I feel like early reading is such a tricky topic because there are so many different issues mixed up in it and everyone seems to read with their own slant. I've yet to see any article address all the issues in an honest, reasonable way, differentiating between taught and self-taught early reading, and between ND, MG, and HG kids, and acknowledging that generalities do not apply to every individual child. When I see articles like this one, it does trouble me because I know that people are going to come away with a wide variety of different ideas--some accurate and some totally, bizarrely wrong.
I think the contradictions are what disturb me the most. It seems the overall theme is that early reading doesn't matter; that parents who say their kids are early readers are often wrong or lying, or, worse, pushy; that other skills, like emotional development and pencil-holding are more important for academic success; and that you can encourage your child to be an early reader by __________. Um...wait, I thought it didn't matter?
