Going All the Way
If you master the basics of reading and writing promptly, your child is freer to develop their intellectual skills.
Widen your child’s reading. The quality of the books being read is so important. This is why I always say check the quality of your child’s book.
Reading silently is an important skill. I start early with just a page or two.
In order to develop your child's ability to read more advanced or more complex stories and books, you could read the beginning of the book aloud (it’s sometimes very descriptive), or indeed any difficult passages. Alternatively, you could read silently together.
This is a period when a youngster can become an independent reader of ‘good’ books. This could mean modern classics such as The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier or older classics such as A Christmas Carol by Dickens.
Your aim, and indeed, the school’s too, is to help your child to ‘read for pleasure’. This usually means novels but can include factual books, biographies and autobiographies. Many say reading for pleasure leads to economic success in life. It’s not a guarantee, and you can certainly be a successful adult and not read a great many novels. However, it definitely develops the mind, imagination and empathy – and, surely, one of the most important things – it can help you through the vicissitudes of life.
