By Teacher Sophie
Every week children visit our school library - a brightly lit room with all you would want for a good reading: sofa, cozy carpet with pillows, low light lamp, silence and a 100+ books to choose from on all topics. Books about animals, Pokémon, nature, Disney, world records, and science fiction by iconic children’s authors such as Roald Dahl and Dr.Seuss.
At the age of 4 children usually start their reading-in-English journey, that will be completed when they would be able to read all words and comprehend the meaning of the stories. Before the reading begins, they begin preparations in class by getting exposed to letters and even digraphs. However in their early years it’s hard to understand that letters together can form a whole word, as it requires a process of generalization. Also to read they need to know the sounds that letters make, and understand connection of graphic signs and sounds. For a child is not as easy, as may seem.
In OISCA we provide a wide range of activities for the kids to enter the amazing, rich and deep world of books, that a person will interact with throughout all their lives. The prelude activities to real reading for kids, that we provide, are:
◯ showing them the concept of a library, including classified book shelves
◯teaching them how to take and leaf through the book carefully
◯showing them eye-catching illustrations to generate interest in the stories
◯asking children to tell the story verbally of book by describing pictures
◯showing them how to use a big encyclopedia and share information with friends to introduce new animals which creates a discussion
And all this is possible even from an early K1 age (3-4 years), when children cannot yet read, but already can make books a part of life.
