How to Introduce your Children to Reading: A Playful Journey with Tajinebanane
Initiating our children into reading is an exciting but crucial process for their development. As you can imagine, instilling a love for reading is a real asset in their learning! Among the various methods, the symbolism of letters plays a significant role in the minds of the little ones. The alphabet is not just a series of characters: each letter is a sound, an idea, and a new discovery. In short, here are our tips for an unforgettable encounter with the world of reading! ⬇️
The ALPHA Method, for Customized Reading Learning
To introduce your child to reading, Claude Huguenin and Olivier Dubois developed a specific learning method in the year 2000: "Les Alphas" (The Alphas). The approach is now praised by professionals and recognized by UNESCO. Its objective? Placing the child at the center of their learning by engaging all their senses: sight, touch, hearing, but also their imagination! With the various techniques of the Alphas, learning to read takes a completely new multisensory direction:
🧚 The Alpha characters: At the heart of this method are the Alphas, fantastic characters representing the different letters of the alphabet. To create a rich and amusing universe, each Alpha has its own appearance, personality, and, most importantly, its own sound. There is Mr. "O," a round and cheerful man exclaiming "ooooh," or Mrs. "A," an artist uttering many "aaaah" in front of her works. With this approach, children encounter letters in a playful way by giving them a real story. And on your side, you can create your own characters; the Alphas are not limited!"
👌 The Gestures Associated with Alphas: To reinforce the understanding of correspondences between letters and sounds, the ideal is to engage multiple senses. To achieve this, Alphas rely on specific gestures to be replicated with the name of each character. The goal is mnemonic: children will more easily anchor these connections with a multisensory approach, particularly involving gestures and hearing.
📕 A Progressive Approach with Adapted Materials: In order to optimize this teaching, a wide range of educational materials is now available to parents: activity books, dedicated books, interactive applications, and much more. Through these tools, children can progress step by step in their learning, gradually increasing in complexity. You can visit this website for an example of available materials to facilitate your journey towards reading!
And what if we played to learn how to read?
To make the learning of reading even more memorable and fun, we recommend incorporating playful games to accompany our budding readers in their education:
💬 The Alphabet Guessing Game: We all know the guessing game where we attach a name to our forehead to have others guess it. Take this concept but with simple letters that you and your children will guess. For example, with an "i" on your head, you pronounce words with the corresponding sound until the child finds the correct answer. It's your turn to play!
🏴☠️ Letter Treasure Hunt: Like the guessing game, your little ones probably love a treasure hunt! Here too, follow the basic principle: hide papers with letters throughout the house, let your children find and read them aloud with the correct sound before moving on to the next treasure. You stimulate their understanding of sounds while entertaining them.
📜 Fill-in-the-Blank Story: Write a story leaving blanks for certain words. The children must then guess which words fit each blank based on the context of the story. With this game, you encourage your child's understanding of text and vocabulary while stimulating their imagination!
🖍️ The Drawn Word Game: On a pice of paper, slate, board, or any writing support, start writing the letters of a word, fragment by fragment. As you progress, give apprentice readers the chance to guess the letters one by one until they find the final word. This way, you'll develop their knowledge of the alphabet and spelling.
The journey of learning to read can become an exciting adventure filled with moments of sharing between your child and you! With diverse educational materials and a playful approach, your children can dive into the vast world of the alphabet with joy and kindness. Moreover, the latest Tajinebanane collection, Momday, draws inspiration from the realm of words to dress both little ones and adults in a letter-themed fashion!
