Learning to read: supporting through play
Many parents wonder how to encourage their children to learn letters and words. Since when is it worth introducing? learning to read while having fun? What forms of play are conducive to exercising the functions of sight, hearing, attention and memory necessary in dealing with the written word? What children can come in handy for fun reading? We explain why below learning to read while having fun is a good idea and we suggest how - through play - you can stimulate the development of our children in the areas necessary for later mastering this important skill.
Children learn to read at different ages - the process can take place in different ways and at different speeds. However, it is worth devoting time to each child to familiarize him with reading and show its possibilities. Learning to read by playing or playing to read, e.g. as a support for preschool activities, will certainly make the future student easier to start at school, which may affect his confidence in the new environment.
Since when learning to read while having fun?
There are phased methods of learning to read, even for a few months old baby, taking into account the stages of a toddler's development. It is quite an ambitious approach. In the opinion of psychologists, effective learning to read is at all possible, our little one should show interest in him. This, however, is not enough.
Expert advises
In order to learn to read, a child must practice engaging many cognitive processes much earlier and be able to integrate them. Therefore, it is important for parents to support some of them from infancy.
Supporting cognitive processes
It exists a series of cognitive and learning processes involved in learning to read. By getting to know them better and adjusting the forms of play to them, we will make it easier for your toddler to practice various types of skills.
- The visual system
In order for a child to master the structure of a word, the child must visually distinguish between thousands of characters that combine into words (differing, for example, by a single letter). To support this system, it is worth observing what arouses the child's interest during free play and try to show him symbols of letters or numbers, presented in different contexts and compare them using the method of association (similarities), e.g. a number on a car, an inscription on the packaging when preparing meals, etc.
- Motor (auditory) system
Children usually learn to read effectively 'aloud' - this is how they learn to relate visual symbols to speech articulation movements. When a child is interested in an inscription or a symbol in the environment, it is worth reading the letters with the child one by one and asking them to repeat it their sound.
- Attention system
Success in learning all new relationships, and therefore learning to read, depends on our ability to selectively focus our attention on the properties of the material we are trying to learn. The truth is the most important system that creates in the child the opportunity to use internal motivation to learn about selected areas of knowledge. Even children who are not yet speaking can look at the object they are "talking" to with their guardians. We call this skill maintaining a common field of attention.
- Memory systems
Also for learning to read it is worth practicing any ability that is relevant to memory development. Two-year-olds already have the competence to show two identical items or to draw attention to items that are "the same". It becomes important to observe the child's initiatives and affirm his achievements related to remembering places where, for example, everyday objects at home are located.
Expert advises
An interesting game with an infant may be an activity that will consist in delaying his reaction, and thus keeping in memory certain information (encoded in the visual or auditory system). Sit your baby in front of you so that it can watch you. Take two cups and put them upside down. In front of the child, hide an interesting toy under one of the mugs, saying: "See how I hide, for example, a dog!". Then count aloud to 3 and hold the two cups towards the baby. Ask, "Where's the dog?" Let your child discover the cups and enjoy discovering the toys inside the cup together.
About having fun reading?
Children who have had contact with the written word from the earliest moments, probably around the age of two or three, will show an interest in letters and books. To check this, we can already buy blocks, puzzles, play mats containing letters. If the toddler is willing to fold them, ask for their names, we can then proceed to science reading while having fun.
Expert advises
At this age, a child's brain is very flexible, so learning to read may be easier for him than after the age of six or seven. A 2-year-old is able to focus on one thing for about 3 minutes, but we must remember about the large individual differences in temperamental development in toddlers, which may favor devoting themselves to cognitive activities for a longer or shorter time. Also, in the case of a 4-XNUMX-year-old child, play should not resemble schooling, a small child will not be able to sit in one place for a long time.
Individual approach
Every parent would like their child to be exceptionally gifted and learn quickly. However, do not succumb to the pressure of the environment and do not compare our children to others who can read, perhaps even at a younger age.
Let us take care of the wise, individual development of a child who, up to the age of 6, is rapidly developing physically. If our toddler is real silver, let's provide him with the appropriate dose of this movement, because motor stimulation affects intellectual development and will bring better results than teaching to read by force, for example, a 4-year-old.
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