Learning to read - exercises

Learning to read is not the easiest thing to do. Using the right exercises, however, greatly improves the learning process to read and can

Learning to read - exercises
Learning to read - exercises

Learning to read is not the easiest thing to do. Using the right exercises, however, greatly improves the learning process to read and can make it fun. Take advantage of our teaching aids!

Table of Contents:

  1. Learning to read for children
  2. The beginning of learning to read
  3. Reading problems
  4. Exercises for learning to read - holistic reading
  5. Exercises for learning to read - reading comprehension

Learning to read is a complicated process, but by following a few guidelines, it can be made much easier. It is extremely important to prepare the child well for the effort of first reading a very short text.

Inappropriate approach, nervousness, screams may cause the toddler to close in on himself, withdraw, and largely affect the further fate of learning to read and the child's attitude towards this activity.

If the first reading takes place in a calm atmosphere and the child's effort is noticed, it will surely motivate him to continue. That's why it's so important to always praise your little one and not discourage them.

Learning to read for children

Very often it happens that a four-year-old child can distinguish some individual letters, can match a specific letter to a pattern instilled by parents and teachers from kindergarten, but he cannot adapt his skills to a word synthesis, i.e. putting individual letters together so that a meaningful word was made.

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For example, you can illustrate, eg a child knows that "k" for a cow, "o" for a wasp and "t" for dad, but cannot put the letters into words, it will not make the word "cat". Perhaps he is not adequately educated, or it is possible to find some disorders in the auditory analysis and synthesis process at this stage, and hence the suspicion of a risk of dyslexia, which may or may not occur in a few years.

Good to know

Another example and a warning for parents: do not teach children by pronouncing individual letters, e.g. you, we, ky, only shortly d, t, m, k, so that the child does not vote incorrectly while learning, reading instead of e.g. home, o-we, because the effect will be the same again, the little one will have no idea what he has read and the frustration grows.

The beginning of learning to read

It's best to start your adventure with reading early - a three-year-old child already has a need to learn about the surrounding reality, as well as letters and numbers. Much depends on the interests of the child and how we adults manage it.

A greater likelihood that a child will be eager to read letters, who is taken care of by his parents and who sees that not only his parents read books to him, but also willingly spend his free time themselves. He has been dealing with books since childhood, they are spoken of and respected at home.

It is also faster for a child who already has older siblings to read, because he unconsciously gets used to the letters, looking over his brother's or sister's shoulder and imitating what he is doing. Learning through play is the best solution.

Forcing them to learn to read makes no sense. Practicing the same words and sentences for the tenth time in a row is absurd. Even an adult would be bored practicing something over and over again. So how to do it so as not to tire the child with it?

The adventure with learning to read should begin with simple one-syllable words, then two-syllables. The letters should be introduced gradually and only the words and sentences to be read should be built from the already entered letters. Initially, texts must be short, multi-sentence and easy. The more letters there are, the more words you can build from them, so over time the texts to read become more difficult and longer.

When you start learning to read, keep a few points in mind:

  • Don't make your child learn to read. If you see a child in a bad mood, tired or nervous about sitting with a booklet, just let it go. Try again when your child is in a better mood.
  • A good mood is important not only for the child, but also for the parent. If you are having a bad day and you know that you are only a step away from exploding and pouring out your frustrations on the household members, don't sit down with your child to learn to read.
  • Never get mad at your baby. Don't shout, don't raise your voice, don't get irritated. You won't get the effect this way.

Make learning to read fun together.

If at some stage you can see that the child is not coping, he signals that he has a problem with a given letter, then the adult must calmly explain everything to him. So when learning to read, it is very important that an adult has contact with a child who will help and praise when needed.

Reading in the presence and proximity of an adult allows you to talk to him on an ongoing basis about what is being read, ask questions, raise doubts. Every child has a natural need to boast about their skills, achievements, and wants to be sure that they will get approval for their actions in the eyes of their parents.

Reading problems

Reading is easy for some children, and a torment for others. This is due in part to the individual developmental differences of children. Statistically, children learn to read with their first success at the age of 6.

Then the child reads single words on his own, and even simple and short texts, begins to be interested in the written language, whether in newspaper advertisements or on street billboards. After a shorter or slightly longer time (up to one year of systematic learning to read), the child reads independently.

In exceptional situations, it may happen that the effects are negligible and the child's self-esteem continues to decline. Then you cannot wait, you should act immediately, because perhaps your toddler needs professional help from specialists.

Difficulties in reading may arise due to impairment of auditory and visual functions, cognitive processes and many other reasons, e.g. during pregnancy and the perinatal period. The signals coming from the kindergarten attended by the child, and especially from the kindergarten ladies, must not be ignored.

The provision of help by a psychologist, speech therapist or other specialists can prevent school failures in the later stages of education. And the neglected problems of a child with learning at such a young age may extend into further years of school education, causing reluctance and trauma to study and to school as such.

It happens that after the holiday season, when there is a break from learning to read, it suddenly turns out that the child's reading is much worse than in June. This is, of course, due to a too long break. Unfortunately, any science needs systematic work, no matter if it's vacation or not. Of course, you can't stimulate a child. You also need to take care of his rest, especially when the sun is shining and the weather is nice.

Exercises for learning to read - holistic reading

Global reading, word reading is the most common reading technique. Children who already distinguish the letters of the alphabet can start learning to read words, that is, combine letters into a word. This is the first step in learning to read.

Understanding

Children who know the basic letters of the alphabet and can read simple words can begin to learn to read short texts. Excluding difficult letters and their transformations results in the appearance of graphic and phonetic compatibility, and thus learning to read at the basic level becomes more absorbable.

Once your child has mastered reading fluently, let them enjoy reading for themselves. At the end of the first grade, the child should read short texts in full words, pronouncing them correctly. In the second grade, and at the latest in the third grade, he should read fluently, with understanding, good intonation, including punctuation marks.

When parents spend their free time reading to their child, the child grows up in a reading culture, lives surrounded by books, magazines and newspapers. This is of great importance for the development of reading skills in the future. It is worth enrolling your child in the public library and borrowing books from an early age.