Teach Your Smart Child to Read

Teach your child to read as early as possible if you are a smart parent.

The ability to read holds the key to intelligence as it unlocks the door to a vast realm of human knowledge. There is, in fact, a very close connection between reading ability and intelligence, since children learn mostly by reading. In addition, the skill of reading, once acquired, will be used and enjoyed all their lives, just like swimming or cycling.

Therefore, reading is a human skill fundamental to academic and intellectual progress, and the failure of schools to teach all children to read efficiently has become an acute problem in education, especially in the United States. Illiteracy in America is still growing at an alarming rate. In fact, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey, about 42 million adult Americans cannot read, and another 50 million people whose reading skill is so poor that they can hardly be qualified as literates.

Reading should always begin at home, and parents should be children's first teachers. Ideally, teaching children to read should be the joint efforts of both parents and teachers. It has always been a wrong presumption that teachers alone should do the teaching of reading and that teaching should be conducted only at school. Contrary to popular belief, educational researchers have found that important aspects of intellectual behavior are often acquired at home rather than at school.

Parenthood is not just a moment; it is an ongoing process. It would be wrong for parents to assume that they could ease their responsibility of teaching once their children attend school. At best, the nursery or kindergarten should be an adjunct to, not a substitute for, the home and the role of parents.

Since parents teach their children to talk, it is only natural that they should teach them to read as well. If parents think they should educate their children, they should shoulder the responsibility of teaching their children to read. To teach their children to read and write is the greatest gift and enjoyment of all parents. If you do notenjoy your child, why did you bother having one in the first place?

29 Smart Steps to Teach Your Smart Kid to Read

I began teaching my daughter to read when she just turned two, and she mastered her reading skill by three-and-a-half. If I could do it three decades ago, you can do it too.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © by Stephen Lau