Put parenting on curriculum

TO address the problems caused by one in three children not being literate when they start school in Greater Manchester (M.E.N., December 14), I have an additional suggestion of my own to add.

For a great many families up and down the country being a parent can be a formidable challenge. Yes, we all dearly love our children and would do anything we can to ensure their general well being and good health. But, of course, all kids can be very mischievous and at times difficult to control. My suggestion is that it would be a good idea if there was to be added to the National Curriculum a new sphere of teaching which would apply specifically to pupils who were in the fifth and sixth year of their secondary education. And the subject that I would recommend to be taught to those students would be the practicalities of being a parent, with guidelines on the best ways to bring up children.

I fully realise that it is not the parent’s remit to coach their children in all the ways that we expect our teachers to do in school. But if children in their late teens were made aware of the many practicalities that are needed to bring up children with a minimum of friction, then it is also likely that those parents may well encourage their children from an early age to discover the benefits of being able to read and write.

Having said all that, I fully realise that it can still be a lot harder for parents who are poor, because they may not be able to afford to buy their children the necessary books. Howard Gardner, Sale