Is there a science to reading?
By Dr. Shruti Shankar Gaur | Creative Partner from Gurugram, Haryana just outside of Delhi in India
What exactly is the science of reading? If you are curious, more chances are that you are a parent. You are here to find the hidden Toltec wisdom to ensure your little one turns out to be a reader. I wish with all my heart that this blog helps you decode that conundrum. If you are not a parent and still here, welcome aboard my friend. You definitely have the flame of curiosity igniting the trinity of your mind, heart, and soul. You are AWAKE.
To decode reading, we must first understand the principles of learning. Is not reading also a way to learn? And I must confess, a glorified one. We learn in myriad ways every minute and second of our awake lives, whether we are conscious of it or not. The question is: How does anyone learn? Will you believe that we, the Homo sapiens, have been learning the same way for the past three hundred thousand years!
The last blog ‘Did Newton discover gravity or curiosity?’ concluded with curiosity being the premise behind learning. Things that we become curious about attract our attention. This very attention brings the focus and an intent to learn. And without us being aware, our learning journey begins.
How children learn to read is very well elaborated in the essay, ‘Schooling: the Hidden Agenda’ by Daniel Quinn based on his teaching experience and the experiment which he performed back in the 1960’s with kindergarten children. Quinn divided the kindergarten children into two classes with 30 kids each and both classes were given the same instructional material throughout their school experience. He proved that both the classes tested the same on reading skills at the end of the session even though one class was given no instruction in reading at all and the other had the usual everyday lessons and instructions by the teacher. The only condition was that the children of both the classes were allowed to hang out together. He called it Quinn Conjecture and concluded that kids learn to read the same way they learn to speak or walk i.e., by hanging around people who read, speak, or walk and by wanting to be able to do what these people were doing.
The same research finding was reciprocated by Dr. Sugata Mitra, Chief Scientist at NIIT through ‘Hole in the Wall Project’ in 1999. His team carved a "hole in the wall" that separated the NIIT premises from the adjoining slum in Kalkaji, New Delhi. Through this hole, a freely accessible computer was put up for use. It proved to be an instant hit among the slum children. With no prior experience, the children learned to use the computer on their own. The same results were reciprocated in various locations.
Why did self-learning occur? Well, there was a hole, and then there was a computer which was left switched on, without any supervision. That was sufficient to spark interest. And the inquisitiveness spread like wildfire. Ah! We must admit, we are no better than the monkey from the story ‘Cap Seller and Monkeys.’ Isn’t social media revolving around grabbing the attention of the end user by invoking curiosity? They are cashing in on the science of learning.
Now that you know the science behind reading. I would say, follow your child’s curiosity. Try to match the curiosity with the books in the same genre. My friend’s son was obsessed with dinosaurs. All she did was buy a dozen books on dinosaurs. And before she knew it, he immersed himself into the Dino world, often being mesmerized by the images, reading, and learning the facts. The first encounter with books led him to science fiction. Today, he is a book dragon.
The science of learning can be applied by anyone, anywhere. Remember the quote: “Follow your dreams.” I would say change that to: “Follow your curiosity,” because it is the door to fulfilling your dreams with a ‘fun-filled’ learning that makes one feel alive.
I must remind you; your curiosity made you read this whole blog. And you were not even aware? But now you are! Happy learning guys……pick the next book that arouses your interest or watch the movie that attracts your attention (Barbie or Oppenheimer any one or both) or dump both and follow a butterfly, just like you used to, running behind as a child. There’s magic in curiosity. Unpack it.
I rest my thoughts here. Next blog, I intend to delve deeper as a fellow parent. How to make your child a reader? And why it’s super cool if s/he doesn’t turn out to be one? Till then, pursue the three L’s: Love, Learn and Live.
About the Author: Dr. Shruti Shankar Gaur describes herself as a nonplussed mother, a Luna to her Alpha, a passionate entrepreneur, a novice thinker, a hard-core dreamer, a scruffy poet, a true seeker, and an unusual sinner. She bares her soul in her blog: Pain & Bliss - Contact the author: https://linktr.ee/dr.shrutishankargaur
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