Lead
You hear that a friend's child can already read hiragana. You wonder whether to buy flashcards. You've been telling yourself that formal reading and writing belong in elementary school — but you're not quite certain that's right.
Many parents swing between the pull of early-learning programs and the conviction that things should unfold naturally. Research, however, offers a third answer: neither extreme captures what matters most. The question isn't what to teach but what to build first.