Happy Monday,

Hope everyone survived Friday the 13th and didn’t stare at the annular eclipse for too long. I was relieved to get a breather on social media this weekend and see people posting pictures of the crescent shaped shadows instead of their armchair expert takes on current events. It felt like a much needed reprieve from what has become a super polarizing world. As sad as it sounds, it feels like we as a society are being forced to pick sides and buy into them without being able to choose a middle ground and have healthy debate.

I hope that over the coming years, the political tension is lessened, we find peace, and can all start working together to repair this fractured society. Our kids deserve to grow up in a world in which they can be anything they choose to be without having certain beliefs or ideologies forced upon them.

Reply to this email and let me know how you’re thinking about this subject!

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One Big Idea

Rethinking How We Teach Kids to Read

As a young parent, I hope that my daughter, like me, has a love for reading, which will open doors to a world of imagination and knowledge. But here's a sobering fact: two-thirds of American kids can't read fluently. And what’s to blame? Turns out that it might be the way we've been teaching them to read. The dominant teaching method, phonics, has been deeply ingrained in our education system, yet it often leaves children struggling and frustrated. But there's hope.

Phonics, with its focus on sounding out letters, fails to address the complexity of the English language, where a single letter like 'e' can have multiple pronunciations. While it's been the dominant approach for decades, it's time for us as parents to challenge the status quo. The battle between phonics and whole language often overshadows alternative methods that emphasize automaticity and overlearning, which teaches kids to recognize words instantly and effortlessly. This overlooked approach could be the key to unlocking a brighter reading future for our children, making learning to read much more joyful rather than a frustrating struggle. While these methods require lots of upfront practice, they can pay dividends for a lifetime of enjoyable and successful reading.

Trending Stories & Insights

• This simple Reddit question unlocked great feedback as it relates to the unwritten rules parents [should] follow in order to support each other in parenthood

• This researcher discovered that parents’ anxiety over their kids’ success is a driving force behind a growing teen mental health crisis. Her solution? Raising “healthy strivers”

• Instead of making your children say sorry, this parenting expert suggests that the best thing to do is make them take an action

Tip of the Day

• Exercise helps enhance memory skills, boosts the happiness chemical serotonin and increases cognitive repair. Here are 16 ways that you can get up and moving with your child

F**k it, here’s a dad joke

I always take my problems to Tommy…

Scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for the answer!

Time(out) for Memes