Helping Understanding Written Texts: Why Start in Early Childhood Education?

Abstract

The paper discusses the development of comprehension of texts with children who do not yet read conventionally. With this intention, we conducted a review of research in the area of cognitive psychology with an emphasis on those involving the practice of shared reading stories with children between 4 and 5 years old. In the analysis of these studies, we discussed the implications of their results for pedagogical action, evaluating the potential of certain methodological procedures adopted to develop children’s comprehension. Finally, we reflect on alternatives for exploring both reading strategies and text content in order to guide the formation of “active listeners” who produce meaning from the texts they listen to and who, later on, will be able to read autonomously.