How does Hilary Erickson's teaching method enhance children's reading skills effectively?

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse and Pulling Curls.

When I talk about teaching kids to read (like in my episode with Dr. Marnie Ginsberg), I really focus on weaving reading into everyday life in simple, playful ways. That might look like:

• Lots of talking and describing what we’re doing (“let’s sort the red socks,” “what letter sound do you hear at the start of ‘sock’?”)
• Building letter sounds, phonemic awareness (breaking “cat” into /c/ /a/ /t/), and the alphabetic principle through games, not formal lessons
• Using libraries heavily so kids can follow their interests (fiction and non‑fiction)
• Turning practice into play: scavenger hunts with letters, word games in the car, highlighting letters in newspapers, cheap DIY “word puzzles” with bread tags or cards

All of that boosts the core skills research shows matter most—letter-sound knowledge, sound awareness, and decoding—while keeping reading fun and low-pressure, so kids stay motivated and confident.

What age group are you most interested in: preschoolers just starting with letters, or early elementary kids who are learning to decode?