Family Brief: How Kids Learn to Read

This resource explains what researchers know about how reading develops and what strong instruction looks like. It introduces key concepts including the Simple View of Reading, Scarborough's Reading Rope, and the five core elements of skilled reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Families will find clear explanations of how these skills build on one another, what structured literacy instruction looks like in the classroom, and practical ways to support reading development at home through conversation, sound play, and shared reading.