Preschool Planning

                                                                     Your Baby Can Read 
By Meghan

Blog Extra 1: Are DVD’s a good way to help my baby or toddler learn reading and language skills?

March 8, 2011


It is impossible to open a parenting magazine or watch children’s television without seeing ads for DVD’s to improve your baby’s intelligence, teaches your baby to read, or teach language skills. When you are a new parent and want to do the very best for your baby they are hard to ignore! Do these materials really work? Or could they actually be harmful? Are they worth the time and money? Are there other methods to teach these skills that just as good? Or is it just as effective to wait until a child is at least 4 year old to teach reading? All for these questions came up when my daughter was a new born.

Sometime between the ages of three and four, before I attended preschool, I learned to read. Reading was something my family just did. I wanted to read, too. Books were read to me, and I read the books to my parents. I want this skill to become an important part of my daughter’s life. The big question was and is how best to accomplish this.

We purchased many of the Baby Einstein DVD’s and the Your Baby Can Read materials. They were relatively expensive. I hope they are beneficial, or at least not harmful. I decided to see what the experts have to say.

In an article for Time Magzine, Baby Einstein’s: Not So Smart After All, by Alice Park,  a spokesperson for The American Academy of Pediatrics expresses the view that no child under two should watch television. "Babies require face-to-face interaction to learn," continues Dr. Vic Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University Of New Mexico School Of Medicine. "They don't get that interaction from watching TV or videos. In fact, the watching probably interferes with the crucial wiring being laid down in their brains during early development."


This makes sense in many ways. Babies need to relate to people. A baby’s vision is not good for watching a television or DVD’s. Repetition is something a baby enjoys. So it is probably necessary to view a program repeatedly. Watching regular, even educational television programming or DVD’s alone, is probably not an advantage for a baby under two years of age.

What about the Baby Einstein and Your Baby Can Read DVD’s that are made especially for babies? These are two widely advertised programs. So I decided to research them. They are also the materials I purchased for my daughter.

One of the most advertised DVD’s is Baby Einstein Series. Recent studies have shown that these materials do not increase the intelligence of a baby. However many physiologist believe that the music of Mozart does benefit a baby. The Baby Einstein DVD’s do present music, including the music of Mozart, with lovely and rhythmic visuals that I enjoy watching. The nonverbal puppet skits are funny. Art is shown in some of the DVD’s, as well as other babies, children’s songs and finger plays. This does not seem harmful.

This is taken from the Baby Einstein website. The Baby Einstein Company believes along with the child development experts with whom we have consulted, that parent-child interaction is one of the most critical elements to the development of a healthy and happy baby during the first three years of life. Baby Einstein products are not designed to make babies smarter. Rather, Baby Einstein products are specifically designed to engage babies and provide parents with tools to help expose their little ones to the world around them in playful and engaging ways — inspiring a baby's natural curiosity.



That being said, The Baby Einstein Company is aware of the ongoing discussions regarding children and television viewing, particularly as it pertains to infants under the age of two years old. And, while we respect the American Academy of Pediatrics, we do not believe that their recommendation of no television for children under the age of two reflects the reality of today's parents, families and households – for example, a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 68% of all babies under two years old watch screen media on any given day. The Baby Einstein Company believes that when used properly, developmentally-appropriate video content can be a useful tool for parents and little ones to enjoy together.

Baby Einstein describes their products as an interactive developmental entertainment program of infant DVDs, CDs, books, toys and activity products designed engage and entertain babies and toddlers. In my opinion they have many ideas for parents to use to interact with their babies.

The other DVD’s that I purchased for my daughter, and want to research is Your Baby Can Read. Unlike some other materials this basic set must be purchased all at once. This is an investment of over $100.00. Spending this much takes some thought about how effective it will be, but the Your Baby Can Read website points out that parents spend 90% of their time and money on a child’s education after the brain is 90% developed.  A baby’s brain is a sponge for knowledge, thriving on stimulation and develops at a phenomenal pace: nearly 90% during the first five years of life! The best and easiest time to learn a language is during the infant and toddler years, when the brain is creating thousands of synapses every second – allowing a child to learn both the written word and spoken word simultaneously, and with great ease.

The material does use all methods to teach a child to read. First they emphases the shape of the word, then context and phonics are used. Results are slow. One DVD is to be shown once or twice a day for a month before progressing to the next one. Parent involvement is necessary. There are books and word cards. It is usually not possible to see much progress until the child is talking.


This brings us back to the American Academy of Pediatrics study that says a child that watches more than one hour of video a day will know fewer words than a child that does not. That is probably why the company suggests that this is the only DVD or television that the baby watches. Since babies vary at the age they learn to talk. (National Center on Birth Defects and Develoopmental Disabilities says an 18 month old baby should know between 5 and 20 words.) It seems that many factor influence when a baby begins to learn to talk. It is difficult to make comparisons.

In conclusion I feel that if this type of material is available in your home it should be used as just one part of a baby’s introduction to language and reading. I personally intend to limit the DVD viewing, and to spend an equal or greater amount of time reading to and interacting with my daughter. Still. The DVD’s are entertaining and offer an opportunity for a happy time with my baby.