"Smart Elementary Newspaper": A "Korean Language Solver" for 300,000 Children
Director Shin Hyo-won's compassionate and clear literacy coaching

Vocabulary, reading skills, writing and speaking, Chinese characters…
The 6th year of elementary school is a critical period for literacy development.
How to Develop Lifelong Language Skills

“You need to read a lot to improve your literacy and study well.” This is something that parents have heard countless times these days.
Looking at it this way, it seems like improving literacy isn't that difficult.
But unfortunately, reality often flows differently.
One day, out of the blue, a child will not even look at a book, and although parents were proud of having their children read a lot, they are devastated when they see that their child's literacy skills are riddled with holes now that they are in the upper grades.
"They say reading a lot improves literacy, right? But why can't I even understand the problem? What should I do in this situation?"

Shin Hyo-won, director of the Children's Language Research Institute, who has been trusted as a "literacy mentor for 300,000 elementary school readers" by publishing numerous books including the "Smart Elementary Newspaper" series, a must-read for elementary school students, wrote "Todak Todak Elementary Literacy Counseling Center" after thinking about the numerous questions about literacy that parents ask at lecture halls.
This book contains detailed learning methods and guides that evenly develop the five Korean language skills of vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, and Chinese characters, including the principles of literacy that must be known during elementary school, the "golden time" for language development. It will serve as a loving guide for children on their journey to read and write to their heart's content and develop their study skills.

But unfortunately, reality often flows differently.
There are children who show no interest in books at all, and there are days when a child who used to read well suddenly stops looking at a book, and even though you were proud of making your child read a lot, you are faced with the fact that your child's vocabulary and literacy skills are ridiculously low as he or she enters the upper grades.
"They say reading a lot improves literacy? They say grades go up? I've diligently read only the recommended books, so why can't I even understand the material? What should I do? Should I take my child to the library more often? Should I sit them down and read a page at a time?" These are the questions I hear most frequently from parents I meet at lectures.
They say that 'literacy = grades', and that if you read a lot of books, literacy will naturally improve, so they did that, but if it seems like their child's literacy is actually getting worse, parents can't help but feel anxious.
--- From "Introductory Remarks"

At least from the third grade, you should start practicing writing a piece with a certain structure.
Children who reported poor literacy despite extensive writing were likely stuck in simple associative writing.
Writing is hard and boring, so it's easy to think that you have to write freely and with 'interest' to be able to write even one sentence, but middle school and older children don't find it very fun to use their imaginations without logic.
Even lower grades can surprisingly perform writing tasks at a high level of development, so writing that goes beyond simple associative writing is essential.

--- From "Writing, which is often overlooked, is crucial for improving literacy"

It is certainly important to know a lot of abstract words, but that doesn't mean you can just memorize them like English words.
Because it is neither fun nor meaningful, it does not stay in your memory for long.
So how should you start studying abstract language? Here, I'll share a method for studying abstract language that can be done consistently, from elementary to high school, whenever you have time.

The list of abstract words on the left is a list of abstract words that appear in first grade elementary school textbooks, categorized by difficulty.
From now on, we will guide you to learn the presented abstract words through the abstract word quiz, fill-in-the-blank, vocabulary mind map, and metaphor.

--- From "Learning Difficult Abstract Languages: Here's How to Start"

'I guess the book isn't interesting.'
'I need to find an interesting book.'
'Everyone says this book is fun to read, but my child doesn't read it.'
"Can I not read it like this? I feel like I should read something."
'You read educational comics? It's better than not reading anything, right?
Let's read this at least.'
These thoughts are probably running wild in your parents' heads.
We usually assume that once we learn Hangul, we won't have much trouble reading books.
For this reason, the reason why children do not read books is often attributed to ‘interest’ or ‘reading habits.’
However, the reason why children do not want to read books is not because they are ‘not fun’ but because they are ‘difficult to read’.
Difficult to read means 'not understood'.
Even though I know Korean, why is it so difficult to understand the content of a book? Let's examine two factors that directly impact reading comprehension and explore solutions.
--- From "Do you know the unexpected reason why you hate reading?"

So, if it's truly an educational comic, is it okay to read a lot of it? Can I let my children read it whenever they want? Every time I give a lecture, I get a barrage of questions about educational comics, and most of them are concerned that their children are completely absorbed in them.
I always advise that we make it clear to children that reading educational comics is not reading.
Along with this, I often tell children who only read educational comics that they should be regulated to read for a set amount of time, like a game.

It's best to hold off on introducing educational comics until your child feels more comfortable with written language, around the age of 8 to 10, a critical point in language development.
If you get used to educational comics before you even begin to think, "Oh, reading books isn't that hard," you won't be able to naturally become familiar with the text.
--- From "Educational comics should be avoided for children aged 8 to 10"

How can we cultivate the habit of deep reading, examining every nook and cranny of a book as if taking an X-ray? The key is questioning.
You need to subtly let them know that you should read the book while asking these questions.
Readers who have not learned to ask questions simply follow the text.
Reading that you just accept with an 'I see' doesn't leave a deep mark on your mind.
Ask your child one or two of the questions on the right to help them expand their thinking as they read.
This question can be applied to all grades, from elementary to high school.
--- From "Starting to Read Deeply with Six Questions"

Q.
Is it true that reading from cover to cover or from beginning to end is the only way to improve literacy?
Surprisingly, many parents ask this question.
Is it okay to read another book before finishing the one I'm currently reading? If I don't read the whole thing, won't I be able to improve my literacy skills? There's no set answer.
Everyone has different situations and ways of reading books, so it's impossible to say for sure that 'this is right and that is wrong.'
You can read it all, or you can stop reading this book and start reading that book.
I just wish we didn't force children to read it all.
There is also the pressure that once you start reading a book, you must finish it.
If parents set a daily reading volume, regardless of whether the content is continuous or not, and make children read it over several months according to their wishes, children will feel burdened even to start reading.
Even if you read it all the way through, you'll probably just skim through the scenes and fill up the reading quota.

--- From "Elementary School 4th to 6th Graders, I'm curious about this!"