Submitted by Mike, Santa Fe

Should I push my preschooler to learn how to read?

Answered by Jacque Grillo , Director, Lone Mountain Children's Center

Resist the inclination to focus too soon and too intensely on letters and consonant sounds. Trust me that if your child's early years are rich in age-appropriate, play-based activities, there'll be lots of time and opportunity when he's at just the right point of readiness to learn the basics of reading. After all, that's what Kindergarten will be for. Most studies indicate there's no long term benefit in accelerating the process of learning to read. And by focusing too early on the complex and abstract skills required to read, before a child is developmentally ready, we actually incur a higher risk of failure.