<i>&quot;A sample of 250 kids isn&#x27;t that accurate... And anecdotally...&quot;</i><p>A sample of 250 could be wrong but at least it&#x27;s a study, and so much better than an anecdote.<p>It&#x27;s also much better than the original article, which says, as justification for teaching children to read early, &quot;I will wait for the results of empirical studies before insisting on definitive claims, but my guesses are as follows.... Again, I know this is just speculation, but it seems very reasonable to me, and in the absence of better evidence, I feel justified in acting on what seems very reasonable.&quot;<p>So, to sum up: the best evidence we have says this does not work.