The science of reading: It’s time to bring preschool teachers into the conversation

Originally published in Chalkbeat on January 27, 2025

Happy New Year! ICYMI, I was featured in Pop Sugar last fall as part of a Back to School story they did — check it out here :)

For students to become successful readers, they need instruction based on the science of reading — direct, explicit, and systemic lessons teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Children are expected to master these skills in the short years between kindergarten and when they sit for standardized assessments in third grade, despite the fact that many students begin school with limited literacy exposure or require more time to practice these skills.

But what if instead of beginning our literacy efforts in kindergarten and first grade, we began that work in early childhood classrooms? What would it look like to work with early childhood educators to integrate and align literacy efforts so that all students are set up for success?

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