re: Reading
In my opinion, reading to your kid as often as possible comes very close behind making sure they have food. This does more to teach them reading than anything they get at schools.
Amen. It teaches them to want to read.
I used to read to my kids at bedtime long after both became excellent readers on their own. Actually worked our way through Lord of the Rings once.
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. I stuck with short subject like Tom Sawyer and The Jungle Books.
Interestingly, both kids now like dozing off to books on tape in the dark.
Yours too? LOL!