While I'm withholding judgment on the program's effectiveness (having just acquired it, I haven't yet made my 15-month-old a guinea pig), the five-DVD Your Baby Can Read! system carries a slight misnomer, as the program covers not only the baby years, but the entire 3-months-to-5-years window in which children's language development is at a prime.
Developed by Dr. Robert Titzer, whose daughter reportedly was able to read more than 100 words by her first birthday after following the program's methods, Your Baby Can Read! encourages children to make associations between written words, sounds and meanings by "interacting" (i.e., clapping, waving or pointing) with language. The system's hands-on, multi-sensory approach also extends to the accompanying materials -- five double-sided word/picture cards, one wipe-off word card and an erasable marker -- and encourages active engagement and co-viewing with children. (It also teaches phonics.) The DVDs are intentionally repetitive and somewhat demanding for children to follow on their own, so for those of us who savor those 20-minute spurts of video time while we scramble to make dinner, Baby Crack this ain't.
Tried this system? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know in the comments.
