In our age of total technology, more and more parents are puzzled by the question of how to teach their child to read. Psychologist Anastasia Ponomarenko will tell you what parents should pay attention to, how not to discourage children from picking up a book, and how to teach a child to read.

No need to shake grandma: “Read, please!” Read it!”

There is no need to beg your sister: “Well, read another page.”

No need to call, no need to wait, but you can just pick it up and read it!

Surely everyone remembers these poems from childhood. Indeed, being able to read was as natural as being able to walk and run.

However, now neuropsychologists and educators are sounding the alarm: Fewer and fewer schoolchildren are able to read thoughtfully, understanding the meaning of the text . More and more children are inclined towards the so-called “mechanical reading”, when a child reads quickly, but cannot retell the text he has read.

And, most alarmingly, more and more teenagers are struggling to read. Not in syllables, of course, but not fluently. 20 years ago this would have been unimaginable! But on on paper(this is important) develops thinking, intelligence, and general cultural level.

That's why many parents who managed to catch the standards Soviet schools and those who understand that the ability to read can soon become a competitive advantage, often ask the question: how, given the dominance of gadgets,?

Firstly , a child is always brought up in an atmosphere. And, if this is an atmosphere of love for books, then the habit of reading will firmly enter his life. Do mom and dad spend their evenings cuddling with a computer or tablet? Don't expect your child to fall in love with books.

Secondly , turn a trip to the bookstore or library into a holiday. Recently, within scientific-practical conference dedicated to the problems of childhood and adolescence, sociologists presented an interesting report. It turns out that most children love McDonald's because their parents take them there as a reward. “If you behave well, let’s go eat hamburgers,” many parents say. Naturally, the connection is firmly ingrained in the child’s head: McDonald’s is a holiday, positive reinforcement. And we want as many holidays in life as possible. So teenagers run for french fries and cocktails - after all, they are associated with joy!

If you encourage your child with a good book, if you arrange a trip to the library or store as a special event, then soon the book will turn into an attribute of joy for the child, it will become synonymous with a good mood, and the process of buying and reading books will be enjoyable. And what we like, we want to do as often as possible.

Third If you've already come to the bookstore, let the child do it himself. You can give advice, but never insist, otherwise you will simply kill any desire for such joint trips. Negotiate a certain amount for the purchase - please! But to offer to buy “Vaska Trubachev and Comrades” instead of “Harry Potter” only on the grounds that you personally liked Oseeva’s book better - forget it.

Fourth , be sure to discuss with your child the book you bought and read. This way you will show your child your interest in his hobbies, and will protect you from that same “mechanical reading” that was mentioned above.

Fifthly , remember: until voluntary attention and memorization are formed, it’s too early to learn to read. That is, a child who learned to read at 3-4 years old is rather an exception. In general, children begin to master reading skills by the age of 6-7 years, so don't run ahead of the locomotive.

Never punish with reading! Not this: if you haven’t washed the dishes, you’ll read five pages. Then reading will be perceived as punishment, and your child will never want to pick up books again - starting from the very age when he will be able to fight back.

And the most effective rule is to answer any child’s question: let’s find the answer together in the book. And go look through encyclopedias and educational atlases. Yes, parents will have to get involved too. You want to lie down, wander through social networks, but here is a child with questions, and you have to look at textbooks, and listen to a story about a book you read, and drag yourself to the library on the weekend.

But everyone makes their own choice: momentary relaxation and a child with a computer addiction, or stress of mental strength for several years - and an intelligent, well-read child with a broad outlook, which is expected by the country's leading universities. You decide.

Is it possible to convince a child to read? Is it worth spending time talking about the benefits of reading or is it better to strictly force it? What should a parent do who gives up in despair because their child doesn’t read and has a reputation for being lazy at school? We talk about myths, stereotypes and mistakes of parents with children's neuropsychologist Maria Chibisova.

In the first grade, the child read poorly and had difficulty putting letters into words. Over time, the skill of reading has been developed, but neither at ten nor at fourteen years old does the child have the habit of reading. At the same time, everyone in the family higher education, everyone reads a lot and considers reading an inexhaustible resource and an extremely important skill. What to do?

Reading books is good. But we must not forget and take into account the times in which we live. Today, information is perceived in a way that is different from how it was five to ten years ago. Previously, we read books, newspapers and magazines - this was the main way of obtaining information. Today we get it through the computer and the Internet. Therefore, the requirements of fathers and mothers regarding reading are often not entirely adequate and do not take into account the modern context. This is the first thing.

Secondly, parents are often too emotional in their expectations. In annoying and strict conversations, expressions may slip through: “If you don’t read, you’ll grow up to be a janitor...”. Through the efforts of parents, meanings are changed. Instead of “reading is interesting and great pleasure,” we get: “reading is right, necessary.”

This kind of expectation from relatives primarily causes tension in the child, which gives rise to a complex of “meeting expectations.” The very fact of reading ceases to be a process for him and turns into a “fad.” Reading becomes a burden, tension, and at the end of the day it causes protest.

That is why so many parents are faced with the fact that modern children have no interest in books at all, they do not perceive them.

But there is another side. Children have difficulty reading and get tired easily. Shouldn't they be forced to read so that a habit can be developed through regularity?

In fact, reading is one of the child's skills that can be enjoyable and is a positive thing in his life.

Recently, there has been a general tendency to escalate the situation not only around reading, but in general around teaching children, preparing them for school. Education has begun to take up too much time in a child’s life compared to how it used to be. Parents' emotions in this regard also increased. The emotions are very specific, which are imposed on the child: we want you to be an excellent student. Parents regularly transfer their own school experiences, often negative ones, onto their children. The schooling process thus becomes very stressful. And reading here is the most telling example.

Many parents naively believe that if my child can read, he is ready for school. This is a huge mistake. And this is absolutely not true.

Why?

Reading and writing are the last things a preschooler should be able to do. The primary thing is the level of development of higher cognitive functions: is he able to concentrate attention, how self-control and motivation are developed in him. We are no longer talking about playful motivation, which is still an asset for any child before school, but about cognitive motivation. Is the child able, without any pressure from others, on his own initiative and with natural interest, to sit and study something? Does he have enough strength for this?

Very often (before the first year of life) parents show the baby letters on cards, hoping to teach him to read: “he’s so small, but he’ll already know the letters!” But in fact, for parents it is more about satisfying their ambitions than the natural needs of the child. Of course, he will not know anything, because purely physiologically, at the age of one, the parts of the brain responsible for distinguishing signs, retaining them and reproducing them have not yet been formed. At best, if anything succeeds, it is to develop a conditioned reflex.

If a child develops harmoniously from the first years of life, if parents are attentive to the course of his development process, attentive to his needs in this development and give the child what he needs and is important in each specific period of life, then reading will appear by itself and there will be no problems with it will not arise.

We see so many examples of children learning to read on their own. Usually this happens at five or six years old, sometimes even at four. They begin to show interest in letters and inscriptions on the street; they quickly grasp and remember. And for this you do not need to organize any special process. The emergence of this interest is a sign of the physiological formation of the brain, readiness to perceive this information. But in no case should you immediately burden the child: oh, you started reading, now you will do it every day with us, like homework. Reading should not become an “obligation”. It should be a pleasant pastime in which the child achieves success, an exciting game. The goals that a parent sets for a child should be based not on expectations, but on possibilities.

You can’t force a child to read even more so. All violence always has consequences. At a minimum, reading will not be a voluntary and natural process. There should definitely be freedom in the matter of reading. The child should enjoy reading. After all, reading is an activity that, by definition, one cannot help but enjoy. We must awaken interest in this process, support, and help overcome difficulties. The main question that parents should face is not “how to force it?”, but “how to help with reading?”

There is an opinion that if a child sees a parent with a book, he will certainly read it.

Not necessarily, but the probability does increase. If a child with early age sees that a book is an ordinary and necessary object in the house, everyone uses it, that through the book he himself receives positive emotions, the likelihood that he will continue to want to receive these emotions is very high.

If no one in the family reads, and parents demand from the child what they do not do themselves, then reading can become a field of resistance and war between the child and adults. The attitude towards reading should be normal, not very emotionally charged and rather positively colored.

If parents are engaged in their own development, and the child observes this, if he sees that dad and mom themselves are interested in a lot of things, including reading, reading for them is not hard work, but an easy and pleasant leisure time, then the children are nourished from this emotionally.

When a child is small, we are ready to be forgiving of a lack of interest in reading. But I would like that when a child reaches a certain age, 10-14 years old, he still reads and the initiative comes from him, so that he picks up the book himself. But it happens in different ways. The initiative does not come from one child, but from the other it does, but preference is given to literature not according to age: instead of a novel - comics. What could this be connected with?

Let's start with the older ones. Fourteen years is adolescence when a person’s motivation is no longer cognitive at all. At this age, children usually begin to perform worse and lose interest in learning. This is fine. You should not expect that your child will be more and more sincerely interested in books than in communication. If a child develops normally, he will prefer communication with peers to books. But if at the age of fourteen he sits with a book, then this rather indicates that he goes into his own world and, perhaps, is incompetent among his peers and in communications.

Children 8-11 years old are a completely different story. This is just the most educational age. Leading activities, that is, training, should be normal for them. And here parents want their child to read serious books. What does this mean? Only about their own ambitions: look how developed our child is, what an educated and intelligent family we have.

There's nothing wrong with comics. On the one hand, it is fashionable and accepted among peers, on the other hand, it is simple: large text, colorful pictures, no effort required.

Of course, physiological difficulties play an important role in reading (and interest in simply looking through comics). Now we see functional difficulties in many children. As a rule, they are the result of attention deficit, severe fatigue, and difficulties in mastering the motor program.

Children who did not crawl until they were one year old, or crawled only a little, eventually develop difficulties in writing and reading. During crawling (motor development), a motor program is acquired when we learn to put small elements into larger ones. Sounds - into syllables, syllables - into words, words - into sentences. The basis of this process is the assimilation of the motor program.

Speech difficulties have also become common: children speak late and poorly. And poor sound pronunciation often develops into dyslexia and dysgraphia. When the process of speaking words itself is difficult for a child, this is a signal. . Why is this so? Parents must find the answer. If you don’t engage with your child, don’t compensate for difficulties, or don’t engage enough, then the likelihood of subsequently discovering difficulties in reading is 100%. Reading is the same process as speaking, only more complex. While reading, we not only assimilate auditory images, but connect auditory images and visual-literal ones. And it’s no wonder that children refuse to read. You don’t want to do something that is difficult. What is easy, interesting and enjoyable, brings some kind of childhood benefit to the child - it is positively consolidated in the mind. The child is ready to return to this. It is useless to say: this will be useful, this is useful. You can, of course, say this, but it is naive to hope that this will influence and change the child’s view. Until the child himself actually receives benefits and benefits from this (his children’s), he will not understand all the benefits of reading. That is why it is important that the reading process be positively colored. Be sure that the child will then prefer to use this method of obtaining information again.

And if not physiology, then what else could be associated with children’s refusal to read, for example, poetry, long novels?

We live in the era of computers and television. Information is given and received in a primitive and easy form. This way of perceiving information is a passive way. Everything is immediately provided to a person in a chewed form. It does not require any additional voltage. Pay attention and that's it. The brain quickly learns to work at reduced energy consumption and not overexert itself. Reading is a process during which a person uses many higher mental functions.

But you can’t categorically reject everything: the computer, the Internet, TV, because sooner or later you will have to face the fact that “the forbidden fruit is sweet.” Dissatisfaction due to prohibitions and incompetence among peers can cause new problems. Parents must be able to be flexible and understand that they are free to prompt and guide the child here, offering, for example, educational computer games.

Does that mean we are deteriorating?

Well, not in that sense. But the fact that a computer or TV tires and overstimulates nervous system, but at the same time the brain does not develop it either - this is a fact.

If we talk about the language, then it has really become simpler. And it’s becoming more and more difficult for children to understand poetry. In addition, rhythmic organization plays an important role. If, for example, a child was not read much poetry in childhood, then the child will not have an interest in it, and it will be difficult for him to perceive this genre even in middle age.

Therefore, start reading good poems to your child as early as possible, so that he awakens pleasure from the sound of words, rhymes, and their understanding. Engage him cognitive development. Play games for attention, reaction, memorization, developing spatial thinking, fine and gross motor skills, etc. Develop higher mental functions The child has. This will be the best preparation for reading and help in mastering reading and writing.

Child development needs to be approached from different angles. We definitely need to read together, as well as engage in culture: go to theaters, listen to classical music together. It is important to develop a child culturally. If the whole family attends exhibitions, goes to the cinema, the circus, and does this not because “it’s necessary, it’s customary,” but because it causes a lot of positive emotions, then this will certainly arouse interest in reading. The computer and TV should cause concern for parents when they take up all the space and time in a child’s life, and generally lead to a reluctance to develop in the full sense of the word.

Read to children from an early age, selecting books according to age, needs, and most importantly, interest. Don’t live by your own ambitions or imposed ideas about your child, focus on him and, most likely, reading will not cause difficulties for your child in the future.

Pace modern life speeds up, and in this frantic rhythm there is no time left for the simplest, but such an important activity - reading. Today it is increasingly difficult to find a schoolchild who reads of his own free will, who reads with interest and avidly, like his parents once did. Just a few decades ago, books were the only source of information - people read them in search of entertainment, education, in search of the necessary data and even the meaning of life. What happened today? Why did children stop being interested in books? In this article we will talk about this global problem - the reasons for its development and ways to solve it.

Why did children stop reading?

Many adults remember their childhood - how their parents forbade them to read, limiting the time spent reading a book in order to maintain eye health. But we still read - everywhere and always, with a flashlight under the blanket, around the corner of the door, so that my mother would not see. What is it today? Children are not keen on reading; for them, a book is a punishment for some kind of offense. Why has the situation changed radically?

  1. Digital reality. The first and most main reason The fact that children have stopped reading books is a different way of perceiving. Why should a child read, strain his imagination and imagination, if television and computers can reproduce this reality for him? Children today receive much more information than we once did at their age. It’s just that information comes to them in a different form – through computers, tablets, television.
  2. An apple from an apple tree. Sometimes children do not read, simply because there is no person with a book in their environment. If a child lives with parents who do not have the habit of sitting in the evening reading their favorite detective story or novel, the child simply does not know that books exist and that they can bring pleasure.
  3. Strange words. Sometimes a child refuses to read if there are a lot of incomprehensible things in the text, and often outdated words. And this happens literally from childhood. Well, how can a child be interested in a bunny with his “bast” hut if the baby doesn’t even know such a word? Not to mention more serious expressions.
  4. Books are not suitable for age. Sometimes parents try to raise children into child prodigies by presenting them with increasingly complex books. However, a preschooler will not understand the experiences of the Count of Monte Cristo, he simply will not understand what the book is about, but for the time being. Every age should have its own books that captivate the reader.
  5. Peer judgment. Everyone knows how children can be cruel and treacherous. And, once seeing a peer reading a book, he may be accused of being too exemplary and called a “nerd.” The child, trying to hide this “shortcoming”, gradually abandons the book, preferring to accept information from other sources.
  6. Compulsion. Very often, parents themselves give rise to a dislike for books when they equate reading with punishment. That is, they say, “Did you break a vase? Now sit in your room and read 20 pages of text.” Over and over again, the child learns to perceive reading as something bad, uninteresting, forced. And the parents themselves are to blame for this.

At what age should a child be taught a love of reading? As a rule, children's interest in books awakens at the age of 8-10, when the child begins to read fluently on his own, realizing the action taking place on paper pages. However, a love of reading and respect for books must be instilled from childhood, without allowing the child to tear pages or draw in pictures. But why do modern children need reading?

Benefits of reading books

Many modern teenagers They claim that books are a thing of the past. Why bother reading when any information can be quickly and easily found on the Internet. However, a book is not only a source of information, and reading is not only the ability to put letters into words. A book is something more. If a child learns to read at least a few pages a day, over time he will become better at expressing his thoughts and learn to present information competently - both orally and in writing. Children who read cope much better with creative tasks at school and write essays with ease. Many people perceive information better visually, so reading is a great way to learn literacy.

But the most important thing is that the book contributes to the formation of personality, teaches morality, and finds answers to many questions. From the classics, a child draws the correct attitude towards life, learns to distinguish good from evil, respect elders, and protect younger ones. The child understands that evil is certainly punished, that one must live with justice. Reading books is great entertainment, a safe way to have a good and useful time. But how to convey all this to a child? How to awaken his love for books?

Never force your child to read. Don't punish him with a book. From childhood, the child should understand that reading is pleasure, not punishment. Under no circumstances should you force your child to read in response to something he or she has done wrong. On the contrary, tell your child that he did a great job today for helping his grandmother and as a reward you will read together (or give him) a colorful and interesting book. Attitudes to many life positions are formed in a child from childhood. And how you feel about the book is how your child will feel about it throughout his life.

  1. Touch the book! Show your child the advantages of a paper book over digital media. You can touch the book, leaf through its pages, feel the roughness of the paper, and enjoy the aroma of fresh printing ink. This is what makes people still read paper books. For young children, you can buy interesting paper books with three-dimensional pictures that appear on the page when you open it. There are a lot of tactile books with various irregularities and details. Teach your child to touch the pages - this is important.
  2. Choose books. Just one bad book can lead to a child refusing to read due to boredom. It is very important to choose a book according to the child’s age, interests and preferences. For example, younger children school age You can offer the adventures of Dunno, and for those older - the adventures of Tom Sawyer. If your child is interested in computer games, keep this in mind - in modern publishing house full of books about computer heroes. It is important to choose something that will interest the child.
  3. Read for yourself. Unfortunately, it is difficult to force a child to do something if you do not do it yourself. If mom and dad will spend free time reading a book, telling each other what they have read, admiring the characters and having fun, this is how the baby will become infected. He will understand that a book is a window into a world that can be explored without leaving the couch. It is foolish to hope for your child to read if you yourself spend the whole evening in front of the TV screen.
  4. Keep books at home. Modern homes are designed in such a way that there is no room for dusty, bulky and voluminous books, especially if all the same can be found in electronic form. If you want to raise a child who reads, you need to have a bookcase in the house, or at least a shelf where the child can pick around. Treat books with respect - do not let small children play with them, explain to the child that the book cannot be torn, or drawn on it.
  5. Develop your imagination. You can motivate your child to develop their imagination with various made-up stories and tales. Compose fables and fairy tales together, let your child discover in himself creative thinking. With a good imagination, it will be easier to read - images will be easy to form, reading will be interesting.
  6. Learn poetry. A poem is that small dose of information that a child can master, understand and present on his own. Poems develop memory and awaken a love of style.
  7. Filmstrips. Old filmstrips will help make a fussy little one read. While scrolling through the film, the baby will become interested in what is happening in the picture and will certainly want to understand what is happening in the plot. To do this, he will have to read the comment at the bottom of the picture.
  8. Perform plays. For children preschool age The plot itself, the dialogues, experiences, and actions are very interesting. Therefore, to keep your child interested, you can do small performances with your child and read by roles. By the way, this can be done even before the baby learns to read.
  9. Choose your time. Modern children have a much greater workload than their parents at the same age. Today, almost all schoolchildren have additional classes - sports sections, language courses, creative clubs. Don’t force a tired child to read when he comes home. Choose free time to communicate with a book so that your baby is rested, interested and in a good mood. Only under these conditions can a love of reading be instilled in a child.
  10. Shared reading. Choose a fascinating book and read it with your child, maybe before bed. Once again, stop at the most interesting point and say that you will read the continuation tomorrow. The child's impatience can lead to the fact that he himself will begin to find out the ending of the story.

Reading is a very important stage in a child’s life. Just as you taught your child to hold a spoon, go to the potty, change clothes - with the same importance and patience you need to instill in your child a love of books and the process of reading. However, do not be so categorical - times change, and so do children.

Is reading really important in the modern world?

There has always been dissatisfaction with young people. The problem of fathers and children has always been relevant. They were very often dissatisfied with the children, because they changed and did not resemble their parents. The modern generation is no exception. It seems to us that our children sit on computers and do nothing useful. But the current of modern life forces us to change and look at life in a new way. If you want your child to develop, do not force him to read paper books. Modern gadgets allow you to find the necessary information in electronic format in a matter of minutes. Let your child read the way he wants. There is no need to force your child to master War and Peace - he can have other heroes and other books, no less interesting, by the way. And in order to follow your child’s hobbies and prevent him from becoming permissive online, you need to keep up with the times and master the Internet and computers.

A book is an opportunity to talk with a person from the past, relive his life, feel his thoughts. A book is a true friend who always waits, will never judge or be offended for a long absence. This is an immersion into another world that seems to be reality. Love and read books, they contain a lot of useful and interesting things. And the child will certainly become your reflection.

Video: what to do to make your child love reading

“My child doesn’t read anything at all. He will grow up ignorant!”, “How to make him pick up a book and think with his head?”, “Why don’t they read? Previously, it was a shame not to read”, “I always read to children when they were little, but I never taught them to read independently”, “He loves comics and all sorts of nonsense, but he cannot be captivated by serious books.”

1. There is consistent evidence that children are reading less and less willingly. Heavy tomes and thick books, ink and pens have symbolized for so long high culture that with their disappearance from everyday life, we plunged into anxious anticipation of the end of civilization . With the cessation of reading, the most important channel for the transmission of experience between generations will be destroyed.

2. The phenomenon of mechanical, “meaningless” reading The Americans were the first to study it, in particular, psychologist and education specialist Michael Cole. For a significant portion of American children, migrant children, English language was not native, and it was assumed that difficulties in understanding texts reduce children's motivation to read. Children could read technically, but after reading the text at a good pace, they then could not only retell, but sometimes even say what the text was about. The children read as if they were amazed right hemisphere, which is responsible for imagination and emotional response. At the same time, they passed intelligence tests successfully, and sometimes their nonverbal intelligence, for which the right hemisphere is responsible, was especially pronounced. Physiology and genetics had nothing to do with it. Low motivation for reading and learning in general has led to high migration to the United States being accompanied by a decline in the level of education in the most technologically developed country.

3. At the same time, there was no talk of a return to absolute illiteracy. Today everyone learns to read and write. It is possible that the total volume of texts read is no less than in the old days, but it is obvious that today they read mainly not books with crisp bindings and rustling newspapers, but electronic texts of various formats. There is a downside to this indifference to reading books that were once our models of style. Growing up Children, for their part, discover that their parents do not know how to use a computer and show no interest in virtual worlds.

4. Computer communication involves not only passive reading of texts, but also their constant production. Spelling skills, accuracy and calligraphy are contrasted with typing speed, targeting, and genre compliance of written texts. Oral speech is largely being replaced by written speech.

5. The decline in the value of reading for the modern child is only a fact of his adaptation to the changed conditions of development. Children have not become less curious, but they have certainly become less controllable. If we want to speak and correspond with children in their language, we will have to master the computer, or not pretend that we don’t really need it.

6. Consequences of the humanitarian revolution associated with the rapid transition from oral speech to writing, from reading to writing remains to be assessed. There is still concern that a child online is operating with simpler and often illiterately written texts. As interest in reading declines, so does general level intellectual culture. There is a shift in emphasis from production high cultural values for consumption everything new, funny, cool, useful, interesting. You can’t develop thinking like that, you can’t solve it global problems… While scientists search for answers, responsible parents are making efforts to pass on their reading experience to their children.

Situation 1. “Forced motivation”

The father of six-year-old Seryozha decided that, unlike other children, his son would be an educated, well-read person. He grew up in a single-parent family, and was proud that he himself received an education, which helped him and his wife survive in life. hard times. In order not to miss the moment, the family made it a rule to read with the child every evening. At 1 year and 7 months. Seryozha already knew all the letters. At 2 years and 4 months he was adding and reading simple words“Ma-ma”, “pa-pa”, “ba-ba”. At four and a half years old, Seryozha could read new words, but under various pretexts he began to evade the long-established reading procedure. Among the books next in line were “Myths Ancient Greece", a thick volume of Hoffmann's fairy tales. And just at that moment the child, who amazed everyone with his knowledge, began to get sick, became withdrawn and very soon stopped talking to his family, thinking about something of his own. A psychologist in a kindergarten came to the conclusion that the boy had depression or emotional exhaustion associated with an unusual type of “psychological violence” against a child - forced reading, which became increasingly complex and less and less understandable to the child.

A comment:

Education and reading require effort, and until children have developed voluntary attention and memory, it is difficult for them to read on their own. One of the motives for reading may be the fear of being punished. for refusal or inability to do what parents expect. This is a non-specific motive for reading, which will lead to the opposite effect - giving up an unbearable or hateful activity at the first opportunity. The child will hate reading and books. The situation will only get worse if the family has demanding, pragmatic, cold relationships, and family members are judged by their “working” characteristics.

Children also do not know age standards, and if an adult insists that “everyone at your age has been reading for a long time,” then the child has no choice but to take this maxim on faith and at the same time admit that he may “grow up to be a real idiot."

If parents count on the early independence of a preschool child or on a special path and pace of his development, they clearly overestimate the situation. You cannot skip the stages of reading together in the evening, fantasizing based on fairy tales, acting them out with peers and moving straight to independent “adult” reading. You cannot raise a child in forced isolation, and forced development of one or another ability narrows the child’s social circle. Any activity of a child, like an adult, is multimotivated. We draw part of the incentives for development from communication with peers, not wanting to lag behind them or trying to try what seems interesting to us in their performance.

Situation 2. “Reading and computer”

Five-year-old Katya did not want to learn letters until she was allowed to use the computer. It turned out that she already knew half the letters; the lessons with her grandmother were not in vain. But - a miracle! – in a couple of evenings she learned a dozen computer commands to play a computer game. After this, it was difficult to accuse the girl of weak abilities and laziness. But she still refused to read. And then it was decided to prohibit playing until Katya read a fairy tale, first about “Masha and the Bear,” then “About the Three Little Pigs.” Katya cried, but read... Until Grandma Katya's nerves could not stand it, and she complained to the psychologist in kindergarten about Katya, her parents and kindergarten, in which children are not taught culture...

A comment:

Let's honestly compare the benefits of working on a computer and reading. Parents know little about the first and therefore think little, because this experience is unfamiliar to them from their own childhood. The computer gives the child the illusion of control and involvement in interaction with the world. Reading is a passive process of perceiving events in the course of which the child will not be able to intervene. Unless you act out plays based on fairy tales, improvise while reading, read by roles, etc. Working at the computer gives you a feeling of ease in executing a plan, from idea to execution - literally at your fingertips, in one movement. By typing letters on a computer keyboard, a child actually performs a more complex activity than putting letters into words. And the more complex the activity, the more interesting it is. It's a paradox, but it's true. Weak motivation to learn activities that are too simple for a given age can also hinder the development of skills. And finally, a computer provides a more serious bonus compared to a book - the child gets the opportunity to play. While reading, he often receives only moral encouragement from adults. Intuitively understanding this, adults begin to manipulate the situation, build dependencies “reading and playing on the computer,” etc. Learning through games is more consistent with the needs of preschool age than “school” learning. The fatal difference in favor of reading is that while reading, the child emotionally gets used to the role. When playing on a computer, he technically performs a sequence of operations that are interesting to him only. Computer game reinforces children's egocentrism and inhibits the development of voluntary (“volitional”) skills.

Situation 3. “Mechanical reading”

Petya learned to read at the age of four. At the same time, he began to “work” on the computer and at the age of five he was already reading and writing, amazing his family with his abilities. A true Indigo child, a child of genius. The problem was discovered when Petya’s grandmother from the province came to visit Petya’s parents. Out of intellectual habit, she wanted to talk with her grandson about his favorite books, and it turned out that Petya could not carry on the conversation. He didn’t seem to know or remember a single book! “As the grandmother exclaimed, haven’t you read about Pinocchio?” Petya answered in the affirmative only when the book was taken off the shelf and shown to him. “I read this one.” He recognized it from the cover. This is exactly how Petya “read” all the books on the shelf. At his grandmother’s request, Petya read from anywhere without hesitation, but he didn’t remember, didn’t know, wasn’t interested in what this episode was about. He couldn’t even retell it... “He can’t read! Read and not understand what? This is not reading! Grandma was right...

A comment:

The phenomenon of “mechanical reading” began to spread at the speed of a computer virus. It consists, in my opinion, in the fact that in the development of cognitive skills, increasing emphasis is placed on operational characteristics, short term memory and involuntary attention. It is these skills that are best trained when working on a computer. All information becomes outdated if you move from one game to another. In the same way, books are “forgotten” after the text is read and not used. If we do not include reading in a child’s actual relationships, if we do not teach him to shape his future and include the information he reads in this image of the future, books will lose their cultural purpose - to store and transmit significant experience.

  1. Children simply do not have the experience of reading together with their parents, during which parents could infect them with love, interest and delight in relation to the heroes of fairy tales. Nannies are usually concerned about the external aspects of caring for babies. Parents themselves select nannies to raise and care for their children based on the criteria of “neatness” rather than creativity. I know of many cases when hired educators were refused only because the child had plasticine on his hands.
  2. Children learn to read too early - before discussing new stories and problems with their parents. Our boundless personal ambition and parental vanity lead us to try to teach children to read as early as possible. Someone mistakenly launched into the masses the stereotype that a child's intelligence level is reflected in his ability to read. The overestimation of reading ability in Russia is associated with the late universal literacy of the population. Soviet authority put people whose parents were born into serf families at their desks. Before the war have elementary education, that is, being able to read and write, was an achievement and a status privilege. The revaluation of reading ability only intensified with the introduction of universal secondary education, allowing millions of war children to subsequently receive higher education and enter the country's intellectual elite.
  3. Today, membership in the elite, unfortunately, is not determined intellectual abilities. The main motive of education has been lost - to change in further life for the better by applying your intellectual skills. Society as a whole is not in the mood for knowledge and discovery.
  4. Children read much more than we think because we take reading more “seriously.” Parents consider ideal texts works of art classics, not half-screen LJ diaries.
  5. Reading no longer satisfies children's need for imagination. Virtual worlds that writers used to come up with large quantities supplies television and Internet. There are too many attractions in life. And the skill of refusing to participate in virtual adventures becomes more important than one’s own ability to imagine.
  6. The ideals and idols of parents and children do not coincide. Perhaps never before has the gap between generations been so wide. There are theories according to which the first generation has been born, which will rely on its own experience, and not on the experience of its predecessors. We are of little use to our children.
  7. Children learn while reading write, or rather, type on the keyboard. Calligraphic requirements no longer restrain the child’s desires and his need to exchange information. Most children's first written messages are computer commands they type to enter the virtual worlds of screen games.
  8. The language of communication between people has changed. There are more verbs and actions, fewer nouns and almost no adjectives left that would reflect a warm, emotionally rich atmosphere and make us attractive to each other and to our children. Having lost interest in us, children do not expect anything interesting from the texts that we persistently offer them.
  9. By the way, the directiveness with which we “offer” children to read also creates negative motivation for reading.

Techniques for motivating reading in children

Makhovskaya O. I.

What to do if a child does not read? This question occupies many parents. Nowadays, children are distracted by too many things: smartphones, computers, cartoons that are endlessly shown on TV - you can’t get a child out to play with friends, let alone get interested in a book. But you shouldn't give up. We have chosen 10 ways to teach your child to read. Try them one after another or several at once - one of them will certainly work.

1. Introduce a game element

Turn reading into a game and you won't have to waste a second trying to persuade your child to pick up a book. Make a production - a home theater - and let the grandparents become grateful spectators, invite your child's friends to visit and arrange a competition, always with prizes - who reads the most or finds the most objects in the picture (Wimmelbooks are good for this), show the child books - labyrinths, write stories, make crafts, draw characters, cut out, paint, conduct experiments, show shadow theater and make three-dimensional paper figures. There's a sea of ​​ideas. Just have time to implement it.

2. Let your child read what he likes

If a child refuses to read books from the school literature list, do not “press”. Show him other books so that he understands: there are not only boring stories about the autumn forest or epics about Russian heroes (who doesn’t like anything here), but also science fiction, plays and, say, satire. Yes, even myths South Africa and the legends of Vietnam - as long as the reading is captivating. There is no need to “stuff” knowledge into a child, much less impose your preferences.


Author of the photo: Aliya Gimranova, -

Try to find a genre that your child will like. And if things don’t work out at all, try “slipping” comics, even if for many it’s like a knife to the heart. When a child finds something of his own, he will get a taste for it and, quite likely, over time will begin to read everything that comes to hand: he will swallow books, not buns :)

3. Have a large library at home

It is impossible to teach a child to read if there are simply no books at home or very few of them. It should always be possible to go to the bookcase and take something.


Author of the photo: Polina Myalichkina, - .

I remember how, as a child, I myself chose books according to the principle “because gladiolus” - I read everything that caught my eye: big Soviet encyclopedia, Bulgakov, Poe, fairy tales of the peoples of the world, Gorky, Belyaev, encyclopedia “I know the world” - history, physics, space, plants, art, medicine and about twenty more on different topics, - Khmelevskaya, Darrell, Strugatsky, books about dinosaurs, growing up of children, psychology and even idioms in Latin (I memorized them - I can’t even say for what purpose). Everything was put into action. And I sincerely believe that this seriously influenced my love of reading.

4. Don’t force you to read to the end.

If you see that the book “doesn’t work”, the child sighs every now and then, gets distracted, turns around as if in a frying pan, and generally does whatever he wants so as not to turn the next page - let him close the book. Reading under pressure will not lead to good things. Never force a child to sit with a book that is not interesting to him, otherwise you will achieve exactly the opposite effect. Even adults are advised to do this: Igor Mann uses the “50-page test” - if after 50 pages read the book “does not grab you,” you just need to put it aside. Not to mention the children.


From interesting book don't tear yourself away! Author of the photo: Maria Eremina, - .

5. Show what's amazing about books

Even at school, we were taught to analyze works, see the deep meaning, guess what the author was thinking about and what he wanted to say. Try this trick with your child, but without getting into lengthy thoughts, but by showing what you read from an unexpected angle. Find something unusual in the book and show it to your child. When you explain something to him, draw non-obvious parallels - so that the young reluctant person will really become interested.


Author of the photo: Irina @kmigirazuma, -

6. Focus on leading activities

The domestic psychologist Leontyev, and then Elkonin and Davydov, developed the idea of ​​leading activity - this is the “main occupation” of the child, within which the personality develops. Each age has its own leading activity: from 3 to 7 years - role-playing game, up to 11 years - study, later - intimate and personal communication (this is why for teenagers peers become more important than family). A love of reading can be instilled through leading activities: for kids, invent games with books, for older children give encyclopedias on topics that interest them, for a teenager you can “slip” a book about relationships.


7. Don't put conditions

You can often hear from parents: “Until you read ten pages, you won’t go outside.” This is probably the worst thing you can think of. Never set conditions or deprive your child of pleasures, be it sweets, a walk with friends or a trip with the class on an excursion. Otherwise, the book will become an enemy for him. But not a friend.


Better yet, give books from a very tender age. The child will love them. Author of the photo: Irin Knuremko, - .

8. Choose beautiful books

Psychologists note that until approximately 12 years of age, visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking prevails in a child. That is why it is important to pay attention to the visual component of children's books: bright covers, beautiful illustrations, high-quality paper. A book should attract like a magnet. To excite. Cause delight. Then the child will not have to be reminded to read.


A kind, life-affirming book with magical illustrations. Even adults are delighted with it. We at MYTH love Mamasaurus! -

9. Leave books in a visible place

This is already a level eighty trick, but why not try it. Let books be everywhere in the house: nail a shelf in the kitchen, leave books on the dining table, if you have a living room or a large corridor, “settle” them there too, put them on the nightstand near the child’s bed. And don’t forget about the bathroom and restroom 😉 Seriously! It’s like on an airplane: your attention is not scattered, there are a minimum of distractions, so your hand will naturally reach for the book.


10. Read with your child

This method will work for young children: they are tenderly attached to their parents and want to spend all their time together, so you should think about diversifying your leisure time with reading. Read by role, just take turns - one page at a time, invite the child to voice the characters in different voices: the fox speaks in a high, thin voice, the wolf speaks in a deep voice, and the bun sings funny.


And be sure to read to the kids before bedtime, -

And finally, the last thing. Be the best for your child best example. A hero. Inspire. Show that you yourself are not indifferent to books. Engage in Magic world books. If you love to read with all your heart, if your family prefers books to TV, and shared leisure time over being “stuck” in gadgets, the words “My child doesn’t read” will most likely never be heard. And if there is still a problem, then it is in your power to solve it.

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