My daughter has been watching the "Your Baby Can Read" video series since she was 6 months old. It was love at first sight for her, as the videos were filled with songs, action, and fun with older kids as participants. I was equally delighted that she watched with intense interest for the entire 30 minute duration of the video, which allowed me time to tend to household duties. The possibility that she could actually be learning to read from these videos that so delighted her seemed too good to be true. I was as skeptical as anyone that a baby could actually read, but I realized the enormous advantage to be gained if this were possible, as I believe that reading is the foundation for academic success.I was impressed when at 10 months of age she started interacting/participating in the fun of the Volume 1 video she had been watching since she was 6 months old (for example, she would clap her hands in sync with the children to the song "If your happy and you know it, clap your hands"). However, my skepticism about the actual reading part of it grew as I periodically tried showing her large printed words to see if they meant anything to her, and this met with no reaction. Despite my doubts, I continued letting her watch the videos because she loved them so much, and I figured it was better than having her watch Barney or Telletubies. Maybe the reading part would simply take longer. There certainly was no harm in it, and I felt the videos could, at the very least, help her develop basic verbal skills if nothing else.
You can imagine the shock I was in a few weeks ago when, at 18 months of age, I started showing her mere words (no pictures or anything--as one of my periodic attempts to see if anything was "sticking"), and I realized that she could actually read them! My skepticism turned into amazement, and I literally started running/jumping around the room. This had a spiraling, contagious effect. As she witnessed my excitement, she literally started jumping off her toy horse and wanted to demonstrate her knowledge even more, which made me grow more amazed and excited-as did she in response to my enthusiasm, and so on.
A few days after I witnessed this amazing event, the Infant Learning Company, who makes the tapes ..., happened to call me to inquire about how my daughter was doing with the tapes. I told them what a coincidence it was that they would call because I just had noticed the astounding impact of their videos. After speaking for awhile they later asked if I would be willing to talk to Good Morning America, who was interested in doing a story on this. The producer from the show called me, and in a few short days we were off on a plane to New York to appear with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America on March 6, 2002 --along with Dr. Robert Titzer, who developed the tapes, another family who experienced the amazing results, and the show's parenting contributor.
The show segment went very well, but due to tight programming that day, we were only given 5 minutes of air time, which barely touched on the topic. All of us who appeared on the show felt that the public had been shortchanged in learning about something that could have such a profound impact on society. The public needs to be informed about these type of early learning experiences to demonstrate that young children (mere babies) are capable of far more than we would ever give them credit for.
Typically we are teaching reading at ages 5 and 6 in this country, and by the time children are 8 years old, only 40% can read independently (according to government statistics). An awareness of early learning topics such as this could help combat illiteracy in our society. Much research has been done on this topic in the last several years which indicates the incredible window of opportunity that exists for learning in the first three years of life, after which it starts to decline. It is a "use it or loose it" proposition, and the earlier we nurture a child's rapidly developing brain, the better. It is much easier (not to mention less costly) to prevent societal problems such as illiteracy than try to correct them after the fact.
There are some highly intelligent, successful adults in our society today that were fortunate enough to have an early introduction to reading. One example is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah attributes a good part of her success to her grandmother, who cared for her for the first 6 years of her life and who taught her to read early. (I believe Oprah was reading by age 3). Hopefully her grandmother did not pressure her in any way, but made it fun and enjoyable for her, thus leading to her lifelong love for reading.
This is what I hope to instill in my child: a lifelong love for reading and learning based on positive childhood experiences that are fun, stimulating, and engaging. I believe Dr. Titzer's interactive videos have been an excellent start to this process (which obviously needs to be expanded upon by parents-this is just a beginning), and I am most grateful to him for developing the "Your Baby Can Read" series.
In addition to appearing on Good Morning America with Dr. Titzer, I have also had the pleasure of attending one of his free early learning seminars, which was very informative and also highly recommended. On both occasions I have talked with him and found him to be extremely friendly, gracious, and helpful. I can say first hand that there is a very genuine man behind these tapes who is truly committed to his stated purpose.
