Unlocking Your Child's Reading Potential: The Importance of a Strong Auditory Network

"Is my child's 'auditory network' school ready?" asked no parent ever. Yet it's probably a question we should be asking as the strength and reliability of the auditory processing network predicts reading ability.

As the beginning of another school year approaches preschooler parents everywhere grapple with worries about their child's school readiness.

While there are many evidence markers that predict physical and social progress, what about a predictor of ability for reading success. Learning to read is one of the most significant components of your child's learning schooling. Therefore finding out about your child's pre or early literacy (what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write) can predict how your child will cope with this new skill.

Would you still send your child to start school knowing they would struggle and find this a challenge?

Knowing that they are likely to struggle in this area you could instead intervene with known ways to improve your child's cognitive ability in this area.

Great news parents!

There is simple test that can show if your child is cognitively ready or not to begin learning reading.

and

There are known activities that can improve your child's cognitive ability in this area.

So essentially an expert in assessing beat synchronisation tasks can assess the level of cognitive connectivity in a young child through their ability to complete said beat synchronisation tasks. This specific type of cognitive connectivity relates directly to reading readiness and or preliteracy skills.

For the brain to process the parts or components of language, a huge number of messages need to fire around the brain at the same time. If the messages are not synchronised correctly, then the messages don’t converge to make the correct meaning.

Here's some evidence markers and signs your child's auditory processing network needs help from an expert.

Dr Anita Collins from Bigger Better Brains explains the science and recommended interventions which show early childhood to be a formative time where these important pre-literacy skills are intersecting right when the brain is learning language.

The science

The Bonacina (2021) study of 150 preschoolers found that rhythm, preliteracy and auditory processing are interconnected during early childhood.

The Link between beat and reading readiness

For the brain to process the parts or components of language, a huge number of messages need to fire around the brain at the same time. If the messages are not synchronised correctly, then the messages don’t converge to make the correct meaning.

Rhythm, Pre-Literacy & Auditory Processing - interconnect in early childhood

The auditory processing network analyses language through synchronised firings tied to the motor cortices which is involved in beat synchronisation. A powerful argument that the cognitive development of preschoolers when it comes to preliteracy should also include musical activities that focus on auditory processing and accurate beat keeping. If we are all teachers of literacy, which is an expression used in curriculum across Western education systems, then let’s acknowledge that music learning is a foundation learning experience in the preliteracy period and help others understand how beat keeping primes the brain for reading.