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| Frequently Asked Questions about Native Reading |
If most children actually have the ability to read before the age of three, why do only very,
very few children read that early now?
The reason most children do not learn to read at the optimal age of one to three years is very simple: very
few children — even those in loving and educated homes — are raised in an environment that truly
supports reading. It is a question of a child’s environment, not of a child’s ability.
The typical early environment of a child does not adequately introduce the symbols of written
language, and it does not do this in the engagingly interactive way that is appropriate for this age. Also,
the natural correlation of written and spoken language is not made clearly and consistently apparent to
children. So, at present, a child’s natural and effortless ability to learn spoken language before three is
only rarely extended into the written word.
I believe this represents a wasted opportunity — not only a wasted opportunity to read earlier, but, at
least for some children, a wasted opportunity to read more easily and fluently, and with better
comprehension, throughout their life.
Don't you have to be a genius to read before the age of three?
The truth is, you have to be a genius to learn to talk before the age of three. But, fortunately, nearly every
child is just such a genius! Many parents have been amazed by the way their child can go from speaking
only a few words at the age of one, and then, only a year or two later, this same child has somehow
transformed into a seemingly non-stop and fully-fluent talker, prattling on about his or her fascinations of
the moment. The reason native reading works is that it takes advantage of this natural genius for learning
spoken language. By creating an environment sufficiently rich in consistent correlations between spoken
language and written language, native reading simply extends a child’s natural language ability into the
realm of the written word.
So you do have to be a genius to read so young, but I don’t believe you have to be an unusual genius.
To be a native reader, you just need to be the sort of creative and curious genius that a two-year-old child
already is.
I do, however, believe that this notion — that only geniuses can read very early — may be inspired by
a valid, but misinterpreted observation. Specifically, I believe that the converse statement may be true.
That is, while you don’t need to be an unusual genius to read before three, I believe that being a native
reader will make you more likely to become a genius. Because native readers gain language fluency
earlier, more deeply, and in its written form — and because literacy is a fundamental tool for further
intellectual growth — native reading will help a child use the skill of reading to learn many important and
interesting things. And, like language itself, native readers will tend to learn these things, which reading
makes accessible, earlier and more deeply, too.
You see, learning to read is not a glorified parlor trick: encouraging native reading is not at all like
teaching your child to memorize all the state capitals, for example, which is a specialized and largely
useless set of information which has little connection to more general and more important knowledge.
Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would want to clutter up a child’s brain with such trivia. But reading, in
contrast, is very different: reading is a fundamental skill that gives your child fluent access to nearly all the
information of human culture. Reading is not an end in itself; it helps a child to develop his or her unique
talents, intelligence, and interests. By reading earlier and more effortlessly, the process of further
intellectual development can start earlier, and learning will be more rewarding and less frustrating for a
native-reading child.
Therefore, I am not at all surprised by cases of famous and accomplished writers, moguls,
mathematicians, and other “geniuses” who were, in fact, early readers. I think this observation is often the
root of the misconception that you have to be a genius to read so young. In fact, when they first saw my
young children read precociously, many people brought up the tale of Mozart reading and writing music at
a very young age. I believe it is important to realize that while Mozart’s genius might have, in part, led to his
early musical literacy, it may also have been his early fluency reading and writing music that helped to
develop his genius.
Isn't it wrong to push children to read when they are so young?
If you taught babies and toddlers to read the way older children are typically taught in school, I would have
this objection myself. But that’s not how the method of native reading works. In fact, in a very real way you
cannot teach native reading at all at this age, you can only promote it. But properly promoted, very young
children can pick up reading on their own initiative, at their own pace, and when they are each individually
ready for it. There are no worksheets or drills or exams in native reading. It is not a grind. Instead, native
reading works by setting up obvious correlations between spoken and written language; it is then your
child’s natural genius for language that picks up on these correlations. Done with consistency and
patience, this leads naturally to reading. You cannot, and you should not, push children or somehow force
them in any way. In fact, I believe that any attempt to force this process will generally only distract a young
child, and will greatly slow down progress towards reading.
My children, for example, both learned to read essentially independently. They learned in much the
same way that they learned to crawl and walk and, particularly, in the same way that they, like nearly all
other children, learned to talk. By independently I don’t mean that they learned to read alone — in fact,
native reading is a very social method — what I mean is that they learned at their own pace and through
play that they very much enjoyed. But as a result of this play, my children learned to read at ages most
people found amazing — at the age of two-and-a-half years for my daughter, and at just one-and-a-half
for my son — and they learned effortlessly and with a great deal of enjoyment in the process.
The native-reading techniques are designed to help you create a rich, interesting, and fun
environment in which your child is encouraged to spontaneously discover reading, and to find joy in doing
so. Your child will learn to read by observation, by interaction and, essentially, by playing.
Teaching native reading means simply extending your child’s spontaneous genius for language into
the written word. Nobody worries about pushing a child into talking too early. Taught natively, you cannot
read too early either. The techniques of native reading help you create a home where children learn to
read using the same language aptitude that naturally leads them to speak — an aptitude that is
burgeoning in children between the ages of one and three.
Are children really supposed to read before they are three?
Viewed from a certain perspective, reading is an unnatural act: reading is a cultural innovation that has
only become widespread in the last few generations. So, from that perspective, this misconception is not a
misconception at all. But, remember, from this same perspective, reading is still an unnatural act for a child
in kindergarten or in the first grade. Even adults aren’t supposed to read. Until the last few hundred years,
only a tiny minority of people on this planet could fluently read and write. (Of course, many other aspects
of modern life are unnatural in the same sense that reading is unnatural: for example, typing on a
keyboard, driving a car, riding a bicycle, finding square roots, buying insurance, etc.)
But, in an important way, the belief that children aren’t supposed to read before the age of three is a
damaging misconception. Learning to read early makes sense because it is natural to learn to talk early in
childhood. Talking is generally mastered between the ages of one and three (although the neural
foundations of learning speech do start from the first months of life). The benefit of native reading is that it
harnesses this natural developmental window, and uses it to learn the deeply-related skill of reading right
along with talking. By doing this early, deep neural connections will be made between the naturally-
acquired oral language and the deeply-related, but unnaturally abstract, act of reading. Doing this makes
reading a less abstract and more natural skill. Reading becomes natively known, just as the ability to talk
and to understand speech is known natively. A native reader has a “mother tongue” not only in the spoken
language, but also, deeply, in the written language.
(There is more detailed discussion of questions and misconceptions in the book Native Reading:
How to Teach Your Child to Read, Easily and Naturally, Before the Age of Three, by Timothy D.
Kailing, from which some of this content has been adapted.)
very few children read that early now?
The reason most children do not learn to read at the optimal age of one to three years is very simple: very
few children — even those in loving and educated homes — are raised in an environment that truly
supports reading. It is a question of a child’s environment, not of a child’s ability.
The typical early environment of a child does not adequately introduce the symbols of written
language, and it does not do this in the engagingly interactive way that is appropriate for this age. Also,
the natural correlation of written and spoken language is not made clearly and consistently apparent to
children. So, at present, a child’s natural and effortless ability to learn spoken language before three is
only rarely extended into the written word.
I believe this represents a wasted opportunity — not only a wasted opportunity to read earlier, but, at
least for some children, a wasted opportunity to read more easily and fluently, and with better
comprehension, throughout their life.
Don't you have to be a genius to read before the age of three?
The truth is, you have to be a genius to learn to talk before the age of three. But, fortunately, nearly every
child is just such a genius! Many parents have been amazed by the way their child can go from speaking
only a few words at the age of one, and then, only a year or two later, this same child has somehow
transformed into a seemingly non-stop and fully-fluent talker, prattling on about his or her fascinations of
the moment. The reason native reading works is that it takes advantage of this natural genius for learning
spoken language. By creating an environment sufficiently rich in consistent correlations between spoken
language and written language, native reading simply extends a child’s natural language ability into the
realm of the written word.
So you do have to be a genius to read so young, but I don’t believe you have to be an unusual genius.
To be a native reader, you just need to be the sort of creative and curious genius that a two-year-old child
already is.
I do, however, believe that this notion — that only geniuses can read very early — may be inspired by
a valid, but misinterpreted observation. Specifically, I believe that the converse statement may be true.
That is, while you don’t need to be an unusual genius to read before three, I believe that being a native
reader will make you more likely to become a genius. Because native readers gain language fluency
earlier, more deeply, and in its written form — and because literacy is a fundamental tool for further
intellectual growth — native reading will help a child use the skill of reading to learn many important and
interesting things. And, like language itself, native readers will tend to learn these things, which reading
makes accessible, earlier and more deeply, too.
You see, learning to read is not a glorified parlor trick: encouraging native reading is not at all like
teaching your child to memorize all the state capitals, for example, which is a specialized and largely
useless set of information which has little connection to more general and more important knowledge.
Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would want to clutter up a child’s brain with such trivia. But reading, in
contrast, is very different: reading is a fundamental skill that gives your child fluent access to nearly all the
information of human culture. Reading is not an end in itself; it helps a child to develop his or her unique
talents, intelligence, and interests. By reading earlier and more effortlessly, the process of further
intellectual development can start earlier, and learning will be more rewarding and less frustrating for a
native-reading child.
Therefore, I am not at all surprised by cases of famous and accomplished writers, moguls,
mathematicians, and other “geniuses” who were, in fact, early readers. I think this observation is often the
root of the misconception that you have to be a genius to read so young. In fact, when they first saw my
young children read precociously, many people brought up the tale of Mozart reading and writing music at
a very young age. I believe it is important to realize that while Mozart’s genius might have, in part, led to his
early musical literacy, it may also have been his early fluency reading and writing music that helped to
develop his genius.
Isn't it wrong to push children to read when they are so young?
If you taught babies and toddlers to read the way older children are typically taught in school, I would have
this objection myself. But that’s not how the method of native reading works. In fact, in a very real way you
cannot teach native reading at all at this age, you can only promote it. But properly promoted, very young
children can pick up reading on their own initiative, at their own pace, and when they are each individually
ready for it. There are no worksheets or drills or exams in native reading. It is not a grind. Instead, native
reading works by setting up obvious correlations between spoken and written language; it is then your
child’s natural genius for language that picks up on these correlations. Done with consistency and
patience, this leads naturally to reading. You cannot, and you should not, push children or somehow force
them in any way. In fact, I believe that any attempt to force this process will generally only distract a young
child, and will greatly slow down progress towards reading.
My children, for example, both learned to read essentially independently. They learned in much the
same way that they learned to crawl and walk and, particularly, in the same way that they, like nearly all
other children, learned to talk. By independently I don’t mean that they learned to read alone — in fact,
native reading is a very social method — what I mean is that they learned at their own pace and through
play that they very much enjoyed. But as a result of this play, my children learned to read at ages most
people found amazing — at the age of two-and-a-half years for my daughter, and at just one-and-a-half
for my son — and they learned effortlessly and with a great deal of enjoyment in the process.
The native-reading techniques are designed to help you create a rich, interesting, and fun
environment in which your child is encouraged to spontaneously discover reading, and to find joy in doing
so. Your child will learn to read by observation, by interaction and, essentially, by playing.
Teaching native reading means simply extending your child’s spontaneous genius for language into
the written word. Nobody worries about pushing a child into talking too early. Taught natively, you cannot
read too early either. The techniques of native reading help you create a home where children learn to
read using the same language aptitude that naturally leads them to speak — an aptitude that is
burgeoning in children between the ages of one and three.
Are children really supposed to read before they are three?
Viewed from a certain perspective, reading is an unnatural act: reading is a cultural innovation that has
only become widespread in the last few generations. So, from that perspective, this misconception is not a
misconception at all. But, remember, from this same perspective, reading is still an unnatural act for a child
in kindergarten or in the first grade. Even adults aren’t supposed to read. Until the last few hundred years,
only a tiny minority of people on this planet could fluently read and write. (Of course, many other aspects
of modern life are unnatural in the same sense that reading is unnatural: for example, typing on a
keyboard, driving a car, riding a bicycle, finding square roots, buying insurance, etc.)
But, in an important way, the belief that children aren’t supposed to read before the age of three is a
damaging misconception. Learning to read early makes sense because it is natural to learn to talk early in
childhood. Talking is generally mastered between the ages of one and three (although the neural
foundations of learning speech do start from the first months of life). The benefit of native reading is that it
harnesses this natural developmental window, and uses it to learn the deeply-related skill of reading right
along with talking. By doing this early, deep neural connections will be made between the naturally-
acquired oral language and the deeply-related, but unnaturally abstract, act of reading. Doing this makes
reading a less abstract and more natural skill. Reading becomes natively known, just as the ability to talk
and to understand speech is known natively. A native reader has a “mother tongue” not only in the spoken
language, but also, deeply, in the written language.
(There is more detailed discussion of questions and misconceptions in the book Native Reading:
How to Teach Your Child to Read, Easily and Naturally, Before the Age of Three, by Timothy D.
Kailing, from which some of this content has been adapted.)
| Many people have questions when they first encounter native reading. Here are answers to some of the most common questions. |
| Copyright © 2008 by Timothy D. Kailing. All rights reserved. |
