The relevance of the article is determined by the attention to the role of reading by the younger generation from the state, the importance of reading in the transmission of culture from generation to generation. The formation of the reading competence of a preschool child is predetermined by the tasks of developing interest in reading in the Federal Educational Program of Preschool Education; it is the result of the children's reading infrastructure created in a preschool educational organization and families. The reading competence of a child at different levels of education has been actively studied. The structure of a preschool child's reading competence, the features of its manifestation remain practically unstudied, while its formation begins precisely in preschool age.
The aim of the article is to present the results of an empirical study of the features of reading competence of preschool children in the context of the humanitarian research methodology, to characterize the phenomenon of reading competence of older preschoolers based of its working model.
Description of the research progress. At the preliminary stage of the study, the infrastructure of children's reading was created in groups of older preschool children in accordance with the provisions presented in our previous work. At the initial stage of the study, based on theoretical analysis, a working model of the reading competence of preschool children was created. A methodology was developed to study the reading competence of older preschoolers, which used participant observation and playful experimental situations. The study of reading competence was carried out in groups of children aged 5 to 6,5 years; 52 children and 4 teachers took part in the experiment. During the study, the phenomenon of reading competence of older preschool children was studied and its manifestations were recorded (based on the study of reading activity as reading-listening).
The features of the reader's competence were interpreted from the perspective of the humanitarian research methodology as a phenomenon with a number of characteristics. The description is built around the search for answers to the questions: what are the features of the manifestation of motivation for reading and listening in older preschoolers; do preschoolers have a primary orientation in the world of books, etc. When interpreting the results of the study, the manifestations of children recorded during observation and experimental situations were analyzed on the basis of the developed indicators of the manifestation of reading competence.
Conclusions. In older preschool age, internal motivation for reading is recorded, which is determined by the attitude of adults to this activity and the creation of a reading environment in groups. Older preschool children have a primary orientation in the world of books, there are preferences in choosing the content of books and favorite authors. Preferences in choosing the content of books are associated with a passion for a certain topic; favorite authors appear based on interest in 2–3 books of a particular writer. In reading-communication conditions, children freely express emotional and evaluative judgments about what they are reading or read, ask questions about what they do not understand, evaluate the actions of characters and talk about their reasons, try to formulate conclusions “for life” – about how to act, about relationships between people. The naive-realistic interpretation of the meaning of the book prevails among children, the transition to understanding the internal meanings is planned. The emergence of a new type of children's activity – reader communication is recorded.