There are times when I wish I had no scruples. It would seem that if I were such a person then as a teacher, I could perhaps convince people to shell out a whole lot of money for something that is totally unproven.
Y'know, like this guy, Dr. Robert Titzer, PhD., who will probably make a lot of money on his program, "Your Baby Can Read®." Too many will buy this product because the man is a doctor! How many overly anxious parents wanting to have the perfect little baby who they can proudly brag to all of their friends that their baby can read will shell out $200? I'm betting and I say this regrettably, probably too many.
For an excellent write-up on this ridiculous concept, please read the Skepchick's Blog.
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Oh yeah, we'll my two year old can diagram Latin, parse verb tenses and complete trigonemetic proofs. He's also working on a translation of Herodutus from Greek into Old Norse.
Seriously, this man's garbage makes me sick. Just let kids play and they'll learn.
I'm still reeling from the fact that Dr. Mel Levine had to give up his license because he's suspect of abusing boys.
The question is: when is this developmentally appropriate? The only research I've read is that it's good for parents to read to their infants ten picture books/board books a day. Nothing about teaching your babies to read!
What ever happened to the idea that having an "average" kid was a great thing? Or kids being allowed to just "be kids" and play? It's people like him that make my job just that much harder when I have to explain to parents why it is fantastic their kid is right where they should be.
What? Your babies couldn't read?
A few months ago, a friend of mine was trying to get another friend to get it. She said she wanted to do anything that would give her child and advantage. I was sitting there, right in the middle and as a teacher I was skeptical. I have a hard time believing it could be that "easy" to teach a baby to read. I never said anything. Now, I feel totally guilty for not saying anything. Simple exposure to literature/books will do the same things this program proclaims -I wish people weren't always look for the quick fix.
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