About Dr. Deirdre Cruz
Hi, I'm Dr. Deirdre Cruz. A literacy researcher, diagnostician, educator, and mom. I help families understand how children learn to read and provide practical, research-based strategies that fit into everyday life.
My doctoral research explored mothers' beliefs about literacy and the early experiences they provide for their infants. This work reinforced my belief that supporting early literacy is not simply about providing families with more activities or instructions. It is about understanding how knowledge, beliefs, relationships, and everyday environments shape children's earliest literacy experiences.
The Reading Start grew from this research and a desire to make literacy knowledge more accessible—not only to individual families, but also to the organizations and communities that support them.
The research exists. The programs exist. The expertise exists. What we need now is a cultural shift.
At The Reading Start, we're working to change the way we think about childhood and literacy by helping families understand that learning begins in infancy and grows through everyday interactions, conversations, play, and shared experiences.
Caregivers' beliefs shape their behaviors, and those behaviors shape children's early literacy experiences.
Why a Cultural Shift?
We already know a tremendous amount about early literacy and child development.
We have evidence-based programs and skilled educators.
Yet many families still don't realize that literacy begins long before formal reading instruction.
The Reading Start exists to bridge that awareness gap by translating research into everyday life
The Reading Start Because the way we think about childhood shapes the way children grow.
