Phonics, which involves sounding out words syllable by syllable, is the best way to teach children to read.

But in many classrooms, this can be a dirty word.

So much so that some teachers have had to sneak phonics teaching materials into the classroom.

Most American children are taught to read in a way that study after study has found to be wrong.

The consequences of this are striking.

Less than half of all American adults were proficient readers in 2017.

American fourth graders rank 15th on the Progress in International Literacy Study, an international exam.

America is stuck in a debate about teaching children to read that has been going on for decades.

Some advocate teaching symbol-sound relationships (the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck, or ch ), known as phonics.

Others support an immersive approach (using pictures of a cat to learn the word cat), known as "whole language".