HOW WE LEARN TO READ
How the Brain Creates Learning Windows
Neurons send their signals through axons — the lines that form electrical connections with other cells. Many of the axons are wrapped with cells that form myelin sheaths. The sheaths insulate the axon, allowing it to send a signal 100 times faster than if it did not have the sheath. Newborns have very few myelinated axons, which explains why they don't see well or have good motor coordination. Without the myelin sheath, their neurons don't work fast enough and can't coordinate well.
Myelinization is the key to understanding learning windows--the times in a child's development when a particular kind of learning is most easily acquired. Different regions of the child's brain become myelinated at different ages. The brain knows which areas to myelinate first--which kind of learning needs to occur before another.
The region in the brain for language production is called Broca's area. When this area becomes myelinated children develop speech and grammar. Wernicke's area — the center of language comprehension — is myelinated six months before Broca's area even starts to develop. The brain makes it possible for a child to understand language before he or she produces it.
Some language learning windows remain open throughout our lives. For example, we continue adding new words to our vocabularies into adulthood. Some language windows close quite early in a child's life. For example, the window for acquiring syntax may close as early as 5 or 6 years of age. Children can still learn the language skill after the window has closed; however, it will be a more difficult process. This reinforces the importance of encouraging children's learning in the early years. Some young children have not received the experiences and interactions that stimulate the natural development of language skills. Effective teaching, coupled with a responsive tutoring program implemented by well-trained tutors, can help these children gain the foundation needed to become readers and writers.
Source: On the Road to Reading, U.S. Department
of Education
Read more about
this
