This article draws on several studies to show that standard methods of learning to read are the source of difficulties for some students, and that these difficulties are then “pathologized” and associated with the students’ cognitive specificities. These methods are the product of a history of pedagogical norms that today result in “hybrid” practices. The latter are inspired both by recent knowledge in cognitive processes, and by practices that correspond to more out-of-date knowledge. The result is that children are not exposed as much as they could be to the most effective practices for learning to read.