If you're a buyer of those "baby genius" videos for your infant and are horribly disappointed that baby still can't breeze through The Grapes of Wrath, you might find some satisfaction in the fact that one of these "baby genius" companies, Your Baby Can Read!, has shut down due to the cost of fighting false advertising claims.
The company had been in the crosshairs of a watchdog group and the FTC for making misleading claims about the genius potential of your little tykes. Your Baby Can Read! sold videos for babies as young as 3 months old that purported to teach baby how to read. In reality, there's no proof that a baby, who at this stage can barely tell her toes from her tongue, can read.
The group who called for the company to be investigated, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, says, "By making grandiose promises, Your Baby Can Read! exploited parents’ natural tendency to want what’s best for their children."
Um, yeah, and exploited parents' natural tendency to see their kid as the smartest kid who ever lived. Once, a friend of mine excitedly reported that her toddler had miraculously deciphered how to drink out of the toilet. She seemed to think this was proof that the tyke would grow up to be Stephen Hawking. I had to remind her that my cat knew how to drink out of the toilet too.
CCFC has already taken on Baby Einstein, BrainyBaby, and BabyFirstTV.
Plus, a bunch of studies have linked too much childhood screen time to issues like depression, obesity, insomnia, and slower language development.
Here's the deal, everyone: If your baby or toddler isn't reading, doing arithmetic, or explaining the origins of the universe yet, despite hours and hours of baby genius videos, it's not because your kid is dumb. But you might be. Any time you're tempted to buy your kid a baby genius video, put the money in a college savings account instead.
Do you buy your kid baby genius videos?
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Image via YourBabyCanRead
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Comments 7
As an early childhood professional I am THRILLED that this product is off the market!!
HA! I knew that crap was bogus! Honestly, I think people are just plain dumb to buy into this crap. Not only that, but I see it as being detrimental to a child as they are being pushed to do something that they are not ready for, developmentally speaking, as well as the emotional turmoil they might experience when their parents express frustration or disappointment when the child is not able to perform. Kids are natural learners, they just need the right environment. I will admit that we had some Baby Einstein DVD's when my daughter was a baby BUT they were given to us by a cousin. We did actually purchase ONE Einestein DVD, the sign language one, which actually has something useful to teach.
lol! My mom was talking about how she wanted to buy my daughter this and I told her not to... I knew it was crap!
Funny, because it worked for my kids so far. I wish the information was better organized and more logically presented, but by the time he was 2 my oldest knew and could recognize all the words from the movie (twice a day, that and an episode of Thomas was all he watched) and match all of our fridge magnet animals to the word magnets of their names. He's now 4 and reading on a second grade level. We also all read CONSTANTLY in our house, (had over 40 boxes of books when we moved). Our almost three year old, who is less verbal, can match word magnets with the picture, as can our 18 month old. I love how people trash things when for others, it works. It gave me 30 minutes morning and evening to get things done, and helped my kids. We are a family of sight readers anyway, it's how my husband and I both learned, and apparently our kids brains are wired the same way.
Wow... how disappointing. We bought this program and it's worked for my 15 month old son. He can read ALL of his flash cards.
Wow, just wow. First I would like to commend you for bragging about making fun of your friend who was sharing a personal story about her child. Kudos to you. You then compared her child, a person, to a cat. Bravo. Do you honestly believe that children who watch these videos or partake in these activities will be linked to childhood obesity, insomnia, and slower language development? People spending this much money on a product for the betterment of their children will obviously let the TV raise their child, so true. Don't forget about the depression! Do you know anything about what you are blogging about? I believe if you researched before you wrote, you would realize it is not based around watching TV. Parents use flash cards and read with their child, god forbid spending time with them. I also would like to add that I enjoyed how you insinuate that parents are dumb for buying this product. Parents spending time with their children to better their education, DUMB INDEED!