The latest research indicates the optimal age for children to learn Chinese characters: ages 3-6 are considered the best years for children to learn Chinese, as early reading can only benefit and not harm a child's interest in learning.
From a physiological perspective, during childhood, the brain develops at its fastest rate. Around the age of three, a child's brain weighs approximately 900-1000 grams, which is about two-thirds of an adult's brain weight. By the age of seven, the brain weighs around 1280 grams, equivalent to nine-tenths of an adult's brain weight.
The period when a child's brain develops most rapidly is also when their memory is particularly strong. From a psychological standpoint, young children are in their most active phase, loving movement and play. Taking advantage of this characteristic by incorporating playful recognition methods can significantly increase their enthusiasm for learning.
The most important outcome of learning to read isn't how many Chinese characters a child masters but rather that during the process of learning, the child’s attention, observational skills, memory, imagination, and thinking abilities all develop well. So, how can we guide children to recognize Chinese characters? The following methods might be worth trying for parents:
1. Picture-based character recognition
Using stories that are primarily illustrated with minimal text, guide young children to recognize words that correspond clearly to images and guess the meaning of the text based on the pictures. Alternatively, find nursery rhymes with simple language, clear pictorial meanings, and content relevant to a child's life to help them understand the relationship between images and text. Once a child grasps this method, with a little effort, they can recognize more commonly used characters during reading.
2. Game-based character recognition
Playing games is a natural inclination for children. As long as parents use their creativity, they can teach children to recognize characters through games at any time. For example, if a child likes playing with sand and stones, parents can write the words "sand" and "stones" on small cards and bury them in a sand pile for the child to dig out with a small shovel. After the child digs one up, let them recognize it. In this excited state, the child will easily remember the Chinese characters.