Your child reads the paragraph out loud. Every word is right. You hear them get through "photosynthesis" without a single stumble, and you feel that little flicker of relief. Then you ask what it was about, and you get a blank look. If your child can read but doesn't understand what they just read, you're not missing something obvious. You've both done the work. The phonics really is clicking. You've just run into a very specific wall, and it's one the public conversation abo