The requirements for the educational preparation of children in recent years have become significantly tougher than before. Now in kindergarten they begin to study foreign languages, music, logic, get acquainted with the world around them, starting from the age of four. Arriving in the first grade of high school, the child already has a significant stock of knowledge. How such a load on the brain of children affects is too early to say. Certain conclusions can be drawn only after two or three decades, when several generations of studies will take place under this program. Nevertheless, literacy in the preparatory group is one of the most important elements of preparation for school, and much attention is paid to it. Teachers believe that, in addition to knowledge, the child needs to instill learning activity skills, only then he will be able to perceive new material and use it effectively.
Literacy in the preparatory group: basic aspects
Very often, educators and parents ask one common question: "Do I need to deal with a child who has not reached the age of 6 years?" Some people think that before literacy begins in the preparatory group, no efforts are needed to develop children in terms of reading.
This opinion is fundamentally wrong, since the main function of the kindergarten is to prepare the child for school. And here it is very important to begin the educational process in the older group, that is, in the second half of preschool childhood.
Well-known teachers, such as L. Vygotsky, believe that at the age of up to 5 years, the educational program should not be sharply differentiated yet, however, starting from five years old, all the features of the development of children's thinking and the psyche should be taken into account, using a clear separation of instruction in categories. Only this method will achieve the highest results.
Studies conducted by employees of research institutes in the field of education have shown that during training it is extremely important to give children knowledge not only in one particular area, but to provide them with a whole system of concepts and relationships. In order for preschoolers to be able to perceive everything new and assimilate material, it is necessary to use a variety of educational methods.
Literacy in the preparatory group of the kindergarten is one of the most basic areas in the process of preparing for the first grade. It is necessary for children to learn to understand the sound meanings of spoken and read words.
An indispensable condition for the literacy of a child, adolescent and adult is the ability to compare different units of phonetic reality. In addition, preschoolers should develop specific skills in speech activity.
By and large, speech therapists are advised to start learning sounds and letters in the older group. The fact is that at the age of 4 to 5 years, the so-called linguistic flair is very sharply developed in children. During this period, they absorb all the new lexical and phonetic information, like a sponge. But after a year, this flair is gradually decreasing. Therefore, it is best to start literacy early. In the preparatory group, the sound and the letter "M", for example, are studied over several classes, but children of five years learn this knowledge in just one or two lessons.
The Most Popular Literacy Method
One of the sources of teaching activity was the book of K. Ushinsky's "Native Word", published back in the 19th century. It outlined the basic methods of teaching children to read and write. Since reading was considered as one of the most important elements of education, the issues of its teaching have always been very relevant.
It is strongly recommended that you read this book before starting the Literacy class. The preparatory group is the most difficult period of preparing children for the school curriculum, so here you need to be extremely attentive to the individual mental and psychological characteristics of each child. Techniques developed by linguists and educators will help in this.
Ushinsky created a sound analytical-synthetic method of teaching literacy, which is based on the consideration of letters not as separate elements, but as an integral part of words and sentences. This method allows you to prepare your child for reading books. In addition, it makes it possible to arouse children's interest in literacy, and not just force them to learn and remember letters mechanically. It is very important. Ushinsky proposes to divide the entire teaching process into three components:
1. Visual study.
2. Written preparatory exercises.
3. Sound activities that facilitate reading.
This technique has not lost its relevance at the present time. It is based on it that literacy education is built. The preparatory group, whose program is very rich, gets acquainted with reading in this order. These stages make it possible to evenly and gradually present to the child all the necessary information.
Literacy in the preparatory group for Vasilyeva
One of the methods used in kindergarten was developed in the 20th century. Its author was a well-known teacher and speech therapist Vasilieva M. A. She has developed several programs that need to be addressed. They are based on the logical sequence on which the lesson "Literacy Education" should be based. The preparatory group is intended for already quite large children who can understand a lot. First, they need to be taught to distinguish a separate sound, and then to consider it in text accompaniment. This method has many features and advantages.
How does literacy work in the preparatory group according to the method of Vasilyeva? The sound and the letter "M", for example, are presented as follows: first, the teacher simply shows the images in various versions (graphic picture, volumetric, bright and colorful). Later, when this knowledge is fixed, you can proceed to the next stage. The teacher introduces the children to the words in which this letter is contained. This allows not only to learn the alphabet, but also to learn the basics of reading. It is this sequence that is most preferred.
Psychological features of learning in kindergarten
Before you begin to consider letters and sounds with children, you need to understand several important features. What are the psychological foundations of a process such as literacy? "The preparatory group, - L. Zhurova, the author of numerous works in this field, notes, - this is an unusually plastic material that allows you to perceive and reproduce a variety of concepts and patterns of behavior." The process of teaching reading largely depends on the methods of teaching. It is very important that the teacher correctly target the children and lay the foundation for preparing for school in them. What is the ultimate goal of learning sounds and letters? This is a reading and understanding of what is written in the book. It is obvious. But before you understand the contents of the book, you need to learn how to perceive it correctly. Text is a graphic reproduction of our speech, which is then converted into sounds. They should be understood by the child. It is very important that a person can reproduce sound in any word, even unfamiliar. Only in this case can we say whether literacy is a success. The preparatory group, the program of which includes acquaintance with the Russian alphabet, should become the foundation for further literacy of children.
Ability to play sounds
When the baby is just born, he already has innate reflexes. One of them is the ability to respond to surrounding sounds. He responds to the words he heard with a change in the rhythm of movements and revitalization. Already in the third or fourth week of life, the child reacts not only to loud sharp sounds, but also to the speech of the people around him.
Obviously, a simple phonetic perception of words is not the key to successful reading instruction. Human speech is unusually complex, and in order to understand it, it is necessary for the child to reach a certain level of mental and emotional maturity.
Researchers have found that the vast majority of children between the ages of six and seven cannot yet put words into syllables. Therefore, literacy in the preparatory group should be built in strict accordance with these features. In no case should a child be given a task with which his brain is simply unable to cope due to its immaturity.
The direct literacy process
Methods of each educational institution are involved in the development of a program for introducing preschoolers to letters and sounds. That is why classes in different kindergartens can vary significantly. But, despite external differences, the meaning of the educational process is the same in the entire education system. It includes the three steps already listed above.
Of course, in the direct study of letters, the teacher takes into account many factors: the mood of the children at a given moment, their number, behavior, and also other important little things that can improve or worsen perception.
The Importance of Sound Analysis in Learning to Read
Recently, many speech therapists have expressed the opinion that the methods by which acquaintance with the diploma passes are already outdated. They argue that sound analysis at this stage is not so important. That is, first you just need to ensure that the children remember the graphic image of the letters, without trying to reproduce their sound. But this is not entirely correct. After all, pronouncing sounds, the child will hear them and will be able to better perceive the speech of other people.
Literacy planning in preparatory groups
If you go to a preschool at the height of the day, you may get the impression that chaos reigns there. Children play in small groups, and someone generally sits on a chair and draws. But this is not so. Like everything else that happens in kindergarten, it has its own program and literacy training. A preparatory group in which class planning is subject to the strict recommendations of the Ministry of Education is no exception. The program is drawn up for the academic year, agreed with the methodologists and approved by the person in charge of the preschool institution.
How are class notes compiled
Literacy is not random. At first glance, it seems that the teacher is just playing with the children, but in fact it is part of getting to know the letters. The course of the lesson is determined by the teacher, and a previously prepared compendium helps him in this. It indicates the time that will be allocated to study, the topic that should be disclosed, as well as a rough outline of a plan.
Foreign literacy experience
So far, the new methods developed by foreign experts are not being implemented much in the Russian system of preschool education. The most popular two learning methods that came to us from other countries are the Montessori and Doman systems.
The first implies an individual approach to each child and comprehensive creative development. The second involves the study of not the letters and sounds separately, but immediately the whole words. For this, special cards are used. A word is written on each of them. The card is shown to the child for several seconds, and what is shown on it is also voiced.
The Montessori method is difficult to implement in municipal kindergartens, since the number of pupils does not allow paying enough attention to each of them individually.
The Doman system is criticized by Russian speech therapists who claim that it is applicable for learning English, but is not suitable for Russian.