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What if the fastest way to change your child’s behavior is to change how you show up? We sit down with parent coach and author Sue Donnellan to unpack why yelling fails, how Montessori principles build independence, and what it takes to lead the culture of your home with clarity and calm. From the chaos of going from one child to triplets to discovering behavior psychology, Sue shares the exact reframes and systems that helped her move from reactivity to results.

We explore the core shift of treating kids as “adults in training,” which replaces control with collaboration and dignity. Sue walks us through “parenting in advance,” a repeatable approach to solving recurring flashpoints—mornings, chores, screens—during low-emotion moments with short training conversations. You’ll hear how to ask questions to learn instead of to lecture, how to listen to receive rather than to reply, and why curiosity is the highest-leverage tool you have for conflict resolution and trust.

We also dig into expectation management, neutrality, and the art of intentional detachment as kids approach pre-teen years. Think of yourself as the bow and your child as the arrow: craft well, aim with purpose, then allow space for growth within boundaries. Along the way, we talk mantras, check-ins, and simple self-audits that keep you on track when life is loud. The payoff is a home where independence grows, honesty is safe, and your voice is heard without raising it.

If you’re ready to swap shouting for structure and power struggles for partnership, press play. Then share your biggest daily sticking point—we’ll help you reframe it on a future episode. Subscribe, leave a review, and pass this to a caregiver who needs a hopeful, practical reset.

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A lot of bright kids are still stuck on the basics of reading, and too many parents are told to wait—or sold cures that don’t work. We sit down with dyslexia therapist Faye Bankler Cressell to unpack what actually helps struggling readers and how families can start real progress at home without losing years to red tape.

Faye shares her path from special education to structured literacy, sparked by helping her own child during lockdown. She explains why the science of reading matters, what structured literacy looks like in daily practice, and how to tell evidence-based intervention from high-priced “brain training” that promises big results but delivers little. We get specific about foundational skills—phonemic awareness, sound-symbol mapping, CVC decoding, early syllable work—and how systematic, cumulative lessons rewire reading pathways across phonology, orthography, and morphology.

We also talk about the power of telling kids their diagnosis in clear, respectful language. When children know what dyslexia means, shame fades and self-advocacy begins. That confidence scales into high school, college, and the workplace, where naming strengths and supports becomes a strategy for excellence. Faye introduces her Home Reading Coach program, a 13‑week, parent-led course designed to be affordable, practical, and aligned with what research says works. Think printable materials, guided videos, and coaching that help families move from ABC to CVC and into early two-syllable patterns—with measurable wins that build momentum.

If you’re navigating testing, IEEs, IEP meetings, or just wondering where to begin, you’ll find a clear roadmap plus vetted resources and communities like Decoding Dyslexia. You don’t need to wait for formal labels to take action; explicit instruction has no downside and a massive upside. Subscribe, share with a caregiver who needs this clarity, and leave a review telling us the one reading question you want answered next.

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SJ CHILDS - SOCIALS & WEBSITE MASTER LIST

WEBSITES

- Stream-Able Live — https://www.streamable.live-COMING SOON

- The SJ Childs Global Network — https://www.sjchilds.org

- The SJ Childs Show Podcast Page — https://www.sjchildsshow.com

YOUTUBE

- The SJ Childs Show — https://www.youtube.com/@sjchildsshow

- Louie Lou (Cats Channel) — https://www.youtube.com/@2catslouielou

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- Business Page — https://www.facebook.com/sjchildsllc

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- The SJ Childs Show — https://www.facebook.com/SJChildsShow

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Imagine being told a first-grade reading level will define your future—then deciding to rewrite the script. That’s the spark behind our conversation with Russell, a New York State–funded dyslexia researcher who turned personal roadblocks into a practical method that helps students jump from frustration to fluency without elite price tags.

We dig into the brain science that actually moves the needle: stop hammering the back of the brain where dyslexic readers show low activity and start training the frontal systems where activity surges. Russell explains a deceptively simple routine that blends word analysis and articulation: build three-word sentences grounded in the learner’s real interests, read them aloud to ensure they sound right, then retype each misspelled word until it sticks. It’s a 10-minute fix that compounds into stronger grammar, better spelling, and—crucially—confidence. If they can write it, they can read it. And as sentences become body paragraphs and paragraphs become essays, organization emerges from a fast, creative mind.

You’ll hear vivid case studies. High schoolers in his pilot went from near-zero percentiles to college-ready performance in a single school year. A homeschooled fifth grader climbed from the 11th to the 64th percentile in reading and from the 4th to 65th in writing, with grammar hitting the 97th percentile. The common thread is motivation: specificity beats slog. Start with a student’s genuine specialty, then use targeted questions to move from the specific to the general, borrowing the “context, problem, solution” frame from The Craft of Research to teach structure early. We even map how a 10-year-old building a Mars literature review can learn the peer-review process years ahead of schedule.

We also talk access. Russell’s program pairs weekly expert guidance with a full curriculum—from corrected sentences to publishable work—at a price families can manage. The goal isn’t endless accommodation; it’s training that respects how neurodiverse brains learn and transfers to real classrooms. If you’re a parent, teacher, or curious learner ready for tools that work, tune in, try the sentence routine, and see what shifts for your student this week. If it helps, share the episode, subscribe for more practical strategies, and leave a review to tell us what changed for you.

Support the show

SJ CHILDS - SOCIALS & WEBSITE MASTER LIST

WEBSITES

- Stream-Able Live — https://www.streamable.live-COMING SOON

- The SJ Childs Global Network — https://www.sjchilds.org

- The SJ Childs Show Podcast Page — https://www.sjchildsshow.com

YOUTUBE

- The SJ Childs Show — https://www.youtube.com/@sjchildsshow

- Louie Lou (Cats Channel) — https://www.youtube.com/@2catslouielou

FACEBOOK

- Personal Profile — https://www.facebook.com/sara.gullihur.bradford

- Business Page — https://www.facebook.com/sjchildsllc

- The SJ Childs Global Network — https://www.facebook.com/sjchildsglobalnetwork

- The SJ Childs Show — https://www.facebook.com/SJChildsShow

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- https://www.instagram.com/sjchildsllc/

TIKTOK

- https://www.tiktok.com/@sjchildsllc

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- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjchilds/

PODCAST PLATFORMS

- Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/4qgD3ZMOB2unfPxqacu3cC

- Apple Podcasts — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sj-childs-show/id1548143291

CONTACT EMAIL

- sjchildsllc@gmail.com