Category: Cognitive Processing

Dyslexia, Reading, and Brain Processing

In the late 1800s James Hinshelwood, an eye surgeon, began seeing more patients arrive at his clinic needing assistance with the inability to learn how to read written words. These individuals were usually sent first to an eye specialist to assess their eye sight capabilities. He began to compare his notes with other physicians who had similar cases. The cases revealed patterns for the inability to read. These individuals had normal eye sight and oral language skills. Some individuals had learned how to read, but lost the ability due to an illness or injury. These cases gave knowledge about the parts of the brain necessary to read written words and what part of the brain may be impinging an individual’s ability to learn how to read. Some cases gave knowledge of the parts of the brain that may be affecting an individual’s ability to learn how to read. The second category that the cases revealed was students who were struggling to learn how to read for the first time. These students had no prior history of brain injuries and had normal eye sight and oral language skills. Hinshelwood theorized that some individuals have visual memory deficits, while others have auditory deficits. He also theorized that individuals with a visual memory deficit and no prior history of brain injury gained their inability to learn how to read through genetics. He called this congenital word-blindness (Hinshelwood, 1912). Current research has confirmed and expanded his theory that the visual memory or occipital lobe does not initial develop to support individuals who are learning how to read.

Researchers have identified three regions of the brain necessary to read written words effectively (Pugh et al. 2000; Shaywitz, 2003; Eden, 2004; Dehaene, 2009; Hoeft 2013; Gaab 2020). The first region is the anterior-interior gyrus or auditory component. The second region is the temporoparietal or processing component. The third region is the occipitotemporal or visual component. I discussed these regions of the brain in greater detail during my August 2018 blog, titled “Understanding How the Brain Processes Words.”

The prior components or working mechanisms of the brain must develop individually before developing coordinating connections between the necessary regions of the brain to read effectively. It normally takes the first five years of life to develop each component of the reading brain separately before the connections begin to develop for reading words (Gotlieb, Rhinehart, & Wolf, 2022). In my last blog, I discussed how students with dyslexia are initially wired and how the right side of the brain compensates until new highways and byways develop to connect the essential components in the left side of the brain. Hinshelwood (1912) discovered that individuals with word-blindness suffered from a deficit in visual memory and usually had good auditory processing/memory abilities. Individuals with word-blindness or dyslexia are developing the initial visual memory component, while simultaneously building the connections to different locations in the brain to read effectively.

Through working with patients of different ages who were learning how to read and by reviewing other cases with similar issues, Hinshelwood (1912) learned that individuals who were struggling to learn how to read needed a different formula of instruction than the current widely used formula of teaching students how to read. At the time students were being taught how to read using the “look and say” or whole word method of learning how to read.

“In the “say and look” method the child is taught to recognize printed words as a whole, not to recognize the words by spelling them out letter by letter, and hence it is claimed that the child learns to read more rapidly, as the process of reading by visual recognition alone dispenses with necessity of the child learning to spell before learning to read, as in the old method” (Hinshelwood, pg. 1034-35).

He learned that these individuals need to be taught by learning how to spell or encoding words, which entails first learning the names of letters or phonics instruction (Hinshelwood, 1912).

He also learned that exhaustion was often present with these students when they were learning how to read. In one case “She could not study at first for more than ten minutes at a time, as exhaustion soon came on and she had to stop” (Hinshelwood, 1912, pg. 1033). In another case “It took so much out of him, as he expressed it, and required such intense mental effort, and he was making such little progress that he felt constrained to abandon any further attempts towards learning to read” (pg. 1033). We know today that much of the exhaustion is from rewiring or growing new connections in their brain to accommodate the lack of initial or genetically developed structure to learn how to read. The exhaustion is often seen as frustration, laziness, or lack of wanting to learn how to read. The brain is trying to catch-up by building the initial foundations, while learning new information that the brain does not have the proper foundation for. The exhaustion usually diminishes over time, as individuals become better readers.

Hinshelwood in the early 1900s presented the theory that the earlier individuals begin to receive intervention in learning how to read the more quickly they will be able participate socially and academically with their peers. There is now research to support the type of assessment and instruction for students that show signs of dyslexia before they arrive in kindergarten.

Children born of families with a history of dyslexia are 50% more likely to struggle in learning how to read. The severity of dyslexia usually varies.

References

Dehaene, S. (2009). Reading in the Brain. Penguin Group.

Eden GF, Jones KM, Cappell K, Gareau L, Wood FB, Zeffiro TA, Dietz NA, Agnew JA, Flowers DL. Neural changes following remediation in adult developmental dyslexia. Neuron. 2004 Oct 28;44(3):411-22. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.10.019. PMID: 15504323.

Pugh KR, Mencl WE, Shaywitz BA, Shaywitz SE, Fulbright RK, Constable RT, Skudlarski P, Marchione KE, Jenner AR, Fletcher JM, Liberman AM, Shankweiler DP, Katz L, Lacadie C, Gore JC. The angular gyrus in developmental dyslexia: task-specific differences in functional connectivity within posterior cortex. Psychol Sci. 2000 Jan;11(1):51-6. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00214. PMID: 11228843.

Eden, G., Hoeft, F., Moats, L., & Pugh, K. (2013 & 2014). International Dyslexia Association Conference.

Gaab, N. (2020). Moving from reactive to a proactive model in education framework of Reading development can inform educational practice and policy. International Dyslexia Association Conference.

Gotlieb, R., Rhinehart, L., & Wolf, M. (2022). The “reading brain” is taught, not born: evidence from the evolving neuroscience of reading for teachers and society. The Reading League Journal, 11-16. https://www.thereadingleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/The-Reading-Brain.pdf

Healy, J. (2010). Different Learners. New York: Simon & Schuster

Hinshelwood, J. (1911). Two cases of hereditary congenital word-blindness. The British Medical Journal, 608.

Hinshelwood, J. (1912). The treatment of word-blindness, acquired and congenital. The British Medical Journal, 1033.

Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming Dyslexia. Alfred A. Knoft.

Turesky, T., Escalante, E., Loh, M., & Gaab, N. (2025). Longitudinal trajectories of brain development from infancy to school age and their relationship with literacy development. PNAS, 122(24), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2414598122

New Brain Research Supports Early Intervention

“Our findings suggest that some of these kids walk into their first day of kindergarten with their little backpacks and a less-optimal brain for learning to read, and that these differences in brain development start showing up in toddlerhood” (Mineo, 2026). Brain development begins at conception according to its genetic code, which is influenced by its environment. Each set of genetic coding is unique, except for identical births. Some individuals have the genetic coding to develop brain pathways that are different than most individuals, like dyslexia. This makes learning how to effectively process symbols/letters, words, and their meanings more challenging. Environmental factors will influence the severity of dyslexia and learning how to read.

“The brain bases for reading-related skills are being built in infancy, long before children learn to read” (Mineo, 2025). Researchers have identified three regions in the brain that work together to process written symbols. The first region is the anterior. This region located in the front left side of the brain and is responsible for processing phonological information. The second region of the brain that helps to effectively process printed information is the temporoparietal region. This region is in the mid-left side of the brain and processes orthographical information into patterns of speech and meaning. The third region that helps to effectively process written information into sound and meaning is the occipitotemporal region, located in the back, lower left-side of the brain. This region stores a picture of each word along with its sound and meaning. These regions work as a team to read written words. https://www.zaner-bloser.com/research/building-the-reading-brain

Students with developmental dyslexia do not develop the infrastructure within their brain to initial process written letters or symbols. Their brain processes written information through different routes than most  individuals. They use the anterior region in the left side of the brain and parts of the right brain to process written words. The connections between the temporoparietal region and the occipitotemporal region are not yet developed. Students with dyslexia compensate by using parts of their right brain, until the necessary connections of the left-hand side of the brain are developed. Their brain works twice as hard to process the information. This is why many students with dyslexia do not show outwards signs of a disability until they start trying to make sense of or use written words. These students usually become tired, frustrated, and check-out. This often leads to the “lazy” look. These individuals usually need direct, explicit instruction to help develop the necessary connections in the left side of the brain.

There are also many environmental factors that may have an influence on the developing brain. One factor is the community of people in the developing brain’s immediate environment and what their habits may entail-nurturing, chemicals. Another factor is technology, the amount of use or interaction with different types of technology will affect the developing brain, such as a pencil or mechanical or electronic devices. The amount of television and programs viewed will affect the developing brain. Another factor is the amount and types of conversations the developing brain hears. Another factor is the amount of print the developing brain is exposed to. Another factor is the amount of interaction the developing brain is given through different senses-sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.  The environmental factors that the developing brain is exposed to helps to develop the layers of information or knowledge that individual’s use when learning to read and reading information in print. If the process is slowed, stopped, or altered by environmental factors, the results will be altered. Often when students struggle in learning how to read, we do not know all the factors involved that have developed the student disability.

Many of the initial layers of knowledge necessary to read written words are not seen or heard while growing, like the first initial growth of a plant. A plant seed uses its “genetic” coding to begin growing. Like a human seed, the plant seed needs the right environment to begin growth. A plant first grows roots. Then a stem begins to grow. Then leaves begin growing. This growth all takes place usually unseen, underground. The plant has been developing the connections necessary to survive out of the soil. Once the plant has poked out of the soil it will continue to grow according to its genetic design, affected by environmental factors. Like the unseen plant growth, the human brain develops in layers. Many layers are unseen, like before individuals begin to talk. The brain or person observes and listens for quite some time (about a year) before spoken utterances begin. The fruit of their observation is realized gradually overtime. The number of spoken words grows overtime, along with the complexity of verbal sentence structure.

Current research suggests that the brain begins categorizing and storing new information at conception. The foundational layers necessary for future affluent reading becomes more prevalent around age 18 months. The complexity of the brain is developed enough to determine who will struggle with phonological processing. At this stage of development researchers were able to determine “individual differences in early brain structure associated with phonological processing and mediate decoding and word reading ability in early school” (Mineo, 2025). The lack of phonological processing skills is a major indication of dyslexia or deficiency in learning how to read written language.

These new findings support prior researchers’ conclusions. Fowler (1983) theorized that a person’s environment has influence on their genetic code and that individuals develop in a layered manner. Piaget (1966) theorized that as a child’s body maturates, the more complex their brain can process information. Vygotsky (1934) theorized individuals first process information orally, until the age of 7 when they begin processing (thinking) information both internally and externally. He also theorized that individuals layer their knowledge through the help of their community environment. Meaning students usually cannot complete an activity before the foundation for that activity is developed without the assistance of another individual who has the prior knowledge or foundational skills of task. Binet and Simon (1906) theorized that children will be able to complete certain tasks at a particular age, but usually not before. For instance, Binet and Simon (1916) discovered that a picture could determine a children’s intellectual age at three, seven, and twelve. Three-year-old children give simple explanations of the people within a picture, but not the background or happenings of the people within the picture. Children at the intellectual age of seven can examine a picture and describe the relationship of the people and objects within the picture. At the intellectual age of twelve, children can give an interpretation of the picture. The interpretation is expressed in written form about their feelings in relation to a description of the picture.

Intervention usually assists in the development of connections (by-ways and high-ways) within the brain. This usually leads to effective reading skills when practiced and practiced and practiced. These students will need extra time to grow and practice each newly acquire skill with in the complex system of affluent reading.

References

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1915). A method of measuring the development of the intelligence of  your children. Chicago Medical Books.

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children. Williams & Wilkins Co.

Fowler, W. (1962). Cognitive learning in infancy and early childhood. Psychological Bulletin, 59(2). 116-152.

Fowler, W. (1983) Potentials of childhood, Vol 1. Heath & Co.

Healy, J. (2010). Different Learners. New York: Simon & Schuster

International Dyslexia Association Conference (2013-2014) Eden, G., Hoeft, F., Moats, L., & Pugh, K.

Mineo, L. (2025). Reading skills—and struggles—manifest earlier than thought. New finding underscores need to intervene before kids start school, say researchers. The Harvard

Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/06/reading-skills-and-struggles-manifest-earlier-than-thought/

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (2000). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.

Turesky, T., Escalante, E., Loh, M., & Gaab, N. (2025). Longitudinal trajectories of brain development from infancy to school age and their relationship with literacy development. PNAS, 122(24), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2414598122

Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

Zaner-Bloser. (2025). https://www.zaner-bloser.com/research/building-the-reading-brain

 

 

 

Composing Written Words

Writing is an exercise that requires higher cognitive processing abilities. These skills take time to develop, as children need to first build the foundations or connections necessary to speak words and sentences. This skill begins to appear around age two when children are beginning to build their own oral sentences. Some children will begin earlier; some children will begin later. Student brain connections begin developing under the direction of their genetics gained at conception. They are listening and observing others to learn how different sounds convey meaning. The brain continues to build roads, highways, and by-ways according to their genetics and their environment. They will build the necessary connections to survive in their immediate environment under the direction of their genetics. This means making the connections to coordinate information between the necessary parts of the brain for speaking and writing language. This means developing connections to synthesize stored and new information. A child’s immediate environment will either increase or hinder their oral language growth. A child’s oral language ability usually dictates their reading and writing ability. There will be exceptions, like students with dyslexia.

Brain development occurs in a systematic or ordered fashion, like a flower growing from a seed. The flower grows systematically in stages. We can observe some stages of the flower’s development, while other stages are invisible or internal. Some flowers take longer to mature; other flowers are slower to mature. Writing skills are developed in a similar fashion. There are five stages that students move through while learning how to write (Voyager Sopris Learning, 2025). The first stage is pre-phonemic – scribbling/drawing, usually not legible. The second stage is early phonemic – begins to recognize and emulate letter shapes. The third stage is strings of random letters – able to write letters, writing nonsense words. The fourth stage invented/transitional spelling – encoding words, putting phonemes together based on the sounds of a word. The fifth stage is conventional writing and spelling – able to write coherent sentences and passages, often relying on their phonics knowledge. The growth is both seen and unseen.

Often student brain connections or routes have not developed enough for them to transfer their oral language to paper. Vygotsky (1934/2002) theorized that children first process and compose their verbal language aloud through others in their environment. At this stage of development individuals in the student’s environment are more likely to hear unfiltered verbiage, like he stinks or their shirt is dirty. At this stage their brain is relying on just one route of thought called interpsychological. Around ages 7-9 the student brain will begin using a second thought processing route that Vygotsky (1934/2002) referred to as intrapsychological or inner speech. Students compose their own thoughts without filtering them through their environment. They begin to individualize their thoughts relying more heavily own data bank of information instead of those in their environment. Students begin refraining from sharing their exact thoughts.

In the formal classroom, students are often shut down or not allowed to talk while independent writing is taking place. Most students in the primary grades need to express themselves orally before putting words on paper. Their brains have not moved from one processing route or verbally thinking to having two routes to process their thinking. Creating a writing environment that gives opportunity for a variety of different volume levels allows students to orally express and discuss composing their writing, and it gives an opportunity to focus on putting their oral composition onto to paper.

A student who seems to be lazy or unengaged is typically struggling to write words on paper. These students are still gaining the foundational writing skills in stages 1-3. They are building the necessary connections to write words on paper. These students are usually frustrated and feel degraded. They begin to navigate ways around the task.

If a student is struggling to verbally express a coherent sentence, then direct, explicit instruction in a small group needs to take place. You become their co-author. You become their sounding board. You become their scribe. The student should write the scribed sentence in their own handwriting. This helps students to build their handwriting connections to put words on paper. Small group instruction allows the instructor to work with students more at their zone of proximal development. When students are ready for this instruction with the assistance of someone of higher cognitive processing. They will likely be stuck for some time without your assistance. This is also a form of scaffolding.

References

Voyager Sopris Learning (2025). What are the stages of writing development? Voyager Sopris Learning. https://www.voyagersopris.com/vs/blog/stages-of-writing-development.

Vygotsky, L. (1934/2002). Thought and Language. MIT Press.

Appropriate Reading Rate

What is the appropriate rate when reading a passage? The short answer is that an appropriate rate for reading is the rate in which a person might speak when having a conversation. This may be slightly different for each individual based on their processing abilities. Many mechanisms or tools must work together for an individual to read at a conversation rate. Research suggests what the “normal” rate of reading should be for students at each grade. For example, in August/September a Grade 2 student who reads 111 words per minute is in the 90 percentile for reading rate (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2017). A Grade 2 student who accurately reads 84 words per minute during the Fall screening is at the 75 percentile of reading rate. Reading words too fast or too slow compromises the comprehension of the words read (White, 2024; Hasbrouck, 2024). Students who are reading too fast do not allow their brain to fully process the meaning of the word, sentences, or passage. Students who are reading too slow are usually focusing more on how to accurately pronounce the words. When a student reads words at a good rate, they are more able to think deeper about the passages that they read. This increases their comprehension ability, as students usually synthesis while they read to make smarter conclusions and choices.

The rate of reading involves several mechanisms working together to provide the intended outcome. Why do we read? We usually read to communicate and learn, which involves understanding the words read. The mechanisms are located in different parts of the brain to process written language. One mechanism is phoneme awareness, which is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds of a spoken word. A second is phonics knowledge. This is the rules of phonemes and graphemes that give students the power to decode words. A third tool is orthographic awareness. The rules of how letters are ordered to create written words of meaning. A fourth mechanism is morphological knowledge. The smaller parts of words that form the meaning of words. A fifth tool is semantics. The meaning of a word, sentence or passage read. A sixth mechanism is syntax. The rules of how a sentence should be formed – grammar. When one of the above mechanisms is lacking age-appropriate ability (under developed) the rate of reading will be affected. An under developed tool usually means intervention instruction to increase student ability. Students begin to automatically divide and conquer multisyllabic words based on their knowledge of phonemes, graphemes, syllables, and morphemes. Student deficits will be different based on their educational and environmental experiences, and their genetic make-up.

There are a couple more tools that have important roles in student reading rate. Student retrieval rate (cognitive processing ability) of known words from long-term memory. This may be affected by multiple factors, such as how information is categorized in the brain. This will be unique for each student based on their genetics and environmental experiences. Another tool that may cause havoc on student reading rate is their working memory (short-term). The amount of information that each student is able to hold in their working memory.

Reading fluency involves student ability to read the words at the rate and prosody of conversation without error. These are not naturally acquired skills. These are learned skills that require the brain to create connections between different brain tools.

Orthographic mapping is “the process of storing a word permanently in memory for instant retrieval” (Reading Rockets, 2024).

References
Hasbrouck, J. (2024). International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference, Dallas, TX. Reading Fluency: Principles for Practice. Session GS02-24.
Hasbrouck & Tindal (2017). Hasbrouck & Tindal Oral Reading Fluency data 2017. Read Naturally, www.readnaturally.com
Ray, J. S. (2017). Tier 2 intervention for students in grades 1-3 identified as at-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation Walden University). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826/
Reading Rockets (2024). Basics: sight words and orthographic mapping.
https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/sight-words-and-orthographic-mapping
White, N. C. (2024). International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference, Dallas, TX. Reading Fluency. Session IPP59-24.

 

Reading Development – Stage Three of Cognitive Maturation: Concrete Operations, Ages 7 – 11

The research states that students reach a pivotal stage in cognitive development about the age of seven (Binet & Simon, 1916; Fowler, 1983; Piaget & Inhelder, 1966; Vygotsky, 1934). Students are moving from symbolic to concrete stage of cognitive development. Student cognition connections (networks) are growing in a layered fashion. Students move from processing information externally through discussion to internally processing information. Students are better able to form pictures in their mind and transfer those images on to paper. Students become better able to collaborate and their conversations become heavier in substance as they grow through this stage. Students develop more complex connections about their senses-seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling and moving (Fowler, 1983). Students are better able to concern themselves with other people, than just themselves.

Vygotsky’s (1929) cultural-historical theory of psychological development, particularly in relation to cognitive development suggests that there are two forms of speech, inner and external. Each type of speech has its own function. Processed external speech is purposeful speech for interaction between other people. Inner speech takes place within the brain and is non-verbal. Students move from egocentric, self-centered speech to a more communicative speech that is processed internal. Piaget and Inhelder (1966) also noted that student oral language begins a new role during the concrete phase of maturation. Children begin to have conversations of depth about collaboration. Children begin to understand the concept of working together for the shared purpose of a single cause. The shift from self to team begins the development of operational processing in the brain. Growth in higher mental functions happens through the collaboration between students and the teacher (Vygotsky, 1934).

Student oral language matures using a seriation process that begins during the sensori-motor level of cognitive development around age one. Seriation is the arranging of items in like categories and building the categories in a systematic order (Piaget, 1966). Children have a solid understanding of a one digit or a one item category before understanding two digit or two item categories at age seven. Children will grow cognitively in the ability to process the tasks of classification and numbering parallel to learning seriation, which Piaget (1966) noted involves stretching cognitive processing in order to increase the level of operatory functions. Each level of seriation requires that cognitive skills be stimulated through social interaction.

In addition, students begin to transfer images from within their minds to paper (Piaget, 1966). Their drawings become more defined and increase in complexity around age nine. Children also begin to develop drawings that show depth and correct geometrical proportions to the other objects in the drawing. Students are better able to reverse the order of operations, such as adding and subtracting. Children become able to comprehend and discuss that liquid compounds can change shape and appear to change amount while remaining constant (Piaget, 1966). Students begin processing more abstractly as they move into the next stage of cognitive development, about age 11 – preadolescent stage (Piaget, 1966).

Regarding learning how to read, spell, and comprehend written words. Students are at the beginning of Stage 2 of Chall’s (1983) reading development theory in Grades 2 and 3 or the ages of 7 and 8. Students entering Grade 2 usually know their letter and sound correspondences and are able decode CVC and CVCe words. Students usually know some sight or irregular words. Students are usually beginning to decode more complex words, like multisyllabic. Their fluency begins to increase through practice of familiar stories and genres. Most students are using pictures to produce the correct written word and comprehension of the story. Students are beginning to move from letter-sound correspondences to “chunking” words into syllables and morphemes for better pronunciation and comprehension. Students are comprehending at a higher oral language level than they are able to read and process written language.

Students begin to read for gaining and using information about mid-way through this stage of cognitive development. Students are also reading books of higher complexity that include less pictures, which is often a difficult transition for students. By the end of this stage, student comprehension of written language usually has increased to match their verbal comprehension skills.

Instruction should include “direct instruction in advanced decoding skills” (Chall, 1983). Students should continue to hear books of higher levels to increase their knowledge of vocabulary and other concepts not yet within their own reading ability.

References

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children.             Williams & Wilkins Co.

Birsh, J. R. & Carreker, S., (Eds.). (2018). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (4th ed.). P. H. Brookes Pub. Co.

Chall, J. S. (1983). Stages of reading development. McGraw-Hill Book Co.

Ehri, L.C. (2022). What teachers need to know and do to teach letter-sounds, phonemic awareness, word reading, and phonics. The Reading Teacher, 0(0),1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2095

Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol. I). D.C. Heath & Co.

Healy, J. (1987). Your child’s growing mind. Broadway Books.

Johnson, G. (2010). Internet use and child development: validation of the ecological techno-subsystem. Educational Technology & Society, 13(1), 176-185.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (2000). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.

Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

Reading Development, in Relation to Cognitive Maturation Stage Two, Semiotic or Symbolic, 2 – 6

Cognitive development during the semiotic or symbolic stage is dependent on the amount and type of social interaction that takes place during the maturation process (Vygotsky, 1934). Children usually develop in a blurred manner. Each individual will move through the natural layers of maturation at different speeds, dependent on their environment and genetics. All children use a different formula to analyze knowledge and a different way of integrating the knowledge into their brains. All children demonstrate different tempos for processing information. Children will comprehend higher levels of oral language before using higher levels of oral language. The cognition of children will increase as they master social processes. Children begin imitating or playing the roles of other individuals. Children begin to process abstractly. At the end of this stage students should be able to complete more multi-layered tasks, like a simple two-step task or first take out the trash, then bring the trash can back in, and put a new liner in the trash can.

Symbolic play helps children work through their unsolved conflicts and self-identity. Children usually possess the desire for symbolic play within their genetic design. Piaget and Inhelder (1966) argued that there are four different types of symbolic play. The first type is exercise play, which involves repeating previous activities that children enjoyed learning. The second kind of symbolic play is actually called symbolic play. Children mimic other characters or individuals. They enjoy dress-up or make-believe. They often play out unresolved situations. The third form of symbolic play is playing games with rules, which children learn by playing with other individuals. Learning and playing games increases their social connections. This type of symbolic play typically begins during the first years of formalized schooling. The fourth type of symbolic play involves solving equations or playing games that involve more abstract thought. Children begin being able to visualize pictures or images not physical seen within their minds. The fourth type of symbolic play signals a transition into the next phase of cognitive development.

Regarding literacy development, learning how to read begins in the womb through genetic wiring. The environment stimulates and effects the genetic wiring. When this stage begins children have been soaking in their environment for about two years, gaining knowledge and assembling the wiring to express comprehendible words. Oral language usually increases as their cognition abilities increase. Children usually include two or more words in a sentence by the end of age two, when children begin developing syntactical rules. Children usually speak what has been modeled in their environment. Piaget and Inhelder (1969) argued that language is acquired through assimilation and “requires both linguistic and psychological competence” (p. 89).

Reading written words begins with oral language knowledge that is transferred to written language. Children at this stage of development are in the pre-alphabetic phase of learning how to read written words. Children are manipulating language sounds to develop coherent sentences. Children are listening and mimicking their environment about how sounds make words and sentences to communicate their needs and wants. Children at this age will also begin using pencil and paper type objects to convey their thoughts through pictures and letters. Children begin transferring images from within their mind to paper in the form of scribbling and drawing. The pictures become clearer as the child moves closer to age six (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969). Children at this age usually move from little to greater explanation of their drawing. They will also begin “pretend” reading books. Children begin to learn that the written symbols or letters on a page represent oral sounds. The items related to reading and writing in their immediate environment usually impact the rate of growth.

In a formal learning environment, like pre-school children are usually receiving instruction in phonemic awareness. They are listening to books that are usually increasing their vocabulary and comprehension. Pre-school usually begins to teach grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Children usually begin the writing process through pictures before moving to letters and words. Children learn the correct way to hold a book. Children learning that English is read from left to right.

At this stage of learning how to read, we begin to see major signs cognitive processing issues that tend to clog or place road blocks for students learning how to read. One processing deficit that may become more apparent at this stage of learning how to read written words is phonological dyslexia. These children lack the natural wiring to begin learning how to read. They need certain ingredients to be present to develop the necessary wiring or processing routes to learn how to read. This type of dyslexia is genetically driven. Children with phonological dyslexia typically use the non-lexical route to process grapheme-phoneme correspondences, instead of the lexical route. Another processing deficit is surface dyslexia. Surface dyslexia is more environmental developed. These children typically have a lexical route in place that may increase their ability to learn to read. At this stage of learning how to read, identifying and providing intervention or explicit direct instruction is cost effective, in relation to both later emotional and instructional intervention needs.

References

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children. Williams & Wilkins Co.

Chall, J. S. (1983). Stages of reading development. McGraw-Hill Book Co.

Ehri, L.C. (2022). What teachers need to know and do to teach letter-sounds, phonemic awareness, word reading, and phonics. The Reading Teacher, 0(0),1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2095

Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol. I). D.C. Heath & Co.

Healy, J. (1987). Your child’s growing mind. Broadway Books.

Johnson, G. (2010). Internet use and child development: validation of the ecological techno-subsystem. Educational Technology & Society, 13(1), 176-185.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.

Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

 

Reading Development, in Relation to Cognitive Maturation (Sensori-Motor, Birth – 2)

The development of cognition and cognitive processing begins in the womb according to genetics. Most individuals have a unique genetic design from the mixing and matching of their maternal and fraternal genetics. The exception would be identical twins, who have the same unique genetics. Disabilities linked to genetic dispositions will begin to form at this stage. The child’s environment may alter (increase or decrease) possible impacts of a genetical directed disability. Children gain their intelligence through familial genetics. Their intelligence is usually altered through the environment before and after birth (Binet & Simon, 1916). Genetics also plays a role in child motivation (Fowler, 1983). Infant environment both in and out of the womb will also affect the beginning stages of cognitive growth (Binet & Simon, 1916; Piaget, 1966).

Cognitive development takes place in a layered manner (Binet & Simon, 1916; Vygotsky, 1934; Piaget, 1966; Fowler, 1983). Systematic in nature, building each skill upon the previously learned skill. Children learn how to move their limbs before, rolling over. Children learn how to say sounds before a whole word. Children usually begin to verbalize one-word sentences, before using two or more-word sentences. Students learn how to comprehend oral words and sentences before reading and comprehending written passages. The brain begins to prune the unused cognitive connections or highways and byways at about 12 months (Fowler, 1983). This begins and defines the structure of how an individual’s thoughts will be organized. New connections will develop based on their environmental layers of influence (Johnson, 2010).

Oral language develops naturally from different types of babbles or cries towards comprehendible sentences. Children develop oral language that echoes their immediate environment. For example, if a child hears simple words like pretty or yellow to describe a flower, the child will usually use those same words to describe the flower. If a child hears higher-level words, like elegant or marigold in their immediate environment then the child will follow the modeled use of those words. The child is dependent on the accuracy of the modeled use of the word to learn the meaning and use of the word. Children who hear a word often mispronounced will usually use that pronunciation of the word. Most children learning to speak words will initially mispronounce words, as some letters are naturally harder to learn how to pronounce correctly. If a child’s environment continues to correctly pronounce the word, they will usually make the self-correction.

During the Sensori-Motor stage of cognitive processing development children are developing their foundation for reading written words. Children are developing their oral language skills that are necessary for reading written words. They are learning how to manipulate sounds to form words and sentences to communicate their needs and thoughts. Most environments provide the right climate for individuals to learn how to manipulate sounds to make different words. This is the beginning or foundation of learning how to encode and decode written words. They are developing the highways and byways of oral comprehension. This is when written comprehension begins. They are developing subject categories and connections. This is the prerequisite of learning how to read written words.

The brain is a muscle that needs to be nurtured and exercised on a regular basis, similar to going to the gym and focusing on increasing the strength of a person’s leg or arm muscles. Some individuals need more exercise or practice to accomplish the goal of strengthening their leg muscles. This concept also applies to learning how to speak and comprehend oral words. The time spent exercising or practicing usually determines oral language growth. Genetics begins the process; environment assist in the growth process.

Reading is not a natural phenomenon. Reading is a taught skill that has a few prerequisites that need to be learned and practiced before actually being taught to decipher written symbols or the written form of oral language. One prerequisite is a solid foundation in phonemic awareness skills, which children begin building in the womb.

Definitions

  • Cognition – thinking skills
  • Cognitive processing – how the brain processes information – synergizing stored and gathered information to make conclusions. Individuals use the highways and byways of their brain to process and comprehend their environment.
  • Cognitive development – is how a brain typically maturates/grows over time within its environment.
  • Cognitive flexibility – “Ability to shift attention among competing stimuli and consider alternatives” (Birsh & Carreker, 4th, 2018, p. 818).

 

References

Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916). The development of intelligence in children.             Williams & Wilkins Co.

Birsh, J. R. & Carreker, S., (Eds.). (2018). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (4th ed.). P. H. Brookes Pub. Co.

Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol. I). D.C. Heath & Co.

Healy, J. (1987). Your child’s growing mind. Broadway Books.

Johnson, G. (2010). Internet use and child development: validation of the ecological techno-subsystem. Educational Technology & Society, 13(1), 176-185.

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (2000). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.

Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

Scaffolding of Writing

Learning how to write is often hard, cumbersome. Individuals do not come preprogrammed to write. Writing words onto paper begins with learning how to speak. Toddlers learn to string words into sentences through the layers of their environment. The immediate layer (home) is usually the most influential. Toddlers’ sentences may also be influenced through books read to them. Children may also be influenced by exposure of different media sources and people’s conversation in the production of spoken sentences. Many students struggle in how to put their spoken words onto paper.

Writing is a higher cognitive processing order and is often very laborious for students. Students usually learn how to write through (explicit, modeled) instruction and many hours of practice. Using writing topics that spark students’ intrinsic motivation usually eases the process. There are many different types or styles of writing that may also spark students’ motivation to write. Using tangible scaffolds may also assist students’ motivation to participate in the writing process.

Scaffolding instruction means, providing “a supportive instructional structure that teachers use to provide the appropriate mechanisms for a student to complete a task that is beyond their unassisted abilities” (Ray, 2017, p.14). van de Pol, Volman, & Beishuizen (2010) suggests that there are three levels of scaffolding instruction-contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. The type of mechanism to use for scaffolding instruction or completion of an assignment will depend on the task and the student. During the contingency stage of instruction teachers will usually adjust and model completion of task to meet the learning needs of the current student(s). During the fading stage of instruction students are beginning to complete assignments on their own with some assistance from students or teachers of higher cognitive abilities. Students do not own the ability to complete the task effectively without some assistance at this stage. At times the assistance may come in the way of a scaffolding mechanism that may not be a human, such as a graphic organizer or chart. Often how to use the mechanism is taught during the contingency phase of the scaffolding process. Some mechanisms that might be used during writing instruction include:

  • assistance in developing a descriptive word list to use for writing a passage
  • graphs
  • suggesting types of sentences to write in this section
  • sentence stems
  • writing different parts of a writing piece as separate tasks
  • discussions related to the topic
  • examples of appropriate sentences to include in their writing. I like to use appropriate sentences provided by other students as examples. Student may use these sentences or develop their own.

The final stage of the scaffolding process, transfer of responsibility implies that a student is able to complete the task without assistance, such as produce an organized, cohesive paragraph about a suggested topic or write a sentence using the correct punctuation.

Scaffolds usually increase student motivation and decrease stress and anxiety. Scaffolds often allow students to focus on smaller pieces of the task. Scaffolds are meant to be temporary and should be removed as student gains more ownership in the ability to accomplish the goal. Students often move back and forth between the different stages of the scaffolding process until they reach full ownership of a task. Each student will have different patterns of movement through the scaffolding stages, often dependent on the initial instruction given, background knowledge of student, and student abilities.

References

Ray, J. S. (2017). Tier 2 intervention for students in grades 1-3 identified as at-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826/

van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2010). Scaffolding in teacher-student interaction: A decade of research. Education Psychology Review, 22, 271-296. doi:10.1007/s10648-010-9127-6.

Developing the Reading Brain Connections is Hard Work!

The brain has elasticity or the ability to grow new connections and prune unused connections. This is an easier task for younger individuals, when their brain has a greater degree of elasticity. No matter the age growing new or different connections or routes of communication between the different parts of the brain for effective reading is usually very tiring. When a person has dyslexia, this impedes the process.

In his book The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, John Corcoran (2008) describes living a life similar to a prisoner with no way to escape or get out for good behavior. In his 40s John stumbled upon or was talked into trying a program called, Lindamood Bell. He hesitated because no one else had been able to break through and help him learn the skills necessary to read.

Even though he read at about Grade 2, he had wholes or gaps in the necessary tools he needed to effectively read at Grade 2. He first began meeting with his instructional team at Lindamood Bell for four hours a day, after a week he moved his instruction time to six hours a day. He describes his plunge into intense therapy-training like a soldier readying himself for war. John states, “at times my shirt would be soaking wet as I strained to learn the new techniques. I never worked so hard at anything in my life, and I never felt so good” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 201).

John describes that his journey of learning how to read began with phonemic awareness (oral language), learning how to better manipulate sounds of words. He was lacking the phonemic awareness skills that many educators take for granted as this is usually acquired before students enter formal education. Once those skills were learned, he began learning the names of letters and their corresponding sounds. Instructors assisted John in learning how the movements of his face and mouth helped him to create the sounds of the individual letters, letter diagrams, and words.

He noted that part of his issue was a lack of correct sound linkage. Meaning his brain did not accurately connect the right oral sounds with their corresponding letter(s). He lacked sound discrimination skills that are necessary to distinguish between different sounds associated with each letter. He stated that nearly a third of individuals who possess normal hearing “do not have fully developed auditory conceptual ability” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 204). This skill is necessary for decoding words into the individual sounds and their corresponding letters. He noted that he had to use his senses of hearing, seeing, touching, and moving to accurately absorb the skills necessary to read.

After about three weeks, he began to feel the prison walls tumble as “the task went from being hard, physical labor to a fun learning activity” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 203). “I felt my own transition from being physically and mentally exhausted to being relaxed and confident” (p. 203). He began to unmask his deception of not knowing how to read, no longer feeling the need to manipulate his environment to protect himself.

After one month of instruction or 100 hours of treatment in the Lindamood-Bell Learning Process, John “gained 10 years in word-attack skill” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 206) moving from Grade 2 to Grade 12; “three years in word recognition” (p. 206) moving from Grade 5 to Grade 8; and “a year and a half in spelling” (p. 206). His therapy also increased his ability to follow oral directions and his reading comprehension skills.

The Lindamood Bell Program was developed in the late 1960’s to teach students with unreliable auditory perceptions known as Auditory Discrimination in Depth (ADD). The program teaches “students to perceive sounds in isolation and in context and how to produce them” (American Federation of Teachers, 1999). They have other programs such as Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing Program (LiPS), which focuses on reading and spelling. “Combining phonics with auditory discrimination in depth (LIPS) program is what I will call the Complete Intensive Systematic Phonics Learning System” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 209).

Each student is unique having different genetic and environmental factors that may affect students’ ability to learn how to read, making accurate diagnose of individual student learning needs a challenge.

Identifying dyslexic or literacy deficit students during grades Pre-Kinder – 2, when an individual’s brain in more flexible, decreases the dollars to educate and rehabilitate individuals during their teens and adulthood. Identifying them can be tricky! Many states have passed laws making dyslexia a learning disability and many districts have now adopted the necessary assessments to diagnose these students. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) defines dyslexia as:

“a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge” (Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002).

Classic dyslexia or developmental dyslexia is acquired through one’s genetics. These students are usually identified though their lack of phonological process skills. They rely on different parts of the brain to process written words. These students work twice as hard to process written words. This type of dyslexia was first discussed in research during the 1800s. Another type is dyscalculia, which affects an individual’s ability to effectively process math equations. Another type of dyslexia is dysgraphia—a student’s ability to learn how to process information into written language. There are programs outside of public education that can effectively diagnose and treat individuals of dyslexia. I encourage individuals to choose programs that are Orton-Gillingham based and endorsed by IDA.

“A good builder, like a good teacher, uses the best tools and material available, which includes a plan and blueprint” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 210).

References

Corcoran, J. (2008). The teacher who couldn’t read. Kaplan, Inc.American Federation of Teachers (1999). Lindamood-bell reading intervention      program. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/ lindamood-bell-reading-intervention-program

Dyslexia and The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read

Individuals are not naturally designed to read. Individuals must develop and refine the “right” brain connections to efficiently process written language. Efficiently is defined as fluently reading written words and gleaning the writer’s intended message. A person’s brain adds, subtracts, and reorganizes read information to develop and refine the highways of connection to process written language. The reading brain connections for most individuals will develop without much fanfare or grit. These individuals are genetically programmed to develop brain connections that communicate with many regions of the brain to process written language.

Individuals who have developmental dyslexia do not develop the same communication routes to effectively process written language. Their brain works twice as hard to process and develop more efficient processing routes for written language. Many dyslexic students seem to be at grade-level or above, because of their good oral language skills. But oral language uses different brain routes than written language to comprehend what is said. Students that are diagnosed or show strong signs of dyslexia usually need direct, explicit, systematic instruction to learn how to read.

This means that for approximately 10-20% of individuals the task of learning how to read is very laborious, making the task at times uninteresting. These students often look for an escape-daydreaming, bathroom, drink, irritate their neighbor, etc. These students are also often labeled as an attention problem, lazy, undisciplined. Making the process of learning how to read engaging, a want to participate in the process usually eases the process of gaining reading skills for dyslexic students.

Many states now have educational laws in place to better assist students with dyslexia and other students struggling to acquire literacy skills. These laws are dependent on those seeing that the laws are put into motion and sustained. The motion and sustainment are dependent on the educators present at each educational site. Many educational sites now have systems to better identify and accommodate students who might have dyslexia. The hope is that no student will have to face the “private prison” that Mr. Corcoran, author and literacy advocate, had to face.

John Corcoran describes, in his 2008 book The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read, his journey of how he learned to read in his late 40s. He invented his own survival methods to navigate a literate world. He managed to muddle, navigate his way through layers and years of education to become a social studies and English grammar teacher. Most individuals didn’t know he couldn’t read or write above Grade 2 or possible they ignored his lack of literacy skills. John states “I began a 40-year battle inside my own private prison” in Grade 2 (p. 20). He describes middle school as a battlefield (p. 47). John wrote, “I felt like I was in a maze at a carnival, only this wasn’t fun. I had six 45-minute classes, six teachers, and a list of classrooms I couldn’t find. I didn’t have any friends and I couldn’t read the schedule or figure out what door to open” (p. 48). By high school I felt “dumb, ignored or dismissed by teachers, evasive, polarized by literate and illiterate camps, angry, and confused” (p. 66). John became an expert at deception, as his parents didn’t seem to know that he couldn’t read either. His father was a teacher who “had degrees or college credits from six different institutions of higher learning and read books like kids eat popcorn” (p.79).

John began the agonizing work of developing more efficient brain connections to process written language at age 48. He is severely dyslexic. Dyslexia is known to jump around in the family trees, depending on the mix of genetics. Dyslexia can jump generations and show up in families of distant dyslexic relatives. Dyslexia doesn’t skip socioeconomic levels or race. More about how he developed the brain connection to become literate in my next blog.

References

Corcoran, J. (2008). The teacher who couldn’t read. Kaplan, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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