My little brother had trouble learning to read, despite being in a family full of readers. Out of all of us (I have 7 siblings) he was the only one that had trouble learning to read. He is very bright, but just wasn't interested. My mom bought him a whole bunch of Calvin & Hobbes books, and after a few weeks he was reading just fine. I think in his case it was the lack of interesting material.

-Steve G.

My little girl (age 4 + 1 month) keeps begging us to teach her to read. We got the book Teach your Child to read in 100 easy lesson. She started out ok, but lost interest. I think she's still a little young, so were not pushing her. Everytime she starts asking we do another lesson though.

I contrast this with some folks I know that absolutely insist a child hasn't the mental ability to read until age 8. There kids range from 19 to 9 and not one of them is a good reader. Hmm I wonder why? Insane parents? The parents aren't readers, so I think I know why they've adopted the philosophy they have, but unfortunatly the kids will never like reading either. The biggest problem is they home school, so the kids haven't a chance.

I think the parents attitude makes a huge difference. My kids are always carrying books around, but then so are their parents.

-Steve G.