One of our most recent new products is Your Baby Can Read! I’ve had some questions about this product and wanted to take some time to tell you more about it.

The first time I heard about Your Baby Can Read! I was kind of taken back. “What?! Babies being taught to read?!” I was worried that babies were being pressured into academics when they should be spending their time blowing bubbles and sticking their toes in their mouths.

A few years later I heard about it again from a mom of 8 (I think) and she had used it with several of her youngest kids. She thought it was great and easy to use, so I decided to give it a try. At that time I was homeschooling my older kids, and the younger ones watched some educational type videos during our school time. I figured that something that was focused on helping them learn to read was a good use of their time and attention.

The program includes 5 DVDs that have stuff on them little ones would like to see, like a real bird, or someone blowing bubbles, or a kitten, or whatever. When they see a cat, for instance, the word cat shows, and someone says cat. That’s it. Just showing interesting pictures or video, and showing and saying the word that goes with it. It’s very gentle and not a spazzy fast-paced video like a lot of kids watch. These videos are supposed to be watched by parent and child together, just like if you were going to read them a book. Not something where they are being left alone with the TV.

The word cards would be for keeping a couple wherever you change diapers or to carry in your purse. You would just show the child the card that says cat and say cat. You could stick them in places where your baby would see them often (like next to their high chair, on the wall next to their bed, etc.) and just say the word as they notice it.

Basically, it’s a very gentle, non-stressful kind of thing that is incorporating the written word into the baby’s world more naturally. It’s kind of funny, I guess, to think that we try to teach them words and we speak words to them all the time, but they don’t get to see or touch the written words that go with the spoken ones. With this program they get a chance to have that aspect as well, so it gets across the concept that there is a written form of our language.

The instructions for the program are very much child-led and pleasant. They don’t want you forcing your child to sit and watch this video on some sort of strict schedule. Your baby should be sitting with you as you watch the video together, and this should last for howevermany minutes the baby is enjoying it. If they like to watch the entire video, that’s fine. But if they only like to watch it for 5 minutes, that’s when you stop. The flash cards can just be used naturally as you have the opportunity through the day, not as a high-pressured flash card session.

So, it’s not a thing where the child is missing out on the rest of life or being forced to do anything. It’s just one more little learning thing in their day, right along with singing songs, helping mommy cook, taking a bath, etc. In my opinion, Your Baby Can Read is a good thing for the parent that has the time and interest to do it, and it is a good program that could make reading more seamless for the child.

UPDATE: You may enjoy reading an independent review of Your Baby Can Read HERE.