The rules for reading English are quite complicated. A child can learn pronunciation on his own, learn to understand speech by ear, but it will be impossible to learn to read in English without the help of adults. And the point is not only that the same letter can be pronounced differently depending on the environment, but also that the rules do not cover the whole variety of reading options for the same combinations. There are many exceptions.
In this article, we will provide recommendations that will allow children to present the rules of reading English in an accessible and fun way. Lessons will not take much time: just 10-15 minutes daily.
When can I start learning to read in English?
Rule one: the sooner the better. One can argue with this, because it is known that most children begin to read in their native language at the age of 5-6 years. But you don't have to wait until that age. After six years, the possibilities of the child are no longer so wide. The sooner the baby begins to learn reading skills in English, the easier it will be for him later. At the same time, it is important to give tasks according to one's strength. Don't expect fluent reading by age 6. Justget ready for it. For example, learn songs about letters and the alphabet, they are very easy to remember. At school age, learning them is more difficult, and regardless of the child's ability, it will take more time.
How to build learning?
Rules for reading English for children are presented on the basis of "from simple to complex". For some strange reason, students in Russian non-specialized schools begin to learn English from transcription, which is perceived by most as something tedious, obscure and completely unnecessary. Forget about her, adults need her. When teaching children, follow the sequence "sound - meaning - letter". How much joy the first read word brings, the meaning of which is clear!
So:
1. To teach reading and to replenish vocabulary, you can use techniques based on the methodology of Glenn Doman. They all appeal to the incredible memory of the child. You will need cards with printed words and pictures that describe those words, and of course good pronunciation. These cards can be played even with a newborn. First, you should show the picture and voice it, then show the written word and voice it, then move on to more active activities. For example, offer the child several cards with words, show a picture and ask them to find this word in written form. Of course, the baby is not aware of the rules by which these expressions are read, but in the end he reads them.just like an adult: he sees the inscription and immediately understands its meaning, notices if it is written with a mistake. The only difference is that in order to read like this, the child did not have to move from letters to words. Memory allows you to gain a decent vocabulary in just two years.
2. Get to know the sounds, not the names of the letters. For example, the sound "k" and the English letter "c", as in the word "cat". Point to the letter "C" and say: "K!" - "KAT!" It is important for reading examples to select words whose meanings are already familiar to the child. You can build vocabulary while learning sounds and their symbols - letters, but it's more difficult.
3. Choose the more common sound options first. For example, the letter "C" is much more often read as "K", as in the word "Cat", and less often as "S", as in the word "Sity". Learn all the consonants first. As a rule, they are read the same everywhere.
4. Now you can move on to reading syllables. We need cards with syllables and letters that can be folded into words. Words are chosen the simplest and those that are read according to the rules. For example, the syllable -at. From it you can make the words "cat" (cat), "rat" (rat), "fat" (fat). The technique is as follows: an adult reads one word and offers, by analogy, to read similar ones to a child.
When the baby can easily read even new words and determine how this or that letter sounds (whether a consonant or a vowel), you can proceed to the next step.
5. Learning to read combinations of consonants. The rules for reading English in this area are quite simple, although they are unusual for us. Sh is read as w, ch as h, etc. Give more simple examples. For example, "ship" (ship), "chin" (chin).
6. Then you move according to the same principle: you master all new combinations of letters. First, work out the simplest rules for reading English, then move on to complex ones. In this case, combinations of vowels and consonants are simple, such as ar (bar, star, war). More complex can be called combinations of vowels, for example, ee, as in the word "sheep".
7. Words with an open syllable, that is, those in which they are not closed by consonants, are perceived more difficult, they should be left in the end. For example, the word "Tale". It has two syllables, each of which is read differently than in closed syllables. The letter a here does not sound the same as in the word "cat". But you do not have to explain to the child what open and closed syllables are. With practice, he will understand this difference unconsciously. Such patterns are often formed in adults who read a lot of texts with parallel translation. Without knowing the rules, they correctly determine how this or that word is pronounced, simply because they have already seen how other similar ones are read many times.
If a child loves to draw, it will be interesting for him to get acquainted with the letter at the same time. First, the letters are simply drawn, then you can sign the drawings with familiar words. You can create yourown dictionary, involve the child in drawing cards, which will later be needed to learn to read.
But you can clearly separate these two tasks - reading and writing, and learn only the first one first.
The rules for reading English contain many exceptions. They will need to be spoken separately with the child, paying attention to one or another expression. This task is facilitated by the fact that incorrect words are the most common and very common. So you will have no difficulty in explaining this or that non-standard rule for reading English.
Following this method, you can learn to read by the age of six. A child can learn all the rules of reading English in two or three years.
