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How reading, and reading aloud is essential to learning
As parents, we read aloud to our children and read with our children. As children, we read aloud to our parents and teacher/classmates. The art of reading aloud, like storytelling, is an integral, but declining part of our development.
In fact, without this verbalisation of language, we limit our ability to decode and therefore understand the written word, as well as the appreciation of a myriad of other benefits.
Reading aloud to children
The first step in learning to read is the parental act of reading to our children. The sound of our voice is an essential part of development and bonding.
Children reading loud
At school, we are encouraged to read, initially through phonemic drills and sight words, gradually stinging these together to build meaning and simple sentences that we then learn to decode, and reuse.
The finding that a phonemic awareness deficit is key in developmental dyslexia across all languages, whether consistent or inconsistent, demonstrates the importance this highly complex process of learning to read.
Recent research highlights the roles of phonic, phonemic and phonological awareness in the development of reading skills, and the impact of large and small grains in an individual’s ability to decode phonemes and therefore, language. Children with dyslexia often struggle with a phonological processing deficit, referred to as an Auditory Processing Disorder. This affects their reading, both silently and aloud, and consequently their comprehension. There are many and varied approaches to resolving these challenges, and research continues into what causes this processing breakdown as well as dyslexia.
Why learning a second language
is good for you.
Learning a new or second language is not limited to a need to fulfil a curriculum need.
There are over 7,000 living, spoken languages in the world today. Each of them unique and colourful, and with the ability to create its own peculiar perspective on the world.
Languages are embedded with their own particular culture and national identity, which that influence the way we think, interpret and ultimately understand the world around us.
Therefore, as we become more proficient in our second or third language, we gain valuable insights into our similarities and differences, we become more open-minded, more cosmopolitan. Learning a new language and gaining insight into a new culture helps us see different sides to the argument and can foster further self-reflection. Something we do too little of in our fast-paced world.
Language, therefore, influences thought and perception. One of the most prolific researchers in this area is Professor Lera Boroditsky of the University of California, San Diego. Her research demonstrates how language and grammar play a primary role in how we view the world.
Further insights into the benefits of learning a second language take a look at this article by:
DiscoverEnglish,
who we are
and our values
Special Needs
and
Learning Support
DiscoverEnglish is a privately-run tutoring business, established in 2010, and based in Singapore.
We work closely with children of all ages, from pre-primary to A Level / IB, supporting them in both international and Singapore MOE curricula.
We have a wide range of experience and success in areas of 11+ and 13+ common entrance to UK private schools, Singapore PSLE, as well as IGCSE, IB and A Levels.
In addition, we provide services to individuals and businesses who are looking to hone their English and French language and presentation skills. Currently, we work with individuals and senior staff in international banks and hospitality.
As educators, we believe we are tasked with preparing our students for whatever life throws at them. We need to encourage them to experiment with their learning, so that they go out into the world, not only as global citizens, but also as tolerant and open-minded individuals; as Jackson (1968), wrote, ‘Learning to live in a classroom involves, among other things, learning to live in a crowd.’
Specialising in the tutoring and mentoring of students with Special Education Needs, we strive to recognise the individuality of those needs and challenges and tailor our work on an individual and personal basis.
No child, (even those without SEN), learns in the same way.
Special Education Needs support includes, but is not limited to:
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ASD spectrum (Autism, Asperger’s)
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ADHD
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Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia
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Global Learning Delay
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PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified)
In The News
Does the Best Education occur outside the classroom?
BBC Youth Debate from 1997 on the subject of classrooms, education and where learning really takes place.
30 May 1997
Why you should write poetry
Marta Brzosko, on Medium, delves into how writing poetry is not only good for the soul and emotional expression, but as a means of connecting with your readers.
This article is a great starting block when teaching poetry, as it demonstrates how poetry over the ages acts as a reflection of the time.
27 January 2019
GCSE results: How the new grading system works
With the move to numerical grading of English and Maths GCSEs, this is a guide to how it works.
23 August 2017
Is a peace scholarship worth pursuing?
Chulalongkorn University, in Thailand runs a professional development programme for mid-career workers interested in understanding peace and learning conflict-resolution techniques.
29 June 2017
TEDEX / TED Talks
we recommend
How to escape education's death valley
Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish -- and how current education culture works against them. In a funny, stirring talk he tells us how to get out of the educational "death valley" we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.
How not to be ignorant about the world
How much do you know about the world? Hans Rosling, with his famous charts of global population, health and income data (and an extra-extra-long pointer), demonstrates that you have a high statistical chance of being quite wrong about what you think you know.
Play along with his audience quiz — then, from Hans’ son Ola, learn 4 ways to quickly get less ignorant.
How Language Shapes Thought
How much do we know and understand about how individual languages shape our thoughts, our actions and our culture?
In this TED talk, Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist, explores how complex our languages are, how they shape the way we think and interpret.
There is more truth in the statement: Lost in Translation, than we may realise.
"The beauty of linguistic diversity is that it reveals to us just how ingenious and how flexible the human mind is," Boroditsky says. "Human minds have invented not one cognitive universe, but 7,000."
(YouTube)