Nation of readers

THERE'S no mystery to teaching most children to read well. But society should give more attention to this task, as several educational studies in recent months have pointed out. Competition from television for children's (and adults') time, before reading habits are well established, seriously detracts from gains in reading skills and interest. One of the most important requirements is also the most obvious. Hiring better-trained teachers is the key to turning the United States into ``a nation of readers,'' as a recent study points out. The study was conducted by the National Academy of Education Commission on Reading. Few of the best college students now become teachers, largely because of the low pay and respect that teachers now generally command. Both kinds of reward should be increased so as to attract the best potential teachers, of reading as of anything else. In addition, as the study noted, four years of college for potential teachers may be a year too few. Tomorrow's teachers often have to absorb more courses in how to teach than in what to teach.

All teachers of young children from Grade 1 onward ought to have special preparation, not only in teaching the average student, but in recognizing those students who learn best through other-than-usual methods, for instance through touch. Some otherwise high-quality educational systems even today do not realize that reading should be taught through more than one method, because of differences in children's learning styles.

Parents also need to encourage young children in reading: by setting an example in reading, and by seeing that books, newspapers, and magazines are available to young people -- either in the home or through trips to local or school libraries. Preschool children should be read to. The material children are asked to read should command their interest.

What matters most is that youths learn to read, and acquire the habit of doing so.