III. Reading comprehension 12% From much of the last century, educators and many scientists believed that children could not learn math at all before the
age of five, and that their brains simply were not ready. But recent research has challenged that assumption---along with
conventional wisdom about geometry, reading, language and self-control in class. The findings, mostly from a branch of
research called cognitive neuroscience, are helping to clarify when young brains are able to grasp fundamental concepts.
In one recent study, for instance, researchers found that most entering preschoolers could perform rudimentary division by
distributing candies among two or three play animals. In another, scientists found that the brain’s ability to link letter
combinations with sounds may not be fully developed until age 11---much later than many have assumed.
The teaching of basic academic skills is giving way to approaches based on cognitive science. In several American cities,
schools have been experimenting with new curriculums to improve math skills in preschoolers. In others, teachers have used
techniques developed by brain scientists to help children overcome dyslexia. And schools in about a dozen states have begun
to use a program intended to accelerate the development of young students’ frontal lobes, improving self-control in class.
Teaching is an ancient craft, and for the first time we are seeing it work together with the fields of brain science. If the
efforts in this combination find more records of success in the schools, experts say, they could transform teaching from the
bottom up---giving the ancient craft a modern scientific compass.