Start reading for kindergarten

Teaching children to read isn’t easy. How do kids actually learn to read?

A student in a Mississippi elementary school reads a book in class. Research shows young children need explicit, systematic phonics instruction to learn how to read fluently. Credit: Terrell Clark for The Hechinger Report

Teaching kids to read isn’t easy; educators often feel strongly about what they think is the “right” way to teach this essential skill. Though teachers’ approaches may differ, the research is pretty clear on how best to help kids learn to read. Here’s what parents should look for in their children’s classroom.

How do kids actually learn how to read?

Research shows kids learn to read when they are able to identify letters or combinations of letters and connect those letters to sounds. There’s more to it, of course, like attaching meaning to words and phrases, but phonemic awareness (understanding sounds in spoken words) and an understanding of phonics (knowing that letters in print correspond to sounds) are the most basic first steps to becoming a reader.

If children can’t master phonics, they are more likely to struggle to read. That’s why researchers say explicit, systematic instruction in phonics is important: Teachers must lead students step by step through a specific sequence of letters and sounds. Kids who learn how to decode words can then apply that skill to more challenging words and ultimately read with fluency. Some kids may not need much help with phonics, especially as they get older, but experts say phonics instruction can be essential for young children and struggling readers “We don’t know how much phonics each kid needs,” said Anders Rasmussen, principal of Wood Road Elementary School in Ballston Spa, New York, who recently led the transformation of his schools’ reading program to a research-based, structured approach. “But we know no kid is hurt by getting too much of it.”

How should your child’s school teach reading?

Timothy Shanahan, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an expert on reading instruction, said phonics are important in kindergarten through second grade and phonemic awareness should be explicitly taught in kindergarten and first grade. This view has been underscored by experts in recent years as the debate over reading instruction has intensified. But teaching kids how to read should include more than phonics, said Shanahan. They should also be exposed to oral reading, reading comprehension and writing.

The wars over how to teach reading are back. Here’s the four things you need to know.

Wiley Blevins, an author and expert on phonics, said a good test parents can use to determine whether a child is receiving research-based reading instruction is to ask their child’s teacher how reading is taught. “They should be able to tell you something more than ‘by reading lots of books’ and ‘developing a love of reading.’ ” Blevins said. Along with time dedicated to teaching phonics, Blevins said children should participate in read-alouds with their teacher to build vocabulary and content knowledge. “These read-alouds must involve interactive conversations to engage students in thinking about the content and using the vocabulary,” he said. “Too often, when time is limited, the daily read-alouds are the first thing left out of the reading time. We undervalue its impact on reading growth and must change that.”

Rasmussen’s school uses a structured approach: Children receive lessons in phonemic awareness, phonics, pre-writing and writing, vocabulary and repeated readings. Research shows this type of “systematic and intensive” approach in several aspects of literacy can turn children who struggle to read into average or above-average readers.

What should schools avoid when teaching reading?

Educators and experts say kids should be encouraged to sound out words, instead of guessing. “We really want to make sure that no kid is guessing,” Rasmussen said. “You really want … your own kid sounding out words and blending words from the earliest level on.” That means children are not told to guess an unfamiliar word by looking at a picture in the book, for example. As children encounter more challenging texts in later grades, avoiding reliance on visual cues also supports fluent reading. “When they get to ninth grade and they have to read “Of Mice and Men,” there are no picture cues,” Rasmussen said.

Related: Teacher Voice: We need phonics, along with other supports, for reading

Blevins and Shanahan caution against organizing books by different reading levels and keeping students at one level until they read with enough fluency to move up to the next level. Although many people may think keeping students at one level will help prevent them from getting frustrated and discouraged by difficult texts, research shows that students actually learn more when they are challenged by reading materials.

Blevins said reliance on “leveled books” can contribute to “a bad habit in readers.” Because students can’t sound out many of the words, they rely on memorizing repeated words and sentence patterns, or on using picture clues to guess words. Rasmussen said making kids stick with one reading level — and, especially, consistently giving some kids texts that are below grade level, rather than giving them supports to bring them to grade level — can also lead to larger gaps in reading ability.

How do I know if a reading curriculum is effective?

Some reading curricula cover more aspects of literacy than others. While almost all programs have some research-based components, the structure of a program can make a big difference, said Rasmussen. Watching children read is the best way to tell if they are receiving proper instruction — explicit, systematic instruction in phonics to establish a foundation for reading, coupled with the use of grade-level texts, offered to all kids.

Parents who are curious about what’s included in the curriculum in their child’s classroom can find sources online, like a chart included in an article by Readingrockets.org which summarizes the various aspects of literacy, including phonics, writing and comprehension strategies, in some of the most popular reading curricula.

Blevins also suggested some questions parents can ask their child’s teacher:

What is your phonics scope and sequence?

“If research-based, the curriculum must have a clearly defined phonics scope and sequence that serves as the spine of the instruction. ” Blevins said.

Do you have decodable readers (short books with words composed of the letters and sounds students are learning) to practice phonics?

“If no decodable or phonics readers are used, students are unlikely to get the amount of practice and application to get to mastery so they can then transfer these skills to all reading and writing experiences,” Blevins said. “If teachers say they are using leveled books, ask how many words can students sound out based on the phonics skills (teachers) have taught … Can these words be fully sounded out based on the phonics skills you taught or are children only using pieces of the word? They should be fully sounding out the words — not using just the first or first and last letters and guessing at the rest.”

What are you doing to build students’ vocabulary and background knowledge? How frequent is this instruction? How much time is spent each day doing this?

“It should be a lot,” Blevins said, “and much of it happens during read-alouds, especially informational texts, and science and social studies lessons. ”

Is the research used to support your reading curriculum just about the actual materials, or does it draw from a larger body of research on how children learn to read? How does it connect to the science of reading?

Teachers should be able to answer these questions, said Blevins.

What should I do if my child isn’t progressing in reading?

When a child isn’t progressing, Blevins said, the key is to find out why. “Is it a learning challenge or is your child a curriculum casualty? This is a tough one.” Blevins suggested that parents of kindergarteners and first graders ask their child’s school to test the child’s phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency.

Parents of older children should ask for a test of vocabulary. “These tests will locate some underlying issues as to why your child is struggling reading and understanding what they read,” Blevins said. “Once underlying issues are found, they can be systematically addressed. ”

“We don’t know how much phonics each kid needs. But we know no kid is hurt by getting too much of it.”
Anders Rasmussen, principal of Wood Road Elementary School in Ballston Spa, New York

Rasmussen recommended parents work with their school if they are concerned about their children’s progress. By sitting and reading with their children, parents can see the kind of literacy instruction the kids are receiving. If children are trying to guess based on pictures, parents can talk to teachers about increasing phonics instruction.

“Teachers aren’t there doing necessarily bad things or disadvantaging kids purposefully or willfully,” Rasmussen said. “You have many great reading teachers using some effective strategies and some ineffective strategies.”

What can parents do at home to help their children learn to read?

Parents want to help their kids learn how to read but don’t want to push them to the point where they hate reading. “Parents at home can fall into the trap of thinking this is about drilling their kid,” said Cindy Jiban, a former educator and current principal academic lead at NWEA, a research-based non-profit focused on assessments and professional learning opportunities. “This is unfortunate,” Jiban said. “It sets up a parent-child interaction that makes it, ‘Ugh, there’s this thing that’s not fun.’” Instead, Jiban advises making decoding playful. Here are some ideas:

Challenge kids to find everything in the house that starts with a specific sound.
Stretch out one word in a sentence. Ask your child to “pass the salt” but say the individual sounds in the word “salt” instead of the word itself.
Ask your child to figure out what every family member’s name would be if it started with a “b” sound.
Sing that annoying “Banana fana fo fanna song.” Jiban said that kind of playful activity can actually help a kid think about the sounds that correspond with letters even if they’re not looking at a letter right in front of them.
Read your child’s favorite book over and over again. For books that children know well, Jiban suggests that children use their finger to follow along as each word is read. Parents can do the same, or come up with another strategy to help kids follow which words they’re reading on a page.

Giving a child diverse experiences that seem to have nothing to do with reading can also help a child’s reading ability. By having a variety of experiences, Rasmussen said, children will be able to apply their own knowledge to better comprehend texts about various topics.

This story about teaching children to read was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.

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9 Fun and Easy Tips

With the abundance of information out there, it can seem like there is no clear answer about how to teach a child to read. As a busy parent, you may not have time to wade through all of the conflicting opinions.

That’s why we’re here to help! There are some key elements when it comes to teaching kids to read, so we’ve rounded up nine effective tips to help you boost your child’s reading skills and confidence.

These tips are simple, fit into your lifestyle, and help build foundational reading skills while having fun!

Tips For How To Teach A Child To Read

1) Focus On Letter Sounds Over Letter Names

We used to learn that “b” stands for “ball. ” But when you say the word ball, it sounds different than saying the letter B on its own. That can be a strange concept for a young child to wrap their head around!

Instead of focusing on letter names, we recommend teaching them the sounds associated with each letter of the alphabet. For example, you could explain that B makes the /b/ sound (pronounced just like it sounds when you say the word ball aloud).

Once they firmly establish a link between a handful of letters and their sounds, children can begin to sound out short words. Knowing the sounds for B, T, and A allows a child to sound out both bat and tab.

As the number of links between letters and sounds grows, so will the number of words your child can sound out!

Now, does this mean that if your child already began learning by matching formal alphabet letter names with words, they won’t learn to match sounds and letters or learn how to read? Of course not!

We simply recommend this process as a learning method that can help some kids with the jump from letter sounds to words.

2) Begin With Uppercase Letters

Practicing how to make letters is way easier when they all look unique! This is why we teach uppercase letters to children who aren’t in formal schooling yet.

Even though lowercase letters are the most common format for letters (if you open a book at any page, the majority of the letters will be lowercase), uppercase letters are easier to distinguish from one another and, therefore, easier to identify.

Think about it –– “b” and “d” look an awful lot alike! But “B” and “D” are much easier to distinguish. Starting with uppercase letters, then, will help your child to grasp the basics of letter identification and, subsequently, reading.

To help your child learn uppercase letters, we find that engaging their sense of physical touch can be especially useful. If you want to try this, you might consider buying textured paper, like sandpaper, and cutting out the shapes of uppercase letters.

Ask your child to put their hands behind their back, and then place the letter in their hands. They can use their sense of touch to guess what letter they’re holding! You can play the same game with magnetic letters.

3) Incorporate Phonics

Research has demonstrated that kids with a strong background in phonics (the relationship between sounds and symbols) tend to become stronger readers in the long-run.

A phonetic approach to reading shows a child how to go letter by letter — sound by sound — blending the sounds as you go in order to read words that the child (or adult) has not yet memorized.

Once kids develop a level of automatization, they can sound out words almost instantly and only need to employ decoding with longer words. Phonics is best taught explicitly, sequentially, and systematically — which is the method HOMER uses.

If you’re looking for support helping your child learn phonics, our HOMER Learn & Grow app might be exactly what you need! With a proven reading pathway for your child, HOMER makes learning fun!

4) Balance Phonics And Sight Words

Sight words are also an important part of teaching your child how to read. These are common words that are usually not spelled the way they sound and can’t be decoded (sounded out).

Because we don’t want to undo the work your child has done to learn phonics, sight words should be memorized. But keep in mind that learning sight words can be challenging for many young children.

So, if you want to give your child a good start on their reading journey, it’s best to spend the majority of your time developing and reinforcing the information and skills needed to sound out words.

5) Talk A Lot

Even though talking is usually thought of as a speech-only skill, that’s not true. Your child is like a sponge. They’re absorbing everything, all the time, including the words you say (and the ones you wish they hadn’t heard)!

Talking with your child frequently and engaging their listening and storytelling skills can increase their vocabulary.

It can also help them form sentences, become familiar with new words and how they are used, as well as learn how to use context clues when someone is speaking about something they may not know a lot about.

All of these skills are extremely helpful for your child on their reading journey, and talking gives you both an opportunity to share and create moments you’ll treasure forever!

6) Keep It Light

Reading is about having fun and exploring the world (real and imaginary) through text, pictures, and illustrations. When it comes to reading, it’s better for your child to be relaxed and focused on what they’re learning than squeezing in a stressful session after a long day.

We’re about halfway through the list and want to give a gentle reminder that your child shouldn’t feel any pressure when it comes to reading — and neither should you!

Although consistency is always helpful, we recommend focusing on quality over quantity. Fifteen minutes might sound like a short amount of time, but studies have shown that 15 minutes a day of HOMER’s reading pathway can increase early reading scores by 74%!

It may also take some time to find out exactly what will keep your child interested and engaged in learning. That’s OK! If it’s not fun, lighthearted, and enjoyable for you and your child, then shake it off and try something new.

7) Practice Shared Reading

While you read with your child, consider asking them to repeat words or sentences back to you every now and then while you follow along with your finger.

There’s no need to stop your reading time completely if your child struggles with a particular word. An encouraging reminder of what the word means or how it’s pronounced is plenty!

Another option is to split reading aloud time with your child. For emerging readers, you can read one line and then ask them to read the next. For older children, reading one page and letting them read the next page is beneficial.

Doing this helps your child feel capable and confident, which is important for encouraging them to read well and consistently!

This technique also gets your child more acquainted with the natural flow of reading. While they look at the pictures and listen happily to the story, they’ll begin to focus on the words they are reading and engage more with the book in front of them.

Rereading books can also be helpful. It allows children to develop a deeper understanding of the words in a text, make familiar words into “known” words that are then incorporated into their vocabulary, and form a connection with the story.

We wholeheartedly recommend rereading!

8) Play Word Games

Getting your child involved in reading doesn’t have to be about just books. Word games can be a great way to engage your child’s skills without reading a whole story at once.

One of our favorite reading games only requires a stack of Post-It notes and a bunched-up sock. For this activity, write sight words or words your child can sound out onto separate Post-It notes. Then stick the notes to the wall.

Your child can then stand in front of the Post-Its with the bunched-up sock in their hands. You say one of the words and your child throws the sock-ball at the Post-It note that matches!

9) Read With Unconventional Materials

In the same way that word games can help your child learn how to read, so can encouraging your child to read without actually using books!

If you’re interested in doing this, consider using PlayDoh, clay, paint, or indoor-safe sand to form and shape letters or words.

Another option is to fill a large pot with magnetic letters. For emerging learners, suggest that they pull a letter from the pot and try to name the sound it makes. For slightly older learners, see if they can name a word that begins with the same sound, or grab a collection of letters that come together to form a word.

As your child becomes more proficient, you can scale these activities to make them a little more advanced. And remember to have fun with it!

Reading Comes With Time And Practice

Overall, we want to leave you with this: there is no single answer to how to teach a child to read. What works for your neighbor’s child may not work for yours –– and that’s perfectly OK!

Patience, practicing a little every day, and emphasizing activities that let your child enjoy reading are the things we encourage most. Reading is about fun, exploration, and learning!

And if you ever need a bit of support, we’re here for you! At HOMER, we’re your learning partner. Start your child’s reading journey with confidence with our personalized program plus expert tips and learning resources.

Author

We read from birth - an article from the series "Early development"

Parents, seriously thinking about the development of the crumbs, probably already stocked up on children's books. When, how and what books to start reading with the baby, so that they serve his development?

It is best to start developing an interest in books as early as possible, when the child is still interesting, and then he will be able to make a choice himself, already being a “mature” reader. It is best to introduce a child to books at 2-4 months, when he has not yet begun crawl, roll over and walk. When he starts to crawl and explore the world, it will be difficult for him to concentrate on the book. But in 2-3 months reading and looking at the pictures can really captivate the baby.

Why do we need books? The fact is that when reading books, we develop "eidetic reading", in which the printed word causes an internal video sequence, gradually the child learns to see with his inner eye the pictures drawn by the writer, he develops a connection between the word and internal images, develops fantasy. This does not happen immediately, but gradually, so you need to go “from simple to complex”, first select books with simple rhythmic text, with good illustrations that will give impetus to the "video sequence" without filling it entirely, leaving room for fantasy. Then more and more difficult text, less and less more and more difficult pictures to text.

Stock up on a few books before your baby is born. When he is born, he will have no time to run around bookstores, and the first lessons can be started already in the first months. Yes Yes. Do not wonder. Many people think that it’s definitely “early” before two years. But if you talk from birth, tell poems to the baby, he is more prepared for perception than his peers, develops faster in speech terms.

In addition, you may well tell your favorite adult poems to a newborn baby, read A.S. Pushkin, L.N. Tolstoy if you yourself get by this pleasure. The fact is that at first the child is busy "set" speech material. The main task that he solves is to get acquainted with the language, catch the rhythm, intonation variety, etc. The main thing that is required of you is the expressiveness of reading and poetry with good rhythm, sound writing, and repetitions.

A 2-3-month-old baby is best suited for visual acquaintance with books in A4 format, it is more difficult for such a baby to perceive small pictures. The illustrations should be simple and realistic (the elephant drawn next to the fly cannot be larger than the fly). Images must be large and similar to real objects (after all, it is more difficult for a baby to understand schematic images). One line of text should correspond to one picture.

It would be nice if you start with poems by A. Barto or K. Chukovsky. Before you start reading directly, you need to prepare the child for this, first, recite by heart "Telephone", "Fly-Tsokotuhu", "Clumsy Bear", etc. You will certainly notice which poem the child likes especially, he will be more attentive and lively when you tell it. Nursery rhymes are great, for example:

Cockerel, cockerel,
Golden comb,

Butter head,
Silk beard.
What do you get up early,
Sing loudly,
Do you let the kids sleep?

Oh you kitty,
You are my gray,
How not to love you,
The tail is white!
You grinded wheat,
I divorced her with milk,
Cooked porridge for Vanya,
I fed Vanya with porridge,
After put to sleep.

Because of the forest, because of the mountains
Grandpa Egor is coming.
Himself on a horse,
Wife on a cow,
Children on calves,
Grandchildren on goats.

Children always like them and are now published in large numbers. Having “learned” the poem, telling it to the child expressively, looking into the eyes, several times, you can also connect a video sequence - go to his reading of this work in a book. You've already prepared. Lay the child half-sitting on your lap (tactile contact is very important), hold the book in front of his face at a distance of 30 cm. Tell-read a familiar poem, while showing in the book: “here is a bear, here is a fly, etc.” The first "sessions" should be short - 2-3 minutes, because it is still difficult for the baby to concentrate.

There are children who like poetry less than prose. Don't be afraid to offer different stories. For an early age, "Rock-Rock Hen" is suitable, "Turnip", "Teremok", "Kolobok", when these are left behind, you can read "Masha and the Bear", "Three Bears", "Seven Kids".

You can introduce your child to other formats of books. When the baby learns to hold his head well, lying on his stomach, for example, it's time to give him a "try" a couple of books (now they sell a lot of colorful, hard-paged books). Let him reach out to them with his hands, grab, try on the tooth, examine.
Be sure to combine reading or telling a poem or fairy tale with touch. Show imagination, for example, with the words "rolling kolobok ... "roll something along the back of the child, or pull the baby up, when" pull-pull the turnip ... ", tap something lightly on the palm when you say the words "Grandfather beat-beat, did not break ...", etc.

Over time, reading will become a kind of ritual: the baby drags a book and sits on your lap (my daughter, by the way, learned to do this even before How did you learn to walk and talk?

Teaching a child not to tear books is not that difficult (just be sure to allow him to tear something else: magazines, paper, etc.), allocate a place (shelf) where his books will lie, “bring a little book, we will read” - it will become your password, so respect for the book will be absorbed with mother’s milk in the literal sense.

Never refuse a child to read if he brought a book “not for his age”, tell briefly, in a few words, what the book is about. In general, it is not necessary to read the entire text at once, if it is not a poem (in extreme cases, you can select an excerpt from a poem), it is important for you to learn how to according to age, simplify the plot, discard "unnecessary" details. For a one-year-old baby, let it be 3-4 sentences “with a show”: “here is a woman, here kolobok, and who is this, a bunny? Over time, “build up momentum”, let him show as you read, and you use epithets, use details. Choose poems with repetitions, for example:

A gorilla came out to them,
The gorilla told them,
The gorilla told them,
Sentence:
"Won shark Kurakula
Opened her evil mouth.
You to the shark Karakula
Would you like to hit
Right in the mouth?

After one and a half, the child will be able to insert simple missing words into his favorite poems. You will be surprised to find that he knows by heart what you read to him all the time. The most wonderful poems for babies, which over time you can read with a "show", developing imitative abilities crumbs:

A bull is walking, swinging,
Sighs on the move,
Oh, the board is ending,
Now I will fall.

The clumsy bear is walking through the forest,
Collects cones, sings songs,
The bump flew off, Mishka right in the forehead.
The bear got angry with his foot: top.

I love my horse,
I will comb her hair smoothly,
I will smooth the ponytail with a comb,
And I'll go on horseback to visit.

It's time to sleep, the bull fell asleep,
Laid down in a box on a barrel,
Sleepy bear went to bed,
Only the elephant does not want to sleep,
An elephant nods its head,
He sends a bow to the elephant.

Poems by A. Barto, very well suited for moving, showing, touching (stroke the horse, sigh and sway for the bull, stomp for the bear, nod for the elephant, etc. ).

If you missed the time, the baby has grown up, but has not made friends with books, you will have to be patient, it is better not to force things, give the baby freedom, if he started flipping through some book, draw his attention to some picture, naming and showing what is depicted "Here is a bear." Then fix your attention on the details: “he has a barrel of honey”, then retell the text of the book, pointing to the characters and objects, then read the captions under the pictures. And only then read in full, these exercises can stretch for several days. It is better not to force a child to listen to books against his will.

Pay close attention to the child's fatigue, finish a little earlier than he gets tired (let him always be a little hungry). As soon as you notice signs of fatigue, switch your baby's attention to another activity. And let reading always be a holiday, when both of you are in a good mood, you can pay attention to it, have plenty of fun, it’s better not to read hastily if you are in a hurry somewhere. It really matters how you read. Often adults read too fast or too slowly, and perhaps for a long time, the child cannot sit: choose the right rhythm.

The success of a children's book depends largely on the mood of the reader. Rejoice and rejoice with the characters, help to feel the rhythm that is inherent in the poem, tap it with your palm or foot, try to get closer to the level of perception of the child, depict what you can depict: what a round bun, what a toothy wolf, etc. With in time you will be rewarded with a child's love of reading, but in the meantime you can feel like a child again.

Read aloud as much as possible to a growing child (even when the child can already read by himself). If you systematically read aloud to a child, he develops logical thinking: he learns the structure of the work, the laws of plot development, the ability to listen develops, the child learns new words, learns something new. Even if he asks you to read the same books all the time, this does not mean that they do not give anything new, well-known heroes travel with him in his fantasy world, imaginative thinking develops. Specialists conducted a study, as a result of which they found out that a child who is read aloud every day asks 10-15 thousand questions a year from books. And the more you know, the more you want to know.

For my children, reading is a ritual: we usually read before going to bed, and physical contact is very important and, in general, the warmth and attention of parents.

But sometimes a child refuses to listen to a book. What does this mean:
1. The child is tired or sick, wants to do something else now, you are distracting him from an interesting game, etc. Try to choose a different time.

2. He wants to eat or sleep.

3. Need a book with different illustrations, another author, easier to understand, another genre or on another topic (for example, your kid likes books about animals, and even of an encyclopedic nature, and you are trying to slip him a book about Little Red Riding Hood) . Be interested in the tastes of the child. Let him choose a book in the store. Yes, yes, such a baby (out of two or three that you offer him).

4. Perhaps he has not yet grown up to "prose" or full reading (try books in verse or partial retelling again).

5. You read badly (as for an adult, boring, monotonous, fast, etc.).

6. Your child is fidgety (you need to start small, gradually increasing the time).

7. You are unable to establish close contact with your child while reading (you are constantly distracted by telephone calls, household chores, conversations with other family members). Do not destroy the emerging feeling of intimacy, then the child is unlikely to refuse to read together, look at books.

8. Your child just needs a new book, the “old” ones are boring.

Starting, you need to remember that, unlike sitting in front of the TV, when imagination is not required: the video sequence (and how colorful it is) already accompanies the sound sequence, books are not a passive activity, but rather laborious, it requires a lot of effort, so it is important not to overdo it, do not put pressure on the child, start little by little, without waiting until the baby is overworked and bored.

Kulakova Natalya Igorevna, Candidate of Philology, winner of the St. Petersburg grant competition for young scientists and specialists, psychologist, Montessori teacher, mother of two children.

How to read to your baby

Reading is necessary for a baby almost from birth. When the baby begins to hold his head, you can put him on his tummy and show a book with large pictures, accompanied by reading rhymes or singing nursery rhymes. At the age of 2-3 months, the baby can already perceive colors: black and white. Children perceive the rhythm, intonation, melody of their mother's voice.

When the baby is 6-8 months old, he begins to actively move, crawl, during this period it becomes quite difficult or almost impossible to read books to him. Most likely, all your attempts to read a book with colorful pictures to your baby will end in failure. But this does not mean that the baby is not interested in it - on the contrary, even very much! That is why, every time he sees an open book, he tries to contrive and tear out the picture in order to taste it, to crumple the page. At this age, the child learns the world "through the mouth" - but how could it be without it! Try to get books with thick laminated pages. They are comfortable to hold and can be given into the hands of the baby without fear that the book will be “eaten”, torn, dented and completely damaged. And most importantly, he learns to turn the pages of the book on his own, and at the same time develops fine motor skills.0003

Homemade photo album will delight the little ones even more. Print close-up copies of the photos of the people dearest to the child and insert them into a sturdy album. There can be photos not only of people, but also of beloved pets, cars, strollers, cribs - in a word, all those items that are familiar to the baby.

In general, a child up to 1-2 years old perceives a book as a toy, and therefore the most important thing in it is colorfulness, brightness of illustrations, their large size. As for the text under the picture, a couple of lines per page will be enough if it is a fairy tale, and quatrains if it is poetry.

Reading must be mandatory at 2 years of age. It is at this age (according to many scientists) that a child develops a culture of reading. At this age, kids still need picture books and short texts. These can be poems by A. Barto, K. Chukovsky, S. Marshak, B. Zakhoder, D. Kharms, short stories by V. Suteev “Tales in Pictures”, fairy tales “Turnip”, “Kolobok”, “Teremok”, “Fox with a rock." The finger theater will bring great joy to the baby, then it will be possible to read the text and at the same time show the characters of the fairy tale.
Many young parents are now addicted to video and audio fairy tales. Of course, they are important to everyone, including adults: reproduced in artistic images by masters of the word, cinema and theater, these fairy tales strongly affect the imagination of children and teach them a lot. But still, the child is only a spectator. But mom reads a fairy tale aloud or dad tells something, and then laughter, then a question, then a remark is heard. Particularly liked places can be re-read many times, the baby himself will ask you about it. The warmth of these minutes stay with a person for life. And even if the fairy tale, the story is quite simple, it is important that they are told by a loved one, in a native voice. This is a live communication with the child, which cannot be replaced by any technical.

Tips to keep in mind when reading to children.

1. Before you start reading a book to your child, be sure to turn off the TV, tape recorder and other sources of visual and auditory irritation.

2. Don't make your child wait long, put aside your business and talk to your little listener.

3. The child should be seated so that he can see your face well and follow your facial expressions and articulation.

4. It is important to choose the “right” time for reading when the child is calm and in a good mood. You can use the time before bedtime (day or night). Do not think that reading in bed spoils the baby. These minutes will bring the crumbs no less benefit than the dream itself.

5. Read to your child several times and then ask him questions about what you have read. All this not only develops speech, but also forms imaginative thinking, develops memory and attention. If the kid asks to read the same fairy tale, rhyme repeatedly, then do it with pleasure. Repeating a familiar piece gives the baby a sense of stability.

6. Answer only the questions that the child himself asks during the reading.

7. Be sure to read with expression, changing intonation depending on the character.

8. If a child does not like listening to reading or quickly loses interest in a book, then simplify the text, make expressive pauses, stop at the most interesting moment. You can read in small passages, as far as the attention of the baby is enough.

9. Be sure to show pictures.

10. If your baby is wary of everything new, tell him in advance that you are planning to read a new book with him, let him look at the pictures for himself.

11. Don't forget to praise the little listener.

12. When buying books for a baby, you should pay attention to the quality: no smelly paint and flaking pages, a strong spine and no unfolding volumetric parts that are easy to tear off and put in your mouth.

13. Child psychologists recommend checking the contents of a book before you start reading it to your baby. Read a few pages for yourself. Match the content of the book with the age capabilities of your child.

14. It is desirable to have books “for the kitchen”. While you are preparing dinner, the child can look at the illustrations. Reading can be used during feeding (especially if the baby is not eating well). It is also good to have “books for the bath”, “for transport”, “for the clinic”.

It is very important to introduce the child to the book as early as possible, it is necessary to read every day. The desire and persistent interest in reading is formed in the child's family, it will take time and effort.