Two Sundays ago Chad stayed home sick from church. When I got back he said, "I'm a sucker for infomercials." Not a great thing to hear. Anyways he bought "your baby can read".

It is a dvd program that teaches babies to read. I've heard some about it but hadn't actually seen anything on it. But it basically teaches babies how to read as early as 15 mo. Not paragraphs, but individually words. Around 2 or so they can start to read books.

We got it this week and here is what I think about it. It really can work if used correctly. You have the baby watch the dvd which shows the word, says it, and then has your baby do some action to it while showing the thing. For example, it puts up "elephant", says elephant, then shows and an elephant and asks you to make a long nose with your arm. Your suppose to have your baby watch it twice a day.  then they have flash cards they want you to use 3 or so times a day and a book to go with it. And do that for a month or two until your kid knows the words. That is showing the kid the word 30 or so times a day for a month! Of course they will recognize it. But that is a lot of dedication on the parents part.

Anyways, it cost over $200 and I think that is pretty pricey for what it is. So I made my own book. I printed 20 words or so that I would like my kids to know and put a picture with them. It cost me maybe $5. We look at it a couple of times a day and Auretta is already saying some new words.

So here is my opinion on the this new big fad. It can work, but you don't need to buy the fancy stuff to do it. Make your own dvd, book, flash cards. That way you save money and your kids learn words that you want them to learn. Great concept, but too expensive.

By the way, it doesn't seem to do Patrick much good. Even the real dvd was too boring for him. We will have to do things the old fashion way with him. Letters and phonics. It really is a program for babies.