decodable - Welcome to the Science of Reading
November 28, 2025
If your child is struggling to read, you are not alone. Maybe you have watched them guess at words, dodge reading aloud, or say quietly, "I'm not smart." You have been told to read more, practice more, be patient. And still, the words do not click. Let us say it plainly: this is not your child's fault, and it is not yours. Reading is the only school skill that is not natural. We are born ready to talk, but nobody is born ready to read - reading has to be taught, explicitly and in the right order.
The good news is that the science of reading is settled. Decades of research show how the brain learns to read, and when that method is used, struggling readers learn. That is what this newsletter is for: to hand you the tools, in plain language, so you and your child can move forward together.
Here is the single most important idea in the science of reading: reading is a code. Written words are made of letters, letters represent sounds, and children need to learn that mapping - and practice it - until it becomes automatic. When the code is taught directly, children stop guessing and start decoding. That is the foundation everything else stands on.
TRY THIS
This week, try the two-sound game. Zero prep, five minutes, any quiet moment.
- Choose two sounds your child already knows, like /s/ and /a/.
- Say them slowly and ask your child to slide them together: "s...a" becomes "sa."
- Switch roles. Let your child be the leader and make you blend their sounds.
No worksheets, no pressure. You are simply showing the brain that sounds can be joined into words - the very first step of the code.
MICRO-TIPS
- Name the sound, not the letter. "S" says /s/. Hearing sounds comes before naming letters.
- Five minutes a day beats an hour once a week. Short, daily practice builds the reading brain.
- Stop the guessing. If your child guesses from pictures, gently point back to the first letter sound.
- Read aloud together anyway. Hearing rich language builds vocabulary while decoding is still being built.
- Celebrate the attempt. "You tried that hard word" teaches more than "You got it wrong."
A NOTE FOR YOU
If you are reading this with a knot in your stomach, please hear this: the struggle is not a verdict on your child or on you. Reading is a code that someone has to teach, and if it has not clicked yet, it simply has not been taught in the way that child's brain needs. You found this newsletter because you are looking for answers - that already makes you exactly the parent your child needs. Give yourself permission to take a breath. You are not behind. You are just beginning, and beginning well.
Warmly,
- The Decodable Team
Sources & Further Reading