Are you looking for a good podcast?

This is one I got a lot out of.

After seeing it recommended in one of Decoding Dyslexia MD - Carroll County’s Facebook posts, I listened to a podcast series called “Inside the Reading Gap” by Thinking Reading that highlighted the scope of the problem and some of the effects of struggling to read.

Students who struggle with reading often have lower self-esteem and confidence, and frequently deal with anxiety, depression, and feelings of shame.

Reading is necessary for life -- getting a job, completing higher education or specialized training, understanding contracts and bills, making educated decisions when shopping or spending money. All of those things require reading skills. Additionally, illiteracy leads to a greater likelihood of poverty. Improving literacy skills will help ensure the next generation of workers is better prepared and contributing to society and the economy.

As I listened to the podcast and they discussed a decrease in negative behaviors coinciding to increased reading skills, I thought of a book I read awhile back called “The Explosive Child” by Dr. Ross Greene. (He says the book could be called “the imploding child” because some kids implode rather than explode.) But his fundamental claim is that “children do well if they can” and that these behaviors that they exhibit are often rooted in a struggle that they don’t know how to solve on their own. Dr. Greene has developed a methodology called Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) for children to work through identifying those struggles via discussions with adults and developing plans to tackle those challenges.

The podcast gave examples where negative student behaviors improved after reading skills improved. I wonder if some negative behaviors would decrease along with an increase in reading proficiency. I believe these things are interrelated and it makes sense with Dr. Ross Greene’s belief that “children do well if they can.”

I believe it is important that our schools be able to support the whole child. This includes sufficient staff for both instruction and mental health support, as well as appropriate and robust training for those staff. Reading is one of the most fundamental skills to learn in school and opens the doors of opportunity for students. We should always be striving to make sure each student has the resources they need to become a successful reader, and with that we may also see improvements in negative behaviors as well.