“What have scientists figured out? First of all, while learning to talk is a natural process that occurs when children are surrounded by spoken language, learning to read is not. To become readers, kids need to ... READ. Not rants on Twitter, but ACTUAL BOOKS.
“kids need to ... READ.”
And before they can read, they need to be read TO by their parents. All the time. I have a picture of Mom reading “Chicken Little” to me, and a picture of my two cousins and me “reading” the book. It’s upside-down, but we were totally into it. We were two.