Baby Can Read Scam

Everyone wants to give their child a head start in life, but the “Baby Can Read” scam may do your child more harm than good. If you’ve ever spent time watching day time TV or late night infomercials, you’ve probably seen ads for “Baby Can Read” more than once.

“Baby Can Read” is a program that claims to be able to teach infants how to read early through a combination of DVDs and flash cards. The theory behind the system is that kids who learn how to read earlier will have some educational advantages as they get older. While the folks behind “Baby Can Read” may have started the program with the best of intentions, there is medical evidence that suggests that “Baby Can Read” is nothing more than elaborate scam to bilk well meaning parents out of their hard earned cash.

One area that points to “Baby Can Read” being a scam is that it doesn’t take the differences between memorizing words and reading comprehension into account. The “Baby Can Read” system works by showing a young child a series of flash cards and dvds for 30 minutes per day. These flash cards are designed to get the child to memorize and recognize the words but pay no attention to what the words actually mean. And while learning to recognize words is an important part of learning to read, recognizing words without the ability to put them into context can delay development rather than excel it.

The biggest complaint about “Baby Can Read” is the amount of screen time that it exposes young children to. In 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a study that recommended that children under the age of two not be allowed to to watch TV. Their study indicated that too much screen time at such a young age can lead to sleep disturbances and delayed language development--the very thing that “Baby Can Read is trying to prevent. If you follow the “Baby Can Read” viewing instructions your child will have been exposed to more than 24 hours in front of the boob tube in one week.

Most of the experts agree that the best way to teach a child about language and comprehension is through interactive and creative play. Kids learn by seeing and doing. The more time you spend playing with and talking to your child the more apt they are to pick up language skills through that interaction.

The jury is still out on if “Baby Can Read” is truly a harmful scam. For every message board complaining that “Baby Can Read” is a scam, you can find someone who swears that the program has helped them work miracles with their kids. But scam or not, the bottom line is do your own research before shelling out your hard earned cash for a product that promises the world but may deliver nothing.