Learning to read sooner is better

Literacy is an indispensable skill. All educators can agree with this idea. But that’s where the unity sometimes ends. In the latest round of the “reading wars,” some educators, academics, and parents have been battling once again about the best way to teach students how to read.

How to teach reading shouldn’t be controversial. The practices that create lifelong learners are well-established, proven again and again by research and practical examples. The beginning of a reader’s journey is foundational literacy, and it’s clear that student success can be shaped by starting that journey earlier than kindergarten.