At Minnesota Neuropsychology part of our mission is to empower struggling readers. Through our evaluation process we're able to provide information about the "why" behind reading challenges, the brain science of reading, and do-able action steps to support reading development. We strive to bring the latest information from clinical and neuroscience research into our work with kids and parents every day. 

There's a popular term out there: "the science of reading." You may have heard it referenced in the news or on social media, and we want to give some background on it. In the words of education journalist Emily Hanford, the science of reading is "a big body of research that's been collected over decades about reading and how it works and how kids learn to read and why kids struggle."

The research supports the importance of both Word Recognition skills, as well as Language Comprehension skills, when developing a skilled reader (see Scarborough's Reading Rope for reference). However, there is a greater emphasis on the importance of phonics in the very early grades. This means explicitly and systematically teaching children the relationships between letters and sounds, as a foundational element of reading instruction. The science of reading suggests that understanding these relationships is crucial for developing strong reading skills, as it enables children to decode words and comprehend text more effectively. This type of instruction is referred to as Structured Literacy. It is beneficial for ALL students, but CRUCIAL for students with dyslexia.

Emily Hanford delves into this topic in her podcast series, "Sold a Story." She investigates how some reading curriculum programs have overlooked what research says about how kids learn to read, leading to widespread reading difficulties among students. "Many kids are struggling because they haven’t been taught how to read in a way that aligns with what we know from the science." Her work has brought long-overdue attention to the need for evidence-based reading instruction.

For more information and a link to the latest, hot-off-the-presses episode of Emily Hanford's podcast series, go here!