How to teach a child to read syllables at home: games and recommendations

Many parents, seriously concerned about the development of the baby, decide to teach their child to read long before entering first grade. And psychologists agree with them, since it has been proven that at 5 years old the learning process will be easier than at 7. A large number of different methods have been developed to teach a child not just to put letters into syllables and then into words, but also to understand and think about what they read. Do not forget that the development and thinking of all children is different. Some people begin to read syllables at the age of 5, some succeed much earlier, and some do not want to do this even at 6. Take into account the individual characteristics of your child, do not compare him with others. Not everyone can catch everything on the fly; some need more time to learn new things. Everything is individual.

Readiness to learn

There is no need to teach your child to read fluently right away. First, he must master the reading technique, that is, learn to compose syllables independently, be able to read them, then compose words and sentences. It will be slow at first. The parents’ task is to quietly and calmly correct his mistakes, to teach him as if through play. After all, play is the absence of stress.

Readiness for training can be judged by the following indicators.

The child is already quite independent, knows and understands a lot.
Active speech is formed, the child speaks in complete sentences, and can compose a story.
Good development of phonemic hearing. By about five years of age, a child can distinguish individual phonemes from the general sound stream. To learn to read, he needs to be able to “recognize” the sounds in words. You can ask him to guess what sound the word begins with, or name several words starting with this letter.
Correct pronunciation. Existing problems in pronunciation will further complicate the perception of text, causing letters to be “swallowed” while reading and letters to be missed when writing words.
Confident orientation in space. Concepts such as "right" and "left", "up" and "down" must be taught very clearly. Otherwise, the child may get confused about which letter to start reading from, or “mirror” words, starting to read from the end.
It is necessary to instill a love of reading; the child should be interested in listening to new stories. Parents read at an early age. This should be done as often as possible.
Sometimes vision or hearing impairment in children can become a major problem. In this case, you will need the help of specialists.

Reasons for the development of dyslexia

The reasons why a child cannot learn to read are different. In most cases, dyslexia occurs with minimal brain dysfunction. At the same time, the child can be excellent at any other sciences, since the cause of the pathology is not mental retardation, but the incorrect functioning of a specific part of the brain.

Why does a child read poorly? This may happen due to:

congenital pathologies;
difficult births associated with asphyxia, placental abruption;
damage to the central nervous system;
hereditary factor;
traumatic brain injuries and concussions;
inhibition of a number of parts of the brain;
past neuroinfections.

In any case, a child with dyslexia needs professional help. Children who cannot learn to read should be examined by a neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, psychologist and neuropsychologist. First of all, it is necessary to establish the cause of the pathology in the child, as well as the type of dyslexia.

Best age

So, experts are sure that teaching the science of reading should begin in preschool age. At school, a child will encounter many innovations, first of all, his main activity will change, and he will unexpectedly move from playing to learning. It is not simple. You have to sit at your desk for a long time, concentrate on what the teacher is talking about, learn to communicate with previously unfamiliar peers, and look for your place in society. The student becomes more independent, he now needs to behave in a disciplined manner, become familiar with arithmetic operations, learn to draw, make crafts, and so on. Therefore, acquiring another new skill - reading - will cost a lot of effort. And those parents who feel sorry for the child, do not want to read with him, strive to extend his childhood by at least a year, are actually doing him a disservice - time is wasted, their child will have to study hard and intensely at school.

It’s better to start at 4.5-5 years old. At this time, the child is able to concentrate for about 10 minutes, which is quite enough for learning. You can learn letters earlier - at 3-4 years old, the baby has all the reserves to become familiar with the alphabet and gradually memorize letters.

In your baby's room you should hang a beautiful, bright poster with letters on it. Gradually they will be deposited in the head thanks to passive memory and become recognizable.

It would be useful to let a child of 3-4 years old play with cubes, on the edges of which letters are written and an object is drawn, the name of which begins with each of them (for example, K and cat). As the child builds a fort out of cubes, during the game he will gradually remember what the letters look like and what they mean.

It is equally important to form a sustainable interest in the book. Parents of preschoolers have a great responsibility: if they force their child to read, yell at him, and get nervous, then there is a high risk that the child will forever be disappointed in reading and even in adulthood will be extremely reluctant to open a book. This can be avoided if you regularly praise him, and the process itself, despite its seriousness, is transformed into an exciting game.

Learning to read by syllables

Classes should be conducted when the child is in the mood. The duration of each “session” should be 15-20 minutes, no more, so as not to lose interest in learning.

There are several proven ways to teach a child to read syllables.

Start with the alphabet. You can use different aids. Please note that the child must remember the letter, and not the picture next to it. If in the book the letter B means drum, then offer a die on which B is a hippopotamus. After that, symbols without pictures are used. You can purchase a set of letters on magnets. They will be useful later to form words.
There is no need to learn the letters in order. Start with vowels (A, O, U, E, Y) and voiced consonants (M, L, N...).
Don't try to teach your child all sounds at once. Study a few every day.
You need to start not with letters, but with sounds: not B, but [b]. After all, next you need to teach the child to “merge” sounds. We reinforce this knowledge of sounds with graphic writing in the form of a letter. It is very important to train both visual and auditory memory.
There is no need to explain which sound is a vowel and which is a consonant. The best explanation would be the following: this sound can be sung, but this one breaks off, cannot be sung, and is pronounced with obstacles.
The best solution would be to do the exercises while playing. Moreover, you need to choose outdoor games. Through movement it is easier for a child to perceive the world. Offer to sculpt letters from plasticine together; draw with crayons on the asphalt and then jump on them; decorate in an album; cut out of colored paper.
Before learning something new, don’t forget to remember the material you’ve covered—it needs to be consolidated.
Don't wait until the alphabet is fully learned. Start adding the letters you've already learned!
The main task is to teach the child to pronounce sounds together.
It is very important not to rush or force. Continue learning letters (more precisely, the sounds they represent) and forming syllables from them. First, open ones, starting with sonorant consonants (“MA”, “LA”, “LU”), then syllables with voiceless and hissing consonants - “ZHI”, “SHI”, “SHU”.
When open syllables are mastered, move on to another type - syllables that end in a consonant - “AM”, “US”, “AS”.
Having studied the alphabet and learned to add syllables, the child can move on to reading. It's better to start with simple words.
Pay attention to pronunciation. Teach your child to pause between words and sentences and observe intonation.

There's no need to rush. Even when all the letters and syllables have been learned, reading will not be easy. Books with large pictures and large font will help.

Exercises

Reading "Tug"

The baby reads after the parent in a low voice, 1-2 syllables or words behind. The pace increases gradually.

Divide into syllables

The game is played orally or in writing. Start with simple words, gradually move on to more complex ones.

Let's catch up with the letter

M………., A, S…………….O The baby should pull his finger along the path, pronouncing sounds.

How the letters became friends

Draw letters and pull their handles towards each other. You can use simple arithmetic schemes C+O=CO.

What's extra?

From the words written syllable by syllable on the sheet, you need to cross out the unnecessary. For example, apple, pear, tomato.

Basic techniques

There are several methods that allow you to teach a child to read; we present the pros and cons of each of them in the form of a table.

Method name	Short description	Advantages	Flaws
Sound (phonetic)	Children learn to pronounce words and sounds and begin reading when they remember enough phonemes to read their first words.	Used at school, so the baby will be saved from having to relearn. Eliminates speech defects, teaches you not only to read correctly, but also to pronounce words. You can exercise anytime, anywhere.	Requires a long time, training will be long. At first, the baby will be so focused on the process of correctly pronouncing phonemes that he will not understand the meaning of what he read.
Zaitsev cubes	Learning to read by sequences (a sequence is the pair “consonant + vowel, or consonant + b, b).	Learning through games will be fun for both children and adults. The child learns to read quickly, with joy, and does not suffer from performing a boring and obscure action. The system is not tied to a specific age; it can be used at least one year old, at least 5-6 years old.	At school, children will be retrained, since they will teach phonemic analysis of a word, and not dividing it into words. Some problems may arise with the letter E: on the cubes there are many variants such as “BE”, “DE”, but in the Russian language there are very few words of this kind.
Doman cards	Recognition of a whole word - without dividing it into component parts. Rather, not reading, but memorizing and reproducing. The child quickly makes progress thanks to his amazingly flexible memory, and gradually he develops an understanding of the principles of reading a particular group of letters.	Memory development, the ability to teach reading from an early age.	Preliminary preparation is required (make a lot of neat cards), regularity of classes. Cards with specific words should be shown to the baby several times a day, taking into account his individual pace of perception of information. Often children taught in this way learn to read situationally, unable to read, for example, a familiar word, but printed in a different font.
Maria Montessori Method	First, children learn to write (frames-contours are used for this), only after that they become familiar with letters.	The classes are fun and not boring, children learn to read and write at the same time, and during the reading process they do not divide the word into syllables, reading it completely. The activities also help develop fine motor skills.	The technique is intended for work in a kindergarten group, and not at home. You will need a large amount of didactic material that will have to be purchased.
Olga Soboleva's program	It is built according to the method of letter recognition and is aimed at the creative development of the baby. There is practically no mechanical memorization; the work is based on associations.	Children have fun and learn to love reading. The technique helps you learn a lot of new words and not give in to a new type of activity, and feel free to use a creative approach.	Suitable for creative kids and their equally creative parents. There is no clear description of what should be done and how, so you need to use your imagination.

Each of the considered methods has both pros and cons, so parents will have to choose the elements of each of them that best suit the characteristics of their baby, and use them in daily, targeted work. There are several interesting activities that parents can use at different stages of learning to read.

Five Principles of Speed Reading

Sitting for a long time with textbooks irritates both kids and parents. It seems to adults that the child is simply delaying the moment and trying to evade completing the task. The student is sure that his parents are demanding the impossible from him. In this situation, it is necessary not only to restore mutual understanding, but also to find a way to effectively complete tasks.

Mastering the following five principles will help you quickly absorb the pages of a book and turn reading into an exciting activity:

Concentration of attention. It’s hard not to notice one important detail: a child copes with an interesting book much better and faster than with a boring textbook. The game “Concentration” will allow you to train your child’s attention so that he does not get distracted while doing homework.
Suppressing the habit of pronouncing text. Silent reading helps you get through book pages faster.
Improving the ability to hold several paragraphs before your eyes. Teach your child to understand the structure of the text and read it “diagonally” - and your child will not only quickly swallow book pages, but also successfully cope with game sports that require a “keep eye”.
Information management. Explain to your child that he does not need to memorize the entire text, word for word. Play detective with him and look for useful information in the entire array of printed words.
Memory development. Speed reading will allow your child to cope with textbooks 2-3 times faster than his peers. However, without the ability to remember what you read, the skill will be useless. The “Pathfinder” or “Letter Spotter” games will help train memory so that the child is good at both reading and reproducing information from the text.

Introduce these principles into your daily diet with new knowledge - and doing homework will no longer be a long and grueling process for a student.

The first stage of classes - word games

Learning to read must be carried out in a playful manner, otherwise the child will quickly get tired and lose interest. At the first stage, it is necessary to explain to him that the word consists of syllables. The easiest way to do this is with a card. First, the parent shows the child a card on which a simple word is written (for example, “dog”), then cuts it with scissors: so-ba-ka.

It would be even more interesting and clearer to make a card with an image of a dog with an elongated body, for example a dachshund, and stretch the word itself. When the illustration is cut, the child will understand that just as a dog is “put together” from pieces, so a word is made up from parts.

Next, you can invite your child to play with the syllables.

"Catch the Sound"

We tell the child words, and he should clap his hands when he hears a certain sound (for example, [l]).

"Fisherman"

You will need fish with paper letters, each with a paper clip attached. You need to catch fish with a fishing rod (with a magnet on it), name the letters on them, and put them in a bucket. You can ask your child to name words that begin with these letters. Later, you can make syllables from these letters - and pronounce them too.

Album with syllables

Invite your child to work on creating his own ABC book. He will definitely like this idea! To begin, take a regular sketchbook. We divide each sheet in half. On one half we write the syllable that we are studying today. We invite the child to name objects that begin with this syllable. Then he needs to draw them on the second half of the sheet. You can use applications.

Airplanes

The simplest airplanes are made from paper. On each of them a syllable is written (KA, TU, MI), then the parent temporarily turns into a dispatcher and begins to give instructions which particular airplane should land or take off, or go to a pre-designed hangar. The child must figure out the syllables and complete the task.

If airplanes are of little interest to girls, you can offer them a similar game “Butterflies”.

Shop

First, adults prepare the material - the vegetables that will be sold. These could be pictures, toy vegetables, grass, even real foods. Next, cards are made that will play the role of “currency” - they are written syllables with which the names of goods begin (for example, if there is a zucchini on the “counter”, then there must be a “KA” card). Next, “money” is given to the children, who must make purchases on behalf of the dolls.

First, you need to pronounce the syllable several times so that the child remembers it, and only after that start playing. If a preschooler makes a mistake, you should correct him, but very delicately.

Introduction to letters

The first step has been taken, preschool children managed to remember some syllables and understand that any word consists of such “bricks”. Now it is necessary to open up the world of letters to them and introduce them to their diversity. This will be the most important step in preparing for school.

You can purchase various visual aids, such as a set of letters with an alphabet board, which will help you get acquainted with serious material in a visual, playful way. You will also need large cards on which each letter of the alphabet is depicted. You can get acquainted with them according to the following scheme.

Show the child the card. It can be not just a boring image of a particular letter, but an interesting one. For example, L - in the form of a gymnast with his legs spread wide.
To make memorization easier, you should prepare in advance all the variety of items that you can find at home. So, while studying the same L, you can show your child a spoon, a (toy) horse, a light bulb, a chandelier, a dream catcher - everything that he knows. And then offer to continue the chain, look in the room (on the street, on the way to kindergarten) for all objects starting with L.
Invite your child to sketch the letter he is learning.

Sometimes parents focus on the correct pronunciation of the letter, for example [em], and not [m], then it will be very difficult for the child to readjust during the reading process. He sees a familiar M, but reads it as [um]. When studying, it is better to use the names of phonemes.

At this stage of children's education, it is necessary to use various rhymes that, in a fun way, help them remember the letters. For example, Genrikh Sapgir created a large number of wonderful texts especially for the youngest readers and listeners - they will help to visualize each letter and quickly remember it. It’s better to start with the poem “The Cheerful Alphabet,” in which each letter has its own lines. You need to be patient, the work can be long and difficult.

Working with a syllable

Now that the preschooler knows all the letters, you can teach the child to read syllables. To do this, it is best to use Zhukova’s bright and colorful “Primer Book,” the lessons of which will be of interest even to parents. This book can be purchased or downloaded online and printed. The main advantage is that parents do not have to think through a lesson plan - they just need to move consistently from page to page, keeping the pace that is comfortable for the baby.

But to prevent learning from turning into a routine, you can also play. There are several interesting games.

"Elevator". The parent prepares a simple visual aid: a column divided into cells, in each of which consonants familiar to the baby are written. Separately, a card is made with a vowel, for example A. The child’s task is to imitate an elevator: the letter A moves along the floors of consonants, and the preschooler reads the resulting syllables aloud.
"Find the syllable." While walking, you can invite your child to discover and show recently covered syllables (for example, RO is in the word “Products”).
Write a syllable on the magnetic board.
Correct the mistake (the mother makes up a syllable, but “confuses” the letters in places (not MA, but AM), the child must read what happened and correct it).

Classes should be held every day, but a portion of new knowledge should be within the child’s capacity. Someone can easily learn several syllables in one day, while another little one needs a series of home lessons to be devoted to a specific syllable. Everything is individual.

How to train a child

So, the preschooler learned to read. It's time to pay attention to the speed of word formation in order to meet the standards of reading technology at school. Use the following exercises to improve your speed at playing passages out loud.

Reading syllabic tables

The table can be printed in large size, click on the image and download it:

An effective means of transition from syllabic to word-by-word reading. If you train regularly, the future first grader will automatically form words from syllables.

Read the tables in columns (vertically), for 30 seconds each at the initial stage. Record the time spent in a diary and note your progress. After 7–10 days, the preschooler should achieve the following result: 3 tables in 30 seconds, that is, he will practically learn them by heart. Train every day 2 times.

Wave

Place the book on the table in front of the child, the text should be small. Let him read at a pace that is convenient for him. Then turn the textbook 90° and ask them to read a passage or the entire text. Then place it upside down and repeat the task. Increase the volume of text gradually.

Reading in passages

The exercise is suitable for children with a medium or fast speech rate. The task of the parent or teacher: to maximize the result. When choosing a training text, take into account your current reading technique and add 30 words to your result. If a preschooler reads 20 words, give the text for 50 units, if 30 words - for 60 units.

The training consists of three stages. First, the child will read the given passage without assignment, in his usual rhythm. Then he tries to keep it within 1 minute, using two attempts. Increase the number of words in the passage when the preschooler calmly and effortlessly copes with the task. Carry out the training every day 2 times (morning, evening).

Retelling the text read

This activity is useful for students with any reading rhythm. Learn to retell what you read paragraph by paragraph, then by page, then completely. If the kindergartener reads very slowly, syllable by syllable, reproduce the text out loud yourself. Let him tell you what he heard and understood. Then he will read it on his own.

Important! At the initial stage of learning to read, prioritize understanding the essence of the text, not the number of words. Move on to increasing speed after practicing automatic folding of syllables and words into sentences.

Reading the first word

To prevent reading for preschoolers from turning into punishment, it is important for parents not to forget to praise the child, but they should make comments to him as little as possible. When the syllables are already well read and compiled on the magnetic board, you can move on to the next task - read your first word. It should be simple and understandable, for example “mother”.

For this lesson, the parent prepares two cards - on one the word is divided into two syllables - “ma” and “ma”, and the second card is cut into these syllables. It is necessary to invite the child to read the syllables one by one: ma-ma. Next, ask what happened, what word? First, he is shown the first card, then the second. The baby will most likely answer correctly, this will be his little discovery - if you read the syllables together, you will get a word! Subsequent work on reading words syllable by syllable is structured in a similar way; the child is given the simplest combinations: dog, road, fishing.

After reading each word syllable by syllable, you should definitely ask the child what happened in the end, what word. This will help ensure that he is reading intelligently.

At this stage, we learn not only to read, but also to form words from syllables, so we can offer the child all kinds of puzzles: put a word together from individual syllables, guess a riddle and put together an answer from cards.

Diagnostics

Before making a diagnosis, it is necessary to examine the child. Speech functions and cognitive abilities are assessed first. Psychologists also analyze the baby’s emotional state, which can provoke speech pathology. A family history is collected.

The examination also evaluates hearing and vision. An examination by a neurologist is necessary, who will confirm or refute diseases of a neurological nature, due to which the child cannot master reading.

First sentence

Learning to read is almost complete, and if everything goes correctly, the baby will be able to read his first sentence without difficulty. It should be simple and understandable, for example: “Inna washed the frame,” and you can read a short sentence even before all the sounds are learned, the main thing is that the selected piece contains only syllables familiar to the baby.

As a rule, this stage passes quickly and cheerfully, the child likes what he can read, children begin to practice with pleasure and often, thanks to their linguistic intuition and amazing memory, read even those letters that have not yet been studied with their parents.

This is a step-by-step program for learning to read in preschool age. If mom and dad were patient and gentle and praised their baby, then home lessons were easy and fun, so success would please both. Training should be carried out regularly, but not take a lot of time - it is necessary to stop even before the baby gets tired, be sure to inform him that tomorrow he will be introduced to even more interesting information, then he will look forward to the next lesson.

Tips for parents

Start learning with sounds, not letters. Otherwise the child will get confused.

Eliminate any negative emotions during the learning process. They scare the child and discourage learning.

For many children, the words “study” and “lessons” cause protest. Conduct classes in a playful way so that the child has fun and, most importantly, interesting.

No need to force. Learn to negotiate. For example, suggest playing letters first and then going to the park.

Books

During the homeschooling process, parents will need methodological support. To do this, you can use the following manuals:

O. Uzorova “Quick learning to read.”
N. S. Zhukova “Primer”.
I. Brodsky “Working ABC”.
G. R. Lazgdyn “Speech therapy alphabet”.
Kozhevnikova A. Yu. “Battlers.”
Teacher's aids from the set for Zaitsev's cubes and Doman's cards.

Benefits

No matter how effective modern methods are, no one has yet canceled the usual primer. You can compare several benefits and choose one.

Parents leave good reviews about “ABC for Kids” by O. Zhukova. A well-known speech therapist and teacher offers a non-standard method of teaching reading. It is very interesting and easy for children to follow the funny little men who run from letter to letter, helping to add syllables. Invite your child to continue the sound until the little man gets to the next one: “A-a-a-a-u.” You can use not only the ABC book, but also cars and dolls. Move them from letter to letter, and let the child pronounce the sounds.
The manual by E. Baranova and O. Razumovskaya “How to teach your child to read” also offers play. The authors use train travel as a way to teach reading. The carriage moves along rails with written consonants, there is an empty window on it, and next to it is a vowel. There is no need to cram boring syllables, just name the “station”: BA, MA, GU, etc.
The author of the Primer for Kids, E. Bakhtina, uses her own technique: each letter has its own funny image, they are friends with each other, and the baby is interested in participating in games with them.

Of course, this is not a complete list of benefits. You can use several in combination. Be patient. And remember the most important thing - you can’t scold or punish if something doesn’t work out. Put it aside for a while and then try again. And don’t forget to praise, because praise makes you want to move on.