There’s a Place for Balanced Literacy. Let’s Just Teach Kids to Decode First.

In the reading world, it can feel like you have to pick a side: the Science of Reading or Balanced Literacy. But as an Orton-Gillingham certified teacher and someone who works with struggling readers every day, I’m not here to fight a battle. I’m here to help kids learn to read.

And I want to start with some honesty. I spent more than 10 years in a classroom teaching kids to read, and never once did I feel like I really knew what I was doing. I graduated from a reputable teacher prep program, sat through every required professional development session, and still found myself in my reading specialist’s office asking questions like, “But how exactly do you teach them to read?”

I remember teachers telling me, “Just have them look at the picture and guess the word.” At the time, it sounded like a strategy. But now I know it wasn’t teaching kids how to read, it was teaching them how to guess. And kids who struggle the most can’t afford to guess. They need explicit instruction in phonics and decoding so they can actually read the words on the page.

When you’ve been teaching one way your entire career, it’s hard to hear that the method you’ve trusted isn’t the most effective. For decades, two-thirds of our children have not been reading on grade level. We’ve often pointed to poverty, lack of student motivation, or unengaged parents. But in reality, the bigger issue has been the way we’ve been teaching reading. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

We’re not here to say Balanced Literacy is “wrong.” It brought valuable routines, structure, and a love of books. But what’s been missing is systematic phonics and decoding. Kids need both. That’s why we believe in combining the best of both approaches, not picking sides, just making sure every child has the tools to become a confident reader.

Balanced Literacy, and before that whole language, was created by teachers who wanted the same thing we want today: to help children learn to read. It wasn’t designed out of malice. It was simply what was known, and what teachers thought was best. These approaches gave structure and introduced real books, which helped build a love of reading. But here’s the catch: loving books isn’t enough if you can’t read the words.

That’s why decoding has to come first. But this isn’t about choosing one side over the other. It’s about recognizing what both approaches bring and giving kids what they actually need-a balance of joyful reading experiences and the explicit instruction that makes those experiences possible. At the end of the day, we’re not here to defend methods. We’re here to help children thrive as readers.