Learning to read children from a very young age according to the Zaitsev technique has long been in no need of additional recommendations. Among modern parents, this way of teaching a child to read is recognized as one of the most affordable and effective. As a teaching aid, this wonderful teacher used special Zaitsev cubes, photos of which we provide in our article.
This pedagogical development is now widely used throughout the world. A set of cubes on each face of which contains a certain letter, word or combination of letters made in a factory way is very, very expensive. Have you decided to buy Zaitsev’s cubes for your baby? Parents' reviews indicate that for many of them, such a study guide simply can not afford. How to be loving mothers and fathers?
How to make Zaitsev’s cubes with your own hands: photo and job description
But there is a way out for those who do not want to abandon the idea of ​​the early development of their baby, have creativity, ingenuity and are not too lazy to work a little. Many parents take up making the coveted textbook with their own hands. Zaitsev’s cubes, the photos of which you see here, are not so difficult to make yourself.
At the same time, the options are very different. The easiest way to use ready-made printouts. But before you begin, you need to carefully look at the original. The complete composition of the set invented by Zaitsev includes, in addition to illustrious cubes, special tables with which the child learns reading skills more easily and quickly.
Using sounds
In addition, the cubes themselves are not as simple as it seems at first glance. They are musical due to different types of filler. The idea of ​​this solution is that different pitch will demonstrate to the baby the difference between the concepts of deaf and sonorous sounds.
In total, there are 52 cubes in a set, on the sides of each there are so-called storages - units of speech invented by Zaitsev in the form of separate letters, letter combinations or syllables. What is remarkable for such cubes? Zaitsev's syllables (already mentioned warehouses) can also consist of one letter as an independent sound unit. They are placed in strict order. It must be adhered to by those who decided to make Zaitsev cubes with their own hands. At least seven pieces should be duplicated to be able to create some simple words from the same syllables. For example, "mom" or "dad."
How to make Zaitsev’s cubes according to all the rules? It is important to observe the distinction conceived by the author of the methodology between the colors, weight and size of the cubes. For all these parameters, there are 12 of their categories. You already understood that foreseeing everything is a rather difficult task. Fortunately, there are available resources where you can download a scan of all the blocks in strict accordance with the original, and absolutely free.
Choose material
So, the decision was made to make Zaitsev’s cubes with their own hands. It's time to think about what we will make them from. Immediately the idea arises of making them paper, for example, from thick cardboard. But it should be understood that such a choice is not too successful - cubes made even from the most dense cardboard will still not last long.
Take wooden finished cubes and paste over with paper squares with syllables also does not work. After all, our manual should be hollow with the ability to fill a diverse sounding filler there. Perhaps you can take large plastic toy cubes that are best suited for our purposes.
Start tinkering
In its most general form, the process consists of cutting out all downloaded and printed scans and working out the fold lines. Then the workpiece is glued without fixing the last face. If you nevertheless decided to limit yourself to thick cardboard, we fill up the filler inside the cube, the composition of which is below. Do not forget to consult the manual, which describes all types of cubes.
Then glue the last face and wait for drying. As already mentioned, this method is not too reliable due to the fragility of the source material. Even if the baby does not remember and does not break the manual, the paint will quickly erase or fade. In order not to start work again, you can try to laminate each of the cubes with a special transparent film or even with ordinary wide adhesive tape.
Do not use glossy material to avoid glare that will prevent the child from viewing letters well. The cubes covered with film or tape will not only retain bright colors for a long time, but will also be protected from dust, dirt and moisture.
Not only cubes, but also tables
A set of Zaitsev cubes is recommended to be combined with special colorful and bright tables, in which warehouses are also located. The best effect in learning is given by a combination of both. When classes with tables and cubes alternate, children get tired less and the learning process goes faster.
If you have “defeated” Zaitsev’s cubes, it’s not difficult to make a table with your own hands. Make it simple - a large sheet of whatman paper is drawn into squares or rectangles, the cells are filled in order of combination of letters. If it is difficult for the baby to point to the top row of the table, give him a pencil or a pointer in his hand.
Although the methodology was originally developed for children aged 2-3 years, the first lesson with this manual can be started earlier. In a fun playful form, the baby will quietly learn this complex, but such an interesting process - independent reading.
Important Details
Now a little more detailed information for those who are used to approaching the matter thoroughly and want to master the process of making Zaitsev’s cubes in their own hands in great detail. As already mentioned, the number of cubes in the set is 52. There are double and single, large and small, wood-gold and iron-gold. Punctuation marks are drawn on cubes with a white background.
Large cubes are designed for applying solid warehouses, such as "ma", "pa". Soft storages are written on small ones, for example, “me” or “la”. Double cubes contain all consonants that are not used with every vowel. These include the letters "h" or "g".
Vowel letters are drawn on golden cubes, iron letters are intended for voiced, wooden letters are used for muffled sounding warehouses. Warehouses with a soft sign are placed on iron-gold, and with a hard sign - on iron-wooden cubes.
Zaitsev’s cubes in Ukrainian are self-made in the same way, taking into account the features of the language.
Little tricks
The layout of the cubes is usually printed on plain paper. After labeling the cardboard, a bent strip of thick paper is inserted into the blank folded into the design position for strength. The option with conventional hollow plastic cubes inside is more reliable. Holes are made in such cubes, which, after filling with pre-selected material, are carefully sealed with self-adhesive paper. Then the finished assembly of warehouses is placed on the verge.
How to make Zaitsev’s cubes with your own hands at almost no cost? If it is not possible to buy ready-made plastic ones, you can take empty milk or kefir boxes with a square bottom. Having measured the desired height, the box is cut, glued and, after drying, is first glued with the desired color paper, and on top of it - with images of warehouses.
What else can you come up with
For those who make Zaitsev’s cubes with their own hands, it is worthwhile to pay attention to home stocks of various little things. The voiced cubes will be filled with small iron bottle caps or various small accessories that are easy to buy at needlework stores. In the deaf, small pieces of wood will become filler. A small cube of white color, on which punctuation marks are applied, is filled with rustling cut paper.
After completing all the cubes, you should check them for compliance with the recommendations contained in the original set. A table or playing field is also optional to draw by hand. Its parts are individually printed on the same printer, pasted in the right order on thick sheets, for example on whatman paper.
Reading technique on Zaitsev cubes
Our cubes are ready, as well as bright colorful tables! How to deal with the baby? If the child already has an idea of ​​letters and simple syllables, you can try to add his name, the names of animals and light objects, and the like from cubes.
Warehouses with voiced and deaf elements can be sung along with a child who, when singing deaf warehouses, squats (a small cube), and in the case of voiced ones, sits on his toes (a large cube). The child continues to work with the table of softness-hardness and perform musical tasks, clapping and jumping on one or both legs.
And read and believe
It is not necessary to strictly follow all the rules prescribed by the methodology. And without a table, having only cubes at your disposal, you can independently invent many exciting games for your child. For example, when you sit him at the dinner table, put in cubes the name of the dish ("porridge"). But nevertheless, having a complete set of training materials in hand, it will be easier to organize a systematic training of the baby in initial skills.
Zaitsev's developing cubes will help the baby to master not only reading, but also the score thanks to the special table included with the numbers drawn. Tasks for young students can vary in degree of difficulty - from the easiest (the question "How old are you?") To the multiplication table.