Why Learning to Read Early is an Important Neurohack

Use reading as a tool to stimulate important regions of the brain during critical periods of growth

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Did you know that reading is a relatively new skill we humans have learned?— we have only been reading for the last 5,000 years.

Unlike speaking, which the brain is naturally wired to do, learning to read requires the brain to restructure and connect several different regions — including those for vision, language, and motor skills.

But what if waiting until formal schooling to learn reading is limiting your child’s brain potential?

Neuroscience now tells us that starting to read earlier — before age five — could be key to unlocking your child’s full brain potential.

As a neuroscientist and mum of two, I did not wait for formal schooling to teach my children to read — I neurohacked early. Like really early, like in the womb early! — but more on that later.

What is neurohacking? It simply involves “intentionally stimulating the brain’s development, specifically during its most critical periods of growth.”