The topic of children's literacy and whether children should be literate has always been a big debate in the field of early education. For many years, we have been talking and arguing endlessly, but there has never been a unified view. If there is no quarrel, it will be fine. If there are many quarrels, it will lead to psychological contradictions of every parent. Don't let children read, other children are reading; Literacy, but there are so many "experts" who oppose children's literacy, there is no way. Experts have nothing to say after eating, arguing endlessly, which is a pastime and a business need. The worst is Qian Qian's parents, who are miserable and can't learn well.

In this embarrassing situation, the publication of a report on "children's literacy" in a Beijing newspaper immediately aroused strong concern from all walks of life. This newspaper also discussed this for the society. Readers express their opinions and talk about their own questions and opinions. This newspaper will continue to express relevant views on issues that readers care about, such as whether children should be literate, whether they can be literate at high speed, where is the scientific basis for right-brain literacy, how to teach children in primary schools after literacy, and what to do if children can't read.

This newspaper's discussion on "kindergarten literacy" has aroused the strong concern of readers in the whole province and even the whole country. With the deepening of the discussion, readers' questions began to be detailed. Today, this newspaper lists the issues to be discussed one by one, hoping to make you think. Among them, the "opposition party" refers to the party that opposes literacy in kindergartens; "Active" refers to people who are in favor of literacy in kindergartens.

Starting from kindergarten

1. Is it outside the syllabus?

Against:

Wang Yuanchang of a kindergarten: "Children in kindergartens are mostly 3-6 years old. Their main task is to play. The task of kindergarten is to develop children's basic abilities through games. Let children learn Chinese characters all day, parents and teachers will focus on the number of children's literacy, which is easy to deviate from the comprehensive development outline of early childhood quality education formulated by the state. "

Used for:

Literacy is a basic ability and quality, and it is also a very important basic ability and quality. "Play" and literacy are not contradictory. Literacy is not the only content of kindergarten. If literacy can be skillfully combined with other games, let children read easily and happily. What's wrong with that? Whether to deviate from the educational goal lies not in what to learn, but in how to learn.

2. What are the advantages of children knowing so many words?

Against:

Parent Mr. Liu: "What are the benefits of children learning so many words? I can't write, learning is equal to learning in vain, and it has no effect. "

Used for:

There are too many benefits for children to read. First of all, children can read early after literacy, accumulate knowledge much faster, know and understand things earlier, and develop their intelligence ahead of time. At the "Seminar on Literacy Education for Preschool Children" recently held by Children's Publishing House, experts from Beijing and Shanghai believed that the best age for children to learn Chinese characters was three to six years old. It is beneficial and harmless for children to read as early as possible and cultivate their interest in learning.

Second, it also has the function of developing intelligence. There are many kindergartens in Tokyo, Japan that teach children to read. According to their research from 1967, the IQ of children who start learning some Chinese characters at the age of five can reach 95, and they start learning at the age of four 120 and start learning at the age of three 130. (Note: IQ standard, below 80 is stupid, and above 120 is very smart).

Third, scientists have found that there are far fewer people suffering from aphasia in China and Japan than in Europe and America. This is because the English used in Europe and America is a single-brain script (the left brain remembers the sound and meaning), while the Chinese characters used in China and Japan are multi-brain scripts (the left brain remembers the sound and meaning and the right brain remembers the font). Therefore, it is an accepted fact that children can develop their brains when they are literate early.

3. Can a child's little hand write?

Against:

Teacher Zhang of a kindergarten: "If you can read, you must write. Kindergarten children are young, their bones are not fully developed, their hands are only a little, and their fingers are very thin. I'm afraid that Lian Bi can't catch them, so they certainly can't write. If you write with a pen for a long time, it may cause the child's hand bone to deform and even affect his vision, leading to premature myopia. "

Used for:

Can't you write and read? It is a misunderstanding that literacy must be carried out at the same time as writing. In fact, "literacy" begins from the first day of a child's birth. The first thing I learned was the pronunciation of Chinese characters. I listen and study every day. Then I will see Chinese characters in the surrounding environment every day, and then I will learn the shapes of Chinese characters. As for how to write a word, it is done for children at the right time. The first goal of literacy in kindergarten should be reading, as long as children know how to read a word and what it means. Now many new literacy methods are in line with this concept. For example, Picking up Characters in the Wheat Field is aimed at children who learn Chinese characters before primary school. They don't teach how to write, they teach how to read, they can read quickly, and they can read independently. Teaching by stages, this is the scientific literacy method, and it is not too late to wait until children grow up and enter primary school to teach writing.

From parents

It is universally acknowledged that Chinese characters are boring and difficult to learn. Don't children hate them?

Against:

Parent Teacher Wang: "Kindergarten provides preschool enlightenment education to children, mainly to teach children the all-round development of music and art, and to teach children how to treat others, in order to better connect with primary education. If four or five-year-old children start learning boring Chinese characters, it is likely to be counterproductive, causing children's weariness from childhood and affecting lifelong education. "

Used for:

Chinese characters themselves don't matter whether they are boring or not. What matters is whether the learning method is boring or not. Therefore, whether it is boring or not is a question of teachers' educational methods, not a question of Chinese characters. If there is such a method, every Chinese character must be transformed into a colorful cartoon image, which is exactly the same as the shape of Chinese characters and closely related to the meaning of Chinese characters. Will children be bored when they see these "characters"? If every cartoon character moves into a cartoon, will children still feel bored after reading it? Isn't this the way to learn Chinese characters in the recent animation "Picking up Characters in the Rye"? Chinese character teaching in kindergarten should make children study happily, which is the basic principle of children's literacy and the main content of children's literacy teaching.

5. Can children bear the pressure of knowing 4000 Chinese characters?

Against:

Liu Yuanchang of kindergarten: "Now primary and secondary schools are advocating reducing burdens. If you start teaching children Chinese characters in kindergarten, will it increase their burden in disguise? Kindergartens should provide children with a happy and worry-free growth environment. Guo advocates that kindergarten children learn 4,000 Chinese characters, even if they are in primary school for six years, they can't learn that many words. How can children aged 3 to 6 stand it? "

Used for:

Reducing the burden is scientific, not blind. Reducing the burden is to subtract those useless and cumbersome things from the current educational content. If the most important content is regarded as the burden of not learning, and children are left to their own devices, they will go from one extreme to the other. When children miss the best critical period of learning, it may be too late to study. When a child is three to six years old, it is the best stage to remember things. Kindergarten children don't learn to read at the best time of intellectual development. Once this period is missed, the losses caused to children are sometimes irreparable for life. In addition, children don't need to learn 4000 Chinese characters at once. Only mastering the most basic 800 Chinese characters is enough to start reading independently. There are only 1000 Chinese characters in the textbook "Picking up Chinese Characters in the Wheat Field", which is easy for children to master completely. Reading does not require pinyin and is not troublesome. Compared with other children who have never learned Chinese characters, they are obviously ahead.

6. Can a book change the current education system?

Against:

Parent Mr. Han: "It should be reasonable for the State Education Commission to put literacy learning in primary schools. This should also be the result and experience summed up by many education experts for many years. Why doesn't the country promote literacy teaching to kindergarten stage? If literacy education is promoted to kindergartens, is this promotion too rash and inconsistent with the social tide? "

Used for:

"Difficulty in literacy" is a problem that has not been overcome for a long time in China's basic education. It can be said that the national education department has been exploring for decades. At present, many excellent literacy methods, such as "picking up words in the wheat field", are constantly being introduced, which is illustrated by the large-scale basic education reform carried out by the Ministry of Education in 38 experimental areas nationwide this year. It is even more wrong to say that children's literacy is incompatible with the tide of society. 1997 in the state of the union address of the United States, American children enter reading at the age of eight and surf the internet at the age of twelve. The day after Bush took office, he immediately promulgated the education reform plan of "No Child Left Behind", and at the same time formulated a plan to improve the literacy rate through "reading first" from kindergarten to the second grade of primary school.

7. Children can read and come up with scientific basis?

Against:

Parent Mr. Liu: "It's a good thing that children can read, but learning so many Chinese characters in a short time is afraid that children can't bear it." Also, can you recognize so many Chinese characters? Is there any scientific basis? "

Used for:

Whether physically or psychologically, children are in the fastest period of life development, and the speed of intellectual development and learning ability during this period are amazing. In ancient private schools, it is not uncommon for children aged four or five to study. The San Zi Jing says "English is eight years old, can recite poems, secrete seven years old, can give chess", "Tang, seven years old, is a prodigy, making orthography", which shows that a prodigy of seven or eight years old can recite poems and give poems. Bai Juyi recited poems at the age of four, and modern children have already written novels at the age of five. This is not a magical power. Any child can do it with a little training. At the same time, if he misses the critical period of his childhood, his learning potential may be buried.

8. Are you still interested in learning Chinese characters after you recognize them in kindergarten and go to primary school?

Against:

Teacher Sun from a primary school in Chengdu: "Children learn all the words in kindergarten. What else can they learn after primary school? " The students taught by the teacher all know each other, will their interest in learning be high? "

Used for:

Let children read is not the ultimate goal, the purpose is to let children enter reading as soon as possible. If you can read for the sake of literacy, you can still read. Not to mention children, even adults will lose interest. If children are guided to read more books in primary school, they will be more interested in entering a wonderful world instead of reducing their interest. The process of children's literacy is exactly the same as the process of human beings inventing words and getting rid of ignorance. This surprise is natural. If children are not interested in literacy and reading, it must not be their fault, but our educators' fault.

Debate, children grow up day by day, we still have to make a choice in time. In fact, there is no need to argue, and anything done wrong will not have a good result. If you do too much, you will lose more than you gain. Don't rush to achieve high literacy, and there is no need to worry about seeing other children literate. Blindly following the trend is a common problem of many parents. At the same time, in the critical period of children's rapid intellectual development, it is obviously not a wise choice to learn a word. It is necessary to study properly and use the favorite methods that children can accept. Don't pursue how much you have learned, and don't look at whether other children know more words than their own Chinese characters. The key is whether children study happily and can gain more important things that we ignore in the process of literacy.

(This article is from "The Revolution of Children's Literacy-Picking Words in the Wheat Field" by official website)