Do you realize that reading primarily is an auditory process? We begin by relating the letters of the alphabet to the sounds we have encoded in our brains.

Infants actually begin representing sounds in the brain (encoding) sounds as early as six months of age, when they distinguish the sound of the microwave 'ding' ("ah…the bottle is ready!") versus the low rumbling of the garage door being opened ("yeay, daddy is home"). The process of getting ready to read, in other words, encoding the sounds we hear, begins early in life.

When a child learns the letters of the alphabet, he must relate these letters to the sounds he has encoded. Did you know that our 26-letter alphabet comprises 44 sounds? So, there is a lot more than what "meets the eye" to learn about reading. In addition, the context in which the letters occur, determines how the letters should be read.

To be a competent reader one must

• Be able to "decipher the code" (distinguish the sounds)
• Interpret the signal (assign meaning)
• Remember what was read.

If it takes too much time to "decipher" and interpret the information, working memory "loses" part(s) of the message, resulting in incomplete and/or incorrect information stored into more permanent memory.

 

The Bottom Line

We must be able to hear something (and/or read something) and rapidly translate it! Thus, we develop the rapid decoding skills necessary to read for meaning and embark on the road to a lifetime of reading for pleasure! If your child has difficulty reading or is not reading at the level of his/her potential, SPS can help.

Proceed to the Fast ForWord section of our website for more information on cutting-edge scientifically-based SPS programming.

At SPS, our goal is to help your child achieve school success and experience the pleasure of reading a good book!