TALK to Raise a Reader: How to Build Strong Reading Skills at Home :: Maya Smart [Ep 527]
Don't Mom Alone Podcast
Don't Mom Alone Podcast
4.9 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- Why you are your child’s chief vocabulary builder
- TALK stands for: Take turns, Ask questions, Label and point, Keep the conversation going
- Why literacy still matters—even in an AI world
- Literacy is relational, not just instructional
- Early vocabulary and sound awareness are critical foundations
Connect with Maya Smart:
- Website: Maya Smart - Helping Parents Raise Readers | Become a Reader
- Facebook: Maya Smart
- Instagram: Maya Smart - Parent Educator and Literacy Advocate (@mayasmarty)
Links Mentioned:
Related Episodes:
- How to Stay Calm with School Stress :: Kirk Martin {Ep 88}
- “What is Typical When Learning to Talk?” :: Stephanie Cohen [Ep 486]
- Supporting Students with Dyslexia :: Kerri Irvin [Ep 317]
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, all, welcome back to the Don't Mom Alone podcast. |
| 0:10.2 | I'm your host, Heather McFaddean, and this is the place where I get to walk alongside you |
| 0:14.6 | and connect you with people and resources so you know that you don't mom alone. |
| 0:19.3 | And in this episode number 527, I'm welcoming to the show, Maya Smart. |
| 0:25.0 | That oral language foundations, that was one of the biggest things that I didn't understand |
| 0:30.2 | as a parent, that kids need so much language nutrition to flourish as learners. |
| 0:37.9 | And so it's not just about phonics, although that's critically important for a time whenever |
| 0:42.8 | your school or your homeschool gets into that, depending on their situation. |
| 0:47.3 | It's critically important. |
| 0:48.3 | It shouldn't last forever if we know how to do it right. |
| 0:51.3 | But the building vocabulary, the talking, the back and forth exchanges, |
| 0:54.8 | that's forever as a parent. Maya is a mom. She's also a former journalist turned literacy advocate, |
| 1:03.5 | and she's the author of the new book, Reading for Our Lives, a literacy action plan from birth to six. And her goal is to raise a nation of readers |
| 1:15.6 | and parents and caregivers and give tips and tools to help you in your daily life with |
| 1:21.5 | young kids. I feel like she gives a very, very practical acronym that's in the title of this episode |
| 1:29.8 | that will hopefully stick with you if you have kids in that age from birth to six |
| 1:35.7 | and that you can stay connected with Maya and gain more information and tips from her |
| 1:41.0 | when it comes to helping your kids learn to read. |
| 1:44.4 | So let's get right to it. |
| 1:45.9 | Here we go. |
| 1:47.9 | Maya, welcome to the Don't Mom Alone podcast. |
| 1:52.0 | Thank you so much for having me. |
... |
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