Anyone read "How to teach your baby to read" book

It's very popular here in Hong KOng and seems very interesting, however all the 'course' materials are quite expensive, although of course one can make all the 'flash' cards but really, do i have time!?

Just curious if anyone else is teaching their babies to read using this method.

 

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Kids will read when they are ready. One of my boys was reading fluently at age 4. We realized he could read when we overheard him reading Curious George to himself. The other one has taken off on reading this year in Kindergarten, and is rapidly catching up to his brother. The best thing you can do to foster reading is to simply read to them as much as you can and they are willing.

Someone once posted here: there are only 2 real uses for flashcards--math facts and learning science terms.

 

I wouldn't. My oldest really balked at learning to read and didn't until he was nearly 7. He's a great reader now, who enjoys it so much and gets "outstanding" on his writing assessments. (He's 16.) The year of first grade was just torture, he fought learning so hard in school and at home. You'd never know it now, though. I'm glad I didn't push him to read even earlier than that, because I'd rather they learn 'late' but enjoy reading for pleasure.

 

I think the same thing every time I see one of these reading courses: If you spent the same amount of time just reading to your kids and teaching them letters, sounds, and how words are formed as you would on the course work, they would learn to read just as quickly. It is the amount of time that you spend doing the course work that I think makes the difference. But, for some reason, we are more apt to actually spend that much time doing it if we paid for it!

Like you said, you don't have time to make the flash cards, but you can buy them at teacher supply stores for a few bucks (at least in the states) instead of spending a bundle on the whole course. I really think it is about time spent reading and teaching, not about an expensive method. If you find that they are struggling once they get into school and can't keep up with their classmates, I think that is the time to spend the money on special instructional aids or tutors. I think that, at this age, it is just about reading to them.

ETA: "on the course work" in the first paragraph. I just wanted to clarify.

 

I am not in a rush to teach my children to read, personally. I would rather invest the time right now in teaching them to love books and stories and learning about new things, than teaching them to actually read.

I get paid to teach other people's kids to read (kinder teacher here) though, so I can get an early start here if I need to!

 

Thanks for the input! Still mulling over this one.... <_<

 

Something interesting I heard on NPR- Chinese (I know Hong Kong is still somewhat separate from China) companies are importing American managers and consultants to try to teach Chinese managers how to think creatively. Chinese students do very well in learning and testing, but don't know how to be creative. So maybe they are learning how to read earlier, but they aren't learning the more intangible aspects of reading for fun. Just a thought.

 

Just to back up what pp's have said so far: A friend of mine sends her children to THE best girls' school in Britain. It's very expensive, but always gets first place in the nationwide exam results (as well as the girls being well-rounded high achievers in other areas not just academic). Understandably it's highly oversubscribed and people apply early. Although children only start there when they're 5 years old, the parents know they'll be going there a few years earlier. When they accept children the school makes a strict request that parents do NOT try to teach their children to read before they start at the school. They explain that children who are taught to read too young tend to be put off from reading, whereas those that are allowed to learn in their own time (which may, sometimes, be before 5 years) are more likely to develop a love for language and reading.

These aren't absolutes, they're just tendencies, but seem to imply that there's no harm in holding off until a child is ready. Particularly if books are part of their everyday life and they're read to regularly and allowed to 'read' them themselves, telling themselves a story from the pictures etc.

 

I'll preface this by saying that I am a reading teacher, so I do have access to more materials than the average person.

However, I don't usually take my class materails home to use with the girls. Instead, I buy the leap frog products or other materials that are cheap like from a dolalr store.

I have read to my girls almost every single day since they were born. Mackenzie is definately more interested in reading then Peyton (she throws a fit if I don't read to them before bed, due to me being sick, or being out too late), but they both love to sit with a book at try reading it themselves. Books that have been read to them repeatedly, or have simple or repetetive text allows them to retell the story, which is a stepping stone for reading on their own. When they aren't familiar with the story, I tell them to look at the pictures to get an idea of what is going on in each page, which is a very important reading strategy.

Leap Frog lettery factory DVD is a wonderful tool for teaching individual sounds. My girls watched it about ten times, and knew them all.

Point out letters you see in everyday life, like the "T" in target. When they know their sounds, ask them what certain things start with. For example, this morning we were having pancakes and I asked them what does Pancake start with (you could also phrase it "what letter sound do you hear at the begining).

Your girls are very young right now, so I would stick with reading to them, then when they hit about two, introducing letters.