We know a great deal about how young children learn to read, but as a field we haven't done enough to make sure that knowledge reaches every classroom. Many educators simply haven't had access to training in evidence-informed reading instruction- not because of a lack of effort, but because teacher preparation programs and curricula have been slow to catch up with the research. Over the past two decades, significant advances in cognitive science have transformed our understanding of how reading actually works and how children learn to read. Below are a few principles that literacy experts widely agree on: 

1. Explicit phonics instruction is essential. Children must learn how letters relate to sounds in order to decode text - this doesn't happen naturally and requires direct, systematic teaching.

2. Fluency requires practice with varied texts. For children to move from sounding out words to reading fluently, they need extensive practice reading a wide range of texts.

3. Comprehension strategies can't replace vocabulary and content knowledge. Teaching comprehension "strategies" alone cannot make up for gaps in a child's vocabulary and background knowledge - both are essential building blocks for understanding what's read.