Every parent looks forward to the day their child can read fluently. Society leads us to believe that this is the pinnacle of a child’s early academic career. We’ve been told it indicates children will be more successful in their overall long-term education. However, research has found the opposite to be true. Read on to learn how early reading is correlated with success in elementary school, but doesn’t seem to lead directly to college enrollment or success.

As parents today, we all feel pressure from society to push our kids to learn letters and numbers as soon as they start talking. Read earlier, learn math, write clearly and memorize facts about science or other subjects...Interestingly, this push for academic success at earlier ages has not led to better results. Research emphasizes that rather than grades, social competence is one of two indicators of success in adult life (the other is grit).