Early to Read: Early to Achieve by Greg Maloney My daughter bursts into the room, thrusts one of her books at me and says in her high, piping voice: “Let’s read!” I place her on my lap, and she reads: “The children sing in far Japan, The children sing in Spain; The organ with the organ man Is singing in the rain.” The word “rain” spurts out of her with gusto and enthusiasm, and she chuckles with delight for having read the entire rhyme without error. To see the sparkle in her eyes and hear the excitement in her voice is to realize that reading is one of her greatest joys. She is 2 -1/2 years old. When many persons hear of a very young child who can read, their first thought is usually that the child is “gifted..” The child may or may not have a high intelligence quotient. Psychologists have not yet come to any agreement on how to determine an individual’s innate intelligence; however, what researchers have learned is that virtually every mother who has tried to teach her very young child to read, regardless of the teaching method, has met with success. The question is: If children can learn to read three or four years earlier than they are presently learning, why don’t we teach them? Opponents of early education offer two arguments: 1. If we educate children too early, we will deprive them of their childhood; 2. Educated children will then be so far ahead of their peer group that they will not “fit in” with others of their age. The argument that early education deprives a child of childhood probably derives from images of mothers forcing their children to sit still and demanding they learn to read. Whenever a child is forced to learn, and love for the child is not the motive, one can expect the learning situation to be stilted and joyless. Most mothers find that when given a chance, their child is eager to learn and to achieve. As the child learns, he feels a growing sense of accomplishment; and thus he experiences the joy inherent in achievement. He is exposed early to a great amount of information, thereby expanding his chances to obtain knowledge. Instead of depriving him in any way, the child’s imagination and playtime is enriched by his larger knowledge. The argument that a child who learns reading early will be too far ahead of his peer group has some validity in today’s society-at-large. Many schools have not established a curriculum for the “gifted’ child. Understandably, the child who can already read ‘Alice in Wonderland” will not be satisfied with a “Dick and Jane” primer. Children who still cannot read may tend to feel uncomfortable and resentful of those who can. In the city of Stelle, early reading will pose no problems for school youngsters. The school system is geared for individuals, not classes; so regardless of the child’s scholastic level, he will “fit in” among his peer group, and still have challenges to meet. Furthermore, early reading will not be unique among Stelle pre-schoolers. Many mothers, faced with the challenge of teaching their children to read, may have lingering doubts whether it is really worth the effort. From personal experience, my wife and I are convinced that it is indeed worth the effort. Our daughter often settles down during the day and reads to herself for pleasure; also she loves to read to friends who visit. Sometimes when we are reading in the evenings, she will get one of her books out and sit next to us and quietly join the family read-in. Her ability to participate in our activity seems to have given her a greater sense of maturity, and of being an essential, integral part of the family.
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