Reading is one of the most important skills that children can learn. In addition to unlocking developmental benefits, reading cultivates joy and imagination — opening up new worlds, ideas, and curiosities. Literacy is a cornerstone to lifelong learning and thriving.

Every child — every person — deserves to read. Yet millions of kids and adults in the United States read at or below a basic level. What stands in the way of building this core ability? How can educators and families together cultivate the foundational literacy skills that create successful readers?

A clue to strong reading skills lies in understanding how humans evolved. At a young age, children learn to speak naturally without anyone explicitly teaching them. But learning to read is different. Because written language is much newer than spoken language in the span of human history, we have not evolved to translate a code of written symbols into sound and meaning. As a result, reading requires active teaching and learning, going beyond exposure to books or trial and error.

For this reason, it is important to study and identify the evidence-based practices for teaching literacy, and determine which lead to skilled reading. This is where the science of reading comes into play.

Reading is essential for academic success

Educators often talk about the importance of shifting mindsets on student literacy from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. This is because success in school and in the world beyond the classroom depends on whether students can become skilled readers.

As early as kindergarten, a child’s reading skills can predict their success in future areas including literacy, math abilities, and more (National Institute for Literacy, 2008). This relationship exists even after controlling for factors such as demographic or socioeconomic status (Claessens et al, 2009). Further, reading ability can impact other non-academic outcomes. As The Annie E. Casey Foundation found in their 2012 report, “One in six children who are not reading proficiently in third grade do not graduate from high school on time — [which is] four times the rate for children with proficient third-grade reading skills.”

The urgency for creating strong readers cannot be understated. In 2021, only 33% of twelfth graders performed at or above ‘Proficient’ reading levels on the NAEP reading assessment (Nation’s Report Card 2022). Today, nearly 43% of adults are functionally illiterate which has wide ranging consequences on society beyond the individual level. The National Council for Adult Literacy estimates that illiteracy costs the U.S. economy $225 billion every year.

Understanding the essential components of successful reading instruction is key to supporting students to become proficient readers with fruitful opportunities in their futures. The research insights gained from the science of reading shed light on which evidence-based reading strategies and educational practices help kids best learn this critical capability.

These gaps are the result of inequitable access to resources that bolster reading skills — and not due to effort, languages spoken, or cultural background. Equity in education is essential to address disadvantages created by these disparities in skilled reading. The science of reading offers the opportunity to create equitable spaces and community partnerships that foster key reading abilities in every student, regardless of circumstance. In fact, research has found that instructional practices based on science of reading strategies benefit all children, not just those with specific literacy challenges or from a particular socioeconomic group.¹

By prioritizing equitable and effective strategies for reading instruction, educators move towards a universality of student outcomes — helping every student thrive as a successful reader at every grade level.

¹ Dykstra, S. (2013). The Impact of Scientifically-based Reading Instruction on Different Groups and Different Levels of Performance. Educational Philosophy. Literate Nation, San Francisco, CA

Reading is a complex process composed of several discrete skills that require attention and instruction. Similarly, science of reading strategies for skilled reading involve much more than reading a decodable book and building phonic skills alone

In their report released in 2000, the National Reading Panel summarized comprehensive research and studies about reading that identified five literary practices as necessary ingredients for student reading success: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Take a look at the table below to explore each of these practices in greater detail and their direct role in reading development.

The Simple View of Reading

Another way to understand literacy development is through the simple view of reading (Gough and Tunmer, 1986). This method organizes all these skills for successful reading into two main components: word recognition and language comprehension. Each component acts as a multiplier for the end goal of reading — if just one of these areas is at a low level, the potential outcome of reading comprehension is limited. This is why it is so critical for children to learn all these crucial reading skills, not just any one of them. For instance, if a child cultivates strong decoding skills in reading, it helps them learn more new words which boosts their vocabulary.

The Orton-Gillingham-based approach is one of the earliest developed examples of “a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy.” Each step of the process is carefully laid out and includes:

• Reviewing previously learned sounds, such as each vowel sound;
• Blending of learned sounds, such as combining consonant and vowel sounds;
• Teaching a new sound;
• Writing letters that make the new sound;
• Writing words that include new and previously learned sounds;
• Reading text that includes previously learned and new sounds.

Multisensory literacy approaches

The Orton-Gillingham approach, among others, also advocates for incorporating multisensory teaching methods and classroom activities into literacy instruction — engaging a student’s multiple senses so they experience sounds, letters, and words with their whole body as they learn them. For students with or at risk of dyslexia, research shows that multisensory language instruction combined with other reading interventions can help kids better build their literacy skills (Hall et al, 2022). Multisensory instruction may also benefit other students. However, research still encourages educators to avoid over-emphasizing any one approach to teach skills as complex as reading.

As much as it guides educators’ classroom practices, the science of reading is also informative for parents, caregivers, and guardians. Families are the first teachers in a student’s life, and their direct role in literacy development can catalyze skilled reading. Educators need family engagement when engaging in science of reading strategies with children of all ages, from birth to adolescence and beyond.

Families have innate strengths and assets available to them as they support their children’s literacy development. Through collaborative partnership, educators can highlight these strengths for parents and how their actions directly connect to their child’s learning. But it is also essential that educators hold the family in mind as they offer at-home activities and suggestions — asking themselves questions such as “Do families have what they need to do this activity?” to ensure every family can access the resources offered. Recognizing the realities that parents face helps educators calibrate their support to these crucial partners towards building students’ literacy skills.

From playing with phonics to practicing fluency, here are strengths-based examples of how that educators can collaborate with families to cultivate early reading abilities — even before kids enter a classroom:

Celebrate multilingualism

Around the world, nearly two-thirds of adults speak at least two different languages. This bilingualism brings speakers many advantages, both at school and in the working world. Families that speak languages other than English offer as much valuable support to build children’s reading skills as those that speak English fluently.

Educators can encourage multilingual families to practice their home language with their children to boost oral language development and encourage bilingualism. They can even use English language picture books in this practice by making up stories based on the images. Early childhood educators can also incorporate families’ home languages into their classrooms through books, visuals displayed around the classroom, and even audio tools. These are just a few examples of culturally responsive family engagement — a pathway to partnership that cultivates deep trust between families and educators, which unlocks learning benefits.

The most common advice parents hear about literacy is to read a book to their child every night. As the Child Mind Institute summarizes, a daily reading practice has a positive impact on student language skills, vocabulary building, and much more.

While regular reading time is powerful (not to mention a sweet relationship-building moment with their child), parents may not always have time or space available to do this consistently. Fortunately, reading out loud to children isn’t the only way to support them to become skilled readers. Families can still positively impact their child’s literacy development through every day learning moments.

These family-friendly activities cultivate literacy skills by utilizing assets and routines already at a family’s disposal.

Play Word Games

Parents can easily support their child’s phonological and phonemic awareness by getting creative with syllables and sounds through play. For example, in the morning, families can challenge kids to take a step every time they say a word that starts with a specific sound, like /t/. Parents can also turn a game of toss into an opportunity to build phonemic awareness by breaking words into isolated sounds with each pass of the ball. Even rhyming helps! As parents turn off the light, they can build phonological awareness just by rhyming with the word ‘light’… think ‘flight,’ ‘sight,’ ‘might,’ and more.