Designing Infrastructure for Children’s Reading in a Preschool Educational Organization: Problem Statement
The relevance of the article is determined by the attention to the role of reading by the younger generation from the state, the importance of reading in the transfer of culture from generation to generation. The method of organizing reading in preschool educational organizations has remained unchanged for several decades, reading is episodic in the daily routine of kindergarten, and the children’s interest in reading is steadily decreasing. The question arose about updating approaches to the organization of reading in kindergarten conditions: the repertoire of children’s reading, reader communications, ways to attract children to reading. The solution of these questions unites the design of the infrastructure of children’s reading in a preschool educational organization. The aim of the article is to present the results of a theoretical study of approaches to designing the infrastructure of children’s reading in a preschool educational organization, to substantiate its content as a system of components, whose interaction ensures the formation of a child’s reading competence, taking into account the peculiarities of his development during preschool childhood. Description of the research progress. At the initial stage of the study, the role of reading in the development of preschool children was determined and the focus of this type of activity on the development of the child’s reading competence was determined as the goal of designing the reading infrastructure; the relationship between the child’s literary development and reading competence is shown. Further, the study was built around finding answers to the questions: how can the repertoire of children’s reading be changed taking into account the characteristics of a child of the 21st century? Is it possible to have a mandatory reading circle (canon) in kindergarten, taking into account the current socio-cultural situation? What motivates children to read, what ways can a teacher use to motivate children to read? What changes can reader communications with preschool children undergo? The study was conducted on the basis of an analysis of a wide range of sources, significant both from a historical and modern point of view, conclusions were drawn about the design of components of the children’s reading infrastructure. In the course of the study, materials obtained in the work of the pedagogical laboratory on the topic “Designing the infrastructure of children’s reading in preschool educational institutions” on the basis of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A.I. Herzen and Kindergarten No. 143 of the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg, as well as the previous pilot empirical study on this issue (2020-2022) were used. Conclusions. The infrastructure of children’s reading acts as a dynamic education, which is designed and implemented by teachers. In the conditions of saturation of the children’s literature market with new books, the role of the teacher’s reading culture, ability to understand the concept of a children’s book and the choice of reading repertoire increases. Designing a children’s reading repertoire requires identifying and formulating problems that are significant for a child of a given age. For the development of the child’s reading competence, it is necessary for the teacher to combine external stimuli that encourage reading and actualize the child’s internal motives in accordance with an age-appropriate approach, use the practice of slow reading and the child’s play practices in organizing reader communications. Optimal support for children’s reading and the development of a child’s reading competence requires further empirical research of the infrastructure of children’s reading in a preschool educational organization.