Education

The Reading Method That Left Many Kids Behind

Balanced Literacy downplays structured phonics, where kids learn by memorizing letters' sounds. Is that why some are struggling to read?

John Stossel | 3.11.2026 4:35 PM

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"My child can't read!"

That's become a common complaint from parents.

Why? It might be because kids are distracted by social media and video games.

But I think it's also because reading instruction became lazy and political.

"Progressives" at teachers' colleges pushed a reading technique called "Balanced Literacy."

Instead of memorizing sounds and letters, teachers push what they call "cueing," guessing words based on their context, or pictures.

Balanced Literacy downplays "structured phonics," the older technique where kids memorize letters' sounds and learn to sound out words.

Balanced Literacy does sound more fun than boring phonics drills. Progressives said it would make kids want to read.

It mostly didn't. Yet it was largely accepted until about two years ago, when podcaster Emily Hanford released a series called Sold a........

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