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I see your struggle, Leigh! I imagine putting 3 young children to bed on your own is exhausting and time consuming enough without squeezing in the reading too! Perhaps after tucking in your youngest, you could settle down your 4 year old with a book that he likes to try to read on his own, then start off reading together with your nearly 7 year old and encourage her to try to read alone while you finish off reading with your 4 year old, then tuck him in.. then get back to reading with your nearly 7 year old before tucking her in?!! Oh dear, I'm just guessing really.. maybe you have tried all this.. good luck anyway!

This is a great post, Keris. It's so natural for us to encourage our children to do things, especially things that we love doing and especially clever things! English children do start learning from an earlier age than our European neighbours' children do, which I'm sure has it's pros and cons, but it's also made me think a bit about how I could do with relaxing a bit more and not worrying so much about whether or not my son is behind in his learning.

And I love your Parentdish article, Joanne - I've saved that for a later date! In fact all these comments have given me food for thought. When my sons do start learning to read, I'll try to make it as fun as possible and try to keep my own nose in a book as much as possible too!

I like your idea too, Becky, about reading a chapter or two with them at first and then letting them read on their own until you get back and read a bit more with them. Tip noted and filed!

Sue
Ready For Ten Team