08/09/2026
Ditto!🎤
Too many well-meaning "reading programs" are missing the mark.
Handing a book to a child—or even reading it aloud to them—is not a solution to the literacy crisis. When a child is reading below basic or struggling due to dyslexia, their brain needs structured, explicit, and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Let’s be clear: being read to is a nurturing and valuable experience. But learning to read is a neurological process that requires intentional, evidence-based instruction.
🧠 According to cognitive science and the Science of Reading, children don’t become proficient readers by exposure alone. They need direct teaching of how written language works.
👉🏾If a child cannot decode words independently, no amount of storytime will teach them to read. We must stop confusing access to books with access to literacy.
Programs must be designed to move children from:
being read to →
learning to read →
reading to learn.
Anything less is a band-aid on a hemorrhage.
08/02/2026
Every child has incredible potential. The future of education begins with how we see the children in front of us.
Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Ana Trevino of the Prelude Music Foundation in Episode 8 of the Upstream Podcast. 🎧 OUT NOW
https://www.drtracywhite.com/podcast
