Parents Should Teach Children to Read

The United States is the most affluent andteaching once their children attend school. At best,
technologically advanced of all the industrial nationsthe nursery or kindergarten should be an adjunct
on earth. With its "free" compulsory education forto, not a substitute for, the home and the role of
all, a network of state-owned and state-operatedparents.
teachers' training colleges, strict teacherSince parents teach their children to talk, it is only
certification requirements, and rich resourcesnatural that they should teach them to read as
dedicated to education, the appalling illiteracy ratewell. If parents think they should educate their
of the country is a disgrace to educators.children, they should shoulder the responsibility of
However, one cannot ascribe the illiteracy or theteaching their children to read. To teach a child to
general poor reading skill of children in this countryread and write is the greatest gift and enjoyment
entirely to the inefficiency of the educationof any parent.
system; parents are as much to blame asParents, who are interested in their children's
teachers in not efficiently teaching children to read.intellectual development and who are responsive
Teaching children to read should be the foremostto their interest in printed language, can teach
responsibility of parents. Sometimes you cannotbasic reading skills. They not only can but also
blame the parents, because they themselvesmust if they want their children to become early
may be poor readers to begin with; it isand proficient readers. Children are born learners;
something like the blind leading the blind.and parents are natural teachers and main
Even if parents are educated, they may not wanteducators of their children in reading and writing in
to spend quality time with their children. Intheir early years.
addition, many people may erroneously believeParents do not need a course in reading
that in this day and age, information can beinstruction before they can effectively teach
readily obtained from the visual media, such asreading and writing.
the television, so there is little need to turn to theParents often have advantages over their
written word, and hence the general indifferenceteachers. They understand much better the
to developing reading skill in young children.temperamental climate of their own children;their
Reading should always begin at home, and parentsinterests in certain activities and their readiness to
should be the first teachers to their children.learn. In addition, they can provide consistently
Ideally, teaching children to read should be thedaily reinforcement in developing their reading
joint efforts of both parents and teachers. It hasskills;something that may not be possible at
always been a wrong presumption that teachersschool. Furthermore, they can afford the
alone should do the teaching of reading and thatone-on-one relation with them, which is virtually
teaching should be conducted only at school.impossible in the classroom. Finally, they can
Contrary to popular belief, educational researcherscreate a learning environment that makes learning
have found that important aspects of intellectualeasy and possible, since parents already provide
behavior are often acquired at home rather thanfor them all of their basic daily needs.
in school.To conclude, parents can and must teach their
Parenthood is not just a moment; it is an ongoingchildren to read if they want them to be
process. It would be wrong for parents tosuccessful academically.
assume that they could ease their responsibility ofCopyright (c) 2010 Stephen Lau.