Rishanka Jones Show

About Rishanka Jones Show

Choosing a school, navigating special education, deciding when to start kindergarten. These are some of the highest-stakes decisions parents make, and most of us make them with bad information and not enough time. This playlist collects every conversation I've had on those decisions. Public vs private schools and what the data actually shows. Montessori vs traditional preschool. Whether to hold your child back before kindergarten. IEPs, 504 plans, and how to get the support your child is entitled to. Homeschooling legally. What really matters for college admissions. Each one is built around a single question, with educators, school psychologists, special education advocates, and parents who've already been through it. New videos added every week.

Publisher

Rishanka Jones

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Feb 2025

Latest episode

19 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

61 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Oct 2026

   Why Smart Kids Can't Hand Anything In (Executive Function Explained)

   Your child writes a genuinely good essay. Then never hands it in. You find it in the bottom of the backpack three weeks later, finished, and worth a good grade if anyone had seen it. That isn't laziness and it isn't carelessness. It's two different skills developing at two different speeds. The part of the brain that gets excited about an idea matures earlier than the part that follows through on it. So a child can be brilliant at the thinking and genuinely unable to do the handing in. Those aren't the same skill and they don't arrive at the same time. This video covers what executive function actually is in plain language, why "clean your room" is six instructions rather than one, why this hits capable children in particular, what it looks like at each age, and what actually helps. CHAPTERS 00:00 The essay in the bottom of the backpack 01:00 What executive function actually is 02:00 Why "write a book report" is not one instruction 03:00 The part that explains bright kids specifically 04:00 What it looks like, by age 05:00 The thing that makes it worse 06:00 What actually helps THE THING MOST PARENTS DON'T REALISE When you say "do your homework," you think you've given one instruction. You've given about six: Working out what needs doing first. Deciding where to start. Actually starting. Keeping going when it's boring. Switching between parts of it. Noticing when you're done. Every one of those is a separate skill. A child can be excellent at three of them and genuinely unable to do the other three. Which is why "just start it" doesn't work. Starting is one of the hardest of the six, and it's the one we treat as though it takes no effort at all. WHY IT HITS BRIGHT KIDS HARDEST Development isn't even. A child can be years ahead in one area and behind in another at the same time. Researchers who work with gifted children call this asynchrony. So you get a child with an advanced working memory who can hold an enormous amount in their head, and an underdeveloped ability to switch attention when they need to. Because the strengths are so obvious, the difficulty gets read as attitude. Nobody looks at a clearly clever child and thinks "skill gap." They think "he's not trying." And the child, who is also watching this, concludes the same thing about himself. WHAT ACTUALLY HELPS Treat it as a skill, not a character trait. These have to be taught, the same way reading and swimming are taught. Break the instruction into its parts. Not "do your homework." Instead: get the book out, open to page 40, do the first three questions, then come and find me. Make starting easier, because starting is the hard bit. Sit with them for the first two minutes. Set a timer for ten minutes rather than "until it's done." Put the system outside their head. A checklist on the wall, a photo of the finished backpack, an alarm. If working memory is the weak link, stop asking it to do the job. RELATED Why Schools Miss Bright Kids, with Dr. Jonathan Plucker https://youtu.be/xgaKpjYwZ7o (https://youtu.be/xgaKpjYwZ7o) Why ADHD Gets Missed in Girls: What the Research Actually Shows https://youtu.be/_JQcuvdAlqM (https://youtu.be/_JQcuvdAlqM) I'm a podcast host, not a clinician. This is general information, not a diagnosis or medical advice about your child. Executive function difficulties are common alongside ADHD, autism and learning differences. If you're concerned, speak to your pediatrician or your child's school about an evaluation. #executivefunction #ADHD #parenting #homework #education #neurodiversity #parentingteens #executivefunctioning #schoolstruggles #parentingtips

2. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Why Schools Miss Dyslexia, and What You Can See at Home

   Nearly every state now has a dyslexia law. Research published this year found most of them haven't changed much for struggling readers. Which is why so many children are missed. The states where things did improve, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, didn't just pass a law. They changed how reading was taught to every child, trained the teachers, and put literacy coaches in schools. So your state having legislation does not mean your child will be found. You may be the one who notices. This video covers what dyslexia actually is, three things you'll be told that aren't true, and what to look for at each age from preschool through elementary school. CHAPTERS 00:00 Why a state law may not help your child 00:50 What dyslexia actually is 01:40 Three things you'll be told that aren't true 03:10 What to look for, by age 05:00 The clearest single signal 06:00 What to actually do THREE MYTHS THAT COST FAMILIES YEARS "We can't test before third grade." Screening can start as early as preschool, and intervention between four and six makes a real difference. The guidance is to identify children before third grade, not after. "He writes letters backwards, so it's dyslexia." Reversals are normal in young children. They only become a warning sign if they're still happening after about two years of handwriting instruction. "Let's hold him back a year." The US Department of Education, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Association of School Psychologists all agree that retention does not fix academic struggles. THE CLEAREST SIGNAL Your child is getting proper reading instruction and still isn't progressing the way you'd expect given everything else about them. That gap, between how capable your child obviously is and how their reading is going, is the thing worth acting on. Not any single sign on its own. THE QUESTION TO ASK THE TEACHER "When my child comes to a word they don't know, what do they do?" Sound it out, guess from the first letter, look at the picture, or stop. The answer tells you a great deal. IF YOU'RE IN MARYLAND Maryland requires universal reading screening three times a year for all kindergarten students, and for selected students in first through third grade, to identify early warning signs of reading difficulties including dyslexia. Worth knowing what your school is already doing before you ask for anything more. RELATED IEP vs 504: Which One Does Your Child Actually Need? https://youtu.be/8ne_ceRBrms (https://youtu.be/8ne_ceRBrms) Should You Hold Your Child Back Before Kindergarten? https://youtu.be/orvIhmzU7AQ (https://youtu.be/orvIhmzU7AQ) Why ADHD Gets Missed in Girls: What the Research Actually Shows https://youtu.be/_JQcuvdAlqM (https://youtu.be/_JQcuvdAlqM) I'm a podcast host, not a clinician. This is general information to help you ask better questions. It is not a diagnosis or medical advice about your child. If you're concerned, speak to your pediatrician, your child's school, or a qualified specialist. New video every week on the decisions parents actually have to make. Subscribe if you're making these calls right now. #dyslexia #signsofdyslexia #readingdifficulties #learningdisabilities #parenting #education #scienceofreading #dyslexiaawareness #specialeducation #readingintervention

3. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Should You Hold Your Child Back Before Kindergarten? What the Research Actually Says

   Your child has a summer birthday. They'll be one of the youngest in the class. And someone has suggested you wait a year. It's called redshirting, and it feels like everyone is doing it. They aren't. In March 2026, researchers looked at data from more than three million kindergartners and found about five percent of children delay entry. That's roughly the same rate as the 1990s. They also followed one group of children from kindergarten to third grade to see whether waiting actually worked. It did. Children who started a year later scored higher in reading and math at entry, by a margin worth roughly 20 to 30 percent of a school year of learning. By third grade, that gap was gone. In this video I go through what the research found, why the advantage disappears, the finding about who actually redshirts that reframed the whole question for me, and how to think about your own child. CHAPTERS 00:00 Five percent, not everyone 01:00 Does it work? Yes, then no 02:15 The finding that should make you pause 03:30 The costs nobody puts in the column 04:30 When it actually makes sense 05:45 A better question than "is my child ready" 06:45 What to take away THE HONEST TEST Ask yourself which sentence is true: "I'm worried my child can't cope with a kindergarten classroom." Or: "I want my child to be near the top rather than near the bottom." Both are real reasons. Only one is supported by the evidence. SOURCES NWEA, March 2026. Analysis of MAP Growth K-2 data from more than 3 million kindergartners, fall 2017 to 2025, following the 2021-22 cohort through third grade. NWEA notes their sample comes from schools nationwide but may not be nationally representative. Bassok and Reardon, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Two nationally representative datasets on the prevalence and patterns of academic redshirting. RELATED IEP vs 504: Which One Does Your Child Actually Need?: https://youtu.be/8ne_ceRBrms?si=9ixCz0O1qiJtLWp_ (https://youtu.be/8ne_ceRBrms?si=9ixCz0O1qiJtLWp_) Montessori vs Traditional Preschool?: https://youtu.be/6GyIWp1pXas?si=OB2inzBXwk1Uh3vx (https://youtu.be/6GyIWp1pXas?si=OB2inzBXwk1Uh3vx) I'm a podcast host, not an educator or a clinician. This is general information to help you ask better questions, not advice about your specific child. Decisions about school entry are best made with your child's preschool teacher and your school. New video every week on the decisions parents actually have to make. Subscribe if you're making these calls right now. #kindergarten #redshirting #schoolreadiness #parenting #kindergartenreadiness #summerbirthday #education #preschool #parentingadvice #schoolchoice

Who has been a guest on Rishanka Jones Show

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Donald Pelles
• Alison Bladh
• Fredrik Haren
• Kasia Bukowska
• Jan Jones

Reach and audience

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

YouTube views

4,657,709,572

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100

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

Quality

57

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

32

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