Today’s Solutions: December 17, 2025

The reading proficiency of kids in America is shockingly low. Apparently, less than 40 percent of fourth and eighth-grade students nationwide are proficient readers—and the blame lies on flawed methods of teaching reading in our education systems where kids are taught simply the letters and the sounds they make. From there it becomes a matter of hoping they will put the two together, which is an incredibly hard task for children with dyslexia, a learning disability that affects one in five individuals.

Now, led by parents of children with dyslexia, some states are trying to change how reading is taught. In line with the articles we’ve featured this week about neurodiversity, here’s a video out of Arkansas where a group of determined advocates have upended traditional reading instruction to shrink the reading gap in America and help kids living with dyslexia.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation regains ancestral lands near Yosemite in major c...

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Nearly 900 acres of ancestral territory have been officially returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, marking a ...

Read More

8 fermented foods that your gut will love (and that taste great, too!) 

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Fermented foods have been a dietary staple in many cultures for centuries, but in the U.S., they’re only ...

Read More

Breaking the silence: empowering menopausal women in the workplace

Addressing menopause in the workplace is long overdue in today's fast-changing work scene, where many are extending their careers into their 60s. According to ...

Read More

Insect migration: the hidden superhighway of the Pyrenees

Insects, while frequently disregarded, are critical to the planet's ecosystems. They make up about 90 percent of all animal species and play important functions ...

Read More