How We Teach Reading at Weaver Child Development Center

At Weaver, we believe every child can learn to read—and love it! All of our teachers are trained in the Science of Reading, a body of research that explains how the brain learns to read. Reading isn’t a natural process like speaking—it must be explicitly taught. A high-quality reading program grounded in this science doesn’t rely on just one method or curriculum. Instead, it thoughtfully combines multiple evidence-based approaches and tools to support each stage of reading development. At Weaver, we use a carefully selected, aligned core curriculum in every classroom—and also incorporate supplemental resources such as Orton-Gillingham for students who need additional support. This ensures every child gets what they need, when they need it.

Here’s How Reading Grows at Weaver:

Preschool

It all begins with phonological and phonemic awareness— helping children hear and play with the sounds in spoken words. Through songs, games, and meaningful conversations, children build a strong foundation for reading.

Kindergarten

Students begin connecting those spoken sounds to printed letters through systematic phonics instruction. They learn to decode, blend, and begin reading simple texts with confidence.

Grades 1–2

Fluency and accuracy increase as students begin orthographic mapping—a brain process that stores words for quick, effortless reading. Vocabulary and comprehension are woven in along the way.

Grades 3–6

With strong decoding in place, students shift to reading to learn— diving into more complex texts, building background knowledge, and strengthening comprehension and writing skills across subjects.

At every stage, our goal is to grow readers who are confident, capable, and curious—because reading isn’t just a skill, it’s a lifelong gift.

Core Concepts

Code Emphasis in Primary Grades: In grades K–3, we focus on helping kids connect letters to the sounds they make. English has 44 sounds and over 150 ways to spell them, so it’s important that children first learn how to sound out words. This is the foundation for being able to understand what they read.

Explicit and Systematic Phonics Instruction: We teach phonics in a specific order—from simple to more complex. Students move forward as they master each step. In third grade, this continues with learning about grammar and word parts like prefixes and roots.

Early Intervention: If a child is showing signs of struggling with reading, we don’t wait. We begin support right away and check in often to make sure they’re making progress.

Phonemic Awareness: This is the ability to hear and work with the individual sounds in words. It’s a listening skill that comes before reading and helps kids break words apart and put them back together.

Decodable Readers: These are books that use only the sounds and words kids have already learned. They give children the chance to practice their phonics skills while building confidence.

Assessments: We use short checks to see how students are doing with letter sounds, handwriting, word reading, and made-up words. As they grow, we also measure how smoothly and quickly they read aloud.

Knowledge Building and Vocabulary: Kids understand more of what they read when they know about the topic and understand the words being used. We help build that knowledge through reading and talking about interesting subjects.

Comprehension: The goal of all reading instruction is understanding. Students need to be able to both sound out words and understand language. When these two pieces come together, true reading comprehension happens.

5 Pillars of Literacy

• Phonemic Awareness
• Phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension