Listening to fairy tales, the baby dreams, plays,develops and… grows up! Experts have no doubt that you need to start reading to your child from a very early age. It is only important to remember that this activity should bring pleasure to both of you. Child psychologists no longer have any doubts: children, even the smallest ones, need books no less than parental love or good nutrition. Although some parents still perceive this statement with skepticism: why do very young children need fairy tales if they do not even understand the meaning of simple words? But scientists have all the evidence: books not only help children grow up, but also instill in them a love of reading for life.
In the first reading
At first, a book will be given to a baby firstonly an object of study, stimulating the development of all five senses, including smell and taste. To be convinced of this, it is enough to observe the behavior of a one-and-a-half-year-old child. Having received a book at his disposal, he first strokes it, turns it upside down, puts it on its edge, and then sniffs it, licks it and pulls it into his mouth! In order not to interrupt the acquaintance at the most interesting moment, take care in advance that the publication you have chosen is adapted for such extreme methods of “reading”. This is not difficult: today many publishing houses compete in ingenuity, releasing small-format books of “increased durability”.
As in the Mirror
The first books are not only brought to the childsensory experience and pleasure from communicating with parents, but also teaches him to be observant. Very soon the baby begins to look at pictures. They give him an idea of the world around him, which is why illustrations are always popular with children: for them, this is the ABC of reality. The baby quickly realizes that the pictures depict real things and phenomena. Research, for example, confirms that even the smallest children rarely confuse the top and bottom of a picture. At ten months, they already understand that a kitten depicted in a book and a cat curled up on the sofa are not the same thing. This transition to the perception of symbols means the launch of thinking processes. Around the same time, the little explorer discovers that a book can “speak”! Not only pictures live on its pages, but also words. Of course, he will not be able to make this important discovery without your participation. The first book always speaks in the voice of the mother, and only after a few years it is replaced by the silence of the printed word. Thanks to your intonations, the plot acquires a special emotional value for him. Do you lack acting skills and a creative approach? An enthusiastic listener will forgive you these shortcomings. The main thing is that you read the tale with soul, then he will ignore your shyness or reservations. In addition, by practicing the art of recitation every day, sooner or later you will definitely discover such talents of a reader and storyteller that you did not suspect before.
Time for communication
If there are pictures in the book, you can describe themthem in your own words or come up with your own plot when there are no captions under them. First, describe the drawing, then ask your child questions - in such simple ways you can revive a new image for your baby. Even at an early age, a child is quite capable of perceiving a short story made up of the simplest words. Fairy tales are ideal for this role, listening to which the baby will gradually expand his vocabulary. During this period, mysterious and incomprehensible words contain a whole magical world for the baby. Do not try to turn reading a fairy tale into an educational lecture. A detailed analysis of each word with an excursion into history will leave no room for the imagination. If the child does not understand something, it is not scary. If he really needs to understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word, he himself will ask you for an explanation. But what to do if there is no time and energy left for reading fairy tales? Or the soul does not lie to this activity at all? Of course, there are many parents in the world who, with the best intentions, force themselves to perform this ritual every evening... In this case, psychologists give two pieces of advice: do not dramatize the situation and stop treating reading as an obligation. The verb "to read" does not tolerate the imperative mood. Do not force yourself just because it is useful for the development of the baby.
Familiar tunes
Getting to know the artistic style of speech is notnot only enriches the child's vocabulary, but also sets certain guidelines for the child. Unlike the language of everyday communication, which almost always relates to the present moment, the story told in the book refers the reader to both the past and the future. In addition, the story always has a beginning and an end, between which the twists and turns of the plot unfold in a logical sequence - what a model of life itself! Another important quality for a child: no matter how many times the same book is read to him, not a single word will be lost. This immutability and predictability reassures the child, gives him confidence in the strength of his own existence. The old man will definitely pull out the turnip, and the hen will certainly lay an egg tomorrow, and in a month, and in a year. If the plot of the fairy tale changed every evening, what would convince the child parting with his parents for the night that his dad or mom will not be different by the next morning? It is precisely the need for stability that explains the fact that a little fairy tale lover is ready to listen to a familiar story hundreds of thousands of times.
Education of the senses
A good book can be recognized first of all bythe surge of emotions and feelings that it evokes in us. A child, like an adult, finds in it a reflection of his joys, sorrows, fears, and sometimes where you least expect it. For example, a child can see a tiny bird in the corner of the page and, not paying attention to the other details of the picture, persistently demand an answer from you to the question: "Why is the titmouse sitting on a branch alone?" And here it is not surprising to get confused: in the fairy tale - nothing is said about this! But such a reaction is quite natural: the child gives vent to his emotional experiences, because he is also worried about the eternal human fears of loneliness, death, separation. Scary stories also perform an educational function, so if the baby asks you to read a fairy tale about an evil giant at night, do not try to dissuade him from this idea. You should not forbid such books either: the child has the right to choose what to listen to. If he orders a scary story from you, it means that he needs to experience the feeling of fear now. In order to get rid of a negative emotion, a child must act it out, and a fairy tale allows him to do just that.
On the soul and body
Let your baby listen to you the way he wants.If your one and a half year old runs off to the other end of the room to play with cars as soon as you have read the first two sentences, do not be upset. This does not mean that he will never love books. It is just that some children have a higher need for physical activity than others. During a joint reading, the baby may suddenly have a desire to cuddle up to you, but a minute later he may urgently need to run around the room... In these and many other ways, the baby tries to experience the emotions received from the story. He splashes out his feelings in movements and gestures. But it may also happen that one evening the child really does not want to listen to a fairy tale. In this case, his refusal should be clearly heard and you should not insist on your own. Do not forget that at this stage of the romance that he is developing with the book, the most important thing is the pleasure of the process.
From 0 to 1.5 years
The baby perceives poetic rhythms perfectlyand distinguishes intonations. For the first readings, choose poetry: it will give the first idea of a special artistic language that differs from everyday life. Since the meaning of the content is not yet accessible to the baby, you can read any poets to him. When the baby learns to sit and hold objects in his hands, you can give him books - toys - fabric, rubber, cardboard, musical. The main thing is that one character should be depicted on one page so that the baby can easily recognize it, show how the cat meows, where its tail, ears and whiskers are. Nursery rhymes, ditties, lullabies help children build a model of the world around them. Books that tell about everyday events in the baby's life will also come in handy: how he eats, plays, sleeps.
1,5 to 3 years
The child begins to speak and understands the meaningmany words and can imagine how “the teapot runs after the coffee pot”. It’s high time to introduce him to the poems of Chukovsky, Marshak, Barto. Early reading is the baby’s communication not only with his mother, but also with the author of the book and the artist – illustrator. The child tries to “decode” the pictures, so look for books with beautiful drawings and kind characters: the baby will learn to read emotions from their faces. “Acidic” colors and characters drawn in the style of computer graphics – not the best choice. The plot should be simple and coherent, with a beginning, middle and end; the motives for the characters’ actions are clear. Thanks to this text structure, the baby learns to build a sequence of events and grasp cause-and-effect relationships. Give preference to short stories. You can start with fairy tales with illustrations by Vladimir Suteev ("Three Kittens", "Chicken and Duckling") and a series of books about the Little Bear by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. For 3-year-olds, the stories "Kitten Named Gav" by Grigory Oster and "The Adventures of Little Piglet Peter" by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya are suitable. In parallel, you can read well-known fairy tales. Audiobooks can be included from 2 to 3 years. Their main difference from a regular book is the lack of live communication with mom.
3 to 5 years
There is a temptation to overwhelm the child with educationalencyclopedias and alphabets. But in preschool age, the leading role in most children is played by the right hemisphere, which is responsible for imaginative thinking and emotional development. The left hemisphere, responsible for logical operations and information processing, matures only by 6-7 years. Overloading a child with knowledge can lead to nervous breakdowns. The child learns to hear and perceive fiction, enjoy the music of poetry, see an image behind the words. Poems and classic children's prose with integral plots are important here: stories by N. Nosov, A. Raskin, V. Dragunsky, Andersen's fairy tales, etc. Time for playful poetry (reversal poems): the baby is already able to laugh at the world turned upside down. There is no point in offering them earlier: the child will not understand anything and will get confused in strange images. You can read A. Usachev, Yu. Moritz, O. Grigorieva. "Psychotherapeutic" books by modern authors about death, birth of children, etc. can be read to a child if this issue worries him and he shows a heightened interest in the topic. You should not read them for educational purposes or for the sake of variety. You should also avoid books where familiar plots are presented in the style of a textbook, with tasks like: "Now count how many kids are left in the house!" Such a presentation disrupts the holistic perception of artistic tact. We recommend reading:
