Does Your Baby Read?

Does your baby read? With your Tablet PC? Robert C. Titzer, Ph.D., (from Indiana University) says his baby children read as do other babies who use his system of instruction. I haven’t taken time to check out his research. (Yes, I know that some people consider this a scam. Others discuss its merits.)

Dr. John W. Oller, Jr., co-author of “Milestones: Normal Speech and Language Across the Lifespan” and a distinguished professor at the University of Louisiana, concurs. “The main thing to note about Dr. Titzer’s work is that it demonstrates that infants can learn to read before they can talk and well before 17 months. It refutes the long-standing nonsense that reading is merely converting print to speech. That theory cannot explain the reading comprehension of Aleka Titzer at only 9 months. This was before she could talk.”

Titzer’s claim is consistent with the behavioral science empirical experimental research tradition about learning. His assertion is also consistent with my own trials-and-errors about how people learn as well as with studies I’ve read during the past four decades. It’s consistent with Zig Engelmann’s stories of how he started the Direct Instruction method that was tested in Project Follow Through, the largest empirical experimental research study conducted in education.

One study of infants reading was conducted the delivery room of a hospital in the 1970s; the principal investigator demonstrated that new borns learned to respond to simple words written on flash cards. Sorry, I don’t remember the source, but I’m sure you can find it through ERIC.

And, I remember that Loren received an anecdote from a father whose 2.5 year old used MathPractice successfully on Dad’s Tablet PC.

I wonder who has taught babies to read with Tablet PC? Can you suggest names, articles, web or other sites for me to check out? I remember something about a presentation at wipte 2009. Hmm, I better look that one up.

Babies Can Read Too! Dr. Robert C. Titzer Verifies Babies Benefit From Learning Oral and Written Language Earlier Than Age 4. Marketwire, Mar 02, 2009 10:09 ET. (Retrieved February 7, 2010, 5:22 AM.)

Heiny, L.C. MathPractice. Jumping Minds. (ND) (Retrieved February 7, 2010, 5:36 AM.)