Lay the Groundwork for A Lifetime of Reading

At school, reading is the essential tool for success in every subject, so it is vital that you lay the proper groundwork for your child.

According to Bernabe Feria, an expert in reading sciences who holds a doctorate from Oxford University, children learn to read in three stages. They are as follows:

* Stage 1: This stage typically lasts until children are 5 or 6 years old. Children in this stage learn to recognize and write the letters of the alphabet and to use punctuation, and also begin “sounding out” clusters of written letters that form short words.

* Stage 2: This stage continues until children reach age 6 or 7. They learn to immediately recognize a few hundred words on sight and to read in phrases and even whole sentences.

* Stage 3: Children reach this stage around age 8 and typically no later than 10. At this stage they learn how to read with the facility and fluency with which they use spoken language, and should be able to recognize, appreciate and emulate finely crafted language.

As a parent, you can help your children learn the value of reading at any stage through an innovative program called ReadEnt, developed by...