Page 173 - The Truth Landscape Format 2020 with next section introductions-compressed

Phonics and Spelling

We think in the sounds of a language -- and can even think with a foreign accent. Reading is merely a visual gimmick tacked onto our oral vocabulary and
grammar. It is common to have people who can speak but not read; it is impossible to have a person who can read but not understand the same language
when spoken.

Children at age 6 years have a good oral vocabulary and grammar. Also, their visual cortex has usually developed enough to distinguish the visual shapes of
letters. Now they are ready for reading.

There is a special part of the cortex, called the "angular gyrus" which has evolved to match sounds with letters. (A "gyrus" is simply a fold in the cortex that
bulges up, while a "sulcus" is a valley.) This is the area so important for spelling.
Existing oral vocabulary ------> phonics <--- visual perception of letters
||
ability to read

The angular gyrus develops from about age 6 to 9, then it is mostly finished for most people. Done. If children are exposed to good phonics training in early
schooling, they will tend to be much better at spelling and reading. For example, the term "word attack skills" means using phonics to sound out letters until
they trigger a match with the sound of a word already in the brain.

Grammar

Grammar is the spatial sense of vocabulary. This is especially true of English, which developed a relatively simple grammar system that depends upon
spatial order much more than endings or gender.

As a child grows, the brain soaks in whatever sounds it hears which we call vocabulary and grammar. After age 10, the vocabulary and grammar parts of the
brain are mostly finished growing, and the thinking parts of the brain in the frontal lobe continues growing, building upon the foundation of grammar and
vocabulary learned in childhood.

Vocabulary --> Grammar --> Concepts --> Creative thinking

Body Senses

Body senses, such as touch, pain and limb position, are similar to the right brain, except that the left brain senses the right side of the body. However, in
the left brain they are important for some forms of symbolic thinking (next section). Page173