I respectfully disagree. Aristotle, in his essay on politics, said that reading was one of the four primary tools of education. Learn to read first, then learn to write. And I mean the Ezra Pound kind of reading, not the hackish mechanics used by mayors who want to read "gooder". Mastering the skill of effective, critical reading will benefit a student more than writing.

Perhaps you would consider this to be a chicken-egg dilemma. I guess it's true that Aristotle also said in the essay: "the proper time for a woman to marry is eighteen, for a man thirty-seven, a little more or less". Let's discuss.