As part of foundational reading skills instruction, what is the sequence of instruction?

• A. Start with easier skills and move on to harder ones.
• B. Start with harder skills and move on to easier ones.
• C. Alternate between decoding and spelling equally each day.
• D. Teach only vocabulary first.

Answer: (A)

In foundational reading instruction, students build a strong base by starting with easier skills and gradually moving to harder ones. This means beginning with simple, concrete tasks such as recognizing letters, naming them, and understanding basic sound-symbol relationships, then progressing to more complex decoding, blending, and word-building activities as mastery develops. This approach supports confidence and accuracy early on, so learners can repeatedly practice and apply skills with decodable text, eventually tackling multisyllabic words, more intricate spelling patterns, and richer reading tasks. Starting with harder skills can overwhelm beginning readers and disrupt momentum, while focusing only on vocabulary ignores the essential decoding practice that makes reading possible. So, progressing from easy to more difficult skills best supports steady growth and eventual fluency.