“Your Baby Can Read” Does Not, In Fact, Teach Baby To Read

If you have young children, it’s pretty likely that you’ve run across the “Your Baby Can Read” commercials on various cartoon channels. The chubby, cherbic, diaper clad baby pointing to cards with words that he then says in his tiny voice, or the young preschooler who curls up in a rocking chair, reading out loud from Moby Dick, instantly makes parents look at their own children, wondering if we should be practicing flash cards versus letting them watch an episode of “Maisy.”

But like most “as seen on TV” products, I always assumed it was a scam. Now, it’s been outed as one, and irate customers are being gathered in a class action lawsuit against the makers.

Via ClassAction.org:

The Your Baby Can Read Systems were advertised through television and radio infomercials, as well as public appearances by a doctor backing the product’s claims. According to advertisements, the early language development systems could do the following:

Teach a three-month-old baby to read by nine months old

Enable a five-year-old to read junior high school level books

Teach infants with Down’s syndrome how to read

Teach an infant how to read at a young age to prevent learning disabilities such as dyslexia

You Baby Can, LLC claimed that studies performed by the scientific community supported the use of the Can Read Systems.

According to a Your Baby Can Read class action lawsuit, however, scientific evidences does not support the company’s claims that the Can Read System can effectively develop an infant’s ability to read. The complaint states that scientists who have tested the product’s claims have found that infants using the systems are not reading, but rather memorizing shapes of the letters presented before them. These doctors and scientists claim that there is no evidence that the Can Read Systems’ memorization process increases a child’s ability to read and comprehend, according to the class action lawsuit.

First Baby Einstein doesn’t make little child genuises, now Your Baby Can Read doesn’t help make them read? Looks like one of these days we parents are just going to have to teach our kids ourselves.

Read more: education

photo by wikimedia commons

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Charles A.

12:13PM PDT on Apr 8, 2012

short and sweet ill put it like this. i started my son on your baby can read at three months...i was skeptical as well and leery to spend the money, however i decided to give it a chance. my son is 18 months old and can literally sound out words he has never seen before. i have nieces and nephews as well as friends with children his age and none are near him intellectually. i would recommend this program to anyone...stick with it and actually practice it with them instead of sitting them in front of the tv and expecting it to magically work and you will have the same results i do.

send a green star

Pam L.

9:38AM PST on Jan 1, 2012

I started my son on YBCR when he was 8 months old--at first I really didn't see any results, but after about four months of watching the initial video and NO other TV I began to see that he recognized the words from the video. For my son, this program taught him how to organize information in his mind and I think it also helped to increase his vocabulary.

There were also things we did to increase his language and literacy development: speaking in complete sentences, exposing him to targeted vocabulary, reading to him, and getting him into a pre-school (daycare) that specializes in early childhood.

The combination of these things has produced a child who started reading at two years of age. He's three years old now and only getting better--he reads at an end of first grade level currently. It's interesting though, the way he learned to read is very different from the way I was taught to teach children in my education courses. Yes... I'm a teacher with master certification in reading. I've used the program with my son and plan to use it with our next child as well.

Maybe there should be a footnote like on Weight Watchers and other programs..."results not typical." I'm also wondering... did these parents follow the directions of the program?

Just had to leave my comments because the program was successful for my son...I have the video of him reading and comprehension checks (questions asked) to prove it.

If YBCR didn't work for you...it didn't wo

Yvonne T.

8:06PM PDT on Sep 20, 2011

I have been teaching my 3 year old son. I started him on the program when he was 2. he knows the entire alphabet and numbers 1 through 10. Every time we go out, he sees a letter and says, "look grandma A". Wherever we go where he sees the letters or numbers or the words he has already learned he lets me know. Unfortunately, I did not keep up with his teaching, otherwise he would be more advanced. but when i read a book to him and point to the words (i usually point going from right to left), he'll correct me and tell me that's now how i'm suppose to read. when i read to him he is the one that points to the words. At first, I thought it was that he was just memorizing, but then i would write the words on a piece of paper or with cheerios and he would say the words. He is anxious about going to school. I have gone back to teaching him with the program and he loves it. as soon as he gets up in the morning, he says, "grandma, i want baby can read please".

ii q.

2:09PM PDT on Jun 5, 2011

Reading is one thing. Anyone can be taught to do things by rote.

What about comprehension?

Lisa P.

3:24PM PDT on May 31, 2011

I'm a parent who taught my toddler to read. We used the Baby Can Read program, and it worked. I must say, though, we were very involved with it ourselves. It's not like something you turn on and expect it to teach your kid by itself. Another point: you can start teaching your child about words even without a commercial curriculum. Here are some tips I learned along the way, if you're interested: http://site.beaniedesigns.com/blog/teach-your-baby-to-read/

jane r.

7:51AM PDT on May 30, 2011

Got it baby interested for a while. Lost interest. TV is not the answer .Gadgets are not the answer. Parents ARE the answer.

Emil P.

6:56AM PDT on May 26, 2011

I went through all comments,and got some ideas.Intersting subject.by the way good article.

Larry S.

11:01AM PDT on Apr 13, 2011

There are certainly a lot of opinionated, but completely uninformed comments here. It has been known for generations, but only to a few open-minded people, that babies can be taught to read. Read our story, and my lengthy and well-reasoned defense of baby reading, at http://www.larrysanger.org/reading.html

The fact that some ambulance-chaser has filed a lawsuit hardly means that there's anything to it. I don't think there is. See my review of their court filing, at "Johnson v. Your Baby Can: not much of a case": http://larrysanger.org/2011/01/johnson-v-ybc/

Lika S.

1:46AM PST on Mar 12, 2011

I read to my son daily since he was born. There was no way he was reading before pre-school. He's in 5th grade now, and can read above average for his age, but that's not saying he could read when he was 5 months old.

My aunt/God-mother had memorized the books she was read. So when she'd grabbed her favorite books, it wasn't that she could actually read, she had memorized how many words on each page, making it look like she could read. It wasn't until she was about 4 that she realized that the squiggly lines actually were the words, she identified the words with the characters, and learned how to read from there.

Every child is different. So, what works for one child may not work for a different child, and the rate of learning will also be different.

But why worry about a 9 month old baby reading? Seriously, there is limited amount of things that 9 month old is learning, so, if that baby is reading, how do you know what they're comprehending, since the vocabulary is limited at that age? Do they recognize the difference in colors, or just different words sounding that way? Plus with pictures, there's no way to know if they're associating the picture or the letters with the word anyway.

L E P.

2:05PM PST on Mar 10, 2011

What makes me sad is most of these comments are from people who have not sat down with the Your Baby Can Read program. When your child is so young that they cannot actually speak yet, but are able to point to what it is, that is remarkable for me. When a little older, and a new word is introduced, by writing it on a piece of paper & a 3 & 4 year old (average intelligence) can sound it out. When a 4&5 year old (average intelligence) can read the newspaper sports page, and can then tell with detail what each story was, names, dates, stats. etc. While the paper is folded up so they can't see it. That to me is the definition of successful reading learning!!! I have experienced, first hand, foreigners who speek very little english, if at all; get together with the "Your Baby Can Learn" to try to help their little ones grasp English, to give them a head start in education. These English illerate parents, are learning to read & learn the English language, right along with their children. I was amazed... I have seen children (average intellegence) who have studied with YBCL, be reading 3rd & 4th grade level in the first grade. What does that do??? For one they can spend their learning to read time, on other subjects. They can comprehend on a higher level, because of early reading success. They are in the DEAN'S LIST of their class. They get better grades all through highscool/college, they do better when they get into the work force.
I AM REFERING TO MY OWN FAMIL