How to Teach Your Baby to Read: The Gentle Revolution

I came across this book at a friend’s house and immediately bought my own copy. I had heard of people teaching tiny children to read but didn’t really know how exactly to go about it. This book will give you hope ( especially if you’re worried about homeschooling Dyslexic children!) My sister started this program with her 16 month old only a month ago and he is already saying some of the words when she shows the cards. Children seem to really enjoy it !

Doman's books are a must read, and you should start with this one. After you read it, read the How to Teach Math (much easier to do the program because you can purchase an inexpensive kit from the author's institute). If you are into it, read Encyclopedic knowledge. I also recommend you to take the author's courses, in Philadelphia, but they are a couple of thousand dollars or more. Do it all before your baby is born. I read this book 10 years before my wife got pregnant and it changed my life... and my daughter's (I hope). It changed how I saw child's development. Now she is 3. But don't get too carried away. Believe me, some parents do get carried away. The ones in Philadelphia seem to belong to a sect. Just enjoy your children and add this program to the fun. Although I spend a large amount of money with the course, I really don't do much of the program. Still, I raise my daughter differently from what I would otherwise have done without having read this book. You will not be the same person after you read it. And it is not about teaching your baby to read. It is about teaching your baby about life. You will have more respect for your child and will not let your baby grow "by accident." Instead, you will be able to actively participate in the learning process and challenge your child to fulfill his or her intellectual potential. If you have a child, or if you don't but you love someone, this is the only book that you must read. Remember, read it before the baby is born. This book (or the others in the collection) are a wonderful present for an expecting mother.

I stumbled across this book a little over 24 years ago. I read it immediately and found a wonderful philosophy: 1) babies are learning beings; 2) learning should be fun; 3) learning should always be a reward, NEVER a punishment; 4) always stop BEFORE the child wants to; 5) mom and dad are the best teachers; 6) the whole word method is the best way to start (rather than phonics). I started when my son was 17 months old. By the time he was two he was reading Dr. Seuss and similar authors on his own. He was reading Hardy Boys BEFORE Kindergarten! He went to MIT majoring in mathematics on a full scholarship and has recently finished an MS in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins. He will go to a first tier law school next fall. This book was a GREAT start and a great book to learn about teaching. I recommend it without reservaton!

If you want to have a viable future where you can reach your full potential one of the single most valuable skills you can acquire is solid reading ability. "How to Teach Your Baby to Read" walks parents through a program for teaching the very young (even less than a year) how to recognize words and read. Needless to say, they use the method of learning to recognize whole words by sight and know what they mean. You will find educators that decry this system as well as those who embrace it. While there are strong opinions on both sides and I am no expert on the pros and cons of word recognition vs. phonetic, the bottom line seems to be that your child does learn to read.The techniques are clearly explained in detail and easy for any parent to follow along and apply. With regular practice in a fun environment children learn the words easily and are soon on their way. This does require involvement by the parents and a time commitment. However, the time commitment is minimal considering the results achieved. This is a highly recommended book for anyone wanting to give their kids a big jump on schooling or who are home schooling.

I don't remember ever not knowing how to read. This is because when I was just a year old, my dad bought a copy of this book. After reading it, he wrote words in big red block print on solid, kid-proof pieces of white cardboard. And I *flew* with it. I got out of this book what my dad put into it, and then some. I remember how much fun I had. When he came home from work, I'd beg him to pull out the flashcards: "Get the words, daddy!" A couple years later, when my sister was 2 and I was 4, *I* taught *her* to read. She didn't initially take to it as well as I did, but I made it a game: I'd hide the flash cards around the house and send her off in search of the right words. She loved it! So if at first you don't succeed, you can modify the system to suit your baby. At about the same time, I entered kindergarten. I remember wondering why they made such a big deal about my ability to read. After all, as surprising as it was to them, it was nothing unusual to *me*! Flash forward 20 years. Where am I in 1999? I'm a very successful graduate student in Boston. Merit scholarships have taken me right through college. I worked hard to get here, and I know my dad started me on the right foot. Did I benefit from this book? Yes. When I have children, will I teach them by this system? Absolutely. This is the kind of gift keeps on giving. Your child will cherish it for years to come.

I picked up Doman's book ready to scoff. Teach your baby to read! What a parent ego trip! I read the book. And I turned 180 degrees. Everything he said made perfect sense. So I read other books on teaching toddlers to read. Some books were better than others (the worst rewarded children with candy). I liked Doman best because of the joy he expressed and the respect he accorded parents. Teaching my 2-yr old to read was an incredibly beautiful experience for us both! And she did learn: 100 words by age 3, 100 books by age 4, her second language by age 5 (she attended kindergarten in a foreign country). She has always read beautifully--not the halting wordcalling of children who read letter by letter, but with the fluid expression of someone reading for meaning. And she, now 11, is very happy with herself and her abilities. What more could a parent ask? A final note: thuh ing-glish lang-gwij izunt funetik, although it was in Chaucer's time. Parents eager to part with big bucks for "Hooked on Phonics" would do better to read Doman first.