How to teach a child to read at home: instructions for parents

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

What modern parent doesn't dream of a well-rounded child? It is especially important for moms and dads that the baby knows how to read from a young age. It's no secret that most schools welcome first-graders who have already mastered the skills of writing, counting, and especially reading. How to teach a child to read in 1st grade? Isn't it too late? Maybe it's better to take care of the problem in advance?

There are no ways and systems designed to help moms and dads in teaching their child reading skills on their own today! Books, manuals, interactive games, special lessons for children "Learning to read". Among such an abundance of information, many parents are in real confusion - which method to choose? At what age should you start learning this useful skill? Well, let's try to understand everything from the very beginning.

When to start learning

Howteaching a 4 year old to read? And at three? Not all mothers and fathers think about the fact that the reading procedure is a very complicated process. Its essence is not only in memorizing letters and the ability to compose syllables from them. The whole point of learning to read is to instill in the child the ability to consciously perceive the text with its subsequent reproduction. That is why answering the question about the right age to start training in the style of "the sooner the better" is completely wrong.

Sometimes the question is: "How to teach a child to read quickly?" becomes a matter of parental prestige. Neuropathologists have already begun to sound the alarm: more and more warnings are being heard for moms and dads that too early literacy training in some cases can only hurt. As you know, the human brain, together with the nervous system, does not mature immediately. At a certain age, a number of parts of the brain in the physiological sense are not ready to function "to the fullest". If at this time you start to stimulate them forcibly, it is quite possible to impose insomnia, neurosis and a number of serious psychological problems on the child.

6 years old child - learning to read

Any parent can determine the degree of physiological readiness of the baby's brain for the beginning of training. Signs of such readiness are in the developed and fully formed speech of the child - when he is able not only to express himself in complex sentences, but can also compose small coherent texts.

Another positive sign is the full development of phonemic hearing. It consists inindependent definition of sounds in different parts of the word (at its beginning, middle, end), the correct pronunciation of all sounds without violations of melody, speech rhythm and other speech therapy "canons". In addition, the spatial orientation of the baby must be fully formed.

How to teach a child to read quickly? According to the recommendations of reputable psychologists and educators, targeted education of children by parents is shown no earlier than the age of five. Normally, it is at this time that the children's brain is subject to the development of almost any sign system. However, the individuality of each child should be taken into account. In practice, there are many cases of independent reading by children even at a younger age.

Methods of how to teach a child to read, these days there are a great many. Their goal is to help the baby in quickly mastering reading skills with the help of mom or dad. Let's take a quick look at the most popular of them.

The well-known method of Zaitsev

Exists for over 20 years. Its essence is in the study by children not of letters or sounds, but of syllables made on the faces of Zaitsev's cubes in the form of didactic material. Syllables (or rather, warehouses) allow kids to master the language precisely at the phonetic level.

Cubes are divided into different groups (from different materials, with different internal filling). Thanks to the contrasting texture and sound, the playing child learns the difference between vowels and consonants, hard, soft and deaf sounds. The set also comes with audio cassettes.special tables, which are recommended to be hung on the wall just above the height of the child.

How to teach a child to read in this way? According to this method, in the process of teaching, parents are charged with smoothly humming syllables (rather than pronouncing). If classes are conducted systematically, then a rather large number of syllables of the native language, about 246, can relatively easily “fit” in the child’s head. The speed of acquiring reading skills using this method directly depends on the child’s age. If the baby is older than three years old, the reading skill can be mastered within six months. Classes should be held at least twice a week for 15-30 minutes.

It's not that simple

It should be noted that Zaitsev's methodology, from the point of view of official pedagogy, is by no means recognized as ideal and has certain disadvantages. Definitely, its positive aspects include easy memorization of letter combinations in a playful way, which in the future will allow the child to write correctly, lack of attachment to a specific age category, as well as the child’s ability to independently play with this fascinating didactic material, quietly mastering early reading skills. In addition, Zaitsev's cubes have the most beneficial effect on fine motor skills and the development of the senses.

Among the negative phenomena inherent in this method of learning is the child's frequent "swallowing" of endings and some difficulties in mastering the composition of the word (after all, the babystudies syllables directly). In the first grade, such children may have difficulties in the process of phonemic parsing of words. Other disadvantages include the high cost of benefits and the need for lengthy preparation for classes.

About Glenn Doman's method

Named after a popular American scientist, the method discards the idea of the initial assimilation of sounds or syllables and proceeds from how to teach a child to read by automatically assimilating whole words. As a visual material for this, it is necessary to have a lot of special cards with words and sentences depicted on them. During the lesson, mom or dad shows the baby such a card for 15 seconds and read the contents aloud.

This method also requires regular practice, which is 5-10 minutes in the beginning. As a result, fast learning to read and a good development of intelligence, photographic memory, attention and the ability to concentrate on a specific object are promised.

About the advantages and disadvantages

According to the statements of the supporters of the methodology, its advantages are in the possibility of using it almost from the moment of birth and independent organization of the process by parents without involving a specialist, as well as in making didactic material with their own hands. It is understood that the various topics of the cards stimulate the baby to all-round development.

Psychologists and teachers also call the disadvantages of this method: the position of the baby in the learning process is passive,attempts to read independently do not occur, classes are limited only to listening and analyzing information. There is no creativity in the learning process, it is quite the same type, and sooner or later the baby gets bored with viewing various cards.

Pavel Tyulenev's system

This technique is also called "Peace". Nowadays, many parents are fascinated by it, especially those who have become acquainted with the author's book "Read Before Walking", in which the innovative teacher substantiates his own position: by the age of one, the child's brain is capable of assimilation of letters and folding them into words, by the age of two - to the first reading. But, according to the author of the methodology, one should engage directly from birth.

How to teach a child to read according to Tyulenev? What is the essence of the lessons? They consist in demonstrating cards with letters while actively voicing them. It is understood that the most important are the first 4 months of a baby's life - the period of active perception by the brain of any graphic images. It is important at the same time that foreign objects (for example, toys) are absent in the field of children's vision.

The author of the methodology claims that in this way we create a favorable environment for the development of the child, which contributes to the active learning of reading skills in the future.

The classic way of learning

Let's return to the usual primer. Loved by many generations of children (and parents), it is filled with a wide variety of drawings, favorite characters, etc. And the meaning of the traditional technique is to master(before teaching the child to read exercises from the primer) to them the process of combining individual sounds into syllables, and then into whole words. At the same time, the primer is illustrated with many examples that carry a variety of combinations of consonants and vowels.

Unlike Soviet times, primers of different authors and editions are now on sale. When purchasing this indispensable manual, parents should choose the option in which the processes of introducing the baby to new letters of the alphabet and folding those already mastered into syllables take place in parallel. Worse, when the entire alphabet is presented immediately, and only then information about the connection between letters is given.

What is the use of primers

A baby is actively learning to read, mastering many options for different folding of letters and syllables among themselves. The child's brain in this case begins to consciously perceive the basic principles of the reading process. Many note that most parents, having tried a number of modern methods, eventually return "to their original position" - to learning to read using the traditional method.

You can't call her easy. But the undoubted advantage of the "good old" approach is the ability for the child to independently analyze the information received and the gradual transition from the simplest components - letters and syllables - to individual words and small sentences.

What should parents do at home?

Let's talk about the simplest technique: how to teach a child to read quickly at home? Let's break the process down into several steps andlet's look at each one a little more carefully:

1. Let's try to learn only the vowels first. For these classes, parents should prepare didactic special material in the form of red circles with a diameter of about 10 cm. One of the vowels is written on each of the circles - as you know, there are ten of them. The red color is not chosen by chance. This corresponds to the sound scheme of the word, where the vowel is denoted by this tone.

2. The kid should be introduced separately to each of the vowel sounds. Its name must be "sung" together with the child. All the resulting circles can be hung on the walls of the children's room with a periodic reminder and requests for the baby to "sing" this or that sound. The location of the circles should be changed from time to time.

3. If the material is mastered, the use of this technique can be abandoned. Then with vowels you can play hide and seek. Stock up on text in large print, or separate sheets of paper with simple words written by your hand. And the task of the baby is to find the vowels "hidden" in the words. The purpose of the game is to contribute to a better memorization of the graphic image of each of the letters and to teach how to select individual letters from the composition of the word, regardless of size and color.

Educational games for kids - learning to read syllables and single words

After mastering the crumbs of vowels in full, we proceed to the next stage - the connection into syllables and words. The technique here is as follows:today my child and I are studying the letter M. For now, do not overload the baby's brain with information about the hardness or softness (and the like) of the sound being studied. Pay attention to the features inherent in its graphic image, think together about what objects M evokes associations with. It is important to create a clear image of this letter in the child's head.

Let's move on. The studied letter is alternately substituted for each of the ready-made red circles with the image of vowels. Together with the baby, an educated syllable is read. You can sing them, pronounce them with a variety of intonations, or come up with some other tricks for a child to better master the principle of syllable formation. The duration of each such play session should not exceed 10 minutes.

From the very first two or three consonant sounds mastered in combination with vowels, it is already possible to teach the baby to compose the easiest words containing four or even three letters. For clarity, it is better to prepare the appropriate cards or take a magnetic alphabet.

Let's move on to reading difficult words

When the stage of learning to read individual syllables and light small words is left behind, we move on to reading more complex "constructions", the number of letters in which is six or more. To speed up the result, words familiar to the child can be written on sheets of paper and pasted around the apartment. All new words should be read with the baby several times. Then during the day they should be repeated in the form of a game. Leaflets with words can be swapped.

Having mastered the first group, cook, hang up and learn the next - new words. At the same time, you should periodically return to the previously studied. Thanks to the use of the above method, the baby quickly learns to master syllables, then long words. This technique requires no more than 15 minutes during each day. Soon your child will be able to please you by reading whole sentences and even small texts.

Which rules are important to follow?

There are recommendations from educators regarding the rules that parents should follow in order to help in the rapid and successful development of the child's ability to read. Here are the main ones:

1. All training is carried out without fail in the form of a game. Indeed, for this age period, this is the main and practically the only form of mastering the surrounding reality. The game for children "learning to read" can be disguised as "classes" in a "real" school, because it is so important for a kid to feel like an "adult" student. But it's even better when everything happens supposedly spontaneously, especially while the child is still small.
2. In order to keep the interest in classes alive, it should be supported using a variety of multifunctional aids and didactic material, which must be exciting for the child.
3. The most effective at this age are classes of short duration, conducted regularly and consistently.
4. Avoid long explanations! You should talk to your baby briefly, concisely and as clearly as possible. Long instructions for preschoolersare perceived extremely poorly.
5. Do not start teaching reading skills until oral speech is fully developed and there are defects in sound pronunciation.
6. In the structure of the lesson, in addition to the training part, we must include small warm-ups in the form of finger gymnastics and physical education minutes.
7. Parents should show flexibility, patience and, most importantly, consistency in the process of classes. Never compare the achievements of your own child with the successes of others. Do not forget about the individual pace, characteristic for each of the children and depending on a huge variety of factors.
8. Do not force your child to exercise if he or you are in a bad mood or he alth condition. This will not give any positive effect, but may have a negative impact on the subsequent development of the child's psyche.

More things to know

Remember that the process of learning this fundamental skill is multifaceted and lengthy. Never rush things and look for a "magic wand" that can train your baby in a short time! Parents should focus not on newfangled methods in the field of early education, but on carefully identified features of their own baby - his memory, attention and way of thinking.

There is no single universal technique that is suitable for every child. How correctly you choose the options for classes for your own crumbs depends on you and only on you. Ultimately, it is in the power of any parent to raise a sonor the daughter of a thoughtful and interested reader.