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In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, how does Scout learn to read?

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, we first meet Scout when she is six years old. Though Scout has not yet started school, she already knows how to read. This fact is reported by Jem when he and Scout first meet Dill. Scout knows how to read because her father, Atticus, has read to her every night since she was an infant.


Yet, already knowing how to read puts Scout at a disadvantage. On Scout’s first day of school, her teacher, Ms. Caroline, makes it her mission to undo the "damage" Atticus has done by teaching a different way of reading than how Scout reads. At the end of the day, Scout tells Atticus she never wants to go to school again. Atticus makes a deal with his daughter: the two of them will continue to read together every night as long as Scout keeps going to school. Scout agrees to try.

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