{"podcast":{"title":"play on words","slug":"play-on-words-6399561","podcast_index_feed_id":6399561,"rss_url":"https://feeds.zencastr.com/f/B4HeOMxA.rss","website_url":"https://www.bigcityreaders.com/","image_url":"https://media.zencastr.com/image-files/643d94b7e5cd786efbd7958c/e7504645-5337-4b02-8927-e5d3e551d61d.PNG","author":"miss beth","episode_count":83,"summary":"Learning to read starts with learning to play. This is the podcast for parents and teachers of kids ages 0-8 who want to have FUN learning evidence backed early development and literacy strategies in a short amount of time. This is the podcast for the teacher who needs a bestie to ask questions to and the parent who wants to know the best developmental practices to implement in the 3 minutes a day they have. You're not alone. Ask your questions here. If I can't answer them, one of my friends will be on to help! There are so many confusing parts about the learning to read journey. Miss Beth is here to simplify it, affirm you are the best person to teach your child, and give you the confidence you need in the early childhood education years. This podcast is for fun, community and confidence making tough topics more bite sized for every parent teacher and child.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T02:21:13.034856+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/play-on-words-6399561"},"episode":{"title":"Why is English so Confusing? Breaking it Down with KC Rickerd of @milestonesandmotherhood","slug":"why-is-english-so-confusing-breaking-it-down-with-kc-rickerd-of-milestonesandmotherhood","published_at":"2025-12-30T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/play-on-words-6399561/why-is-english-so-confusing-breaking-it-down-with-kc-rickerd-of-milestonesandmotherhood","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/play-on-words-6399561","url":"https://zencastr.com/z/1QLaN4mL","audio_url":"https://redirect.zencastr.com/r/episode/6952a8a58c428808c2f9d865/size/202226135/video-files/643d94b7e5cd786efbd7958c/4c0e11c1-9bfa-43a7-be2f-df5059a30e16.mp4","summary":"Episode 81. This week, Miss Beth welcomes KC Rickerd [https://www.milestonesandmotherhood.com](@milestonesandmotherhood) for a fun dive into the wild, weird world of English spelling and pronunciation! In this episode, Miss Beth and KC explore why English words are so quirky, the origins behind confusing spellings, the science of reading and word morphology, and why we hammer with a hammer but sweep with a broom (seriously, what's up with that?). If you've ever wondered why 'cue' has four silent letters or why 'fridge' has a 'D' when 'refrigerator' doesn't, you're definitely not alone! Sparked by a viral TikTok video, KC and Miss Beth unpack the oddities of English with humor and insight, sharing hilarious Misheard Monday moments and explaining how understanding word origins actually helps kids become better readers. You'll also discover why English loves turning nouns into verbs, how the science of reading includes morphology, and some eye-opening examples of how pronunciation connects to a word's history. So grab your favorite beverage, get cozy, and let's chat about the beautiful chaos that is the English language. Whether you're a word nerd or just trying to help your child navigate tricky spellings, this episode will have you laughing and learning! Miss Beth is a reading specialist, early childhood educator, and the founder of Big City Readers. She supports parents in raising confident, capable kids through research-backed literacy and development strategies. For more info visit https://www.bigcityreaders.com/podcast Message me your questions on Instagram @bigcityreaders Check out Big City Readers picks on Amazon [https://amzn.to/4stPAdp]","meta_description":"Episode 81. This week, Miss Beth welcomes KC Rickerd [https://www.milestonesandmotherhood.com](@milestonesandmotherhood) for a fun dive into the wild, wei…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2542,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/play-on-words-6399561/episodes/why-is-english-so-confusing-breaking-it-down-with-kc-rickerd-of-milestonesandmotherhood/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/play-on-words-6399561/why-is-english-so-confusing-breaking-it-down-with-kc-rickerd-of-milestonesandmotherhood.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}