Previous neuroimaging studies have found atypical cerebellar activation in individuals with dyslexia in either motor-related tasks or language tasks. However, studies investigating atypical cerebellar activation in individuals with dyslexia have mostly used tasks tapping phonological processing. A question that is yet unanswered is whether the cerebellum in individuals with dyslexia functions properly during orthographic processing of words, as growing evidence shows that the cerebellum is also involved in visual and spatial processing. Here, we investigated cerebellar activation and cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity during word processing in dyslexic readers and typically developing readers using tasks that tap orthographic and phonological codes. In children with dyslexia, we observed an abnormally higher engagement of the bilateral cerebellum for the orthographic task, which was negatively correlated with literacy measures. The greater the reading impairment was for young dyslexic readers, the stronger the cerebellar activation was. This suggests a compensatory role of the cerebellum in reading for children with dyslexia. In addition, a tendency for higher cerebellar activation in dyslexic readers was found in the phonological task. Moreover, the functional connectivity was stronger for dyslexic readers relative to typically developing readers between the lobule VI of the right cerebellum and the left fusiform gyrus during the orthographic task and between the lobule VI of the left cerebellum and the left supramarginal gyrus during the phonological task. This pattern of results suggests that the cerebellum compensates for reading impairment through the connections with specific brain regions responsible for the ongoing reading task. These findings enhance our understanding of the cerebellum's involvement in reading and reading impairment.

Children's early numeracy outcomes set the foundation for mathematics learning in their future school years. This study examined how different family and individual variables were associated with the numeracy interest and competence of disadvantaged young children in the Philippines. The numeracy and literacy skills of 673 children living in low-middle income communities were tested. Their parents were also asked to complete a questionnaire on demographics, their home numeracy practices, attitudes about numeracy learning, and children's numeracy interest. Structural equation modelling analyses showed that children's numeracy interest was linked with their parents' practices and attitudes. Children's numeracy competence, on the other hand, was related to their gender, age, socioeconomic status, and literacy abilities. These findings suggest that family and individual variables might play different roles in disadvantaged children's early numeracy development. Moreover, parents can be encouraged to make effective use of home numeracy experiences to promote their children's numeracy competence. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? In developed countries, home environment is occasionally found to link with early numeracy development. Some individual variables are also found to play significant roles in early numeracy development. What does this study add? Among young Filipino children from disadvantaged backgrounds, home environment is related to numeracy interest. Family socioeconomic status plays a significant role in early numeracy competence. Early literacy and numeracy skills are interrelated with each other.

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