Reading to young children is a crucial supportive factor in their
intellectual, social and emotional development.
A neuroscientist at the University of California-San
Francisco says a crucial factor in the child’s ability to read is providing
supportive instruction, at home and in school, in the K-3 elementary years.
Dr. Fumiko Hoeft and her colleagues, in a Feb. 11
NewYorker.com piece, have confirmed that neural development in the left
temporoparietal region of the brain is the critical determinant in developing
successful reading skills.
The word is: this expansion of neural pathways “is surely a
function of both nature and nurture”—some kids may be genetically more likely
to master reading, and some kids may get more relevant nurture, but all kids
can get a boost in both channels with appropriate guidance.
Learning to read is a straightforward and marvelously
complex process:
“Typically, children follow a very specific path toward reading. First,
there is the fundamental phonological processing—the awareness of sounds
themselves. This awareness builds into phonics, or the ability to decode a
sound to match a letter. And those, finally, merge into full, automatic reading
comprehension.”
Parents and teachers have complementary—and necessary—roles
in teaching kids to read. If the job isn’t done right during K-3, it’s real
tough for kids to make up for it later.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015
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