How to learn a poem with your child?
Very often, parents are faced with the task of preparing some kind of poem with their child for a holiday in kindergarten or simply to entertain and please guests. However, this may not be part of the child’s plans, and he flatly refuses to remember the required text.
This is explained quite logically: the little man develops a fear of a large amount of new information and the brain, with this reaction, simply tries to protect itself from overload. So what to do in such a situation, how to learn a poem with a child, so that he subsequently does not have a fear of memorizing a new amount of information due to the painful process?
You need to use little tricks. Before memorizing a poem with a child, you should tell him about the goal that you are striving for together with him, for example: “Let’s learn the poem and tell it expressively at the holiday (or to grandparents).” In a word, let the child understand that after the process of memorizing and reproducing the desired text, you and your close relatives will be proud of it. This is a kind of gift from him to all his relatives and loved ones. So, let’s look at the question of how to learn a poem with a child, step by step.
Step 1
It is necessary to read the poem with expression from beginning to end. Then, in any form, tell the content and focus on words that are incomprehensible to the child, that is, explain and give examples of where and how else these words or phrases can be used.
Step 2
Next, you should interest the child and have a conversation together about the content of the poem, for example: about the main character of the poem, who he met on his way, what he said, and so on. This is all necessary for the child to get a complete picture of this text.
Step 3
After the final analysis of the poem, you should read it several more times, naturally getting the child interested in the game after reading, but with the condition that he listens carefully and remembers everything. Now you should check how well the child remembers the poem, prompting him only the first word in each line.
Step 4
The next step is to invite your child to play, for example: you are a teacher, and he is a student, or you are a film director, and he is an actor. Let him recite the poem and you give him a mark or cast him as the lead in the movie, and it’s okay if you still have to give him the first word of the line.
Step 5
After some time, or better yet the next day, you need to repeat the poem again – you read, and the child tells. And at the end, be sure to praise him, expressing your admiration for the way he tells the poem, and such a big one at that.
Connecting visual memory
Some children absolutely do not want to sit still, analyzing and memorizing a poem. Well, they are very active and emotional. But even with them, you can still disassemble and learn the necessary work, offering to play artists based on the content of the poem. To do this, you will need pencils and album sheets or multi-colored crayons and a board. Together with your child, you need to draw pictures for each line of the poem separately. In this case, visual memory is also connected, plus everything, the child is not bored and he is completely immersed in the process of memorization, and in the complex it is much easier for him to disassemble, learn, and then recite the poem.
In fact, no matter how strange it may sound, the child himself can answer the question of how to learn a poem with a child. You just need to watch him, because all children individually perceive new information, for some it is enough to listen to a poem and he is ready to repeat it completely. Someone perceives through visual memory, here you will need to stock up on sketchbooks and pencils. Some children will find it easier to memorize a poem by surrendering to its rhythm, that is, they can march or dance while reading. You can even add elements of sports, for example, use a ball and throw it to each other on each line.
Whichever method you use, they all work very well. The main thing is that the process itself is not a burden for the child; everything should be done with a smile and a light mood. And the benefits for the child from this are simply invaluable; many personal qualities develop in him, such as the ability to complete a task started, determination and others. Speech and attention are also trained and developed. In general, learning poems with children is simply necessary.
Watch a wonderful and positive video in which a little girl named Alina recites a poem by heart: