(As a disclaimer, I signed up for two big test knit/crochet projects over the month of August, so I’ll be posting a lot of non-craft related things as I tackle them.)
This week is about reading! It’s my original favourite hobby, and seeing it from the lens of a speech-language pathologist makes it even more fascinating.

When I was in school, they talked a lot about how human brains are wired for spoken language. For example, there are specific areas like Broca’s and Wernicke’s that are inextricably linked to speech. On the other hand, there’s no ‘reading’ or ‘writing’ brain region. Humans have to be taught how to do it; it’s not a natural process. From that perspective, being able to read is a bit magical!

I remember my three-year old self working my way through a phonics kit until one day the words and letters made sense. Because of that experience, I used to think that learning to sound out words was all you needed for reading. Now I know that early literacy actually involves five domains: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Phew! That’s a lot of work, and yet the vast majority of us become literate by early elementary.

Anyways, before I get too distracted talking about the science of reading, all I really meant to say was that I’ve loved stories and reading for as long as I can remember. In the last year, I’ve started to read for pleasure again, and it feels a bit like changing back into your most comfortable clothes after a long work day. I’m also loving being able to use children’s books in therapy, including this lovely one by Oliver Jeffers.

For those who are interested in talking more about reading, either from an enjoyment perspective or an academic perspective, I’m always open to conversation! For the enjoyers, please drop your best book recommendation! I’m currently reading (and listening) to The Odyssey for the first time, and I always find experiencing the ‘classics’ to be an interesting process. For the academics, my favourite model of reading is Scarborough’s Reading Rope because it does a great job of showing at how complex the reading process is. Do you find that our school system does a good job at addressing all the strands?

Until next time, happy crafting!