Abstract
In this paper we come together as teachers, a school leader and a professor to examine children’s theories of learning to read captured in written and illustrated texts created by 143 children currently enrolled in kindergarten to sixth grade. This collection of children’s theories of reading was created in the context of a progressive elementary school located at Smith College, a women's liberal arts college in Massachusetts. Our hope in examining children’s theories is to humanize and historicize current debates about how reading is taught. We also hope to offer a counter narrative to the dichotomies currently shaping reading education, particularly based on ideas about the “science of reading”. To do so, we start with a short introduction and a brief description of our school and its current approach to reading curriculum, touching on our experiences of the impact of the “science of reading" in our school. We then discuss children’s theories of learning to read focusing on the following themes: (1) variety in reading, (2) reading as a process, (3) reading as skills and experiences, (4) reading as relationships and community, (5) reading as materials, bodies, and environments, and (6) reading as feelings. We close with a moving forward section to briefly highlight the implications and relevance of children’s theories to reading education. Across sections our aim is to advance current ideas about how children understand reading and its learning, based on their experiences with explicit literacy instruction, at a time when the "science of reading" is the subject of intense debate.
Author Biography
Cristina Valencia Mazzanti
Cristina Valencia Mazzanti is assistant professor of education and child study at Smith College. She studies the social construction of languages as a multifaceted phenomenon that shapes children’s experiences of learning as well as the work of educators and researchers. Currently, she is researching young children’s experiences with multilingualism, multimodality, and learning through a series of interdisciplinary longitudinal studies involving kindergarten students, elementary school teachers, and Latine families. Cristina teaches classes in the areas of early childhood and elementary education as well as educational research.
Laura Tiktin-Sharick
Laura Tiktin-Sharick is the assistant head of school at the Campus School of Smith College. Prior to this, Laura has served as an assistant principal, an instructional coach, and an elementary school teacher in the New York City Department of Education. Laura earned an EdM in Leadership for Educational Change from Bank Street Graduate School of Education, an MSEd in Childhood Education from CUNY Brooklyn College, and a BA from Wesleyan University. Laura is a progressive educator and school leader who believes in the power of authentic collaboration among children and adults as a critical way to create dynamic teaching and learning communities.
Madeleine Zuck
Madeleine Zuck is a sMadeleine Zuckecond grade supervising teacher at the Campus School of Smith College. This is Madeleine’s ninth year in the classroom. In 2006, she graduated from Brown University with a BA in Public and Private Sector Organizations. Then in 2015, Madeleine received a dual MSEd in Childhood General and Special Education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Upon graduating, she began working as a kindergarten/first grade teacher at Brooklyn Compass, a progressive charter school in New York City. Six years later, she moved to the Pioneer Valley and joined the Campus School’s teaching team. Madeleine is a progressive educator who works to center joy and equity in her teaching practices and classroom life.
Tiphareth Ananda
Tiphareth Ananda is a fourth grade supervising teacher at the Campus School of Smith College. Beyond working with children, she mentors preservice teachers, co-facilitates a professional learning community for other mentors, and occasionally serves as an adjunct professor for methods courses. She started her teaching career working with 10- to 12-year-olds at The Common School, an independent school in Amherst, Massachusetts. Tiphareth found her intellectual home when she joined the Smith College community, completing the M.A.T. program, and dedicating decades to creating a responsive classroom culture, teacher research, and curriculum development. Tiphareth earned a BA in Elementary Education and African American Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Recommended Citation
Valencia Mazzanti, C.,
Tiktin-Sharick, L.,
Zuck, M.,
&
Ananda, T.
(2026).
"It was hard, but it worked:" Children's theories on learning to read.
Occasional Paper Series,
(55).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1588
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Early Childhood Education Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons