KEY FINDINGS
> > To implement systematic phonics instruction, educators must keep the end in mind and ensure that children understand the purpose of learning letter sounds and that they are able to apply these skills accurately and fluently in their daily reading and writing activities. (NRP, 2000). > > Reading is superficially visual. “Visually perceived sequences of letters are translated by the brain into sounds, syllables, and words that link encoded language with oral language, so that the words that are read are ‘heard’ in the mind and connected to their meanings” (Liberman 1999). > > To break the code for reading a child must become “phonologically aware” that words can be broken down into smaller units of sounds (phonemes) and that it is these sounds that the letters represent (Tallal, 2012).
More to Know: The Miracle of Early Reading Experiences
Earl Martin Phalen is the CEO of Reach Out and Read, a program that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud. Phalen explains both the advantages of early reading experiences, as well as what is lost when children are deprived: The brain develops faster than any other time between the ages of zero and three. Because of this, it’s important to foster literacy during the early stages of life. There’s real opportunity in providing parents with books and encouragement to read to their children regularly, sing with their children, and engage their children in conversation— all of which prepares our next generation to be successful in school (2011). Literacy development is less about a specific critical period and more about windows of opportunity that extend across early childhood. So even if a child has limited access to language and literacy experiences in the home, there’s much ground to be gained through literacy-rich preschool programs, extended day programs, cross-age literacy partners, and the like. During late infancy to late childhood, synaptic density reaches a plateau—this is the period of maximal responsiveness to environmental input (Huttenlocker et al., 2002; Mol and Bus, 2011). Pam Schiller (2010), an early childhood curriculum specialist, lists six key findings from the imaging technology used in neurobiology and early brain development research:
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EARLY READERS
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