If you've joined us over in our Private Facebook Community, you may have already been hearing me share about a new book I dove into this week.
It's call The Reading Gap. It's a blend of research, history and personal testimonial of “the teacher who couldn't read”.
Within the first 30 pages, there were so many things I wanted to share with this community - both new ideas I learned as well as beliefs I resonate with deeply.
For example, did you know that the human brain is not designed to accommodate the process of reading?
Our brains are developed with the wiring for speech, but learning to read and learning to talk are different.
Before the MRI we did not have the information to understand how the brain functioned. Now that we do have devices like MRIs scientists can document the entire process of reading including all the connections in the brain between sound, vision and memory. And as a result, scientists have concluded that the brain was not designed to accommodate the process of reading.
“For the brain to master skill it was not designed for requires a remarkable feat a rewiring of some of its circuitry.” (The Reading Gap)
We expect children to make reading intuitive but it's anything but natural or simple.
However, the good news?
We can rewire the brain!
It is scientifically evident that we can change our brains through certain behaviors or methods of learning. For example musicians brains look different than non-musicians, people who meditate have brain structures that look different from people who don't meditate" and the list goes on and on.
I was struck by the example of people's brains post-stroke. “After suffering a stroke in which speech or memory cells are damaged the brain can be rewired to create a detour around the damaged area.” (The Reading Gap)
Today we have the science to show that when brain activity is mapped in real time and as a result we have come to know that learning to read is infinitely more complicated than we had once imagined.
All human brains must adapt in order to accommodate reading.
It is imperative, in a reality where 1 in 5 children struggle to learn to read, that we remember, that children are not born with an innate inclination to learn to read as naturally as they learn to speak.
So what's the solution?
That we teach children to read in a structure that their brains are designed for.
And this is what I love most about Next Step.
I love teaching children with a method that makes sense to them!
Systematic and explicit instruction is what is required for a solid reading foundation.
And with that solid foundation, grows confidence and momentum for reading and learning for life!
I am excited to share I am in the process of enrolling students for Fall reading programs.
I currently have a few spots available for 1:1 learning and have opened a waitlist for small group learning. If you are interested in applying for a 1:1 spot or joining the waitlist for small group learning you can begin here.
Enjoy your weekend!
Meghan
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