When I got pregnant, I was 36 years old. I still remember my excitement and happiness. I was thrilled to become Mommy, because family is so important to me and my husband. During my pregnancy, I was paying attention not only to what I ate, but how I ate and where I could do my exercises. I started to think about how I could educate my future newborn son.
One time I was watching a TV show, and a commercial popped up about how you can help your newborn start to read early. This commercial got my attention, and I decided to buy this program called Your Baby Can Read.
I can now say this program has changed my son’s life. However, it was not an easy journey. This program included 5 interactive DVDs, plus Bonus Word Cards by Robert Titzer. There were also bonus Your Child Can Read picture cards—50 words with pictures! Also, it included a daily schedule for how to manage the program to teach your newborn.
Before I began to work with this program, I carefully went through all the DVDs, bonus cards, and picture cards. I decided I would strictly follow the rules and schedule. I always got so excited when I imagined my son reading. But I knew I had to stock up on patience and time to get any results.
When my son turned 3 months old, I began this long but amazing journey. My son watched the first DVD twice a day, in the morning and afternoon. Then I was showing him picture cards like the schedule said, twice a day too. Sometimes my husband would feed him, and I would show the word “nose” and move my finger from right to left. This was so he would know the pattern of how to read.
The Your Baby Can Read program became a special friend for 6 months. Gordon was inseparable from the program. If we were going to a restaurant, we would take picture words. If we were driving, our son would watch a DVD in the car. If he was getting a bath, we would laugh and play with the word cards.
Over the 6 months, we only paid attention to this program. My son did not watch any TV—that was the first rule to success. When we finished the program, my son was not reading. I want you to understand this. Of course, toddlers cannot read at 9 months old, but they can show you what this or that word means. My son did not show me any signal of recognizing words.
I was not upset at all, because every toddler is different. Boys and girls develop at different speeds. I waited until my son turned 18 months old and bravely decided to start this program again from the beginning.
I was amazed when my son turned 20 months old. He started to recognize the words—running, crawling around, and showing me the subjects. I was extremely happy! I could not believe it worked, and my hard work was rewarded and recognized. I remember that I cried from happiness and gave a million kisses to my son. At age 20 months, he knew and could recognize 500 words. This was our victory, and I knew the first foundation of his knowledge was established well. In my next article I will reveal the next steps I took to continue educating my son.