The Oct. 5 Thursday Opinion commentary by Susan Engel and Catherine Snow, “Here’s a better way to teach kids to read,” could not have better expressed my opinion and the opinion of many others who have been teachers and parents.
Without a more balanced approach to teaching reading, we will contribute to children’s lessened critical thinking and lessened desire to read when not assigned. This is especially true now that we are dealing with sound bites and screens. Conversation about what has been read is critical. Matching letters to sounds and having a repertoire of sight words are essential, particularly for beginning readers, but developing comprehension comes from thinking and talking about the content. Avoiding reading often comes from too much time spent on rote learning.
