Second grade phonics is most effective when structured lessons are paired with engaging, hands-on activities. At this stage, children develop skills like decoding longer words, recognizing vowel teams ...

The tide has turned on reading instruction. Nearly all states have passed “science of reading” laws, and most researchers and educators now agree students need to learn letters and sounds explicitly ...

An elementary student’s first foray into anatomy is often a catchy tune composed mainly of four words: “heads, shoulders, knees, and toes.” As they progress through the shortlist, children put their ...

After previous years of low literacy rates, California's San Joaquin County is actively making changes to improve student reading scores. At Taylor Leadership Academy in south Stockton, every vowel ...

In classrooms across the country, children are showing progress in reading, yet many students cannot tell you what those words mean, why they matter or how the text connects to their lives. My first ...

The notoriously difficult phonology of the Polish language has always caused much trouble and confusion for neighbouring nations. But what are the absolute hardest words? Germans look at Polish and ...

The target for the proportion of children passing the phonics screening check – a test of how well children aged five and six in England can “decode” words – has been raised to 90%. This increase, ...

California took a big step toward overhauling its reading curriculum last week when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill pushing for phonics-based instruction in elementary and middle school classrooms.

At Gilles-Sweet Elementary in Fairview Park, Ohio, kindergarten teacher Keri Laughlin combines movement and phonics to help her students build the foundational literacy skills they’ll need as readers.

First-grader Mary Greer shows her work during a phonics-based reading lesson at Hunt Valley Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) The “reading wars” that ...

Jeffrey McQuillan claims that encouraging phonics instruction will be a “train wreck” in California (Letters, Oct. 3). Yet his main piece of evidence, a 2020 analysis, is wanting. Aside from some ...

You write that the Golden State is “jumping on the caboose” of the pro-phonics movement in reading instruction (“California Learns From Mississippi,” Review & Outlook, Sept. 27). Yet nearly 30 years ...