Reply #26: I had the hardest time understanding what teachers were talking about when they

[hedgehog]

discussed different aspects of reading. Then, as I interacted with other people's children, I realized that learning to be able to follow a story is an acquired skill. The best thing I ever did for my kids was to talk with them all the time about everything and to read to them. (Of course, I did saddle them with my accent) We used to look at bugs and watch the folks from the gas company install new pipelines. We walked around the neighborhood daily.

We were lucky; I was able to be at home with them until they started school. More and more, I think that two symptoms of what's wrong with our society today is that we have to keep our dogs tied up and so many of our children are raised by paid employees rather than family members.