my opinion: your baby can read

i have seen a lot of informercials about the 'your baby can read' program and went looking online for blogs for unbiased reviews to see if this is something i should get for my daughter. i came across this blog and all its comments and they were very helpful with the decision i have decided to make.

here's my two cents...

if you don't know by now, i have a daughter who is almost three and i've been thinking whether or not i should introduce YBCR to her. like many parents out there, i think my daughter is pretty smart and naturally, i want to get her the best tools out there to enhance her gifts. and i have been going back and forth in my head whether or not i should get this for my daughter.

speech came early for michelle. i don't know if it's from reading and singing to her a lot from when i was still pregnant with her or from engaging her in conversation or the cartoons that she watches...i am guilty of letting her watch quite a bit of sprout and noggin and playhouse disney (no cartoon network, no nickelodeon, no disney after 10 am. these are my rules). i was raised a similar way (too much tv), and i didn't turn out so bad...i think. =D at barely 3 years old, she can express her ideas, thoughts, and memories very well. she 'sang' her abcs shortly after she turned one and can count up to 20 in english (most of the time), and count up to ten in 2 other languages (just for fun, no pressure, i swear).

sometimes we parents want our kids to be the best or ahead of everyone else. i think this puts a lot of pressure on the children and the parents. it is great to see a child reading at 2 years old and i'm sure it will help the child along the way, but i think, i should just let my daughter enjoy her cartoons and our own 'school time' where i try to teach her to write and read/recognize a few letters and numbers until she's really had a good grasp of the few characters. if it takes her a month to get there, then we'll do it for a month. if she learns them sooner, then we'll move on. if it's just connect-the-dots she wants to do for our school time, then that's all we're doing. i think the key is to make it fun for kids so they'll really enjoy school and develop a love of learning and hopefully, this will ensure their success later in life.

one other reason (not the main reason, but it's reason enough) why i wanted to get the ybcr program for my daughter is...to be honest...bragging rights. imagine, a child that can read before she even started school! my, my, my! how smart can this child be!? and i'm sure there are parents out there who think the same way too (aminin!). but i'm correcting myself and i'll just let her enjoy whatever it is that she enjoys. i think our children will give us cues that they are ready to start learning to read. i think michelle is getting there that's why i'm teaching her to recognize letters now. whenever she sees a sign like in a garden, she 'pretends' to read them and say, 'look mommy, the sign says, 'don't go on the grass!' (the sign says, keep of the grass). so i'll take that cue and teach her a little bit at a time. if she doesn't learn to read before she turns five (or starts going to regular school), i'm 100% sure that she'll learn everything in kindergarten and improve along the way.

so the pressure to learn to read is off my shoulders and off my daughter. if only i can say the same about potty training!