Factors influencing learning to read (Part 4 of 5)

I continued on my quest to understand the physical mechanics of learning to read.  It was around this time that I read Dare to Discipline by Dr James Dobson.


What does the Meylin Sheath have to do with reading ?

In his book Dr Dobson quoted some interesting information concerning the Myelin sheath.

The myelin sheath in essence is the covering over our nervous system, much like the outer plastic on an electrical cable.  It acts as an insulator to stop nerve impulses from going "missing".

So what you ask does this have to do with reading? When we are born our myelin sheath is not complete and that is why babies have no co ordination.  As the sheath grows so does the child's ability to do things grow. The sheath grows very slowly and the process can take up to 12 years or more to complete.

Interestingly the optic nerve and the bladder are two of the last areas to be covered in the body.  This explains why one day children can read a simple book and then tomorrow they just can't 'remember' how or why children who are bed wetters suddenly become dry.

It's not so much memory or ability that's the problem it is that the information is getting "lost" between the eye and the brain as a result of the sheath being incomplete.  So as this sheath completes it's growth children "suddenly" gain the ability to read.

This information was accidentally discovered when doctors were trying to figure out why patients undergoing chemo therapy lost the ability to read or suddenly became uncoordinated. They ascertained that chemo unwraps the myelin sheath and once chemo stops and the sheath repairs itself, patients regain their "lost" ability.

 Other posts you might enjoy
Other posts you might enjoy

• Factors influencing Learning to Read - Part 0.1
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 1
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 2 
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 3
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 5

Factors influencing learning to read (Part 3 of 5)

Does Doing life equip us to read ?

I was reading about some research done with preschool students. Two classes were formed.  One class was taught standard phonics and official school drills the other was taken on school trips to museums, play grounds, theater, had books read to them and did lots of discovering the world around them experiments such as growing beans in class.

If my memory serves me right - after three years each class was divided in half and combined with the other.  So the new class consisted of 50% of each of the original classes. Within three months the students who had done no formal learning to read lessons were reading up to three years above their chronological age.

The reasons touted were that the students who explored the world around themselves had a deeper understanding of vocabulary and a larger bank of vocabulary to draw from.  So when they started learning to read they only had one skill to learn, the skill of decoding the symbols on the page. Most young students are trying to attain a double skill the skill of decoding and the skill of understanding the word they are decoding at the same time. (sorry I can't remember where I read about this research.  If anyone recognizes it please let me know so I can give appropriate credit)

To keep doing life made sense, and did set my mind at ease that what we were doing was making a difference. Whenever I feel a little guilty doing life I remember what Ruth Beechick has to say about it. (Read about it in this blog post: No need to feel guilty !

Practical tools

Time to go back to the tool box. I am sure Sonlight had added some how to books in with my order.  They must be important  ???

I took out my books by Ruth Beechick which Sonlight had graciously added to my order as a thank you gift. I read A home start in Reading. I highly recommend this book (it has now been combined into one book called: The Three R's ).

Ruth did an amazing job of equipping my understanding of how and when to teach phonics, how to know when my student was ready to learn, and how to develop comprehension skills. These little books (now in one book) are worth their weight in gold!

Feeling better equipped we continued with our daily phonics books (Get ready for the code) and sat together reading great books from Sonlight Core K (now called Core A) But I still worried and fretted over the whole thing.

Some tools of interest

• Teaching reading with beginner readers (Sonlight)
• Who wants to be a reader by Homeschool.com
• Phonics vs Whole Language by Succeed to Read 

Factor 3 is becoming equipped with the tools that are needed to teach this precious skill of decoding letters on a page. 

What tools do you have in your tool box ?

Other posts you might enjoy
Other posts you might enjoy

• Factors influencing Learning to Read - Part 0.1
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 1
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 2 
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 4
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 5

Tuesdays Treasures (Vol 1-2)

Usborne Internet-linked 

First Encyclopedia of the Human Body

To have a look inside this book you can go to: Amazon.com


I love this treasure.  It has lived up to the Usborne name presenting stunning clear pictures (mainly photographs and a few drawings), enough information not to be overwhelming and best of all their are NO naked people or sexual information ☺!

• 29 Chapters
• An index.
• Photographs & drawings 
• 64 pages.
• ISBN: 978079450695-7
• Published by Usborne Publishing
• Author: Fiona Chandler
• Illustrated by David Hancock and John Woodcock

Enjoy