My New Life

About My New Life

The early years of a child's life are the most important for their long-term development. Sometimes, the abundance of information out there can feel overwhelming and difficult to navigate. My New Life is here to support parents and help make sense of the science behind early learning. I'm Jessica Rolph, mother of three and CEO of Lovevery. With the help of experts from around the world, we break down all the child development science into usable nuggets of knowledge that you can put to the test in your own home.

Publisher

Lovevery

Category

kids & family · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Apr 2020

Latest episode

8 Jan 2025

Latest episodes

112 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Jan 2025

   How phonics can support children with dyslexia

   As you may know, Lovevery now offers The Reading Skills Set. It’s a phonics-based program that makes reading fun, motivating your child to read through play. It covers skills from pre-K through Second grade. In this episode, My New Life host Jessica Rolph talks with Sprout Labs (https://www.sproutlabs.com/) CEO Carla Small about the neuroscience behind dyslexia, and why it has nothing to do with reversing letters. Carla and Dr. Nadine Gaab created EarlyBird, an early literacy assessment used in school districts nationwide. Mentioned in this episode: Brought to you by Lovevery.com SproutLabs.com (http://sproutlabs.com) Receive weekly emails about your child’s development, and stay in the know about new play essentials, promos, and more by signing up at Lovevery.com (http://lovevery.com/) Follow Lovevery and Jessica Rolph (https://www.instagram.com/jessicarolph/) on Instagram

2. 

   30 Oct 2024

   Teaching toddlers to read

   This bonus episode features an interview with Spencer Russell, the dad behind Toddlers Can Read. Spencer struggled to learn to read as a kid, so when it came time to choose a career, he set out to help others avoid the same experience and took a job with Teach for America, continuing as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher in Houston, Texas. When he started teaching, Spencer's students were scoring well below average on national standardized tests. But by the time he stepped away from the profession, 60% of his students advanced 1.5 years in their reading skills, and over half scored at or above the 82nd percentile, earning him national recognition. After becoming a parent, Spencer focused on his son, teaching him letter sounds at 18 months. By 2 years old, his son was reading on his own! Which is the genesis of Spencer’s program, Toddlers Can Read. So effective are his tips for teaching reading, his social channels have over half-a-billion views. We at Lovevery teamed up with Spencer to create the best at-home reading program in the world, The Reading Skills Set (https://lovevery.com/pages/the-reading-skill-set). Takeaways: Make it a game: Children often learn literacy skills early when it feels like play. Teaching them to read sooner gives them more time to master these foundational skills. Start simple: Begin with just three sounds and review them for a few seconds, multiple times a day. As your child grows, you can gradually extend the length of your practice sessions. Turn learning into fun: Spencer suggests making the process playful. For example, have your child say the sound correctly before throwing a ball at the letter, making it an interactive game. Teach blending: Once your child grasps individual sounds, help them blend the sounds into words. Practice orally or using paper. For instance, review how “iii” and “nnn” makes “in” — slowly and patiently. Feeling motivated? Here are 4 signs your child is ready to read: They have strong oral language skills and can pronounce most sounds. They show a good memory. They can focus on sound games. You feel confident in supporting their reading journey! Spencer’s literacy materials can be found at ToddlersRead.com, including a free Beginning Reading Workshop aimed at empowering parents to teach their toddlers to read. Plus, get access to a limited-time, webinar-only discount on the new Reading Skill Set by Lovevery. Mentioned in this episode: Brought to you by Lovevery.com ToddlersRead.com Receive weekly emails about your child’s development, and stay in the know about new play essentials, promos, and more by signing up at Lovevery.com Follow Lovevery and Jessica Rolph on Instagram

3. 

   15 May 2024

   Montessori math

   Math is all around us. When it comes to teaching it, the challenge lies not in creating the opportunities, but in recognizing them. Counting grapes while they disappear is a fun one! Around the age of 4, a child’s mathematical knowledge takes a big leap forward. They go from counting and recognizing numbers, to understanding 1:1 correspondence and being able to complete simple addition. As parents, we can support them in this leap by providing things to count, line up, and compare. Lovevery’s Montessori Math Bars & Number Tiles for months 43-45 are a great place to start. On this episode, My New Life Host Jessica Rolph is joined by the principal investigator for Boston College’s Thinking and Learning Lab, which studies cognitive development with a primary focus on mathematical knowledge: Dr. Elida Laski. Dr. Laski is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Montessori Research. Takeaways: By supporting early math, we’re activating the same pathways in the brain that will support literacy. For example, knowing that the symbol 3 refers to three objects is the same thing a child has to do in early reading when they look at an arbitrary combination of lines that represent a B and know that it makes the sound buh. Beyond learning the numbers, exposing children to early visual repeating patterns like red, blue, red, blue, also builds a foundation for later math learning. There’s research that shows that labeling the count set after you’ve counted with your child can make a big difference. So don’t just count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and assume your child knows that represents five. Go the extra step, and say: “So we have five pegs.” This concept is demonstrated in the Lovevery wooden counting box. The Lovevery Montessori math bars not only show that numbers represent a larger quantity as you move up the count sequence, but also visually show how much more. You can reinforce this in the day-to-day, by asking your child: How many more floors do we have to go to get to number 6? Rather than leaning on tools like flashcards, Elida recommends more authentic math activities, where you’re: counting real things; comparing who has more crackers, who has fewer; and placing things in order so that you can see their relation to the count sequence. Mentioned in this episode: Brought to you by Lovevery.com Receive weekly emails about your child’s development, and stay in the know about new play essentials, promos, and more by signing up at Lovevery.com (http://lovevery.com/) Follow Lovevery and Jessica Rolph on Instagram

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

652 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

61 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

59

Social presence

97

YouTube

0

Engagement

95

Contact My New Life

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  Good Inside with Dr. Becky

• 

  Happier with Gretchen Rubin

• 

  Up First

• 

  Good Hang with Amy Poehler

• 

  The Daily

• 

  How To Fail With Elizabeth Day