WHY WE SHOULDN'T FORCE CHILDREN TO READ BEFORE AGE SIX: THEIR BRAIN IS NOT READY

Neuroeducation is a new vision of teaching that is based on providing educational strategies and technologies focused on the functioning of the brain. Its objective: optimize the teaching and learning process.

And that new didactic is based on the conviction that Reading learning cannot be done before the child's brain is mature enough To face this task.

Neuropediatrist Manuel Antonio Fernández explains why We should not force children to read before age six.

How our brain works

The eternal question of many parents: "Why does Maria already know how to read with four years and my son doesn't? Is he less intelligent?"

And the answer of Dr. Manuel Antonio Fernández is a resounding 'No'.

"Every child is a world and has a different maturation rate. That means that the areas of the brain that control memory and learning do not mature at the same time."

In fact, in Spain the beginning of literacy usually coincides with the entry into Primary, around six years (although in some schools they begin earlier), when it is believed that the child begins to be ready for these tasks, although it could wait even more, because:

"What is about is to enjoy learning, not that teaching becomes an obligation, because everything is easier if you learn with joy."

In Babies and more 13 tips to instill the habit of reading in your children

We all talk about the importance of the brain, but do we really know how it works? Are we aware that it is the only thing that offers us proven data on learning?

The pediatric neurologist explains that there are two parts in the brain (the posterior parietal cortex and the superior temporal cortex), essential for acquiring any type of information. "The executive functions depend on them, which are progressively evolving as the children's brains mature."

"And those functions are essential for the brain to acquire the rest of the skills: if I am not able to maintain attention, to control the movement and the impulses yet, I will hardly be able to learn the next steps of the learning process."

"You can only learn what you love"

But if there is someone who defends the relationship between education and brain, it is undoubtedly Francisco Mora, a doctor of medicine and neuroscience.

Through his numerous books, such as 'Neuroeducation' or 'How the brain works' or has left us reflections and truths that are recorded in the memory of any parent or educator. Explain what:

"The essence of reading is to transform grapheme into a phoneme and that is achieved thanks to the development of an area of the brain. If it is not developed, it reads badly."

And although there are children who learn to read before, this transformation usually occurs from 6-7 years, "When the synaptic circuits have been completed and also isolate the axons with myelin so that the information goes clearly."

And he insists on the versatility of children and a different brain development. Everyone has their rhythm. It ensures that:

"If you teach a seven-year-old child to read, he will learn in three weeks, because his brain is already prepared."

Finally, I remain as a final reflection with the subtitle of his most famous book on the subject: "You can only learn what you love". So let's wait for our children to be prepared to learn to read without obligations and surely there will come a day when they will love written stories. Force them to learn before the rest ("because my child is very smart") has no advantage.

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