This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

Sold a Story is an investigative podcast about how kids learn — what works in the classroom, the science behind those insights and why that research often doesn’t make it into schools. Season 1 revealed why so many kids are struggling to learn how to read, and it sparked a wave of change across the country. In Season 2, we go beyond reading to look at teaching itself.

Season 2, Episode 1: It’s Not Just Reading

In the 1960s, an education outsider named Zig Engelmann begins challenging conventional ideas about what young children can learn. He teaches his 4-year-old twins basic algebra. But he has a hard time getting anyone in education to take him seriously, until a professor gives him a chance to see if his ideas will work in a classroom.

Close window

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

We offer all nonexclusive stories under a noncommercial Creative Commons license. You are allowed to repost or reprint our stories as long as you use the guidelines below. See here for more details. If you have questions or would like to discuss commercial use, please contact us. If you would like to republish the photos that accompanied this story, please contact us.

Sold a story: It’s not just reading

by Emily Hanford, The Hechinger Report
October 15, 2026

<h1>Sold a story: It’s not just reading</h1> <p class="byline">by Emily Hanford, The Hechinger Report <br />October 15, 2026</p> <p><em>This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by</em> <a href="https://www.apmreports.org/"><em>APM Reports</em></a> <em>and reprinted with permission.</em></p> <p><em>Sold a Story is an investigative podcast about how kids learn — what works in the classroom, the science behind those insights and why that research often doesn't make it into schools. Season 1 revealed why so many kids are struggling to learn how to read, and it sparked a wave of change across the country. In Season 2, we go beyond reading to look at teaching itself.</em></p> <p><strong>Season 2, Episode 1: It’s Not Just Reading</strong></p> <p>In the 1960s, an education outsider named Zig Engelmann begins challenging conventional ideas about what young children can learn. He teaches his 4-year-old twins basic algebra. But he has a hard time getting anyone in education to take him seriously, until a professor gives him a chance to see if his ideas will work in a classroom.</p> <p><audio style="width: 100%" controls="" src="https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/apmreports/sold_a_story/episodes/2026/10/15/sold_a_story_20261015_s2e1itsnotjustreading_128.mp3"></audio></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://hechingerreport.org/sold-a-story-its-not-just-reading/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://hechingerreport.org&quot;&gt;The Hechinger Report&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-favicon.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://hechingerreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=118278&amp;amp;ga4=G-03KPHXDF3H&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://hechingerreport.org/sold-a-story-its-not-just-reading/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hechingerreport.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Copy to Clipboard