After wrapping up season two of The Science of Reading Formula podcast, I still can't stop thinking about this idea.

She called it Friday Test, Monday Miss.

A kid aces the spelling test on Friday. By Monday — in real writing, real sentences — the word is gone.

Not because the kid didn't try. Because rote memorization doesn't stick.

We can't memorize our way to 50,000 words. The brain doesn't work that way.

What works instead is something called orthographic mapping — connecting how a word sounds, what it means, and how it looks, all at once.

That combination is what makes words actually stick.

One small shift you can try right now:

When you introduce a new word this week, don't just show it.

Say it out loud together. Break it into sounds. Talk about what it means. Find it in a sentence.

That's it. That's the beginning.

It's not a complete overhaul. It's one word at a time, taught in a way the brain can actually hold.

The teachers inside the Science of Reading Formula are doing this every single week — with tools, support, and a community who gets it.

If you want more of this, that's exactly what's waiting for you when doors open.

Talk soon,