As bases da leitura: entre a “ciência” da literacia precoce e a “ciência” do jogo

Abstract

The main aim of this text is to call the attention of those who deal with the child that he/she must be seen as a whole and exposed to the act of reading from an early age. To become a reader, the child needs to master the mechanism which allows him/her to know and recognize letters and words, as well as phonological processing. However, this more scientifically-based academic approach is not sufficient if we wish to emphasize not only decoding but also reading comprehension. In my opinion, reading is mainly about comprehension. However, the decoding stage should not be neglected and must become automatic as soon as possible in order to leave the child’s memory free to grasp the sense of what he/she is reading without the interference of lengthy decoding. Taking into account the benefits of an emergent literacy, the child has then to be familiar with reading through academic and play-based educational programmes. That said, it is not simply the intellectual side of the child that should be developed, but the whole child which includes other cognitive skills as well as the emotional and social benefits from symbolic and socio-dramatic play. As for the different types of reading practices, indirect reading is advocated here because of its potential for multi-cognitive language development and future reading success.