Myomancy ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism

A news story about teaching babies to read caught my eye. According to infant researcher Dr. Robert Titzer and a national panel of reading specialists, most of our reading problems would be eliminated if we started to teach reading earlier. Dr Titzer has developed an approach that can be used with babies as young as 9 months old.

I don’t wish to knock Dr Titzer’s knowledge but there is an obvious flaw in his argument that we should teach reading as early as possible. Finland has a literacy rate of 99.9% yet they don’t start teach children to read until they are seven years old. In fact, four of the top ten countries don’t begin formal reading instruction until age seven.

Reading requires several physical and mental abilities to be developed before it can be learnt. The child must be able to hear the differences in the phonic sounds correctly; they must be able to reliably track their eyes across the page; they must be able to sit still and concentrate; and they must be able to comprehend what is being read. These are all skills that improve with age.

In the UK and USA education systems that teach reading about the age of five, those children that are slow physical and mental developers will struggle to learn to read. This delay casts a long shadow other their education and their self-confidence. In the Finish system, all children barring those with extreme developmental issues, have matured enough to learn to read.

Further Information: School Starting Age: European Policy and Recent Research [ PDF ], How in the World Do Students Read? by W.B. Elley