What is the Science of Reading? (And What Does It Miss?)
How we teach kids to read has changed drastically over the past decades. Phonics is in, then it’s out. Now it’s sight words. Oh, now we’re back to phonics… it can be hard to keep up. When it comes to how kids learn to read, there have been some important shifts in recent years towards something called the Science of Reading.
What is the Science of Reading?
Essentially, the Science of Reading is a highly research-backed explanation for how kids learn to read, how we should be teaching them to read, and why this method works.
Essentially, evidence converges to show that the ability to decode (or sound out) words is the foundation of successful reading. We need to partner this skill with language development, comprehension, and fluency, but those things come after effective decoding skills are established.
A structured literacy approach that includes systematic and explicit instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, and other foundational reading skills is at the root of the Science of Reading. This will likely move classroom instruction away from sight words (where you learn to read by remembering the appearance of words) and towards spelling/decoding rules and other tactics to figure out new words.
What Does the Science of Reading Miss?
What sets LearningRx apart from all other reading interventions is the focus on building strong cognitive skills first, because they are the foundation for all learning.
If your child struggles with working memory or processing speed, for example, they are going to also struggle with manipulating, blending, or segmenting words. Their struggle may look like a reading issue, when really it is an underlying skill weakness.
Click here for some signs that weak cognitive skills are causing your child’s reading problems.
We love the way the Science of Reading approaches literacy and instruction in the classroom. But what if your child continues to struggle with word manipulation, reading, decoding, or comprehension? Investigating WHY is going to be the next logical step.
The Science of Reading is diagnostic by nature. Structured literacy takes into account individual kids’ needs and should continually assess what is working and what is not. But in reality, schools are going to struggle with this. Teachers are not set up to be able to individualize instruction for every student. This leaves some kids to fall through the cracks.
Instead of just pushing through, find out why your child struggles with reading. Build these foundational cognitive skills FIRST—and then reading skills will more naturally follow.
Click here to learn more about our approach to reading help!
