Customer Reviews

Your Baby Can Read: Early Language Development System

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I purchased the monster set directly from the TV infomercial at over $200.00. I got all the DVD's along with the pull-out flash cards and the flip-up flap books and the parent's guide. I read the parents guide fully and have been using the whole set for about a month and a half now. This is how things have progressed:

1. Read the parent's guide. Felt it was too long and could have explained how to use the program in one page. Really thought the doctor's plan of no other TV for the months the child was using his program was unrealistic...especially for families with other kids. He recommends creating a captive audience by placing the child in a playpen without any other toys or even holding the child and dimming the lights to keep their eyes on the TV. This should have tipped me off how much fun this would be for my son.

2. Popped in the first DVD and let my 20 month old son watch it over and over for about two weeks. He was interested for the first week. After that he was bored. We tried the pull-out cards a few times and he just mangled them. He was completely uninterested in the flap book.

3. My husband stepped up the program and moved our son on to the second DVD even though it hadn't been the full month recommended yet on the first DVD. Our son seemed to like this DVD better and we have been playing that for him once a day for three weeks. He's now rolling around on the floor inside his playpen(how we make him the captive audience recommended)and now seems equally bored with this DVD, too. He still mangles the cards, although he can "read" two or three words. He hasn't "read" this same two or three words in other books, however. He is still uninterested in the flap books.

4. Today, I played the last DVD for him. The Review. That's exactly what it was, a compilation of the other DVD's. He watched because he had nothing else to do being cooped up in his playpen without any toys (again, as per recommendation) and proceeded to roll around with boredom.

Honestly, I'm embarrassed to say I thought he'd learn to read from this program. It mainly just shows a handful of odd words and throws in some nursery rhymes for good filler. Absolutely no ABC's and their sounds on this anywhere. It definitely WILL NOT teach your child to read from the average child's book...just maybe the provided flap books and flash cards. Those are the ONLY words this set will teach. As other reviewers have said, whole language(learning a word by repeatedly showing the whole word and saying what it is)is what this program uses. Maybe 30-50 words at the most might be learned. Definitely not enough to pick up "Goodnight Moon" and read it.

My son is now 22 months old and knows all his ABC's and their sounds. He knows his numbers from 1-10 and eight colors and six different shapes. He learned his ABC's from playing with his Leapfrog Telephonics game and watching the Leapfrog DVD's titled Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory. Outstanding toy and DVD's! He learned his numbers, colors and shapes just through typical kid's toys and books.

Bottom line: Dr. Titzer has his fans and he seems a nice guy, but his program is wholly incomplete and sorely lacking in the "interest factor" kids need to keep their attention. I'm packing this set up and selling it on eBay. Hopefully I can recoup some cash and purchase more Leapfrog items.

We are now on Volume 2, the third DVD that my daughter has watched from this set. The Starter Video is the first, then Volume 1. She has all but lost interest at this point. I can't say that I blame her. It's kind of boring and a little bit too long. However, I don't have any better ideas. It's reading. So I think that, for teaching reading, they have done a good job.

The video will show a word, say it twice, with an arrow going from left to right to indicate that you should read from left to right. Then they show a short a video of that word: "Eyes. Eyes." (Switch to video of a small child) "Marco, close your eyes!"

At first my daughter watched it just like any other kid's show. Now, (after three months) she knows they will say the word twice, and she looks down while they are saying the words, and then looks up when they show the fun video part. So I have added flash cards that I show to her at other times. I made sure to write the words in lower case letters so that they will look like the words she sees on the video. I just do a few at a time, since her attention span isn't very long, and I don't want to make reading a chore for her. I also write the words on her magna doodle (separate from watching the video) in an attempt to make it more interesting.

She knows how to read many words from the DVD by sight, and is the talk of the town, but of course she cannot sound words out. The theory behind "Your Baby Can Read" is that your baby will eventually figure out how to sound out words if she learns enough words. She confuses similar words pretty often, like yes and eyes. She also forgets a lot of the words if I don't review them with her for a couple of days.

I do let her watch this video by herself (sort of a no-no), and it worked at first. But now, even when I'm sitting with her, I can't get her to pay attention for long. I think that perhaps, if I had always made it a point to sit with her while the DVD was playing, and hadn't let her watch cartoons, which are way more interesting, then maybe she would still think it was the best thing ever. I don't think that's realistic, though.

To sum it all up in two sentences....Only buy from this company if you want to waste about $250. THIS IS A HORRIBLE COMPANY, WITH A HORRIBLE PRODUCT, WITH HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. I wouldn't recommend this product. My daughter is 1 & I started her on Your Baby can in November. I did everything that I was supposed to do but she never really got interested in the videos. In my opinion the videos don't have enough action to keep her interested. Then they lure you in for "a 30 free trial" that is so hard to get out of. I ordered the product November 26 & called to cancel December 10. When I talked to customer service I was told that if I keep the product they would cancel 1 payment & if I still wasn't satisfied then to call before Jan. 26 & I could send it back. Well I gave the product a little more time & received the same results. So I called customer service Jan. 8 to cancel again. The CSR that I talked to was very rude. She "point-blank" told me that since I was beyond my 30 day trial that I couldn't send the product back. I informed her of the conversation I had with the pervious CSR & she basically told me that I was lying. I asked the CSR, why would I make up a story like that & try to send the product back if I wasn't informed to do so? When I asked to speak to her supervisor she let out an exasperated breath (Like I was getting on her nerves) & put me on hold. After 10 min of holding a supervisor answered the phone & when I told her about the rudeness of the CSR, the supervisor said, & I quote, "Well, I've really never had any problems with her before she is a really nice girl, but we will go back & review the tape because we record every call." At that time I asked her if they tape all the calls, then why is it that she couldn't go back & find the tape of the original call I made in Dec.? The supervisor told me that she couldn't go back & review that tape & that I must have been misinformed about sending the product back but there is nothing that they could do at that time. I asked to speak to the supervisor's supervisor & she wouldn't let me speak to him. To sum it all up in two sentences....Only buy from this company if you want to waste about $250. THIS IS A HORRIBLE COMPANY, WITH A HORRIBLE PRODUCT, WITH HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I am currently working on my Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology and I have two young children (2 and 5). I came across this video set late one night while I was up with my sick 2 year old. It is so cute to see the little kids reading words and I have no doubt that if you spend the time you could teach a baby to read. However, I have one huge problem with this system. It is teaching children to read using the whole language method. Don't get me wrong, this method has its place in reading instruction (i.e. site words like the, am, it, words that aren't easily sounded out and used often in everyday reading). Phonemic awareness (knowing the sounds that letters make) is a much more effective way to learn to read. Think about it if you come across a word you don't know as a whole language learner, you are a bit out of luck, however if you have a deep knowledge of phonemes (or the sounds letters make) you can sound it out. I actually learned to read using whole language and I am totally at a disadvantage today because of it as I am sure many others are in the same boat. Can you teach a baby to read, probably they are very in tuned to sounds and language and everything at a very young age. My concern is that this is not really teaching the underlying basics of reading. If you are set on teaching your child to read at a young age check out Hooked on Phonics. Also I tried to verify all of the creators credentials and didn't find much of anything.

I am a Pediatric Physical Therapist of 17 years. I have 3 children of my own (age 13, 11, 7). DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!! All the therapists I work with (Occupational Therapists and Speech & Language Pathologists agree with me) We are all early interventionist specialists - we only work with children age 0-3. The BEST thing you can do for your child to help him/her to read is to read to them - but the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to love them & let them PLAY - Let them work toward all their developmental milestones - rolling, crawling, pulling up to stand, cruising, walking, using their hands to feed themselves and explore - let them walk barefoot - let them feel different textures. THAT IS HOW THE BRAIN DEVELOPS naturally - They need to experience the world around them to develop their brains. THere is a reason we don't learn to read sooner. The brain just is not ready nor is it necessary for an infant to read. - Developmental milestones are all indicators of brain development. There is no reason to start stressing your baby to read before the brain is ready. If you notice a problem with language, behavior, or movement take them to your pediatrician and start early intervention services. BABIES HAVE TO MOVE to develop their brains. Just sitting in front of note cards and in front of a DVD will not help them in the long run. Yes, he/she may learn some words and may even learn to read but it will be at the detriment of other skills he/she needs to develop to be successful in life and school in the long run.
GOOD LUCK to everyone with your families. We all do the best we can for those that we love! (FYI, all my children learned to read fluently by age 4-5. My 13 & 11 year olds all get straight A's at a college prep high school. My 2nd grader is reading at a 4th grade level and has 4th grade math skills. None of my kids have behavioral issues).

Be VERY careful about this company! They have an attorney who is now pursuing me (an honest stay-at-home mom) for $1000 for selling my original copy. Only buy this if you plan on keeping it FOREVER - don't make the mistake of trying to resell it or buy a used version. They are unforgiving, relentless, and taking total advantage of real, honest people who are using, not abusing, our free trade market. This is not a family friendly company, but rather a money hungry group who have found a way into American families pocketbooks. Buy with caution!!

It seems that few subjects related to child upbringing stirs people's passions like early childhood education, except maybe the Ferber versus attachment parenting discussion, and the breastfeeding versus formula discussion. I am not a child development expert, but I am a foreign-born scientist who got her doctorate in this country, therefore in a language that was not my native tongue, and which I learned during my early teens. My mother taught me to read before school, using her own method, which as I vaguely recall was a combination of phonics, constant exposure to books, and no TV. Is this why I was able to pursue advanced studies in a foreign country? I don't know, but I do recall getting straight As pretty much through school. I am accomplished, but I know many people who are a lot more accomplished than I am, economically and otherwise.

When I had my baby (a boy, now 10 month old), it was a no-brainer (no pun intended) for me to teach him to read early, i.e. before school. After all, isn't reading the key to learning anything down the line? And maybe some children can just pick it up by osmosis, but for most, you have to teach them. Your Baby Can Read was just a tool, which was more convenient than making my own word cards, such as described in the Doman method (Teach your baby to read), which was first published in the 70s, I believe. There are many other great methods out there (Brillkids, Monkee See, etc, ), and all of them will work if you actually put in the effort, which needs to be substantial and consistent, but the rate of success will also depend on your child's natural abilities (that's right, not everyone is an Einstein), your child's gender (studies shows that girls are more verbal, and that by 16 months they know about 50 words, versus 30 for boys), whether your child lives in a bilingual household and has to learn more than one language, and the general quality of the environment your child is in. None of these methods involve plopping the child in front of the video as a baby sitter but requires you to interact with your child during the video and to reinforce the video's content with print material, and by other frequent exposures to words, letters, etc. The debate about children memorizing the words versus learning phonics is absurd in my opinion: Of course children are memorizing the words at first, like they might memorize letters, numbers, colors, and everything else that make up the basic fabric of life. You have to start somewhere and studies have shown that very young children (babies) learn through whole word recognition (right brain) and older toddlers start learning by phonics (left brain), but one doesn't preclude the other. All I know is that by constant exposure to something, you learn it and you start discerning the patterns (a famous Russian proverb states that "Repetition is the mother of learning"). I also know that children (younger than 4) in bilingual households learn both languages as their native language, and that they lose this ability as they get older, so without pandering to Dr. Titzer, it is pretty obvious that young children are particularly good at acquiring language skills in ways that is unparalleled in later years.

We have been doing Your Baby Can Read with my son since day 1, and at 7 months he could pick out the right cards from the first set maybe 85% of the time. Now at 10 months he recognizes more. He doesn't do the movements on the video, so he is not as advanced as the little Aleka on Dr. Titzer's video who was doing the movements at 9 months, but again, I think that there are fundamental differences between boys and girls at that age and in early toddlerhood. We also do phonics (we have the 3-letter word set from Leapfrog on the fridge), and even though he is supposed to be too young to grasp them, it must be working because he is much better with 3 letter words than with any others, so he is not strictly learning by whole word recognition. And of course we read to him and speak to him all the time in both languages, and he doesn't watch any other programs. When he is 18 months, I will switch to the Brillkid program for variety, and also because it teaches math.

To the parents who clamor `let children be children and play', well, being a child is about learning stuff, either good stuff or useless stuff. My son is very active, is almost walking, has tons of unstructured play time and toys, goes on hikes with us, and has traveled by plane several times, so it is not like we strap him to a chair, and torture him with this. Actually he loves the videos AND being quizzed with the cards. He also is very interest in books and in printed material. Learning is only work for those who don't enjoy it, and so much of what a child grows to enjoy has to do with early exposure and the subtle messages that adults send. Another benefit of these programs is that they learn to sit still, focus, and exercise some self-control for 20-30 minutes and that is a skill that is very important for school readiness and for learning... anything. To those parents who are against the program out of principle that they think it is wrong somehow to teach a young child academic skills, I would like to point out that every statistic out there shows that U.S. public school education is not sufficient, not advanced enough, and not strict enough for our children to compete well in the global market place. A quick look at the world rankings in education will convince anyone of that.

We purchased this used right here on Amazon, and were not impressed.

When we tried to re-sell it on a popular online site for used items,Your Baby Can Read LLC reported us for selling counterfeit items, though we legitimately purchased it here through Amazon.

Be aware that once you are done with this product that the company will try to have you de-listed from reselling sites. They want to maximize their profits by selling new ones only.

Our first and last purchase from Your Baby Can Read, LLC.

FYI.

Buying this product has been one of the worst customer service experiences that I have ever had. The company doubled my order (ordered online) and sent me two. I saw the second charge in my bank account and informed them before shipment. They said there was nothing they could do and I would have to wait for both to come and send one back return to sender. I sent it back and now nothing. The rudest supervisor on earth said that they haven't received it and there would be NO refund. How could this be? I never even ordered the dang thing, I only ordered one. I haven't even used it on my son because I am so disgusted with their services. I have heard many stories from friends and neighbors now Your Baby Can Read embezzling money off credit cards and orders made online. Many of them never see a refund becuase the company insists that the product was never shipped back to them. I wish I had spoken to people before buying it. Now my bank account is out $200. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, MONEY and ENERGY.

STOP!!!!, do not give your credit card number to this company.
I ordered this product, they charge all regular payments, when I finished paying the shipped a second set and charged me for it. I sent the product back and they credit only a portion of what they over charged (credit $81.60),
goguileho