Questioner: Liam
Question:
I would like to ask if you have an opinion on the Your baby can read series by Dr. Robert Titzer.
I saw a video at my friend’s home and couldn’t believe my eyes when children as young as 12-month-olds could read many words.
I don’t know if this method is best or harmful.
Could you pls help?
Thank you
Dear Liam,
I don’t know about this series causing harm. I do however have concerns about parents “wanting” a child who is so young to read. Infants and babies’ brains develop at their own pace. I have an issue with wanting to interrupt this pace or to push children into the next developmental stage, mainly because the in between is in my opinion, very critical to the child’s overall development.
It seems to me that this type of pushing is based upon a good enough perspective of the child. If we go on the premise that a child is perfect as they are when they are born we set the child up for acceptance and the freedom to develop at their own individual pace.
In addition it seems to me that adults are all to pushy when it comes to expecting a child to fit into an adult world rather than accepting that a child is at a different pace developmentally and adults taking on responsibility for getting into a child’s world.
I prefer techniques and options which allow us to get into the child’s world and become more supportive. For communication purposes I prefer parents and caregivers check into the Dunsten Baby Language http://www.dunstanbaby.com/and Baby Sigh Language http://www.babysignlanguage.com/(increasing a child’ vocabulary later on when it is developmentally appropriate for them to have a vocabulary). Both of these ease the stress parents often feel in trying to guess what is happening with the baby and also I suspect, eases the baby’s stress in trying to feel understood.
Feel free to peruse through some recommended reads at the bottom of this page by visiting my favorite reads store.
Best Wishes!
M Kay Keller
