There are many ways to help children read. However, here are a few basic ideas that should be in place: - parents model desired behaviour by reading themselves - parents read to their children regularly (bonding and priming) - children should read appropriate level books (too easy is better than too hard) - frequency and volume trump all (read many books every day, rather than one difficult one over a long time) - learn and apply phonics to aid fluency and confidence

Every person is different. So it should be no surpirse that every person's brain is different to. That means they may find some things easier or harder than others. It also means they may learn certain things faster or slower than others. This does not matter provided it is not becasue of a learning difficulty. So long as you are providing the environment to nurture the learning, then the learning will happen when the brain is ready. Here is an analogy that may help. Imagine what you have learned is a large basin of water, and while you are learning new things, smaller cups of water are filling up above the basin. However, only when a cup is full enough, will it tip over and pour into the basin. Don't assume learning is not happening just because you can't see it. The cup is filling. When it tips into the basin is more difficult to predict, but it will.

Learning a language is a natural process, however, learning a second language, most of the time, is not. The brain wants to save energy and likes to take the path of least resistance. In order to trick the brain into using its full potential, create authentic needs to use English. Here are some ideas to help: - only accept requests for treats in English - have English mealtimes - try one day a week English only (including the parents) - ask your child to teach you or a sibling English - when on holiday, put the responsibility to communicate on your child