School instruction can speed up the cognitive development of reading skills. However, there are limits on how far academic instruction can take a student before he reaches the limits of his reading abilities. Some children are innately skilled at reading and language, while others struggle, even with adult intervention.
Children first learn to read by learning how to recognize letters and sound them out. They must also know how different letters form words and sentences. They learn the basics of syntax and grammar. Children who are read to at a young age can develop a lifelong love for reading, since they learn about stories at a stage when they normally would not be able to understand them by reading, due to limitations in their reading comprehension skills.
Next, children must develop independent reading skills, where they no longer need to read aloud and don't need assistance from their parents. They transition from oral to silent reading. Children initially read books that have simple sentences and familiar vocabulary. One milestone in independent reading involves children reading chapter books that lack familiar vocabulary, since they must learn to identify the meaning of words from the context of the sentence. Students learn to decode bigger words by looking at the syllables contained within these words, sounding them out to determine meaning.
As students continue to read, they gradually learn to understand what they read on a more complex level. Part of reading comprehension comes from life experience. For example, when a child does not know that eye rolling is a sign of contempt, the child might not understand that a character is contemptuous of a another character when rolling his eyes. Students begin to understand the author's intention and can experience pleasure when reading writing that is more sophisticated. When students read more technical subjects, they find these subjects easier to understand over time as they develop the experience necessary to comprehend the content.
Eventually, students transition into critical thinking. Initially, they take everything they read at face value. However, students can eventually begin analyzing the content in the story. For example, they can feel frustration over a new piece of legislation that they read about Congress passing. They can also become more critical of the writing style.