Developing the Reading Brain 

Learning to read is a vital skill that is the foundation for acquiring knowledge, unlocking opportunities and participating fully in society. Reading is essential for academic success, personal development and overall wellbeing.  

Developing a reading brain involves building neural pathways that connect sounds to written words, and this process starts early in life. Key skills include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These skills are built through various activities like reading aloud, speaking, and playing language-based games.       

So how can we as parents, carers and educators support the development of the Reading Brain? 

1. Early Development:

Exposure to language from birth: 

Verbal interactions, reading aloud, and singing nursery rhymes are crucial for developing the brain areas related to language and reading.  

Print awareness: 

Early exposure to print, like pointing out letters in books, directing children's attention to sounds, letters, words/and or other language in our environments and communities, can help children recognise the visual representations of language.  

Phonological awareness: 

This involves recognizing and manipulating sounds in words, which is a crucial skill for sounding out words.  

2. Key Reading Skills:

Phonemic awareness: Understanding that words are made up of individual sounds (e.g., "cat" has /c/, /a/, and /t/ sounds).  

Phonics: Learning the relationship between letters and sounds (e.g., the letter "c" makes the /c/ sound).  

Fluency: Reading words quickly and accurately, with proper expression.  

Vocabulary: Building a strong vocabulary is essential for understanding text.  

Comprehension: Understanding what you read, including identifying main ideas, details, and making inferences.  

3. Strategies for Developing the Reading Brain:

Reading aloud: Encourage children to read aloud to improve fluency and build confidence.  

Reading for pleasure: Help children find books that interest them and make reading a positive experience.  

Engage with language: Play games, sing songs, and engage in conversations to build language skills.  

Provide support: Offer extra support to children who are struggling with reading, such as tutoring or individualised instruction.  

Pattern identification: Help students identify and use patterns in words and sentences.  

Vocabulary processing: Connect new words to prior knowledge and use multisensory learning.  

Reading comprehension strategies: Teach strategies for different parts of the comprehension process