Recently, the Today Show did a follow-up report to an expose that aired last fall. The report centered on a product that is marketed to parents of young children and claims to teach toddlers and infants as young as 3 months old to read. Interviews with ten of the top early childhood specialists in the country, from leading universities and organizations, yielded similar reactions from all: the claims are false, misleading, a manipulation of the facts, and even pose risk to babies who are seated in front of television and computer screens for significant periods of time to learn to read.

A quick Google search of “talk to your baby” results in thousands of articles, virtually all of which tell you that what parents have been doing instinctively since the beginning of time is what will prepare children for school and for life. Communicate with your child from the day you bring them into the world. Provide an atmosphere rich in language. Tell stories; read to them; sing songs. Chatter your way through the grocery store and a walk through the park, naming objects, pointing out colors, explaining what things do or what we do with them.

Environments rich in undirected play, pretend experiences and opportunities to create continue to promote oral language skills and storytelling, the building blocks of reading and writing. Toddlers and preschoolers don’t learn in the same way that school-age children do. They are naturally wired to learn and develop through play. It’s how they come to understand the world and their place in it, learn to solve problems, develop social skills and become confident learners.

Which seems like the natural choice, expensive computer programs requiring babies to sit in front of a monitor or giving your baby a play-by-play while making cupcakes?

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Baby talk: 8 easy and fun ways to improve your baby's language skills
Talk With Your Baby.Org
Complaint filed to FTC over ‘Your Baby Can Read’