News article says pushy parents are getting results

[Tamsyn]

In spite of our being pushy, incredibly, it seems that we are actually getting results.  Is this progress, or do we still have a lot of work ahead of us?  Yay, Krista, MonkiSee was featured.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2247217/Can-teach-baby-read-Its-latest-obsession-pushy-parents--reading-lessons-newborns-And-incredibly-theres-evidence-actually-works.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[maweri]

Oh... the poor babies... 

[kizudo]

Thanks, Tamsyn.

I'd dare say that very few of us would class ourselves as being "pushy" and unfortunately, I think that's why most of us are silent about what we're doing - we don't want to be labeled ourselves...never mind our child getting a label.  Dana was brave to be published declaring what she believes to be true - not to mention daring to be photographed with such a lovely neckline  

But seriously, sometimes I look at my son and wonder what my grandchildren will be like.  Will the belief system that you and I hold of early education be the norm for them?  I hope so.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Dana was brave to be published declaring what she believes to be true - not to mention daring to be photographed with such a lovely neckline  

Did you read the comments below the article? LOL. Funny stuff.  Forget the controversy of infant literacy! hahaha 

[Humbler9]

TMT,

Yes, I read 4 pages of notes.  It was amazing how those people that stayed on subject were under the impression that Tiger Parents (like many of them called EL parents) were very strict and boring.  I think the vast majority of parents who do EL spend an enormous amount of time with their children.  That in itself will pay dividends many years from now.  People posting also felt that EL children were living a life of solitude when it comes to being around other children.  I would venture to guess that many EL children do spend many hours socializing with other children and many hours playing (being children).

As for the other posts that were totally off topic.  Stunning to say the least     Many posters were either jealous or envious.  Not hard to figure that one out.  Anyways...  I felt like EL families were definitely the minority for those posting comments.

[Krista G]

Hello Tamsyn,

Thanks so much for sharing this and to Kizudo who pointed out the thread to me.  I am so excited right now to see that our MonkiSee video was included here.  So cool.  What a great way to start the weekend.  For or against, people can no longer claim they don't know that babies can and do learn to read.  This is such an exciting time.  Ten years ago when I began this adventure, it seemed like no one knew.  YBCR has done an excellent job of educating people to the possibilities of what babies can do.

[Korrale4kq]

I read through the comments too and I really was perplexed and saddened. I have never considered reading or learning in general as anything but fun. The comments that said that kids should be playing and having fun and not doing eduational things made me think that they think of educational things as a horrid thing.
My son loves to read, do math and learn. He is an extremely happy little boy. His childhood is certainly not stymied. Far from it.

[Mandabplus3]

I read through most of the comments..good to see a reading bear plus in there and Larry sticking up for his son too!
So as to pushy...well sorry but yes I think I am! I wasn't pushy ( and I still arnt) with my under 5 kids but once they hit school age, or more accurately the logic stage I am definately pushing them.
What's the difference? Well under age 5 I made sure they did their learning on their trms, in a fun way at their chosen times. Once I decided they understood logic well tough luck kiddo  I set their daily tasks ( which in all honesty are quite minimal! ) and I expect them to complete them. We discuss that practice or repetition makes you better, faster, stronger...and that that is why I expect you to do this extra stuff. So now I must admit to being pushy  I can live with that though. If pushy means that I expect more from my kids than most parents and I know how to get it form them without doing them any harm then I can live with that title.
I don't know if I should have called myself pushy when my kids were younger. I did expect more from my kids than most parents. But I didn't think I was asking for anything that they wernt capable of doing easily. I just decided that the average standard set by the parents around me wasn't going to keep my kids happy.
It's great to see all the EL celebrities coming out of the closet lately. Great to see that a high class education is being seen as a good thing again.

[seastar]

While I enjoyed the article, I must say that I feel uncomfortable when people say they want to teach their children so they have the edge over their peers - I think competitive comments such as these contribute to a negative stereotype of EL parents. I think it also sets people up for a fall as there will always be people more successful/richer/more attactive in the world. Maybe I'm naive but I want to teach my kids so they can fulfil their true potential, whatever that may be, not so they can be the best at everything.
PS congrats to Krista & DadDude for the mentions

[FomerlyMrsObedih_Now_BatmansMama]

Yeah, very interesting article. I noticed it was by the DailyMail which is a bit trashy in the sense that they sensationalise everything they print, and their readership is the broad majority. People who had a difficult time at school automatically think anything 'schoolish' must be horrible. I find that majority of the parents on here lean towards the nerdy side of life, we enjoy reading and learning *shock horror* and we want to share that passion with our kids *shock horror*. "You mean the only way to have fun doesn't involve a ball and lots of other people?"  Yes. You can have fun all on your own with a good book.

What irritates me about the negative comments and attitudes is how poorly considered and thought out they really are. Perfect example of how dangerous ignorance is. You want to set your kid up to 'need' the company of others to be ok? You want them to separate 'work' and 'fun' totally? Go ahead, but don't judge others who do things a different way. I agree with Mandabplus3, I'm not really pushy now but I intend to have rules and expectations as DS grows older - I'm shocked that some people think that's bad parenting. Doing EL with your kid takes a lot of commitment and dedication to learn how they learn so everyone can have a good time learning and growing together. But the masses, their problem is simply not liking anyone who is different from them, because it causes them to take too close a look at the choices they're making - it's not easily taken for granted that they are  doing the only and right thing with their kids (regardless of sometimes absolutely disastrous results that lead to 'kids these days' type comments) if some odd ball somewhere is doing something different and *whisper* getting good results.

The truth is as with all things, people have their position on any particular issue, and debate or facts aint gonna change that. Debate is really just a shouting match (literal or not) and he who has the majority behind them wins. I am so glad that my DS is as outgoing as you like, too friendly in fact. Loving and playful and charming, like most EL kids tend to be. AND he can read and is learning maths in french and english. In time the wind will blow in the other direction and the masses will take a new fashionable/politically correct position that will become the new status quo they can shout about. Until then, we just have to be satisfied knowing we're giving our all to raising whole hearted and well rounded individuals to contribute to society.

[nee1]

People who had a difficult time at school automatically think anything 'schoolish' must be horrible. I find that majority of the parents on here lean towards the nerdy side of life, we enjoy reading and learning *shock horror* and we want to share that passion with our kids *shock horror*. "You mean the only way to have fun doesn't involve a ball and lots of other people?"  Yes. You can have fun all on your own with a good book.

Spot on, MrsObedih. Very well said.

[Korrale4kq]

I agree with Nee. MrsObedih said it well.

[nee1]

MrsObedih,

Your response above came to me again when I read a recent article by Dr Richard Gentry on baby reading. (Dr Gentry is an advocate of early learning). The article is titled ``Joys (and Frustrations) of Teaching Babies to Read'' Here is the link to the entire article: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/201212/joys-and-frustrations-teaching-babies-read.

In that article, that mom (Amanda Stanford) said:

``When I was pregnant with Evie (who is now 2.5 years old) I was a first-year doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh.  I made the mistake of telling a professor of mine that I intended to teach my first child to read as a small baby.  “Why?” he asked me, horrified, “You’ll take her childhood away from her!”

 “Just let her play,” said another American friend.  “She’ll be in school soon enough and miserable – why start earlier than you have to?  Let her have fun while she can.”

Meaning no disrespect to the professor, or friend, I thought, “What nonsense!” My fondest childhood memories are of reading the newspaper at age four with my father at the kitchen table, a rare occurrence with him as he travelled for long periods and I hardly saw him.  I remember hours at the library sitting beside a stack of books, reading with a flashlight under my bed, going on imaginary trips in the stories I read, making my own “books” and filling them with stories – it was all playing.  How could early reading take away my daughter’s childhood when it had so substantially enriched my own?   An ability to read quickly and easily (and early!) made school easy, and left me more time to play outdoors instead of inside doing pointless homework.  Early reading was perfectly normal for me……’’

A very interesting article. Read the entire thing. Here is the link again- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/201212/joys-and-frustrations-teaching-babies-read.

I wish we had more early learning advocates like Dr Richard Gentry. I also found another recent article on his blog titled 'A Family Gives Thanks for 'Your Baby Can Read!' '. Link - http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/201211/family-gives-thanks-your-baby-can-read.  Very interesting testimonial!

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