Reading is a skill that develops gradually over time. Even when a child begins to read, there is still much
room for growth. With age and experience, the way a child’s brain processes words on the page matures
and changes.
The following are a few studies on brain changes and reading.
Reading abilities develop gradually over time. Changes in the left cortical areas of the brain have been
tracked by researchers from the age of 6 to 22!!!!
The ability of children to understand that speech is made up of units of sounds (phonemes) that
represent written symbols is linked to activity in the left cortical area of the brain (letters).
As children grow, their brains become more interconnected, allowing them to map printed words to
sound. Phonological awareness is required for the ability to read words, and performance on simple
phonological tasks in young preschoolers is a reliable predictor of early reading achievement.
According to studies that map brain activity, older children (7-8-year-olds) use the meaning of a word to
recognize print, whereas younger children may use ‘sounding it out’ to recognize print (phonological
awareness).
The area of the brain associated with reading is immature and poorly connected in toddlers and
preschoolers. Early childhood, in my opinion, is a critical period for the development of simple
phonological awareness—how words sound and how words are segmented.
A sensitive period is when we as parents have more influence over our children’s development because
the brain is more malleable. The number of books we read, how frequently we read to our children, and
the types of books we read will all have an impact on our child’s brain development.
So, what types of books should your child read?
According to research, reading rhyming books to young children is the best way to foster phonological
awareness. Indeed, studies show that children who have more opportunities to learn nursery rhymes
and participate in wordplay activities have higher phonological awareness than those who do not.
How can we, as parents, make the most of this critical time?
Top Three Reading Activities to Improve Brain Development
- Inquire about the story with your child.
• Basically, get your child interested in the book.
• Read the majority of the sentence but leave out the final word, then wait for them to fill it in.
• Inquire about the illustrations.
• Connect the story to something you’ve recently done in your life.
• Inquire as to what they believe will happen next or why the main character feels the way they
do. - Read a variety of books; both rhyming and narrative books are beneficial for different reasons.
Narratives are essential for understanding all aspects of a story. Because stories are how we make sense
in our lives, reading stories helps children develop that cognitive skill.
Rhyming books may be especially beneficial for toddlers and young preschoolers because research
shows that exposure to rhyming leads to improved phonological awareness. This is a necessary skill for
pre-readers. - Draw attention to the words on the page, particularly if they are contextual.
Books with large print, redundant text, and print embedded in the story are ideal for assisting children in
mapping sound to letters.
Furthermore, when parents point to important text, it increases the number of times 3-5-year-olds look
at the words on the page, which aids in their learning. When parents do not point to the text while
reading, children look at the words for less than 2% of the time.
This helps children learn printed words rather than the sounds of words (phonological awareness). The
brain begins to map sound to printed words as it develops. So, over the course of childhood, children
learn various skills that, by the age of eight, have begun to merge and organize. Books with a few large
words or words in different colors are ideal for beginning to develop print awareness in pre-readers.
Kidsbook.lk has a one-of-a-kind collection of eBooks focused on rhythmic concepts to keep your child
entertained while also developing their skills