Orthographic Mapping, In Plain English

Orthographic mapping is the process by which a child’s brain permanently stores the connection between a word’s spelling, its sounds, and its meaning — turning slow, effortful decoding into instant, automatic word recognition.

This four-minute primer gives parents plain-English language for the parent-teacher conference: what orthographic mapping is, why it matters more than memorization drills, and three questions worth asking your child’s school about how they build it.