I'm shocked by how few parents teach their children to read or do basic sums before school age. I know that now over here children are given reading books to take home to read with their parents as homework, and the parents have to write what they have done each day, which forces parents to get involved more. I learned to read when I was three and I and a few others were allowed to sit in the other room reading Enid Blyton at school while the teacher taught everyone else to read.