They Taught Reading All Wrong: Here’s How to Fix It
Let me say the quiet part out loud: Most schools are still teaching reading the wrong way.
And I don’t mean slightly outdated or missing a few steps—I mean completely off the rails.
If your child is struggling to read, or you’re a teacher drowning in ineffective curricula, you’re not crazy. You’re witnessing the fallout of a failed national reading strategy that skipped over how the brain actually learns to read.
But there’s good news. We now know exactly what works. It's not a mystery. The science is clear. And you don’t need a Ph.D. in education to teach reading the right way—you just need a better map.
This post is your map. I’m going to walk you through how to teach reading using proven, brain-based strategies grounded in the Science of Reading and the Orton-Gillingham approach—strategies I’ve used with hundreds of kids who went from tears to triumph.
First: Why Most Reading Programs Fail Miserably
You’ve probably seen it before: A child is told to “guess” what a word says based on a picture or the first letter. They’re handed leveled books filled with words they’ve never been taught to decode. They memorize sight words with flashcards. They get frustrated. They shut down.
That’s because they were never taught how reading really works.
Reading is not a guessing game. It’s a code.
And unless we teach kids how to crack that code—sound by sound, word by word—they will always struggle.
What the Science of Reading Says (And Why It’s a Game-Changer)
The Science of Reading is a massive body of research from fields like neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and linguistics. It shows how the brain learns to read and what methods actually help kids become fluent, confident readers.
Reading is not innate. It must be taught. Here's what the science tells us is essential:
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Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds
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Phonics: Mapping sounds to written letters (decoding)
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Fluency: Reading accurately and with expression
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Vocabulary: Understanding the meaning of words
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Comprehension: Making sense of what’s read
Everything else—guessing, memorizing, leveled readers before decoding—just gets in the way.
The 5 Pillars of Effective Reading Instruction (The Only Map You Need)
Let’s break this down into a practical, easy-to-follow roadmap. If you want to teach a child to read, start here:
1. Start With Phonemic Awareness
Before kids read letters, they need to hear and play with sounds. Can they tell the difference between /m/ and /n/? Can they blend /c/ /a/ /t/ into cat?
Simple games like sound matching and tapping out syllables go a long way.
💡 Pro Tip: We include daily phonemic awareness activities in the Teach Me to Read Workbook to build this critical skill without the boring drills.
2. Introduce Phonics Explicitly and Systematically
Don’t just hand over the alphabet and hope for the best. Teach each letter-sound relationship one at a time, in a sequence that builds logically—starting with short vowels and common consonants (like s, m, t).
Every child needs to be able to:
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Recognize the letter
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Say the sound
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Write the letter
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Blend sounds to read simple words
Then move to digraphs, blends, silent e, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, and multisyllabic words.
Our Complete Orton-Gillingham Curriculum does exactly this—step-by-step, with no gaps.
3. Use Decodable Texts, Not Leveled Readers
If a child just learned “short a,” they should be reading sentences like “Dan sat on a mat,” not “The unicorn danced under the moonlight.”
Leveled readers skip the skill-building and throw kids into frustration. Decodable books allow students to read with the tools they already know.
📚 Check out our Decodable Coloring Book Stories—fun stories that match the sounds your students are learning.
4. Focus on Fluency and Repetition
Re-reading familiar texts, playing word games, and timing quick reads can build fluency. But it has to be based on material the student can decode.
If a child is slow and guessing, that’s not fluency—it’s frustration.
Give them repeated exposure to familiar patterns. Build automaticity. Celebrate growth.
5. Build Vocabulary and Comprehension—With Words They Can Actually Read
Once decoding is strong, comprehension and vocabulary follow naturally. Use oral stories, read-alouds, and discussions to build word knowledge while their reading skills catch up.
Then layer in written comprehension using decodable passages they can read confidently.
What NOT to Do (Common Mistakes That Keep Kids Struggling)
Let’s be real. A lot of well-meaning teachers and parents are doing their best with bad tools. If you're trying to teach reading, please avoid:
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❌ Sight word memorization without phonics instruction
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❌ Asking kids to “look at the picture and guess”
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❌ Teaching letters out of order without a system
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❌ Using texts above their decoding ability
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❌ Moving on before a student masters a concept
What It Looks Like When It’s Working
Here’s what real success looks like:
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A second grader who cried every time he saw a book is now decoding multisyllabic words.
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A kindergartener tells their mom, “I don’t need help—I can read it myself!”
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A teacher emails me to say her entire class is reading above grade level for the first time in years.
These wins don’t happen with random worksheets or guessing games. They happen with a system that works.
Final Word: Teaching Reading Isn’t Magic—It’s Method
If you've been burned by broken reading programs, you're not alone. But you don’t have to stay stuck.
Teaching reading is about following a proven roadmap rooted in how the brain works. It’s not flashy. It’s not guesswork. It’s not based on what “feels good.” It’s based on what works.
Start with the sounds. Build the code. Use decodables. Go step by step. And watch the lightbulb go on.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start seeing real results, try our Orton-Gillingham Based Curriculum. It’s helped thousands of kids—and it can help yours too.
Reading is possible.
You just need the right tools.