The Innate Spark — Why Many Children Can Read Before We Teach Them

Children aren’t broken. Our teaching methods are. Discover why decoding is often innate — and how confusion poisons the path to literacy.

Sections:

🔍 What We’re Missing

• Most children who read do so by figuring it out — even when phonics is taught incorrectly.

• Decoding ≠ comprehension. Let’s stop conflating the two.

🧠 The Brain’s Highway System

• Harvard research shows reading relies on smooth neural pathways.

• Wrong phonics = stoplights. Correct input = free flow.

🚨 Instructional Casualties

• Many “dyslexic” children are victims of confusion, not disorder.

• Early exposure to wrong sounds (TV, kindergarten) blocks natural decoding.

🧒 Real Stories, Real Insight

• My first student learned to read without phonics — just Peter and Jane books.

• I’ve seen children “unlock” reading overnight when confusion is removed.

Call to Action: Let’s stop blaming children. Let’s start fixing instruction. 

Read the full post below

For years, I’ve argued that many children possess an innate ability to decode written language — an ability that’s often overlooked, dismissed, or actively suppressed by flawed teaching methods. This claim has sparked heated debates, especially on Twitter, where educators like Pamela Snow have blocked me rather than engage with the evidence. But the truth remains: many children figure out how to read despite — not because of — formal instruction.

 

🚸 Decoding vs. Comprehension: Let’s Be Precise

When I say “reading,” I’m talking about decoding — the ability to recognize and sound out words. Comprehension is a separate skill, and I leave that to experts in that field. The confusion between these two has led to widespread misunderstanding about what it means to “learn to read.”

I’ve seen children taught phonemes incorrectly — with extraneous sounds like “cuh” for C — still manage to read nonsense words fluently. I’ve seen children who were labeled dyslexic suddenly “get it,” and their reading progress shoots up like a rocket. My first student learned to read using Peter and Jane books, without any phonics instruction. The mind figured it out.

 

🧠 The Brain’s Highway System — When We Don’t Poison the Path

Harvard Medical School describes the brain’s white-matter pathways as a highway system for reading. When the path is smooth, information flows freely. But when children are exposed to incorrect phonics — from TV shows like Baby TV or poorly trained teachers — we introduce “stoplights” that block the flow. We poison the path and then blame the child.

 

Children who are read to early and not exposed to wrong phonics glide through this highway. For others, intervention teachers help unblock the path. And then there are those who, against all odds, figure it out on their own.

 

🧨 The Real Crisis: Instructional Casualties

Reid Lyon called them “instructional casualties.” I call them victims of confusion. These are children who disengage from learning to read not because they lack ability, but because the system failed them. I’ve identified three main reasons for this disengagement — and I challenge educators to name others. If teaching were done correctly, far fewer children would be labeled dyslexic.