The Role of Working Memory in Reading
The term working memory was coined in the 1970s by two researchers named Baddeley and Hitch, referring to the ability to temporarily hold several facts or thoughts in memory while solving a problem or performing a task. An important and consistent finding is that working memory problems interfere with reading comprehension.
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What Is Reading Fluency? Why Is It Important?
Over 30 years of research indicates that fluency is one of the critical building blocks of reading, because fluency development is directly related to comprehension. Here are the results of one study by Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp, and Jenkins that shows how oral reading fluency correlates highly with reading comprehension.
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Quotes about Learning
The secret of getting ahead is getting started... A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new... Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself... Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever....
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Child Gets Good Report Yet Cannot Read, Cannot Do Maths
Johnny's teacher is happy about his performance in reading and maths. She awarded him a 6/7 for reading and a 7/7 for maths on his year-end report. Johnny's parents should be proud... The truth is that Johnny's parents are becoming more and more unsettled. If Johnny's reading is considered to be good, why is his younger sister's reading so much better than his?
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Our Senses Can’t Learn Under Stress
When we train them, we can sharpen our senses thereby improve our perceptual performance. The stress hormone cortisol completely blocks this important ability. In the current issue of Psychoneuroendocrinology neuroscientists of the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) report on this finding.
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Parents’ Presence When TV Viewing with Child Affects Learning Ability
Parenting today, for many, has become nothing more than sitting a child in front of a television or handing them a device that plays their favourite video. But it's much more than that. Studies show that kids become more interested in activities when their parents are involved.
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Babies Exposed to Stimulation Get Brain Boost
Many new parents still think that babies should develop at their own pace, and that they shouldn't be challenged to do things that they're not yet ready for. Infants should learn to roll around under their own power, without any "helpful" nudges, and they shouldn't support their weight before they can stand or walk on their own. They mustn't be potty trained before they are ready for it.
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Study Raises Hope that Autism Behaviours May be Reversible
About 1 percent of people with autism are missing a gene called Shank3, which is critical for brain development. Without this gene, individuals develop typical autism symptoms including repetitive behaviour and avoidance of social interactions. In a study of mice, MIT researchers have now shown that they can reverse some of those behavioural symptoms by turning the gene back on later in life...
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Brain Impairments in Premature Infants May Begin in the Womb
Even before they are born, premature babies may display alterations in the circuitry of their developing brains, according to a first-of-its kind research study by Yale School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Wayne State University.
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A Multisensory Approach to Teaching Reading: Question and Answer
My son is dyslexic. Studies have shown that for children with difficulties learning to read, a multisensory teaching method is the most effective teaching method. Apparently, this is especially crucial for a dyslexic child. What does multisensory mean? How will I use this approach to teach my son to discriminate between b's and d's?
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