“Pre-schoolers who can match sounds to letters earlier go on to read more easily”

“New research suggests it may be possible to predict which preschoolers will struggle to read.”

The study analysed brain waves of children as young as 3. And guess what they discovered: that those most likely to have trouble reading are those least exposed to oral language, and least able to link sounds to letters.

Connecting sound to meaning is a key foundation for reading. For example, pre-schoolers who can match sounds to letters earlier go on to read more easily.

This will be no surprise at all to those who learn, and teach, phonetic reading.

It will be astonishing news to those who don’t.

[Hat tip Maria Montessori Education Foundation]