Your child can know how to read and still never become a reader. Those are two different things. Reading isn't only about decoding words, passing an assessment, or getting through a homework assignment. What we really want are children who are curious, who can choose their own books, who can get lost in a story, and who know that reading can actually be enjoyable.
So how do we build that?
To answer it, I sat down with Sarah Johnston, an educator who has seen literacy from more angles than almost anyone I know. Sarah grew up in Anne Arundel County and always dreamed of coming back to teach in the district that taught her. She has spent the last ten years doing exactly that with Anne Arundel County Public Schools, first as a second- and third-grade classroom teacher and then as a library media specialist. And now she works with some of our youngest learners here at Kumon of Crofton as an early learning specialist.
That means Sarah sees children before they can read, while they're learning to read, and after they become independent readers. Here's what she taught me about helping our kids not just learn to read, but want to.
Why a Classroom Teacher Moved to the Library
I asked Sarah what made her leave the classroom, and she was honest that it was a hard decision. She loved knowing her students deeply: their strengths, their needs, their families. But she kept noticing something about the school day.
"The structure was so to-the-minute that students didn't get a chance to explore their interests as much as I would have loved," she told me. "Even though they were making great gains in reading, it wasn't something they were really doing for pleasure."
For Sarah, that was a missing piece. Literacy is a tool for success, and it is. But it's also a life skill, something we do for fun and a way we grow. She wanted to work in a space where kids could connect reading to what they actually care about.
She taught second and third grade, which I've always called the golden years. Grades one and two are about learning to read. By third grade, children are reading to learn. If a child hasn't built those foundations by then, it shows up, and it shows up everywhere.
The Library Isn't a Free Period
I'll admit that as a parent, I used to think library time was a nice break in the day. Kids go, pick out a book, come back. Sarah gently corrected me. Library media has its own curriculum, and students get a lesson every time they come in, from kindergarten all the way through fifth grade.
That includes digital literacy and digital citizenship, basic coding, and STEM building projects. It also includes the research skills our kids will lean on for years: how to evaluate a source, how to log into and use a database, how to check a book's publishing date and author, how to choose a book at the right reading level, and how to use the public library.
What Sarah loves most is the flexibility. A classroom teacher knows a group of children very well for one year. Sarah gets to know every student in the school over six or seven years, and she can tailor lessons to what a class or a child is passionate about. She told me she now sees middle schoolers she first taught in pre-K. "Tailor the process to fit the student" is what she's most passionate about in education, and it's exactly what she gets to do there.
What Our Littlest Learners Already Know
Here at the center, Sarah works with three- and four-year-olds, an age she never had in a school building. What struck her right away was how ready they are. "They come in with high expectations for themselves," she said. "They want to know how to read, and they want to know what they can do to get there."
They even call their homework packets "my learning." Here's all my learning. Here's all the learning I did. I love that, because it tells you how they see it.
Sarah also named something I've been doing for fifteen years without knowing there was a term for it: productive struggle. It's that sweet spot where the work is challenging enough to stretch a child and hold them to a high standard, with just enough support that they aren't sitting there totally confused. I've always told parents my goal is to stretch their child a little. Not so far that they pop, but far enough that they see what they're capable of. Comfortable is fine. Capable is better.
And the thing that makes it work, Sarah said, is relationship. Learning is deeply relational, especially for little ones. When a child trusts you enough to hear "You don't know it yet, and that's okay. We're going to figure it out. You're smart, and I'm going to hold you to it," they rise to it. And they come through the door smiling.
What's Behind the Drop in Reading Scores
You've probably seen the headlines. The 2024 National Report Card showed fourth-grade reading scores down from both 2019 and 2022, and that decline didn't start with the pandemic. Reading performance was already heading the wrong way before then.
When I asked Sarah what she's seeing, she called it a complex question with no single answer. But she named the elephant in the room: screens. When children are constantly entertained, the natural struggle that comes with learning to read is something they'll put off, and keep putting off. Bright colors, sounds, and nonstop stimulation can crowd out the skills reading builds, like visualizing a scene, understanding a character's perspective, empathy, and creativity.
She also sees fewer parents reading to their children, at bedtime or any other time. That one hit home for both of us. I wasn't a strong reader growing up. But once reading clicked for me, I realized a book can take you places nothing else can. With a screen, the imagining is already done for you.
What It Looks Like When a Child Has Been Read To
I asked Sarah how she can tell, day to day, which children are being read to at home. Her first answer was simple: less interest in books overall. But the second answer was the one I keep thinking about.
Her pre-K students who are read to at home engage with the whole book. They slow down and study the pictures. What's happening here? What might the words say? Then, as she reads aloud, they compare. "Oh, I thought it was going to be something different because of what I saw in the picture."
That's prediction, context, and comprehension, happening in a four-year-old, and it grows out of nothing more than sitting with a picture book. Children who haven't had that exposure lose some of that curiosity. Sarah's dream is for every one of her students to have it.
Can My Child Read, or Do They Want To?
Skills matter. So does curiosity. So does choice.
We spend a lot of time asking whether our children can read. There's a second question that matters just as much: does my child want to read?
In our effort to keep kids on track academically, reading can turn into one more thing to perform. Another assignment. Another twenty minutes to log. Skills absolutely matter. But so does giving a child the chance to discover that there are books about things they actually care about. That's part of raising a reader too.
Small Steps to Start at Home
So what if you're a parent thinking, I don't really read, and I probably should? Sarah's answer was encouraging. Wanting to start is already great. Here's where she suggests beginning:
Start small and keep it consistent. Ten minutes twice a week counts. A set time, like twenty minutes every Saturday morning, turns reading into a routine your child will want to build on.
Use your public library. It's free and it's there for you. Spend thirty to forty-five minutes letting your child wander, pull books off the shelf, and talk about what looks interesting. You don't have to check everything out. Read one there and put it back.
Model it. This is the hard one, because at the end of the day we all want our shows and our phones. But when children see their parents loving a good book, and see reading as a privilege rather than a punishment, they want to do it too.
I used to give parents this advice all the time: make Sunday a reading day. Everyone pulls out something to read, nothing digital, and then you talk about it. My kids loved it. And when Pearl was on the show, she shared that her love of reading started with her mom taking her to the library, which is exactly what I did with mine. Keep taking your kids to the library. It builds the foundation early.
Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors
When you get to the library, Sarah suggests starting with what your child is learning at school. If the teacher's newsletter mentions a social studies unit or a language arts focus, ask your child about it and find books on those topics. Kids light up when what they learn in one place shows up in another.
Then walk the shelves together. Pull a book out, look at the cover, and ask what they like and don't like about it. Paying attention to what they don't like is just as useful, because it tells you what to look for instead.
And then Sarah shared an idea I will never forget. Educators talk about books as mirrors, windows, and sliding doors:
A mirror reflects a child back to themselves, so they can see their own life and experiences on the page. Representation in children's books has a long way to go, but it is slowly improving.
A window gives a child a view into someone else's life and experiences they haven't had.
A sliding door lets them step through that window into another world and feel part of the experience.
So ask yourself: What has my child experienced that a book could reflect back to them? What haven't they experienced that they could learn from? And what book could pull them all the way in?
At the end of our conversation, I asked Sarah for the one thing she'd want every listening parent to do. Her answer: know and love your child. What do they love? What do they struggle with? Who are their friends? What do they dream about for the future? That isn't separate from reading. When you care for your child as a whole person, you'll naturally reach for the things that help them grow. Trust your instincts, grab a book you think they'll like, and read for ten minutes.
You don't have to overhaul your family's routine to raise a stronger reader. Start small. Read together. Let your child wander the library and choose. Let them see you read something just because you enjoy it. Because yes, we want our children to learn how to read. But we're building something bigger than a reading score. We're building curiosity, confidence, and children who understand that learning belongs to them.
Here's your Raising Scholars question for this week: when my child thinks about reading, do they mostly experience it as something they have to do, or something they get to do? Don't judge the answer. Just notice it. Then pick one small thing you can change this week to make reading feel a little more like discovery and a little less like an assignment.
Listen Now
You can catch this full episode of Raising Scholars wherever you listen to podcasts:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/raisingscholars
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-scholars/id1872122649
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@raisingscholarspodcast
Raising Scholars helps parents of elementary school kids build confident, independent learners without nightly battles. New full-length episodes every Tuesday and Sunday Reset episodes every Sunday.
Download the FREE R.A.I.S.E.™ Starter Kit: https://www.raisingscholarspodcast.com/free-guide
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raisingscholarspodcast
If this conversation spoke to you, share it with another parent who might need to hear it today. And while you're downloading the free R.A.I.S.E. framework, complete the independence assessment, too.