A practical guide to teaching the way a child’s brain learns best


In this update of a bestselling classic, you will learn how to develop children’s capacity and will to read. Each sequential chapter is practical, eye-opening, and exactly what you need to engage young learners, plan lessons, partner with parents, and align your PreK-3 classrooms to the science of learning and the science of reading. Gain the latest insights on:




Brain development from birth to age eight, plus the skills to nourish it, age by age and grade by grade
What the latest neuroscientific research now says about oral language acquisition
The evidence base for practices such as read alouds, inventive spelling, and sustained silent reading
Why vocabulary building must happen concurrently with phonological processing, decoding, fluency, spelling, and writing
How to artfully combine explicit teaching of skills with playful, multi-sensory routines every day


All aspects of memory are needed to develop successful readers. When we engage children’s brains and build our teaching practices around what we know about how the human brain makes meaning, literacy learning makes more sense for children… and for us.