Your Baby Can Read, But Should They?

There is much debate over the rapidly growing early childhood education industry.  Most of us have seen the commercials or YouTube videos of babies reading, and if you are like me, the first time you saw it you thought, “That’s  Fake!” However, most will agree that it may be possible for your baby to read. But just because it’s possible, doesn’t make it a good idea.

                A recent study conducted by the University of Texas, Austin, represents one of the first studies to examine the transfer of learning from video to another 2D medium such as a book. Results showed babies were 22 times more successful at identifying a shape in a book after seeing the shape on a DVD. As a parent we want to offer our children every advantage available to them. So if it appears that these “Your Baby Can Read” videos are in fact real, why would we as parents not jump on the opportunity to give our children this advantage?

                The best way to answer this question is to look at the possible advantages and disadvantages being argued. On the one side they say by teaching your baby to read before preschool will give them an advantage over the other students, however, they say these advantages early readers have quickly level.  It is also argued that teaching to read at an earlier age is also easier much like learning to speak more than one language. While the other side agrees that learning to speak another language is easier to learn as babies, learning a second language and learning to read are completely different things and require the use of different parts of the brain. Marsha Lucas Ph.D. states in Psychology Today, “the brains of young children aren’t yet developed enough to read without it costing them in the organization and “wiring” of their brain. The areas involved in language and reading aren’t fully online and aren’t connected until age seven or eight. If we’re teaching children to do tasks which their brains are not yet developed to do, the brain will stumble upon other, less efficient ways to accomplish the tasks—which lays down wiring in some funky ways, and can lead to later learning disabilities, including visual processing deficits.” However there is one thing both sides do agree on, that no matter what you are trying to teach your child at an early age it should not be forced, it should be fun like a game for the child. If the child seems uninterested or unhappy you should stop and consider a different approach.

Is  teaching your baby to read offering any real advantages worth taking over the potential disadvantages you could be creating for your child? Remember the most important thing you can do for your baby is create a healthy, loving and safe environment for your baby to strive in.

Sources:

BrillBaby.com
BrainyBaby.com
PsychologyToday.com