It has come to my attention that kids literally just can’t read in America anymore — and I wish that were an exaggeration. Today on The Isabel Brown Show, we’re breaking down the shocking reality that less than one-third of 4th graders read at a proficient level… and nearly half can’t even read at a basic level.

How did we get here? Because instead of teaching kids to sound out words with phonics like most of us learned, the education establishment decided that’s now Jim Crow–era racism. So welcome to “balanced literacy”: where kids are told not to sound things out, and are instead encouraged to guess words from pictures and context clues. “Look at the butterfly picture, guess that the covered word is ‘butterfly,’ and boom — you’re reading!” Insane.

To talk solutions (not just complaints), I’m joined by Niels Hoven, founder and CEO of Mentava, a phonics-based early literacy program helping kids as young as two read at a second-grade level in months — while the “experts” with PhDs insist results shouldn’t be the primary drive of education. Yes, really.

In today’s episode we dive into:

• The terrifying truth about American literacy in 2025 and what’s really happening in your kids’ classrooms

• Why phonics worked for generations (Bob Books, anyone?) and why it’s suddenly being smeared as “white standard English”

• The madness of “picture power” and “balanced literacy” — and why guessing from pictures is not reading

• How schools have shifted from education to equalization, killing gifted and honors programs and holding everyone back

• How Mentava is helping kids teach themselves to read — and why you don’t need a PhD to educate your own children

• Why so many parents are turning to homeschooling and alternative education after realizing the system is failing on purpose

If you’ve ever thought that you’re “too stupid” to teach your own kids, or been told that questioning the system makes you dangerous, this episode will be a massive encouragement. Parents are not stupid. You are absolutely capable of taking back ownership of your children’s education — and there are tools to help you do it.

Drop your favorite homeschool curriculums, early reading resources, and phonics recommendations in the comments — I’m building out ideas for my own daughter and for future episodes, and I want to hear your experience.

Ep.64

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