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Research -- StepUp to Learn

Puzzle Play Helps Boost Math Skills 

Puzzle Play Helps Boost Math Skills 

Researchers have found that children who played with puzzles at a young age later perform better on tasks utilizing spatial skills.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Language, Mathematics, Memory, Neuroscience

Infants Capable of Complex Babble May Grow into Stronger Readers

Infants Capable of Complex Babble May Grow into Stronger Readers

Infants' early speech production may predict their later literacy, according to a study from Florida State University.
Posted in Education, Language, Neuroscience, Reading Skills, School Readiness

Blink! The Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Cognition

Blink! The Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Cognition

Researchers have found evidence that spontaneous eye blink activity, which reflects activity in the dopaminergic system, explains the connection between fitness and cognitive function.

Posted in Education, Engagement, Language, Mathematics, Memory, Motivation, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience

We Hear What We Want to Hear

We Hear What We Want to Hear

New findings on the importance of anticipation in brain organization, specifically in auditory processing.
Posted in Attention, Language, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience

Strong links between music and math, reading achievement

Strong links between music and math, reading achievement

A music educator thought he could disprove the notion of a link between students’ musical and mathematical achievement. He was wrong.

Posted in Attention, Education, Language, Mathematics, Memory, Music, Neuroscience

Reading Through a Visual Dictionary in the Brain

Reading Through a Visual Dictionary in the Brain

Scientists have now identified a crucial region in the temporal lobe, know as the mid-fusiform cortex, which appears to act as the brain's visual dictionary.
Posted in Education, Language, Memory, Neuroscience, Reading Skills

Preschoolers Can’t See the Mountains for the Cat

Preschoolers Can’t See the Mountains for the Cat

Even when told to pay attention to the mountain in this photo, preschool children focus so much on the cat that they won’t later recognize the same mountain. Why?
Posted in Attention, Language, Memory, Neuroscience

Less than Ideal Start in Life: What Next?

Less than Ideal Start in Life: What Next?

The early talk and communication that children experience when very young, though essential in preparing them for school, has no direct impact on their reading and writing skills by age 11.
Posted in Education, Language, Reading Skills, School Readiness, Social Development, Social Skills

Humans are Born with Brains 'Prewired' to See Words

Humans are Born with Brains 'Prewired' to See Words

Humans are born with a part of the brain that is prewired to be receptive to seeing words and letters, setting the stage at birth for people to learn how to read, a new study suggests.
Posted in Language, Neuroscience, Reading Skills

How the Brain Detects the Rhythms of Speech

How the Brain Detects the Rhythms of Speech

Neuroscientists have discovered how the listening brain scans speech to break it down into syllables.
Posted in Language, Neuroscience

Children Use Both Brain Hemispheres to Understand Language, Unlike Adults

Children Use Both Brain Hemispheres to Understand Language, Unlike Adults

Whereas adults process most discrete neural tasks in specific areas in one or the other of their brain's two hemispheres, young children use both the right and left hemispheres to do the same task. The finding suggests a possible reason why children appear to recover from neural injury much easier than adults.

Posted in Language, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience, School Readiness

Early Reading in Spanish Helps Children Learn to Read English

Early Reading in Spanish Helps Children Learn to Read English

Children who had strong early reading skills in their native Spanish language when they entered kindergarten experienced greater growth in their ability to read English from kindergarten through fourth grade.

Posted in Language, Reading Skills, School Readiness