Language development in the first years of life lays the foundation for reading. Long before children enter school, they already are learning the complex system of sounds, words, sentences, and meanings that written language will later represent.

You’d have to been living beneath a rock for the past year to have avoided the onslaught of news about the future of artificial intelligence.

As the science of reading becomes more commonplace in districts across the country, there is general agreement about the importance of phonics instruction in the early grade levels.

Every syllable is organized around a vowel, making vowels the engine of word reading and spelling. However, mastering vowel sounds and spellings is one of the most complex tasks we ask young learners to tackle in the early elementary years. Effective phonics instruction builds a child’s understanding of what a vowel is, how vowel sounds connect to spelling patterns (and how those patterns relate), and how to apply that knowledge to multisyllabic and unfamiliar words flexibly.

We all live in a language laboratory—but it’s not a place of chance. It is intentionally designed. Structured Literacy gives us the structure language needs, and oracy keeps that learning alive and meaningful. When we honor both, we create classrooms where language isn’t just taught … it’s used, explored, and celebrated.

It has been challenging to watch each new wave of literacy reform unfold. My first exposure to reform came long before I was aware of what was happening. As an elementary school student, I struggled profoundly with reading and spelling. I failed spelling tests week after week and was punished for it, with little meaningful support and a steady stream of messages that I was one of the worst students in the school. What I did not know at the time was that my state had just passed its first dyslexia law. What I did know was that something felt profoundly unjust. I was working harder than anyone knew I was, studying endlessly, and still being left to figure things out on my own.