Abstract:

Familiarizing children with picture books from an early age to support their development plays a significant role in their development. For the qualified progress of book reading processes, it is important that adults who will read books with children make various preparations before sharing the books with children. This study aimed to identify pre-reading preparations of teachers working with preschool children. In this research, case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used. Accordingly, the researchers produced a form titled “Identification of Reading Preparation Processes with Children” and emailed the form to 47 preschool teachers. The data obtained from these forms were analyzed by descriptive analysis. In order to deepen the knowledge, focus group interviews were conducted with nine teachers and the data obtained were analyzed by content analysis. The teachers stated that they made preliminary preparations before sharing the books with the children such as having an interesting material about the book, determining the questions to be asked about the story along with the cover, and the points to draw attention in order to carry out the process more effectively. It could be concluded that the teachers were prepared for reading, but they did not produce a reading plan. Moreover, it was found out that teachers could integrate book reading to different types of activities such as science, mathematics and art, and they recommended high-quality books for families to read with their children at home.

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