Your baby can read

Maya wrote: Maya has a great Reader Rabbit DVD that is interactive, you play word/letter games on it. I'm going to try and find her some new ones coz they are really good.

we have reader rabbit. Josh andBrooke loved it (got it for her and Josh when they were much younger) .. My parents also brought the 'Reading Master' set... that was for Josh and although he enjoyed the books themselves they didn't make him read any quicker.

Brooke was my reader writer etc.... knowing her ABC at 22 months, counting to 10 not long after she thrived on knowledge like that..... so naturally Books were a favourite 'toy' I spent alot of time reading to her and now she loves books (you can tell a book lover by the fact that even though they have read the book can not give it away or part with it LOL we have soooo many books in her room just sitting there) anyhow She never started at 3 months though and now at age 10 her reading level is at 12 year old along with her comprehension and accuousy (sp??? can you tell she didn't take after me for that!) - so learning to ready after 3 months is a disadvantage - I highly doubt it.

cuppatea wrote: Spencer is less interested in books at the moment and more interested in trying to post stuff out the cat flap.

Haha cute! Watch for the cellphone post when its raining though That ones not so cute!

I only saw al ittle bit but agree with what the others have said - everything in moderation. I mean there is the thing in your mind that make syou think "wow, wouldn't it be neat if they learnt to do that early" but that's the same for everything, we';re constantly thinking about when they'll smile, then roll, then crawl, then stand etc etc etc.    

I think overall it really depends on the kid. Paris loses interest quickly, but is having fun with her reading books i get her from the library with simple things like "they put all of the blocks away, they put all of the cars away.. etc" and that's about where she is at, only because she started to show an interest so i got the phonics simple books from the library and went from there and she's now moved up tot he 5 or more words in a sentence type thing.

Ayja has taken her lead, and loves letters and can identify nearly all letters in the alphabet, knows their sounds, and can write them because she sits up with her sister. I've never really pushed her, she just likes to do what paris does.    I made up a sheet of paper with capital letters of the abc on one side, and lower case on the other since paris has trouble remembering lower case formation.. so i thought she can use that to remind her.     Ayja was the one that grabbed it and spent every waking moment for 2 days up at our breakfast bar practising drawing letters... she has a little more drive, and probably just thinks its a whole lot of fun, whereas Paris knows that school is coming and she'll learn this stuff there so she doesn't really mind either way.    I don't mind what they do.. but i think that deliberately teaching and conditioning them these things too early definately robs them of all the other things they're meant to be learning and doing at those stages which are important.

we teach the phonemes and the name of each letter, the basics of how to write their name and the lower case. if you get up to adding the phonemes together to make a word thats a bonus, not all children are ready for more than that before school. some are eager and pick it up really quickly. there are so many things more important to learn that how to read before kids go to school, the basic foundations needs to be laid first in all areas. i think there is way too much emphasis on learning to read,

I was talking to Mum and Dad about this today an Dad pointed out the irony that the theory and the theorist both come from America - and doesn't America have a brilliant literacy record *rolls eyes*

We start reading to our kids early in our house too, I reckon that's a much better idea than trying to teach them to read to themselves!

Preeeeetty much

I thought, while it was interesting, it was a load of bullocks. It's the same system used with older kids.

Basically, from what I could see him doing, the babies and toddlers would learn that when that 'shape' ie the word is shown, that it means x. He showed smiling, with a smiling child, and he was smiling. Well duh any kid after that being repeated to them every day for a few months/years is going to pick up on it. Doesn't mean that if the child saw it in another context other than flashcards that s/he would know what it meant.

Better we teach our kids social skills, as they are the foundation of life, and no learning can take place in a bubble so kids need to know how to interact with materials, teachers, parents and each other. That to me is the most important thing.