What makes children make a sudden leap forward in reading overnight?

[jgjgjg]

My little girl became fairly proficient at blending 3-letter CVC words over the summer, so on Thursday last week I started looking at adjacent consonants with her - words starting with cl and fl specifically. She didn't get it at all, couldn't seem to comprehend that words could now have 4 sounds rather than 3, yet alone start to blend the consonants together.

We didn't do anything specific on adjacent consonants over the weekend because we had guests staying. Then today we went back to it, and she correctly sounded out a list of 8 words starting with 'cl' and 'fl' with no problems at all! (And yes I'm 100% sure she was actually reading them because there were no pictures and no clues, and she hadn't seen the list before)

Now obviously I'm glad that she's got the knack of it, but I'm now wondering what on earth it was that made it 'click' for her over the weekend? Whatever it was I wish I could bottle it for future use!

Anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm no education expert but I would have thought that's quite common. My son's teacher referred to him having a lightbulb moment in a maths exercise. And I can vividly remember the moment when the difference between estates and interests in land law suddenly became so clear to me I couldn't understand how it was I had struggled with it before. You have a break and it mysteriously all comes together.

Similar experience, yes - twice, once with each dd. And the same with maths, though a bit later.

No idea how to bottle it though, think its just to do with brain development! A bit like learning to walk, talk, work the DVD player unaided....little synapses suddenly connecting up

My mum is a teacher from 40 years ago. She swears it is a developmental thing like crawling, walking etc. She reckons all the early pushing does a fat lot of good, but parents generally expect and demand that children be "taught" from a young age. She's thinks it can be up until 8 years old before this "click" happens, and once it does that children can learn to read within weeks. She is also adamant that when this "click" occurs has little bearing on a child's ultimate intellectual potential.

I wonder if she is right. She is no expert or guru, just an old teacher. One amongst hundreds of thousands. But, if she is right, it makes me feel sad for kids who spend up to three years thinking they are "slow."

I remember when dd was learning to read - she just wasn't getting the blending. Beginning of half term we had a little session on it and I was getting frustrated. So I stopped and we did nothing else on it for a few days. End of half term little five minute session - and she'd got it, not perfectly, but a big step forward. I was so chuffed!

At the time I thought it was a bit like when if you are stuck on a crossword clue, the thing to do is to stop thinking about it. Then it will come to you in the shower, or in the middle of the night. The brain is working on stuff, but not consciously. But obviously kids brains are developing as well, so probably a slightly different process.

I also help read in school. There are kids who I knew in reception who basically couldn't read. Haven't read with them for a couple of years. Now in Year 3 reading with them again I am really impressed with how they are doing - they aren't the best readers but they are more than capable now.

A Dr friend told me it's all to do with neurons in the brain. They connect when they're ready - which can be anything from age 3 to 8 with reading. Sorry - not a very good explanation - but in general it's a sort of electrical pathway that's a developmental thing. There did seem to be a sort of lightbulb moment with mine and reading. But I suppose that doesn't really explain those that chug along at a steady rate.

I have no idea, but I would second the theory of brain development. Both my DDs clicked suddenly and dramatically - DD1 went from sounding out simple one-syllable words to reading things like 'anniversary' fluently literally overnight early on in Yr1, DD2 did the same thing even more dramatically in term two of YrR. It caught me out, it caught the teachers out - all we could do was adapt the reading materials provided.

I think that practice is the secret of being a proficient reader. Even with developmental things like learning to crawl a child need the opportunity to practice.