fire together, wire together, working memory help

Fire together, wire together is your child's best friend when it comes to learning to read.

Canadian Donald Hebb made famous this motto to help us realize that lots of repetition of a lesson embeds the lesson in your child's brain, so the lesson can be retrieved instantaneously when the lesson is needed later.

Our brains are set-up to hold learned information in long-term storage then pop the information into the short-term working memory when our working memory asks for it. 

(Unbeknownst to us, our eyes see what letters and words are coming next - and alert the storage memory to pop up the stored information into working memory - so that our working memory can keep rolling forward. This is successful reading.)

We adults have all had moments when storage memory cannot find the needed information. We are stuck; the information has been forgotten because it was not strongly embedded.

When our children are stuck because lessons are not well enough practiced to be deeply embedded - the child falls behind. But, we are adults. We can help our children. (NIH research reports teachers believe that kids can catch up next year; but only 6 / 50 ever catch up from a slow start in 1st Grade. These horrible numbers demonstrate the need for parents to step in with help.)

Energy (the firing action within the brain) able to build embedded connections comes in two ways: a huge surge, or many tiny surges.

A huge surge comes into your brain when a scary event hits your life. The huge surge wires into your brain: where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, even smells, and sounds. Fire together, wire together.

But, the many seemingly unimportant bits required to learn to read do not cause huge surges. Tiny surges - created by the practice of b says ba or ce always says s - soon melt away; many, many repetitions are vital for fire together, wire together learning to embed in the brain.

The brain requires that lessons become so well fired together that they can spring instantly from long-term memory.  Being slow to recall any of the tiny bits that make up our collection of reading skills has the result of causing a cascade of troubles. (By the way, stress is huge brain drain; try to keep it out of lessons you are teaching.)

Neuroscientist Eric Kandel won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his research into the chemicals and amounts of chemicals required for the brain to anchor cell connections into long term memory. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Kandel speak at a neuroscience conference in New York. He has authored several books but one is specifically targeted to the everyday reader: Memory: from mind to molecules by Larry R. Squires & Eric R. Kandel (2009).

I have created a few books to make it easier for your child to learn the most tricky lessons. They are full of color pictures and fun stories. I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you to consider. All include my contact info; email or call for help.

Have fun reading with your child. Thank you, Mary Maisner

the brain has a letter-box

What is my little kitten doing?

We know that children have a letterbox on the left side of the head, right behind the ear.

About "five hundred columns of neurons are needed for the initial bank of letter detectors." 

These detectors are reacting to the tiny differences in letters, like the difference between c and e.

Bottom line: be sure your child correctly prints and knows b, d, g, p, q - ignore all other backward letters, they will not slow your child's progress, are rarely dyslexia, and your child will self-correct by mid 2nd Grade.

Kids know the name and sound of b, d, g, p, q but confuse the shapes when the child starts trying to read words in 1st Grade. The child confuses shapes b / d and p / q / g.  Work to avoid this problem: When reading stories with your child, ask your child to find b at the start, middle, and end of words. Do the same for d, g, p, q.   Also, you point to a word with one of these five letters and ask your child to name the letter. ( What is this letter in about? What is this letter in sad? )  

It is vital to help your child because the brain executes reading as a complex habit. An item incorrectly learned is very hard to fix later. I just finished tutoring a 1st grade boy, a very smart, adorable boy, who needed 5 months of hard-hitting concentration to re-wire his brain with the correct direction for letter b.

The quotation about the number of neurons required for the letterbox is from research conducted by Stanislas Dehaene and found in his book, Reading in the brain (2009).

I now use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a great day, Mary Maisner

Fix a slow reading start

Kindergarten and 1st Grade are the foundation upon which your child's reading success depends. Teachers believe, and will tell you, your child will catch up next year. Research shows this to be untrue. If your child is getting a slow start, use my top left corner search box - put in backward b and working memory.

Start today to strengthen your child's letter skills and sight words. If you do not have time, or you and your child do not work well together - common problem -

hire a tutor to teach my book- see below. (Not a tutor company, and not the school's special reading clinic. Now is the time for serious help; a personal tutor.)

Parents are dependent upon teachers to keep them informed.  Teachers see a snapshot rather than the long-range picture. Teachers do not realize a slow start is crippling, long into the future. 

The blame rests with teaching colleges and universities. These institutions are not following the research which is detailing what needs to be done, and not preparing teachers properly.

Every one of my books teach exactly what you want your child to learn. I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All my books include my contact info; email or call for help.

Research shows that only 6 out of 50 kids catch up by 4th grade from a slow start in 1st grade.

Please feel welcome to write with questions or comments.  Thank you, Mary Maisner

Backward letters will hurt your child's reading success



Help your child get
control of
the tricky letters.

Only between 1%  and  3% of the population are true dyslexics. Dyslexia is real and tons of work for a child to overcome. Luckily, very few children are dyslexic.

A child can look dyslexic because it is natural for a child to start out printing the ABCs backward. Only b, d, g, p, q require your attention. Ignore all other backward letters. They will not slow your child and will self-correct by mid-2nd Grade. Control of b, d, g, p, q is crucial. Spend your child's limited energy being sure your child can correctly identify letter shape and sound for b, d, g, p, q when these letters are used in words - at the start of 1st Grade. 

Parents depend on preschool and kindergarten to have their child ready but there are 52 letter shapes and a huge variety of sounds. Please realize that slow recognizing b, d, g, p, q within words will stop your child's advance.

 This is only five letters; you can do it. Teach my letter rules:

1) Bb rule: Bb is the 2nd letter in my ABCs and b's round face always looks the way words go in a story >>>. Help your child draw tons of giant b's with eyes looking the way words go > and a smile. Repeat the Bb rule together. Find b at the start, middle, and end of words.

2) Dd rule: d's straight line blocks d's eyes from seeing the way words go in a story; d is sad. Help your child draw tons of giant d's with sad eyes and a sad mouth. Make a big point of blocking d's round face with d's straight line. Watch for d at the start, middle, and end of words.

3) Gg rule: g has a fancy tail which tries to reach up to tickle g's round face. Draw giant g's with eyes looking down at g's fancy tail. (Beware: handwritten lower-case q is the opposite of g; the tail of q has a small hook curving up and away from q's round face.)

4) Pp rule: Pp looks the way words go in a story, just like letter b >>>; b and p can see. Draw giant p's with eyes looking the way words go and a smile. Find p at the start, middle, and end of words.  

5) Qq rule: q's straight line blocks q's face from seeing the way words go in a story. Help your child make lots of giant q's with sad eyes and a sad mouth. Qq says kw, take turns saying q words: quick, quiet, quest, squirrel. Watch for q at the start and middle of words. In English words, letter u is next. Be aware, your child needs to know q within printed words, but handwritten q at school has a hook curving away from q's face. This is the opposite of letter g.

You may like to buy my book for your child. I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are brand new, no grade level printed on them, all of the basics plus tons of special lessons. My contact info is included; email or call for help.

Have a great day, Mary Maisner