Is “Your Baby Can Read” Just a Big Scam?

Even I am enthralled by the whole “Your Baby Can Read” phenomenon- little tykes “reading” from index cards or doing the motions of the word in front of them while they’re still in diapers. While there are parents singing praise in the commercial of how their young (often under a year old) child is actually reading and understanding the largely printed word in front of them, child experts aren’t impressed with the amazement of the “Your Child Can Read” program. In fact, they want the product discontinued and monies refunded to duped parents in their own claims that “Your Baby Can Read” is entirely misleading.

Experts at Harvard and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and experts all over the US are enraged at the deceptive marketing of the DVDs and books of the “Your Baby Can Read” program, according to the Today Show (today.com). These experts claim that the “Your Baby Can Read” program not only falsely claims that infants can read when their brains have not yet developed the functioning to recognize reading skills, but that the program is simply encouraging memorization and recognition of words, nothing else. Furthermore, experts draw concerns over the potential damage of the “Your Baby Can Read” program on infants- the program simply teaches infants to become accustomed to watching TV for hours on end, and teaches them to be sedentary. Many parents who have their young children involved in this program can have their kids sitting in front of the computer or TV for several hours a day, not learning a thing other than memorizing words they cannot truly read, which is unhealthy both physically and mentally.

When asked to produce research evidence of the success of the “Your Baby Can Read” program, creator Dr.Robert Titzer claimed that he had viable evidence that his “Your Baby Can Read” program truly works (that’s he and his young daughter Aleeka in the commercial) and would provide it to the Today Show, who challenged the program’s ability to actually teach young children to read. What he provided them, however, was simply a customer satisfaction report and skewed medical backing for his “Your Baby Can Read” program, which the Today Show claimed was twisted and worded to suit Dr. Titzer’s claims rather than provide facts. Titzer claims to be an infant learning expert but in fact holds a degree in human performance. His credibility has not impressed other childhood development experts, who claim his “Your Baby Can Read” program is simply just a scam.

Claims Susan Linn, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, of the “Your Baby Can Read” program, “It’s deceptive, and it’s really harmful. Parents are shelling out all this money for something that is basically snakeoil”, giving praise to the Today Show for bringing the “Your Baby Can Read” program to light as an ineffective learning tool for children. Linn and her Campaign have filed a complaint against the FTC over the program, stating that “Your Baby Can Read” “poses significant health and safety risks to infants” in the lack of learning other than memorization and the lack of true activity. Children just aren’t learning to read, they are learning to live a sedentary lifestyle with an affinity for television watching for hours on end, learning no reading skills whatsoever.

However, Titzer stands by his claims that his “Your Baby Can Read Program” truly works, stating that his daughter at 4 years old had better reading skills than his own college students using the program. Again, he uses customer satisfaction responses to back his claims of his highly controversial “Your Baby Can Read” program and its success. But experts all over the US agree that the best way to teach your children to read is to read to them, and allow them to grow into their own reading skills on their own time, starting around 4 years old. Children will read on their own time, through their own curiosity, and it looks like “Your Baby Can Read” will encounter the same eventual backlash that the “Baby Einstein” programs encountered back in 2006. Scam or a real program that teaches babies to really read, this “Your Baby Can Read” program is raising a lot of eyebrows and open concern from the real experts in the field of childhood education.

Source:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42557517/ns/today-money/