Interpreting Your Child's Reading Style May Be an Indicator of Processing Speed and Learning Ability

A child's reading style is an indicator of overalland has a limited vocabulary list. This child has
learning strengths and weaknesses. Processingdifficulty decoding or sounding out words
speed is one major indicator of how a child willphonetically and therefore skips over unfamiliar
learn. If reading is slow and methodical it is anwords. For these children, new words are difficult
indication that a child's mental and visual processingto learn when reading, unless they are introduced
is also slow. Cognitive home processing trainingin a spelling list and learned by sight as whole
can remedy this problem by increasing thewords. This is detrimental to a child because
amount of time it takes to read or decode lettersspontaneous learning is not taking place. Sounding
and words, and by making reading a moreout an unfamiliar word phonetically can introduce
unconscious activity while learning faster. Thethe child to the root word, the word parts,
faster a child can read and understand thecomparing word parts, and other interesting
information, the better the retention rate. Whenaspects of the word. This child is missing an
reading is faster and more of the reading processimportant part of the language learning process.
is unconscious or automatic, the conscious mind isFor example, when reading for a history
freed to focus on learning.assignment to learn facts, this child will skip over
A child who has a mechanical reading style orimportant aspects of the text. This may happen
phonetically sounds out most words, may have abecause it may contain unfamiliar words and
variety of difficulties with learning academictherefore comprehension of the text will be
subjects. For an analogy let us say that readingdifficult. Rereading to get the meaning for tests
for these children is similar to reading the htmland assignments is a common practice for a child
code of a word processing document. The htmlwho learns eidically.
code is the backbone or the technology that holdsThere must be a balance of phonetic and eidetic
the document together and it contains necessaryreading. We want children to sound out or decode
details of the text. However, you want to readunfamiliar words but to be able to do it quickly
the document absent the details to gainwith accuracy. On the other hand, we don't want
information about the subject matter. Childrenthe child to analyze familiar words and loose the
with this perspective see their text in a similarmeaning of the text. A child must be able to read
way, phonics and high frequency words are theand decode by both eidetic and phonetic styles to
backbone of language and readable text.read automatically, assuming the reading material
However, if we phonetically spell most words andis on his or her grade and age level.
focus on only high frequency words, the fluencyOnce you determine the imbalances you can start
and meaning of the text is lost. The consciousto work on the problem. The first step to take is
reading of high frequency words, the sounding outto start your child on a program to increase visual
of familiar words, having a limited vocabulary,processing speed. Auditory training will be required
skipping words, or making up words will makein the eidetic and phonetic approaches to reading.
reading slow and meaningless.There are good cognitive home processing kits
Another common reading problem is reading toothat include auditory training as well. This material
fast and skipping difficult words. A child who learnswill provide you with the structure you need to
eidetically depends only on familiar sight words toget your child on the road to faster learning.
read. He or she is limited to reading familiar words