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Complicated Kids is a podcast about why raising kids can feel like an extreme sport sometimes. Join me to unpack all of it, figure out who needs what, and help your family thrive. Gabriele Nicolet is a Toddler Whisperer, Parent Coach and Speech Therapist. – She is the co-founder of Raising Orchid Kids – an online, global parent education and coaching practice, as well as the owner of GabrieleNicolet.com – a parent coaching practice in the DC metro area. Gabriele has a hard time eating out in restaurants if children are present because she always wants to play. She is passionate about all things child development, and particularly fascinated by the ways in which common parenting practices affect highly sensitive (Orchid) kids and how to tweak them so that everyone can stay calm and become their best Selves. Have questions? Reach out today complicatedkidspodcast@gmail.com.    
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  2. You Can Teach Your Kid to Read at Home with Faye Bankler Casell

Jun 9, 2026

If a child is struggling to learn to read, waiting rarely makes that easier.

In this episode, I talk with Faye Bankler Casell about what parents need to know when early reading is not coming together the way it should. Faye explains why reading instruction in schools can feel like a lottery system, why so many children are still being missed until third or fourth grade, and why first grade is such an important window for intervention. We talk about the science of reading, early identification, and the very real difference between a child who is guessing well and a child who is actually decoding.

We also get into what parents can actually do. Faye walks through the foundational sound-level skills that matter most, what to watch for in preschool and kindergarten, and why waiting for a child to fail before acting can come at such a high cost academically and emotionally. One of the things I really love about this conversation is how practical and hopeful it is. Parents do not need to become reading specialists overnight, but they can learn what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to start supporting a child sooner rather than later.

Key Takeaways

  • Early intervention matters enormously. If a child is not learning to read easily, first grade is a powerful time to intervene. Waiting until fourth grade makes intervention longer and much harder.
  • A child can show risk signs before they are formally reading. Faye explains that dyslexia risk can often be identified by around age five and a half because the issue is rooted in language processing, not just school reading performance.
  • Reading struggles often start at the sound level. Parents want to look closely at phonological awareness, letter-sound connections, rhyming, sound deletion, and sound substitution.
  • Some bright kids compensate for a long time. A child may memorize words, guess from pictures, or use the first letter as a clue, which can make it look like reading is fine until the demands get heavier.
  • Third grade is often when the mask slips. That is when memorization stops being enough and multisyllabic academic language starts to expose the underlying gaps.
  • Structured literacy helps all kids and is essential for some. Faye frames this approach as beneficial for everyone and absolutely necessary for children whose brains are not going to intuit reading patterns on their own.
  • Speech and language history matters. If a child has had speech delays or ongoing language-processing concerns, that is a reason to stay especially alert around reading development.
  • Parents do not have to wait passively. Even while seeking testing, services, or better school support, there are meaningful ways families can start helping at home.
  • Correct answers do not always mean mastery. A child can get a word or pattern right through guessing or partial knowledge, which is why adult observation still matters so much.
  • This is not about a broken child. It is about teaching in a way that matches how the child learns. The burden belongs with the adults and the system, not with the child.

About Faye Bankler Casell

Faye Bankler Casell received her MA in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from Teachers College Columbia. After teaching in public and private programs across the US, she redesigned an early childhood inclusion program that received recognition from the US Department of Education, NPR, and a national organization.

Inspired by the need to launch the reading of her twice exceptional child, Faye became a Certified Academic Language Therapist and Dyslexia Therapist. She now supports parents in the early reading development of their dyslexic children through Home Reading Coach, her social platforms, and her YouTube channel, “Teach My Child to Read.” She also works privately with clients and is launching a parent-led, therapist-coached dyslexia program for families supporting reading at home.

About Your Host, Gabriele Nicolet

I’m Gabriele Nicolet, toddler whisperer, speech therapist, parenting life coach, and host of Complicated Kids. Each week, I share practical, relationship-based strategies for raising kids with big feelings, big needs, and beautifully different brains. My goal is to help families move from surviving to thriving by building connection, confidence, and clarity at home.

Complicated Kids Resources and Links

🌎 www.gabrielenicolet.com
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➡️ Instagram: @gabriele_nicolet
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