Reading, Comprehension and Writing

Not long after my son started school, he was given a book and asked to read the page. After a minute's silence, he was asked "Can you read it?" to which he replied that he already had and was then quizzed on the content to test his comprehension. The teacher told me this because it is apparently unusual for young children to read without sounding out the words.

The teacher further commented that some of the children whose reading skills seemed to be ahead of the others did not take in the text and were unable to answer questions relating to the passage they had just read so beautifully.

My son enunciates very well and his comprehension is good. His writing, however, let him down and the primary school provided additional coaching in English and literacy to help him pass his SATs. Since today's focus is on using computers rather than pen and paper, he is thriving and is self-motivated to correct spelling or grammatical errors. In fact, as there are no longer any demands for pages of hand-written submissions, his writing has become neat and legible.

Good result, all round.