judgment until she reached her first birthday. Well, she just celebrated her first birthday, and I can say that it worked for us!! My husband was just saying that he considers the Your Baby Can Read set money well spent. At about 10 months, my daughter started doing things along with the videos. She would clap when they showed the word "clap" and wave when they showed the word "wave," etc. She could even do the actions when I showed her the videos with the volume muted which told me she wasnt just recognizing the spoken language in the videos but was recognizing the written words. Then last week, one week before her first birthday, I got out a small whiteboard and a dry erase marker and starting writing words on the board for her to "read." She cant speak yet, but she has read over thirty words off the whiteboard (and we are discovering more words that she can read every day). She communicates her understanding through various means. If the word is an action, she performs the action. If is a household object, she picks up or points to the object. If it is a body part, she will point to or wiggle the body part. My husband and I were absolutely amazed!! We followed Dr. Titzers instructions to the letter, no other television for her except the videos. In addition to the videos, we also labeled many objects around the house and read them to her frequently. So she can also read words that were not featured in the videos such as table, door, and television. I am certain that there are words that she recognizes that she can not communicate her understanding yet, such as tiger, elephant, and bears. As her ability to speak improves, I expect to be further amazed by what she has learned. My advice to other parents is to start as young as possible, follow Dr. Titzers viewing schedule even if you are not seeing any progress yet, avoid other telelvision, watch the videos with your child while acting out the actions and singing along, label objects around your house and read the labels to your child frequently, and read to your child at least 20 minutes a day. As a parent and a teacher who has worked in both general education and special education, I highly recommend these videos.
Amy Sheats-Mueller
(mom of Courtney, B.S. Biology, M.Ed. Special Education)
Northampton (Lehigh Township), P.A.
On: 2009-07-05
We just purchased this product and have already seen wonderful results. Our daughter is almost 2 1/2 and is already reading 3 words because of these videos! (she has only been watching them for 2 weeks) Also, her overall intrest in words and letters has increased so much. She just seems to have more of a hunger for reading now! We definitely recommend this product! Be sure to get the DVDs and the word flash cards. The flash cards really are important to gauge and reinforce what they are learning.
On: 2009-07-04
This is a nice set of DVDs to have for your baby. Our 2 year old toddler loves to watch these. Once a day or once in a while is fine. Theres a lot of junk out there so as a parent you need to be careful what you buy. This is a good buy.
On: 2009-07-04
I think the DVDs are great. Im still on the very first video, but I feel like it is worth the money. Before buying, I read the bad reviews saying that parents need to spend time with their kids and not use it as a baby sitter, but I think that is extreme. The video is less than 20 minutes long and I think all mothers can agree that you deserve a 20 minute break every once in a while. If you dont need a break, watch it along with your child!
I am a working mom so my 5 month old watches the video in the morning while I get dressed. Its nice to hear her chirp along with the video. Shes not reading yet, but I like the videos a lot. I think its great that she can have a fun and learn at the same time.
On: 2009-07-03
My mother purchased this educational program for me 8 months ago. Needless to say, the results have been astounding. Within a week I had mastered the entire alphabet and mastered word and sentence structure soon after. These days, I have grown tired of the "Your Baby Can Read!" program and have begun reading novels from some of Americas most beloved writers in history, such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, to further my progress in mastering the English language. I hope to receive "The Old Man and the Sea" for my second birthday.
I must point out my fear that my classmates in preschool will not be as well-educated as I am and that I might be forced to stoop down to their level and settle for pop-up books instead of classic American novels.
Another concern I have is with the name of this product. The claim "Your Baby Can Read" is a bit misleading. Yes, your baby "can" read, as all babies have the capacity to read. So instead of stating your babys potential, the product should state its end result, that being "Your baby will read".
On: 2009-07-01
I used this product when my 6 year old was a baby, as a result she was a reader before she was 2 (we also used flash cards). She is now an advanced reader, and enjoys her books! I think it helped her to be quite bright.
My 4 year old boy thinks he is too cool to watch a "baby" show, although he is getting something out of it when I make them watch before cartoons, I should have started him earlier. As with anything, if you use the system consistantly, your children will learn. I think the price is a bit high, but I bought the set anyway since I now have 2 more kids that I want to be early readers, plus I can sell it when we are done. Hope that helps!
On: 2009-06-13
Ive now been using the starter DVD for a month with my daughter and my overall impression is that while this is a fine idea with a sound foundation (learning to read ultimately begins with memorization), the production quality does not jive with the cost-- $200 new.
I have experience with video and audio production, and these are unquestionably the two greatest weaknesses in an otherwise decent product. In fact, if I had to guess, I would say that the author tried to produce the work himself, or found a friend or relative who fancied themselves a "video professional", as I cant imagine a bona fide video production company still being in business if this is the level of work they produce.
I write this not because Im a video purist or style nazi but because the production quality, in my view, has a noticeable and measurable negative impact on the intended purpose of the product--ie: To train the eyes to see actions and recognize words, to train the ear to listen to the sounds of words and to hear them spoken, and to combine these in a way that creates understanding in the childs mind.
Consider:
1. The video itself looks like it was shot by an amateur; the subjects themselves are lackluster (A partly cloudy day at the zoo? With the neighbors kids at the park? This is the best they can do?), the lighting often makes the subject difficult to discern, the camera work is shaky and inconsistent, many scenes are far too rushed, and often the action being described is only secondary or incidental. Its much as if the video was shot first and that the addition of words was an afterthought.
2. Its commendable that the director chose to use childrens voices in both the spoken and sung portions of the DVD, but didnt it occur to them that having young children speaking words is probably not the clearest way to have them understood? I would have preferred a soft, intelligible, well-enunciated womans voice--or variety of more mature voices--forming the bulk of the spoken portions. As it stands, many syllables are slurred, rushed, or misspoken ("Hippopotamuses"?? Hippopotami! Good grief.).
3. While I applaud the editor for using the breadth and depth of every video transition available to them in the "amateur video effects bin", these are way too overused and also distract from the action being described--to the point of being downright confounding to the little one trying to decipher all these whizzing shots. On top of this, the production quality is flat, boring, and doesnt feel professional or even very well conceptualized (yes, I absolutely think I could have done it better myself).
4. The childrens songs are a nice touch, but suffer from such poor visual execution that Im led to wonder why they included them at all. And if you want the child to be able to read along, then the lyrics have to be displayed accordingly; as it stands this poor imitation of karaoke is utterly insufficient (no bouncing ball, and the timing is apparently a crap shoot).
Like I said, a fine idea, particularly the sliding card idea, but the DVDs make this not at all worth $200. Not even close. I havent used any of the competing products out there but Id guess theyre of superior quality.
On: 2009-06-10
They are babies, they eventually learn to read when they get older. Best to start them on Letter Factory and Kindergarten. My 20 month old watches for a little while and i have a newborn so I do not have the time to dedicate all day to teaching my babies to read. In addition to preschool, my 6 year old learned through flash cards and Letter Factory, both very cheap. Do not pay the full amount unless you are dedicated to the program.
On: 2009-05-31
I think its never too early for a child to begin learning new things, but I still think this "program" is a scam. There is nothing in this program that any parent cant do for themselves. There is no need for the fancy DVDs and booklets. Get a library card and spend time relating to your child. This "program" is nothing but an excuse for parents to plop their kids in front of a TV and be guilt-free because its "educational".
On: 2009-05-29
so i recently kept seeing the infomercials late at night. i normally turn them off right away but it caught my attention so i wound up watching the hole ting then wanting to know more about it so i researched it for over 3 weeks reading everything i could on it, i found a lot of controversy. but i figured what the heck if they could do it my kid could to. we are a single family income with two small children so we dont have money just laying around to blow on just anything. we decided to take the risk i found some one local selling a set for 84 (but shop around they are allover ebay is good too) so i figured we could try it. it would be worth the money because our 2 yer old is delayed in speech. so here we are a just a week into it and my 1 year old and two year old fallow along with the movie. i dont know if they truly can read but they say the
words and do the actions with it. my son has learned more word in the last week than he has the 4 months with a speech therapys. im not sure why it did not work for all the people on here but it seems to be working for my children. i read one review that said if your child watches a lot of mindless tv they will not learn from it well i dont know what you would call mindless tv but my children watch cartoon on nick jr and they sometimes watch Disney movies at nap time or bed time. also some have said it is boring i have two very active children that never want to stay still but they set and watch it. the first time both my hubby and me sat with them and did the stuff it said with them and asked them questions along the way we also had all the lights off so their attention was drawn to the bright tv. they loved it so much when it was over we turned it off and my daughter started crying and wanted to watch it again. well they have no problem watching it but it seems if they watch it alone they tend to want to get up and play but if we watch it with them they will sit threw the hole thing. just when they start getting board or tire so sitting the a song comes on and it catches there attention once again. i will say some of it dose go b to quickly but it dose not seem to bother my little ones. if someone is contemplating getting it i wold so go for it if it works for my kids it will work for your it just takes all discipline to do it every day .we do it twice a day but it seems before bedtimes has been the best time for my children. i wish you all good luck and i will post back once we get further into it. but for now it seems to be working.
On: 2009-05-24
My 18 month old grandson is enjoying this system very much. His vocabulary has grown as a result of listening to the DVD and word recognition is also growing every day.
The vendor also sent it priorty mail so we would receive it quicker. I am very happy with this purchase.
On: 2009-05-19
My Excitement turned into Disappointment!!!
This is a misleading program!!! Having earned psychology and human development degrees, being along the side of children growing up for over 20 years, and now having children of my own I see that reading is a process of assembling letters to pronounce a word and then reading word by word in sentences per the paragraph. Furthermore, reading comprised of assembling letters, and then pronouncing each sound per letter phonetically in order to read the word. Thus, it is not reading that this program teaches!
The program attempts to teach your child words by sight! Any child could learn that without videos. Just write the word legibly on a flash card, show and say it repeatedly to your child several times each day and he/she will eventually gets it. There is no shortcut in teaching children. It takes efforts, patience, and consistency.
Knowing all the Alphabets, Colors, and Shapes (my 2 y o daughters favorite shape was Octagon), she was ready for more... I had every desire to teach my daughter to read. I thought the fastest route to teach reading was the assistance of this program, I decided to purchase the full series of "Your Baby Can Read DVDs".
After receiving these DVDs, following parental directions, and having my daughter review them daily, both she and I got bored very quickly. A 2 year old does not have the attention span to sit and watch something that doesnt grab her attention so she would walk away from the room. As a parent, you should not make your child view something he/she doesnt enjoy!
If your child like to watch these videos, by all means let him/her watch them. He/She will be entertained, and may learn to recognize a thing or two from viewing the video, but dont expect him/her to be able to read from books after watching "Your baby can read DVDs". Teaching a child to read is far beyond the materials presented in these videos.
Dont set your expectations too high with these videos because youll be disappointed. There is no shortcut in learning to read!!!
On: 2009-05-14
Your Baby Can Read gets 5 Stars for jerking the hell out of me still to the date of this review! I saw the infomercial and was impressed like most that saw it on TV. I ordered the kit at its advertised 30 day trial period cost of $14.95, and was told if I decided to keep it, I would be billed in 3-4 monthly installments of $66.50. While awaiting the kit, I read some Amazon customer reviews from the best to the worst. I was enlightened to the teaching model used (see & say), and how it would cause problems later on for my child around 4th-5th grade due to the teaching method. When my kit arrived, I opened it to read for myself about how the teaching/learning method was achieved, and the customer review was accurate. I immediately phoned them, explained that I was returning it and to make a note of that in my file. I was the offered a 33% discount to keep the system. I explained to the operator that it wasnt about the cost, but the educational methods implemented that I choose not to expose my child to. I was then given the info needed to properly reference and return the package. I returned the package promptly by U.S. Post Office, certified, signature required, and the ability for it to be tracked. Needless to say, I received confirmation shortly after, where, what time, and who signed for receiving my return. When I called the company to follow up, I was told they hadnt received it yet. The next time I called to follow up, I was told it must be processing in the system. I then received a letter from my bank that my account was negative due to Your Baby Can Read billing me $66.50. They never billed the trial fee of $14.95. Each attempt from them also resulted in bounce check fees of $29 EACH totaling $298! To this day, they are still attempting to bill me for a product that I returned before the trial period. I also taped our conversation of my initial call with them. I would not recommend doing business with them. However, most people have to learn the hard way!
On: 2009-04-16
I was surprised to see an infomercial for the Baby Can Read product, as I purchased something with the same name that used a similar concept, more than 20 years ago.
My daughter, who was 18mos old at the time, did learn to read 100+ words very quickly. However, the kit 20+ years ago was only flash cards (this was even before the VHS player was a common household item, so movies were of course, not part of the package.) The kit included several basic preprinted flash cards but more importantly included several blank cards.
Parents were told to use the blank cards to teach the child familiar terms that the child could relate to--I remember a few of the words we chose were PIZZA and SPAGHETTI. Additionally, the kit was not as expensive as this kit.
I would suggest that if a parent wishes to teach their child to read using this method, that rather than invest this type of money, just make some big flashcards with familiar words. If your child is excited, possibly then purchase the set.
On: 2009-03-23
My son(15 months) goes to a home daycare and I dont feel hes really being taught much there,so when i seen the commerical for these dvds I decided to get them, that way he can learn while hes at home, I play them at least once a day, and when i put the dvd he starts smiling and is so eager to watch, he has been watching them for about six weeks, and last week, I said ARMS UP, and he put his arms up, The other day he was watching them, and i was watching him in the background and on the second DVD when they say KICKING, he was kicking his feet
On: 2009-03-13
We bought this for our nearly 1 and nearly 2 year old sons and are extremely pleased with the results after having used the system for six weeks. The youngest son has started reacting to the visual sight of certain words (e.g. "CLAP" and he starts clapping). The oldest has gone from barely speaking to talking about everything.
One thing we worried about is how some families plan their days to fit this into their schedule. We stumbled on the idea of setting a small computer up where the kids eat their meals. Breakfast and lunch are casual at our place and this works great for us.
Other things we would have wanted to know: [1] Consistency pays off. Your kids may not watch it every time directly - our kids didnt always pay rapt attention - but you need to keep it going. [2] We appreciate the comments of those that say you shouldnt let the TV raise your kids. We use the DVDs as an opportunity to be creative and fun, playing off the materials they are learning. [3] Use the other materials too. Reading with your kids and using the other materials in the set greatly increases their ability to learn. We had to commit to this as part of buying this set. [4] We feel that of all the toys, furniture, and other things weve bought for these kids, that this is among the best money spent. [5] The video production could have been slightly better, but the kids dont mind. They are learning like crazy. [6] Those with kids this young will appreciate knowing that the DVDs keep both our young kids entertained. [7] Take the time to read the small booklet that comes with the set if you are going to use this. [8] Visit their website and read some of the materials there too. That helped us. Good luck with your decision!
On: 2009-03-11
We got this set of DVDs and flashcards as a gift. Started my son on the starter DVD at 11 months - about every other day. He was very interested in the DVDs but it didnt seem like he was "learning" anything so I stopped showing him the DVDs after a few months. One day when he was around 14 months, he found the flashcard for "hi" in a drawer and brought it to me and said "hi." I was flabbergasted. So we started the DVDs again and he began learning the words in earnest around 16 months. By age 17 months I made more flashcards for him because he had already learned all the ones provided in the kit. He watches the DVDs about every other day or every two days. So far he has only seen the starter and #1.
This is a system of word memorization - the child is basically memorizing the shape of the word. I have noticed that even if my son doesnt recognize a new word, he does make guesses at the word which contain some of the right sounds. So over time, I am assuming hell make the connections to be able to read phonetically. There are portions of the DVDs that go through phonics.
His success at "reading" through this system has been dependent on the flashcards and parent interaction. When I go through the flashcards, I point out the letters and sounds. I dont think that you can reasonably expect a child to learn from the DVD alone.
My husband calls this a "parlor trick" and in a way, that is a true. But it is exciting to see our son reading and even more enjoyable to see him develop a keen interest in learning. He points to the cards now because he wants to go through them with me.
On: 2009-01-30
I really like this product and my daughter(19 moths) loves watching it. The only complaint i have is that for parts of the DVD like "mouth, the baby has her finger in her mouth" well believe it or not my daughter was really good about not putting her fingers in her mouth but within a week of watching it she would put her fingers in her mouth. I know its not a huge thing but this company should realize that children will copy the dvd. I usually watch it with her and when that part comes up i just say -"yucky" and she usually stops.
Other than that its a great DVD and really cute to watch my daugther interact with the DVD.
On: 2009-01-06
My daughter received this as an early Christmas gift from my mother and it has been amazing so far. She started watching the first dvd December 18th and not even a month into it she can recognize flash cards! She is 10 months old and if you hold up two flash cards and ask her which one says a certain word she will point to it! I really didnt expect such fast results but its a great program I believe its a great investment. My daughter always smiles when it starts and it keeps her attention she loves it! Ive been recommending it to all of my friends with small children!
On: 2008-12-30
Wow, Im disappointed. I really should have known better.
Ive been working in the field of early childhood for over a decade. Most of my graduate-level work focused on infant and toddler development. Why wouldnt someone like me know that flashcards and monotonous repetition are unhealthy and boring for toddlers and total unproductive? Because, like most parents I was wooed by the thought of super-babies.
You see I have 2 year old twins and every time I saw those darned infomercials I thought "if they can do it.., well shucks, so can I".
I tried that online demo and my boys just loved it. They picked up on it the very first time they tried it. I was so excited I bought the whole kit for them for Christmas.
Well, what arrived was a boring video that my boys were expected to watch 2x a day (added to a daily regimen of flashcards and a book featuring the same 10 or so words) that went something like this:
TIGER. This is a tiger.
Mouth. Can you touch your mouth?
BABY. Are you a baby?
At one point during the first screening I heard my boys having the following conversation, "Tiger? We just did tiger."
"We have to do it again."
"Oh, man!"
They had that exact conversation each time they watched the DVD. As repetition seemed a theme they wanted to contribute.
We were all bored. And irritated.
The boys wanted nothing to do with the flashcards or their book. They like plots and theyre way beyond, "Baby Lauren is waving!" They love the Leapfrog videos and know all of their letters and letter sounds. Id rather develop their word attack skills with that series than use this sight word approach. Today I mail back "box-o-genius" and look for some of those cool word puzzles.
For those of you who are chronic optimists, I can see how this program MIGHT work with babies ages 9 months to 24 months, but the videos need to have several versions which change the way they present the words. The same pictures, silly costumes children make learning time more like baby torture. How about reading to your child and pointing out the words instead of propping them up in front of the TV? As much as children enjoy reading the same books over and over this is sure to have the same effect with the added bonus of parent-child interaction.
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy this for a child over the age of 2 1/2. And, as a former Kindergarten teacher who has taught children to read, dont waste your time buying this for a kindergartener. The Leapfrog videos, games and toys are way better.
On: 2008-12-23
I bought the whole package off their website. I love it! Its very interactive and my baby boy (ll months) loves it! Its been about 3 weeks and hes already learning new words and starting to read them. Even if he doesnt become a great reader hes obviously learning new words by sound which is great on its own.
On: 2008-12-14
This product will teach a child to MEMORIZE WHOLE WORD SHAPES, not individual phonetic letters and sounds. The ability to "read" will depend on how many words the child has MEMORIZED. This will not teach a child to spell or to sound a word out which is the most effective way to teach a child to read. If a child knows the alphabet SOUND he/she can spell out and read ANY word. As an Occupational Therapist Im not surprized that so many children today cannot properly spell or read. Programs like this is the cause. There are MANY MANY FREE WEBSITES online (like Starfall) that will lay the PROPER GROUNDWORK FOR READING and SPELLING.
On: 2008-12-13
I live in UK, originally grew up in US and was concerned how these would translate with the accent etc. But my 3 year old son loves these. When he started pre school he was behind but now he is ahead in spelling and reading. I do believe it has helped him in learning, no problem.
On: 2008-11-14
I started showing these DVDs to my daughter when she was 7 months. She was reading from flashcards at 1, sounding out words at 18 months and reading books at 2. My 8 month old is watching them now and she really enjoys them. She smiles and waves her arms.
My older child is now 3. One thing that amazes me is that she has better reading skills than 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders I have heard reading. Im not sure if learning earlier improves reading ability or if there is something about this method.
When children learn phonics at school they go through drills to learn the sounds of each letter. Sounding out letters is slow and definitely not a fun way to learn to read. It could be enough to kill a childs love of reading. A child who watches these DVDs figures out letter sounds on their own. As Titzers website says, if a child knows bat, cat, house and hippo they can figure out the word hat.
When my daughter comes across new one syllable words she can quickly figure them out. When she comes across a word with multiple syllables she pronounces each syllable. She never has to sound out the individual letters. I think this is why she reads much better than older kids who have learned using the traditional phonics method. She can figure out unfamilar words much more quickly. As a result, she reads more quickly and can focus on the story instead of focusing on the individual words. This makes reading more enjoyable.
Anyway, Im very impressed with these DVDs and glad that my children wont have to learn to read using the traditional phonics method.
On: 2008-11-11
Good for toddler, my son use this product since 7 months. He really enjoy it.
On: 2008-10-08
...he has learned how to clap correctly, and he started saying the word cat. (we dont have a cat so I know thats where hes learning it... whenever he sees a neighborhood cat he yells out the word cat and points)
I started showing him the first video twice a day for just over 3 weeks now. The Dr. says that it will take them a while to learn the first words, but Im trying not to set my sites real high. I do think this will at the very least help my son learn that letters arent just an ABC song, they relate to everything around us.
I love to watch it with him because its a really fun video; I even hear my husband humming the catchy music. I cant wait to move on to the next video to see how the system progresses.
This video is the simplest system to use. I actually read the directions 4 times because I thought I was missing something. He also LOVES to play with the slide cards. Its so much fun that if he does learn how to read it wont seem right because theres little work involved; AND if he doesnt, oh well, at least it was fun!! I say buy these tapes for the mere fact that its educational and it will hold his attention (and mine for that matter) and if something more comes of it, its an added plus. I suggest buying them for a more reasonable price than on the infomercial though.
On: 2008-10-06
Very well done. I love the simplicity and variety of it. My kids really pay attention to its content. Thank you.
On: 2008-09-13
toddler bored. barely watches tv yet which i think is a good thing and as per AAP recommendations. Most girls are smarter than boys, talk and read earlier. My sister and I read and talked super early without any assistance and we were offered to skip two grades. So I cant say Im so impressed by Titzers daughter. IN addition, he is a PhD so he probably has good genes and pushed his daughter which would go a longer way towards explaining her being academic. I would be interested to see if she or any other of titzer early readers turn out to be genius in any way. I think parents need to stop being so neurotic. How many kids who dont have learning disabilities and whose parents are involved in their education dont learn to read well? pretty much none. more important in my opinion to inculcate reading as entertainment and have one on one with your child. I guess I think very young kids shouldnt be in front of tvs but rather with their parents and interacting with objects in the world. I think most "genius" babies turn out ordinary and that a child of an academic goes to college and cares about school is not exactly a shocker to me. Knowing that many geniuses were tagged as retarded early in life is a refutation that you have this "window" that if you miss, youll never have it back. Children are learning about the world unless you keep them in a cage. Ive seen kids with neglectful parents talking up a storm early and kids with neurotic academic parents not saying a word till 3.
On: 2008-09-08
i ordered this about one month ago and my daughter has been watching it for the past month. So far she has learned where her mouth, eyes, toes and arms are, arms up and down ... which im super excited about is whenever i ask her and she shows me where they are. I cant believe this actually works so far and btw my daughter just turned 1 and shes really starting to communicate more with her words now. I can say my daughter is a very active child, shes always moving around but when its time for the video she sits so still and anticipates. I think this video is pretty great so far but she did get a little bored towards the end of the month of watching the first video. She would walk away and look at the screen and repeat, i wasnt sure why she did that but as we started the second video last friday, again she was glued to the screen and didnt move an inch. She especially loves it when i get physical along with the video, like when the video says crawl, i get down on the floor and crawl, she cracks up. SO well see how far along she progresses at the end of the second video. There are 5 videos total. Also, i love the sliding word cards.. Its a card with a word on it and when you slide the card open, theres a picture of something that goes along with the word. Thats a must have for me.
On: 2008-08-27
I wish I could say my daughter is starting to read or respond as predicted, but I cant yet. I still like the videos as educationally oriented. They hold her attention fairly well.
On: 2008-07-17
My son has been watching this series of DVDs since he was 4 months old. He is now 2 1/2 and can read over 500 words. We stopped counting at 500! He can read any word we put in front of him. He knows his ABCs and can count to 100. He is also rapidly learning Spanish and German. I KNOW that it is because of these DVDs that he is so far advanced for his age. He often reads words that we didnt even know that he knew. These DVDs teach the pattern of reading and learning. I know that all children would benefit greatly from watching these DVDs. I recommend these DVDs to all parents! They are worth every penny!
On: 2008-06-30
My daughter is 2.5 years old. We are bringing her up as trilingual. I purchased the product to help her with her English. She is fluent-bilingual in my husbands and my mother tongue, but not that much in English yet. We have been using the DVDs for the past couple of weeks. She likes them and her English and word/spelling recognition are improving by the minute. I am very happy with the results.
On: 2008-04-06
I have been showing these dvds to my now 17 month old daughter for 4 weeks now, and she absolutely loves them. Were on to the 2nd dvd, started yesterday, and today for the 1st time she made a noise like a dog when she saw the word dog written down. I know its working and am really excited to see how it develops. Wish Id known about this system for my other kids.
On: 2008-03-07
Thats a great price and free shipping. Its a great product. It is a language development system that works with DVDs and flashcards. Great for creating that love of reading in infants. Use when they are 3 months to 6 months for best results.
On: 2007-09-08
Your Baby Can Read introduces an infant to reading - through repitition, lively visuals, and proper pacing for learning. Dr. Titzer has researched and developed this program based on sound principles - that a child does respond to visuals - while a word is spoken - and also that positive reinforcement does help a child learn.
For introducting a child to reading - and to have results, this is an excellent program. It is possible to have dramatic results with the use of this program (depending on the child).
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