You‘re a scientist. Really! Everyday you work on wiring your little one’s brain. I know that sounds very sci-fi, but stay with me.
Our brains are amazing! Every second your brain is building, growing, deleting, adding. It’s quite remarkable. Just think of all the action happening in your little one’s brain.
It‘s been scientifically shown that the most significant brain development in our entire lives happens from birth to age 5. These are the magical years when they‘re learning to grab things, sit, walk, talk.
Did you know you are like a scientist to their brain during this time? You are literally adding chemistry and wiring their brain daily. You’re helping build and connect the synapses needed to do all those things- sit, walk, talk, and so much more.
While you‘re in there, this is the perfect time to pre-wire their brain for reading. Yes, you heard that right. It’s actually easy to do. Then, when they’re in school learning skills like phonics, reading, spelling, fluency & comprehension, your little one will simply start to connect all of those wires. Unlike language, reading is not natural. Reading must be taught- explicitly and systematically. If every parent used language to their advantage, every little one would be reading-ready.
You may be asking, how do I do this- help them be reading-ready? It’s pretty simple. Talk a lot, words build vocabulary; read a lot; play with letters so they know all of the names, shapes, & sounds; help them master phonological awareness (rhyme, phonemic awareness); and build the motivation they need to want to read. I wrote another blog that goes into more detail on each of those skills listed. That’s it.
Ok Victor Frankenstein. Go work on your greatest experiment yet!
(And raise your hand if this picture is what you feel like at the end of any given day. Raising hand over here.)
P.S. If you’re looking for a reading-ready checklist, look no further. I’ve put together a list of skills your little one needs before they can read. Hop on over to my homepage to download.