Today it has become the norm that a child entering school requires much more knowledge and skills than was the case two or three decades ago. One of the important requirements for the volume of knowledge is learning letters. Nowadays, children are taught letters and sounds in preschool and various school preparation groups. However, knowledge will become more complete if preschool children constantly replenish and consolidate it in home education. Parents will be able to effectively teach their child if they use techniques for introducing children to letters, sounds, words and follow certain recommendations. What should adults know to teach a child letters?
Preschool age is the best period for learning letters
Many parents with small children have a question: when is the best time to start learning the alphabet? There are several opinions on learning letters by preschoolers:
- According to many modern parents, it is necessary to teach a child to read as soon as he speaks. They begin to master original techniques and purchase special manuals. However, there is not always enough patience and knowledge to complete the training that has begun. Therefore, the task of parents is to organize home schooling in such a way that both adults and children can do it.
- According to psychologists, there is no need to rush to teach your child the alphabet. If a child is not ready to perceive educational material, he may develop a persistent reluctance to learn letters and subsequently read. After all, this is a rather difficult task, requiring mental tension, attention, and speech. Experts believe that the optimal age for learning letters is 4–5 years, when the child is psychologically ready to learn. At this age, interest in everything new and a desire to be like an adult are more evident. Adults should take advantage of this interest and desire to learn new things.
- According to teachers (authors of early learning to read N. Zaitsev, G. Doman, V. Voskobovich), you can teach your child the alphabet much earlier than preschool age, for example, at one to two years old, if the baby shows such a desire.
The main thing that parents need to remember is that teaching should be free of coercion. Important: parents need to understand why we teach letters with a small child. If a preschooler under 4-5 years old really wants to learn the alphabet, then his desire should be encouraged. And if this is a tribute to fashion and the parents’ desire to keep up with others, then there is no need to rush. It is better to focus on general intellectual preparation and development of the speech apparatus by reading books, composing creative stories, inventing fairy tales, memorizing poems and sayings. Then preparation for school in senior preschool age will take place without stress. The preschooler himself will strive to keep up with his peers, acquire new knowledge, and actively behave in home classes to learn the alphabet.
The requirements imposed by elementary schools on the level of knowledge and skills of future first-graders are becoming higher every year. When going to first grade, a child should often not only know letters, but also be able to form words from them. In this regard, many modern parents have natural questions: “At what age and what is the best way to start teaching your child the alphabet?”
At what age should a child start teaching letters?
There are different opinions on this matter, but the general rule is this: the earlier you start, the easier it will be for your child to master this science. The main thing is that parents act wisely in their desire to stimulate the early development of the baby. The load must be adequate to the age or go with a slight advance, affecting the zone of proximal development. To help parents, a huge amount of didactic material has been created, aimed at each of the children's ages.
Experienced psychologists and teachers have developed many techniques, the use of which will allow a child to learn letters and start reading without much difficulty.
Early learning of the alphabet, and then reading, is not just a fad. The process of learning letters and combining them into words is interconnected with the general cognitive development of a person. Speech, thinking, concentration and stability of attention, motor functions - all these elements of the child’s psyche develop based on previous experience in close interaction with each other. Thus, when children study the alphabet, a comprehensive formation of mental functions necessary for life occurs.
From birth to 2 years.
Some developmental methods are designed to start classes with a child from birth. A newborn child is not just an organism with a set of unconditioned reflexes. When a little person is born, he already has a psyche and feels the need for new experiences that stimulate the development of brain structures. During this period, the child is as open as possible to receiving information, and this feature was precisely used by the authors of methods aimed at early learning to read. Of particular importance here is close communication between the child and mother - interaction during developmental games, tactile and auditory contacts. Only thanks to this symbiosis does the early development of the baby become possible.
The method of teaching children to read whole words, bypassing the phase of syllable-by-syllable reading, deserves attention. Regular classes on this author's development will contribute to the formation of automatic reading skills. It's hard to believe, but your child can learn to read before he speaks! The principles of natural development are used here: after all, no one explains to children the rules of the Russian language, when they begin to learn spoken language - the child’s brain develops and, based on its experience, independently forms the necessary semantic and logical connections. The same can happen with reading if an adult systematically and regularly works with a child as part of a didactic course. The main thing is not to miss the moment and follow the recommendations of the authors.
2 – 3 years.
At this age, perception, speech-motor functions, emotions, thinking and memory continue to actively develop. It is very easy to interest a child in something, but attention is still mobile and unstable. Learning the alphabet during this period can begin with all kinds of cards and cubes with letters. A prerequisite is to provide information to children in a playful way. Play is the leading activity of children from birth until they begin their education in first grade. It is through play that a child receives information about the world around him; it is through play that his development occurs. In early childhood, abstract symbols such as letters alone will not arouse the child's interest. For this to happen, he needs to be attracted to the game - bright, colorful, with visual elements and large details. For children of this age, it is important not only to see everything, but also to try it by touch and turn it in their hands. These age features must be taken into account if you decide to start teaching letters with your baby. Images of letters can be included in the game implicitly, and the sound of each symbol can be named and pronounced.
4-5 years.
The concentration of attention at this age stage is already higher than before, and many children can already listen intently to an adult for seven to ten minutes. During this short period of time, you can give the child information and see that in many cases he perceives and understands what you want to convey. This can only be achieved by maintaining interest. The main task of parents is to make sure that the process of introducing the baby to letters is colored with positive emotions for him. This is one of the conditions for the formation of correct motivation for learning. At the age of 4–5 years, the child begins to need role-playing games. He willingly tries on various images and experiments with social roles. This is the most important stage in a child’s development and knowledge of the world around him. And this feature of age can also be used when teaching the alphabet. For example, play school with your children - this will arouse keen interest and contribute to rapid development.
6-7 years.
Senior preschool age is a period when the child, in most cases, according to physiological and mental indicators, is already ready for learning, however, one must not forget that he is not yet a first grader, but is only preparing for this new stage in his life. If your child has no interest in the learning process, and you just can’t get your child to sit down with a copybook or primer, then you just need to change your approach.
There are many educational games for learning the alphabet, in which your child will receive information not in a boring and tedious way, memorizing incomprehensible icons, but with interest and immersion in the process itself. This is how you will develop your child’s readiness for school.
Recommendations for getting to know the alphabet
To make learning about letters an interesting and accessible activity for preschool children and encourage them to further learn to read, parents need to get acquainted with the recommendations of specialists. This will make it possible to easily organize home classes. So, what are the principles by which we teach letters with children:
- Play, the leading activity in preschool age, should become the main method of teaching children, so the principle of homework is to learn letters by playing.
- Getting to know the alphabet is quite a difficult task for preschool children, so the work is carried out gradually, from simple to complex. There is no need to require your child to mechanically memorize the entire alphabet at once. At each lesson, you need to meaningfully practice one letter, consolidate previous material and master new ones.
- Before starting training, an adult must learn to correctly name letters: clearly and stressed consonants (b, but not “be”, m, r, s, but not “em, er, es”). The child must be taught to pronounce vowels in a drawn-out manner, for example, a - a-a.
- It is more useful to study sounds and letters at the same time to develop further syllable reading skills. This technique will help maintain interest in rather monotonous tasks. You can begin to compose syllables when the necessary supply of letters appears (ba, ma, pa, yes). It is also necessary to show that the letter being studied is necessarily included in some words, for example, a - watermelon, o - autumn, y - snail, etc.
- Experts recommend introducing letters and sounds in the order in which they are formed in ontogenesis (individual development of the body). First of all, these are the vowel sounds a, o, u, s, e and consonants. The vowels i, e, ё, yu consist of two sounds, so they are learned at an older age.
- Consolidating knowledge about letters should be accompanied by activities that are interesting for the child: drawing, modeling, appliqué, design. For this purpose, experts have developed many games and exercises that can be used in preparation for homework.
Games and exercises for home activities
How to teach your child letters at home? In addition to special aids, such as a primer, the alphabet, in psychological and pedagogical practice you can find many interesting tasks for consolidating knowledge about letters and sounds. Such collections will help parents organize home schooling competently and, most importantly, in an interesting way. There is no need to take on complex gaming tasks; the simplest games can become a fun learning tool for kids.
We are building an unusual house
A simple game exercise with cubes will help reinforce the names of the letters. An adult can purchase ready-made cubes with images of letters; together with your child, you can prepare homemade ones, for example, by painting ordinary wooden cubes. With their help we learn letters, for example:
- Let's build a ladder of letters that can sing (vowel sounds a, o, u, s, e);
- Let's build a house for the doll from cubes with different letters and teach them to call them d, o, m;
- Let's show the correct cube - the answer, for example, to riddles with the letter b:
I walk around in a fluffy fur coat, I live in a dense forest. In a hollow on an old oak tree I gnaw nuts (squirrel)
There are workers in the river, neither joiners nor carpenters, but they will build a dam - at least paint a picture (beavers)
- Let's find a cube where a stork is drawn (ask what the first letter is).
Parents' creativity can help make playing with blocks fun. Cubes with a certain letter can be placed everywhere: in the room, kitchen, hallway; on the closet, TV, table, windowsill, so that they constantly accompany the baby.
Where is the letter hidden?
An adult places one copy of the letters in different places in the room, and hangs the other in a visible place for comparison. Among them is a letter that the child needs to find. The game is played according to the “hot - cold” type. The player follows the adult’s instructions, for example: go straight, then turn left, take two steps, turn left again. The leader directs the movement using the words “cold, warmer, cold again, warm, hot.” On the way, the baby finds other letters and compares them with the one he is looking for. In addition to consolidating letters, spatial skills are developed.
Who can collect the letters faster?
It is advisable for several participants to play, so it is good if the whole family takes part in the game. Pictures with different images of the same letter are laid out on the court, and the players, at the leader’s signal, begin to collect them. It’s good to use funny rhymes, you can write your own, to create a positive mood, for example: “An arrow leads us to the letter b. Here is a birch tree, and here is a squirrel.” The one who collects the most images faster wins. There must be a student among the winners.
Bag with letters
We study letters with the children using the classic version of the “wonderful bag”. An adult prepares a beautiful bag, puts small objects in it, the name of which begins with the letter being studied, for example, “r”: pen, fish, strap, comb, daisy, robot. The child takes out the object and clearly pronounces the word. In the future, the game becomes more complicated because the letter being studied moves to the middle and end of the word.
What does the letter look like?
The game is played according to the type of associations (images that arise in the mind in response to a letter). Such tasks help children easily remember letters, without repeating them many times. Associations can be something like this: come up with an object that the letter looks like ( A is like the roof of a house, O is a steering wheel, a wheel, U is a twig fell from a tree, F is a bug, P is a collar). In this exercise it will be interesting to use rhymes that can be found in any textbook for preschoolers, for example:
B is like a trumpet that buzzes: “Boo-boo, boo-boo”!
Looks like B , no doubt, like pretzels, a bicycle.
the letter D , it’s sailing towards us like a boat.
The letter Z is just like a beetle, perched on a branch.
Educational online games
In addition to classical games and exercises, online games are actively used as one of the techniques in modern pedagogy. They can be successfully introduced into home activities. The main thing is to remember that the time spent at the computer should be limited for preschoolers to 10 to 15 minutes. Games must also correspond to the age of the children, level of knowledge and methodological requirements, for example, for children online - the game teaches them to correctly name letters, for older preschoolers - to remember the order of letters, form syllables, and look for missing letters in words. We learn letters with children using, for example, such games:
Talking alphabet for children
The talking alphabet works wonders! Press any letter and immediately get the word! In the game, the preschooler fixes the correct name of the letter and sees a picture that depicts an object for this letter. It is useful to practice this task for those children who are just beginning to recognize letters. You can make the game more difficult for older preschoolers by asking them to remember their order in the alphabet.
Connect the dots
Games like connecting dots with one line are intended for older preschoolers; they help remember the order of letters and distinguish between vowels and consonants. For example, one of these online games is “Little Foxes,” in which, using the correct combination of letters, a funny picture is created. The player, by pressing the keyboard buttons and connecting the dots, remembers the letters. If the task is completed correctly, the winter forest will be covered with snow. A more complex option: the preschooler is explained that vowel letters (singing) are colored red, consonants are colored blue (hard), and green (soft). The child must pronounce them with correct articulation.
Lesson summary and presentation on the Russian language for primary grades on the topic “Alphabet”
Lesson objectives:
form ideas about the alphabet as a group of letters arranged in a prescribed order;
improve the ability to remember the name and sequence of letters of the Russian alphabet ;
develop the ability to use the alphabet;
develop phonemic hearing and speech;
cultivate dedication and hard work.
Planned results:
Personal.
formation of a conscious, respectful and friendly attitude towards another person;
formation of motivation for learning and purposeful cognitive activity.
Metasubject
Regulatory UUD:
organize your workplace under the guidance of a teacher;
develop the ability to evaluate educational actions in accordance with the assigned task.
Cognitive UUD:
general educational - conscious and arbitrary construction of speech utterances orally when formulating answers to questions; logical - constructing reasoning on the identified problem; formulation and solution of problems - independent search and creation of ways to solve problems of a creative nature.
Communication UUD:
develop the ability to construct a speech utterance in accordance with the assigned tasks;
develop the ability to work in pairs and groups;
develop the ability to listen and understand others.
Subject.
- remember the name and sequence of letters of the Russian alphabet;
- learn to arrange words in alphabetical order;
- answer the teacher’s questions about the content of what was read;
During the classes.
I. Motivation (self-determination) for educational activities.
Check it out, buddy.
Are you ready to start the lesson?
Is everything in place, is everything alright
A book, pen and notebook?
Have you checked? Sit down!
Work hard!
- Let's smile at each other. May today's lesson bring us all the joy of communication. Today in class, guys, you will find many interesting tasks, new discoveries, and your helpers will be: attention, resourcefulness, and ingenuity. (1 min)
II. The stage of motivation for cognitive activity, updating knowledge.
T: Here is the first task: read the words, what words they are, put the emphasis, insert the missing letters (show the letters on the fan)
Russian, language, pencil case, fox, crow. (On the desk)
Put the words in a certain order and write them down.
Read what happened.
Explain why they arranged it this way. Why did it turn out differently for everyone?
There was no specific question asked.
How are these words written in the spelling dictionary? Look in the textbook on p. 137. Is there a certain order? What is this order called? Let's put them in alphabetical order. (5 minutes)
- What is the topic of the lesson? Presentation (1 slide)
— What questions about the alphabet would you like answers to?
Presentation (2 slide)
Find out what the alphabet is.
Find out what it is needed for.
Learn to arrange words in alphabetical order.
These are the goals of our lesson
— In literacy lessons we already talked about the alphabet. Let's remember and tell you what we already know about him.
— How many letters are there in the Russian alphabet? (33)
- What are letters? (these are signs that indicate speech sounds in writing)
— How many vowels? (10) How many consonants are there? (21) How many letters do not represent sounds? (2)
— Each letter has its own place and its own name.
- Let's name all the letters of the alphabet in unison. (3 min)
— What is the alphabet ? The textbook will help you answer this question. Open with. 52 on the bookmark, information about the language, find the rule, read it to yourself.
So what is the alphabet? Let's repeat in unison. (Arrangement of letters in a certain order.) inscription on the board (2 min)
III. Primary assimilation of new knowledge.
1. Problem situation
On the board there is a note “Alphabet = ABC”
— Try to explain the meaning of equality. To clarify the answer, you can refer to the textbook (p. 53)
— In your opinion, the alphabet and the alphabet are the same thing? Presentation (2 slide) (3 min)
2. Determining the meaning of the alphabet
—What is the alphabet for? Where is it used?
Presentation (3 – 9 slide)
Books in the library and student forms are arranged in alphabetical order. The list of students is in the class register; in the hospital, patient cards are stored in alphabetical order. That's how important the alphabet is! (5 minutes)
All material is in the archive.
How to teach your child the alphabet using creativity
Parents will be interested to know that in addition to the classic methods of learning about letters, there are other exciting methods that will interest both adults and children. They are based on creative activities, which always attract preschool children: appliqué, drawing, modeling, design.
Application
An adult and a child cut out letters from thick paper of a fairly large size. Then comes the preparation of decorations, this can be cereals, fabric, colored paper, beads. Decorations are applied to stencils using glue. The result is bright, beautiful letters that can be assembled into a garland and placed in different places (children's corner, wall, on the Christmas tree).
Drawing
Drawing letters is an original technique for memorizing them. You can draw on paper with felt-tip pens, on a board and asphalt with crayons, or with a stick on the sand. For the same purpose, you can use all kinds of coloring books, old magazines, in which you can search with your preschooler and trace familiar letters with a felt-tip pen.
Modeling
Letters will be remembered faster if you hold them in your hands and manipulate them, that is, sculpt them. At the same time, it is a good tool for the development of fine motor skills directly related to speech. Plasticine, clay, and salt dough are suitable for this purpose. Just like in applique, finished letters can be decorated with polka dots, beads, or simply painted with gouache paints.
Construction
Building letters is a fun activity for kids! It helps not only to consolidate the alphabet, but also develops hand motor skills, thinking, attention, and the desire for associations (seeing letters in surrounding objects). You can build or design letters not only from a special construction set (metal, wood, plastic), but also from any available material material. For example, from sticks, matchboxes, little hardcover books. Everything your imagination is rich in can become material for constructing letters.
Dear parents! In modern pedagogy there are many original methods with which you can quickly learn letters and move on to reading. Every parent can teach their child letters. However, every parent must remember that learning should bring joy to the child, a living desire to learn new things, and not be a tedious, monotonous task. Your meaningful decision, patience, and love for your child will help you achieve good results. Good luck with raising your children!
