Show Notes:

What actually happens in the brain when a child learns to read?

In this episode, host Jesica Glover explores the neuroscience behind reading — uncovering why the Science of Reading works from a biological standpoint and how understanding the brain’s reading circuitry can transform how we teach.

You’ll hear from experts, educators, and Kansas leaders who explain what decades of research have revealed about decoding, comprehension, and how structured literacy can literally rewire the brain for reading success.

• How the brain learns to read — why reading isn’t “natural,” and how the brain repurposes regions built for vision and language to process print.
• Why phonics and phonemic awareness matter — connecting letters to sounds activates the left-hemisphere reading network essential for fluent reading.
• Hope through brain change — neuroscientist Dr. Reid Lyon describes brain scans showing struggling readers’ neural patterns transform after structured literacy instruction.
• What effective instruction looks like — insights from Dr. Louisa Moats on how explicit, systematic teaching unlocks the alphabetic principle.
• The Kansas connection — Dr. David Hurford and Cindy Lane share how state leaders are using brain science to reshape teacher training and literacy policy.
• Why “three-cueing” fails — guessing words bypasses the brain’s reading circuit, reinforcing habits that make decoding harder over time.
• The takeaway: Reading can — and must — be taught in a way that aligns with how the brain learns best.

Reading isn’t firmware in our brains. It has to be explicitly taught — step by step — so that written language becomes a code we can unlock. — Dr. David Hurford, Center for Reading, Pittsburg State University

1. Dehaene, Stanislas. Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read (2009)
2. Dehaene, S. (2009). Interview with Scientific American: “The Brain That Reads.”
3. Fletcher, Jack M. et al. (2018). “Classification and Identification of Learning Disabilities: A Hybrid Model.”
4. Gabrieli et al., MIT, 2014
5. Hanford, Emily. “At a Loss for Words.” APM Reports (2019).
6. Moats, L. (2020), NCTQ Reports
7. Shaywitz, Sally. Overcoming Dyslexia (2nd Ed., 2020)
8. Seidenberg, Mark. Language at the Speed of Sight
9. National Council on Teacher Quality (2023). Teacher Prep Review
10. National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching Children to Read
11. The Reading League Compass, 2023
12. Saygin, Z.M. et al. (2014). “Tracking the roots of reading ability.” Nature Neuroscience

This podcast is produced by KB PODCASTS

Watching a child struggle to read can feel heartbreaking—and for parents and teachers, it’s easy to feel powerless. In this bonus episode of My Child Can’t Read: A Heartland Crisis, host Jesica Glover sits down with Tammi Hope, Director of Program Development at Phillips Fundamental Learning Center (PFLC), to hear how belief, the right tools, and a child-centered approach are transforming literacy education in Kansas. This episode is packed with hope, insight, and inspiration for parents, teachers, and advocates alike.

What You’ll Learn:

• How child-centered, research-based literacy programs can change lives
• The importance of understanding the whole child in learning and advocacy
• Steps parents and educators can take to ensure children get the support they need
• Tammi Hope’s journey from teacher to leader in literacy programs
• How PFLC teaches the whole child, not just reading skills
• Powerful stories from educators experiencing “lightbulb moments” in training
• Lessons from her grandchildren that reaffirm why effective intervention matters

"If you know that you're using tools that don't work, you are doing a disservice to the child and to yourself. You're setting both of you up for failure." — Tammi Hope

Resources & Links:

• • Parents and Community Members, attend a PFLC free lecture or simulation to understand more about dyslexia and experience firsthand how it feels to be neurodiverse. Email jsmith@funlearn.org or call (316) 684-7323 to learn more.

• Educators, learn more about attending a Structured Literacy Intervention Specialist course by contacting Anne: achandler@funlearn.org or call (316) 684-7323

• Phillips Fundamental Learning Center
• Andeel Teacher Literacy Institute at PFLC

Call to Action

• Subscribe so you never miss an episode, including Season 2: The Anatomy of Change
• Rate & Review on your favorite podcast platform to help others find the show
• Share this episode with a parent, teacher, or professor preparing future educators
• Tell us your story at: funlearn.org/subscribe
• Explore screening tools and resources at: funlearn.org

This podcast is produced by KB PODCASTS

What if every child had access to the kind of instruction that transforms lives?

In our Season 1 finale, we revisit the journey of Austin, once a struggling 6-year-old, now a thriving 17-year-old scoring in the top percentiles on the ACT. His story reminds us what’s possible when kids are finally taught to read with proven methods.

This episode takes a hard look at Kansas literacy outcomes, where only 28% of fourth graders are proficient in reading, and explores the systemic reforms underway. From legislators and board members to parents, teachers, and students, you’ll hear how Kansas is at a turning point — and what it will take to finally get this right.

• Austin Collins shares how his life was transformed after years of struggle having had structured literacy instruction
• Senator Renee Erickson on the literacy crisis and why research shows 95–97% of kids can learn to read with the right instruction
• Kansas State Board of Education Chair Cathy Hopkins on what’s kept the science of reading out of classrooms — and why collaboration is the key to moving forward
• Representative Megan Steele, both policymaker and parent, on why this crisis is personal and professional
• Research shows 95–97% of students can learn to read with structured literacy.
• Policy changes like the Seal of Literacy are steps forward, but without strong implementation and classroom application, they risk falling short. Rolph Literacy Academy demonstrates how science-based instruction can change lives — for students, parents, and educators alike.
• Veteran teacher Stephani Brooks on the challenges of training and implementation in Kansas schools
• Skyline Schools PK-8 Principal Diane House and Teachers: Joyce Temanson, Carrie Harrold, Michelle Schmidt share the shift in student impact after having structured literacy training in Alphabetic Phonics on the lives of students- who also share as well.
• This is Kansas’ moment of reckoning: if we get this right, we can change the future for every child.

• Children of the Code Project
• Hope for Kansas Episode 1
• IMSLEC (International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council)
• Kansas State Department of Education — Literacy Seal requirements
• LETRS Professional Learning by Dr. Louisa Moats
• NAEP (Nation’s Report Card) Kansas Reading Results
• Phillips Fundamental Learning Center
• Sold a Story podcast — Emily Hanford, APM Reports
• Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science by Dr. Louisa Moats (AFT, 2020)
• Reading in the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene (Viking, 2009)

Call to Action

• Subscribe so you never miss an episode, including our bonus episode with Tammi Hope from PFLC and Season 2: The Anatomy of Change
• Rate & Review on your favorite podcast platform to help others find the show
• Share this episode with a parent, teacher, policy maker, or professor preparing future educators
• Tell us your story at: funlearn.org/subscribe
• Explore screening tools and resources at: funlearn.org

This podcast is produced by KB PODCASTS

• Cooper, Evie, Emmi, Hadlie, and Austin — students reflecting on what it feels/felt like to be called “stupid,” “lazy,” or ignored in class
• Parents Stacie Swanson, Sarah Collins, and Lindsey Angleton — sharing the early signs they saw and the pushback they faced
• Dr. Janelle Tidemann — psychologist explaining the overlooked red flags and why bright, creative kids often slip through the cracks
• Jeanine Phillips, Jill Hodge, and Sarah Balzar — Kansas educators describing how training changed everything they thought they knew
• The national scope of reading struggles, the Reading Wars, and why balanced literacy wasn’t enough
• Struggling readers often say they feel “stupid” or “invisible” long before they’re diagnosed
• Early signs — speech delays, difficulty rhyming, not recognizing letters — are often brushed off as “they’ll grow out of it”
• Dyslexia is real, common, and too often misdiagnosed as behavior problems, ADHD, or defiance
• Balanced literacy left teachers unprepared to meet the needs of all learners
• Early intervention and structured literacy change not just academic outcomes, but emotional lives

• Subscribe so you never miss an episode
• Rate & Review on your favorite podcast platform to help others find the show
• Share this episode with a parent, teacher, policy maker, or professor preparing future educators
• Tell us your story at: funlearn.org/subscribe
• Explore screening tools and resources at: funlearn.org

• Phillips Fundamental Learning Center (Wichita, KS)
• LETRS Structured Literacy Training
• Children of the Code video series: What’s at Stake
• Sold a Story podcast — Emily Hanford & APM Reports
• Reading in the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene (Viking, 2009)
• Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science by Dr. Louisa Moats (AFT, 2020) — Read PDF
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University — Jack Shonkoff’s work
• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Scores, 2024 Visit NAEP – Nation’s Report Card

What if I told you it was never your fault?

Many teachers care deeply — so why do so many children still struggle to read?

In this eye-opening episode, we explore the myth of balanced literacy, the widespread training gaps in teacher preparation, and the emotional toll on students and families. We follow the powerful journey of Jeanine Phillips — a Kansas teacher and mom who discovered her own dyslexia in college and then fought to understand why her son, Cooper, couldn’t read.

Their story reveals how broken systems leave educators unprepared, students misdiagnosed, and families desperate for answers — until someone finally teaches the code.

• Jeanine Phillips’s story of discovering her own dyslexia and advocating for her son

• Cooper Phillips reflecting on shame, a diagnosis of profound dyslexia, and the moment everything changed

• Dr. Brian Stone’s perspective on identifying dyslexia and guiding a family toward healing

• Balanced literacy didn’t prepare teachers to teach reading — and many never learned how the brain actually learns to read

• Dyslexia is real, common, and often misunderstood — in both students and adults

• Early intervention, structured literacy, and the right support can change the trajectory of a child’s life.

• Families and teachers are doing their best within broken systems — and change starts with knowledge and action

• You’re not alone, and you’re not to blame — but together, we can do better

“Balanced literacy didn’t prepare me to teach reading. I had the title, but not the training.”

– Jeanine Phillips

• Subscribe so you never miss an episode

• Rate & Review on your favorite podcast platform to help others find the show

• Share this episode with a parent, teacher, or professor preparing future educators

• Tell us your story at: funlearn.org/subscribe

• Explore screening tools and resources at: funlearn.org

• Phillips Fundamental Learning Center — Wichita, KS

• LETRS Structured Literacy Training

• Sold a Story podcast — Emily Hanford & APM Reports

• Children of the Code video series

• Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science by Dr. Louisa Moats, AFT (2020) — Myths About Dyslexia — PDF Resource

This podcast is produced by KB PODCASTS

What if everything you believed about how kids learn to read… was wrong?

In this Season 1 premiere, host Jesica Glover — a mom, former reading specialist, and once-struggling reader herself — shares her family’s journey through confusion, frustration, and discovery. This episode uncovers how our education system lost sight of how reading really works… and why so many parents and teachers were left in the dark.

You’ll hear from brain scientists, psychologists, educators, students, and parents all asking the same painful question: Why can’t my child read — and why didn’t anyone prepare us to help them?

This isn’t just a story about what went wrong. It’s the beginning of a reckoning — and a roadmap toward what’s possible.

• Jesica Glover’s personal story of struggle — as a mom and an educator

• Kansas Educator, Jill Hodge, reflecting on feeling unprepared despite a degree

• Sarah Collins discovering her child’s experience wasn’t unique

• Teen Emmi Johnston describing what it’s like to feel “stupid” — until someone finally teaches you to read

• Austin Collins, age 10, student with dyslexia

• Dr. Reid Lyon explaining why reading isn’t natural — and why the science still hasn’t reached most classrooms

“If you’re a teacher who feels unprepared, a parent who feels unheard, or a student who feels invisible — you’re not alone. And it’s not your fault.”

• Subscribe so you never miss an episode

• Rate & Review on your favorite podcast platform to help others find the show

• Share this episode with a parent, teacher, or professor preparing future educators

• Tell us your story at: funlearn.org/subscribe

• Explore screening tools and resources at: funlearn.org

• Alphabetic Phonics Curriculum (Multisensory Teaching Approach)

• Children of the Code video series: What’s at Stake

• Dr. Reid Lyon, Keynote, Summit for Literacy (2024)

• LETRS Structured Literacy Training

• Phillips Fundamental Learning Center — Wichita, KS

• Reading in the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene (Viking, 2009)

• Sold a Story podcast — Emily Hanford & APM Reports

• Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science by Louisa Moats, AFT (2020)

• G. Reid Lyon, “Why Reading Is Not a Natural Process,” via SOUNDSTRIPE.COM Shimmer - What We Call Home, Cody Martin - Innovation, Reville - Curiosity, LNDO - Daydreaming , Shimmer - Craft

  This podcast is produced by KB PODCASTS