Trevor Cairney has posted a helpful (and encouraging) review of the ‘Your Baby Can Read!’ program developed by Dr Robert Titzer. While I was unaware of Titzer’s thesis, the concerns Trevor outlines make real sense to me. As I noted in a comment on his post, I spend all day with a 2-year-old. We cook, play, dance, listen to music, read, count the dongs on the grandfather clock, paint, sort through food, and eat leaves in the garden, among other things. It’s learning all the way, and the resultant growth in her is obvious. I can’t imagine how spending an hour a day sitting in front of a TV (which she is not interested in at all) watching DVD’s can compare with sitting on dad’s knee reading, or kicking a football or counting flower buds in the garden, or learning to share toys and attention with friends. I’m keen to hear from others who may have had experience with Titzer’s program, and whether or not their experiences echo any of Trevor’s concerns.
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
jasongoroncy.com 
Well, Trevor Cairney represents the establishment, and if the establishment hasn’t discovered something for itself, then there can’t be anything to this, can there?
He says, “This program does not teach children to ‘read’.” We’ve used this with our little boy, and I am very sure Cairney is right about that. But I don’t think that Titzer claims that simply sitting your child in front of the boob tube to watch these videos will all by itself magically make your child a very early reader. It has to be accompanied by further work with flash cards, and above all copious reading to your child.
Cairney says he sees no evidence that the program works, yet Titzer’s own research claims to show (http://infantlearning.com/research.html) that kids who are reading at the 1st grade level by age 3 will on average be reading at the 6th grade level at age 6. Titzer should publish this if the research is solid. Don’t know why he doesn’t.
Our boy, age 2, is reading short simple books by himself with just a little assistance from us. We used Titzer’s program but most of our boy’s success is due to the fact that we read to him and also did flash card work as well, teaching phonics systematically. He sounds out words, including new words.
There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in Trevor Cairney’s philosophy.
LikeLike