Summary of the NYTimes Article: “Kids Can’t Read…”

Apr 23

*Check out the original article linked at the bottom.

I’m going to guide you through the NY Times article, 'Kids Can't Read: The Revolt That Is Taking on the Education Establishment”.

This article sheds light on a critical issue: many children are not receiving the proper instruction in reading.

By overlooking decades of scientific research, we’ve risked failing our students in one of the most fundamental skills.

The so-called ‘reading wars’ have brought this to the forefront, particularly the debate between the ‘Balanced Literacy’ approach and the ‘Science of Reading’.

What is the “Science of Reading”?

The 'Science of Reading’ isn't just a fancy term. It represents decades of dedicated research by reading scientists who've been unraveling how our brains tackle reading.

So while we can naturally learn things like walking, our brains are not naturally wired to learn how to read.

And the biggest predictor for reading success is language. Think of it as reading with your eyes closed—it's all about processing language in your mind first.

A lot of misconceptions about reading stems from memorization. Pointing out things like a stop sign and saying “S-T-O-P”, isn’t teaching how sounds, language and reading works.

Picture this instead: You're in the car with your child and you spot a big truck. You say, “Wow! That’s a big truck! Can you say that word with me b-i-g. Big! Hmmm! How many sounds do I hear in big? b-i-g. Let’s say it again, ‘big’!”. Right, three sounds!' This approach is all about playing with sounds and understanding language, way before we even think about looking at letters and print.

Let’s head back to the car scenario again. Time for a game of I Spy!

You might say, “I Spy a green light.” Then ask you child, how many words did I just say? Let’s count them. I, spy, a, green, light. 5!”
Next round you might say, “I Spy a yellow car. How many syllables do you hear in yellow? Yell-ow. 2!”

In these examples, we're weaving language into everyday moments, focusing on sounds and syllables without leaning on print or memorization. It's about making learning to read a natural, engaging part of your child’s world.

This also includes things you’re probably already doing like singing silly songs, rhyming and noticing patterns. Think of something like singing “I like to eat, eat, eat vanilla ice cream! Hey, how many times did I say eat?” Or, “I spy with my little eye something that rhymes with bat. That’s right, I see a cat!”

Through these everyday sound-focused activities, we pave the way for reading success, blending fun and learning before even approaching print.

From Sounds to Spelling: What Comes First in Reading?

Let's talk about the chicken or the egg in the world of reading: what comes first, spelling a word or understanding the sounds within it? The research is clear—our journey into reading begins with our ears, not our eyes. It's all about phonological awareness.

Phonological awareness is that crucial first step, sitting right at the heart of learning to read. It's our ability to pick apart and play with the sounds in spoken language. We're talking about rhymes, breaking words into syllables, and identifying the individual sounds that make up a word.

And it’s close to phonics. But it’s incredibly important to build a foundation of phonological awareness before phonics comes into play.

Phonics teaches us that each of those sounds we've been playing with is represented by letters. But before we can dive into the world of phonics, we need a solid understanding in phonological awareness. It's like learning to crawl before you walk—understanding and manipulating the sounds in language sets the stage for connecting those sounds to letters.

So before you ask your child,

"What letters do we need to spell the word 'chip'?"

You really want to be asking,

"How many sounds do you hear in the word 'chip'?" That’s right, four sounds in the word "chip": /ch/ /i/ /p/.

What Happened to Hooked on Phonics?

This is something that comes up a lot! And nothing really happened to it. However, a few key figures, such as Lucy Calkins, Marie Clay, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pinnell, were proponents of a theory suggesting that teaching reading might be more effective through word recognition. In essence, because teaching reading is a complicated process, memorization was an easier approach to take.

For a period of time, the education system adopted curriculums based on the idea that memorizing was an effective approach to teaching reading. And many children also looked like they were reading using these methods. Test scores made it seem like children were reading.

Yet we know instead of just having children memorize a list of words because they are irregular and don’t follow a pattern (think words like "because," "where," "of," "the")—we can teach them to read parts of a word and then only have to recognize that tricky part.

Take the word "said," for example: the "s" and "d" sound as we would expect, but the "ai" doesn't. So, we can really focus on just that part of the word as something special to remember.

But Didn’t Assessments Show Children Were Reading?

What we saw happening was that students were being handed a list of sight words to memorize and these words directly tied to specific reading levels.

For instance, when you hear, "Your child is reading at level M," it often means they've memorized numerous sight word lists to make that happen. And as a result, when presented with a level M book, they're just recognizing many of the sight words they've just committed to memory.

And this was an easy way to make it appear that kids were reading. And that schools were doing an effective job with reading instruction.

However, this strategy falls short of actually teaching children the essentials to read. Then the problem becomes clear by third or fourth grade, when students begin to struggle significantly. And without a solid understanding of the fundamentals of reading, it’s challenging to advance and build on reading skills.

How Memorizing Words Changed Reading Instruction

The concept that memorizing words could effectively teach reading gained popularity and quite a few people embraced this approach because it seemed… easy.

And this meant that colleges and universities that trained teachers stopped instructing them to effectively teach children to read. It led them away from teaching the foundational principles of reading.

Personally, I invested a significant amount of time and money in my education to become a reading teacher, yet I wasn't taught the crucial aspects of the science of reading development. I later invested in that with more of my own money once I realized I needed a better understanding of how to teach my students to read.

This is important.

Quality education matters. Our children’s futures matter.

Whether you're a parent, an educator, or neither, this information is vital. And we are all a part of this change.

So what can you do?:

Start by listening, then spark conversations with friends and family.
Educate yourself. I'll share links to resources that are quick to read, listen to, and watch.
Then, reach out to your school board and your local school districts. Inquire about the curriculum they use and what steps can be taken to improve reading instruction.
Advocate for every child's right to read. We all have a role to play.

We have to make a difference together. It's our responsibility to ensure every child has the opportunity to learn to read for the chance to have a love of reading.

For more tips and insights to nurture lifelong learners, hop over to my Instagram page.

And, don't forget to explore episodes on the podcast, Play On Words, where you’ll hear more about making learning fun and accessible for all.

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I’m the founder of BCR, host of the Play on Words podcast, a consultant for the Chicago Public Library, and more! On the blog, I regularly share my tips, insights, and knowledge on early literacy.