Child development in preschool age. Features of the development of a child in preschool age

When working with children who are at preschool age, teachers should take into account a large number of very diverse aspects. This will help prepare the baby for school and will allow you to correctly form his personality traits.

Take into account all the nuances preschool age required in the upbringing of children. Moreover, it is necessary to pay attention to the features of the development of a small person at all stages of his preparation for entering adulthood.

Preschool

The beginning of this time period is the moment when the baby turns 2 or 3 years old. This is the time when a small person begins to understand that he is part of society. Preschool age lasts until the baby is 6-7 years old. That is, until the period when the child is able to begin education in an educational institution. Up to 5 years old, children are considered younger preschoolers, later, at 5-7 years old, older ones.

As you can see, this period has no clear age limits. The fact is that the value is not attached to the calendar date at all. This is where social factors play a major role. individual characteristics child.

The maximum preschool age ranges from 2 to 7 years. At this time, the child begins to lay:

• the foundations of his individual psychological characteristics;
• the foundation of the social and moral formation of his personality.

Features of preschool age

The life span from 2 to 7 years is characterized by the following differences:

• the very high importance and role of the family, on which the material well-being of the baby depends, as well as his cognitive interests and spirituality;
• the leading role of adults in meeting the basic needs of life and the needs of children;
• the inability of children to protect themselves from the adverse effects of external factors.

All features of preschool age in psychological and physiological terms should be taken into account by parents and teachers when working with kids. This will make the process of education and training as effective as possible. The task of an adult is to help the child to easily join the social process, while forming the best human qualities with which he would become a worthy citizen.

Preschool age can be considered that period in a child's life when he discovers new horizons and opportunities almost every day. At this time, the baby is especially actively learning about the world around him with its variety of human relationships, phenomena and activities of adults. During this period, new horizons open before him. He ceases to consider the world within the framework of only his family and gradually merges into society.

Of course, there are still very few elements in the activities of preschool children that would allow them to take an active part in adult life. However, the kids really want this. This explains their desire for independence, which is accompanied by the notorious phrase “I myself!”, As well as the irrepressible curiosity that is familiar to every parent on the questions “Why?”. Children's desire for independence is also expressed in active attempts to take the initiative. An example of this is the imitation of adults in the form of a desire to grate carrots, wash dishes, etc.

Features of the development of preschoolers

In the period from 2 to 7 years, children most actively improve the foundations of self-awareness. Toddlers begin to evaluate themselves from a variety of points of view. It is important for them to understand how kind and attentive friends they are, capable and diligent people, obedient daughters and sons, etc. All information ceases to be perceived by children emotionally. It is perceived by them more consciously. Preschool children begin a purposeful search for certain information, subjecting them after analysis.

Throughout the entire period of preparation for school, children develop their visual-effective thinking.

At the same time, the foundation of their logical and visual-figurative direction is born. At the same time, imagination is born, the first manifestations of which can be observed in children of primary preschool age. By the age of 3, the child manages to accumulate a certain life experience, thanks to which the baby receives necessary material for fantasies.

The development of thinking and imagination have a direct impact on the formation of speech. And if by the age of 3 the baby sometimes only begins to speak, then by the age of seven he does it quite well.

The development of speech directly affects the formation of voluntary attention. Children of primary preschool age, with whom classes are held on the conscious memorization of words, actions or objects in the form of assignments, games or tasks to perform feasible household chores, learn this very quickly.

Mental Improvement

Let us consider in more detail the most important aspects of the development of preschool children. And let's start with their mental development, which is influenced, first of all, by heredity, as well as those close people who surround the child. In this regard, in the process of such development of preschool children, it is very important for fathers and mothers to learn to understand and accept their child, while interacting with him as effectively as possible. Special trainings organized on the basis of various development centers can help in this matter.

In preschool children, the formation of the arbitrariness of such leading mental characteristics occurs:

1. Perception. Preschool children love to examine the objects of the world around them, observe them, and then analyze the information received. They begin to describe things, indicating their size and shape, colors and shades. At the same time, they successfully mastered the system of sensory signs. For example, they may indicate that an object is round, like a ball.
2. Memory. As early as 3 years old, it is involuntary in a child. He is able to fix in memory only what caused him emotions. But already as he approaches the senior preschool age (4-5 years), he begins to remember consciously, for example, the rules and elements of the game.
3. Thinking. In preschool children, it smoothly passes from the form of visual-effective to visual-figurative. At the same time, the initial form of logic and reasoning begins to develop. So, at 4 years old, thinking is based on objective actions. At 5 years old, it can anticipate them. A 6-7-year-old child can transfer thinking to similar situations.

Emotional becoming

Preschool age is a period when children begin to actively develop social experiences and moral feelings, which are based on the manifestation of new motives, needs and interests. And if earlier the children themselves were the objects of emotions that adults poured out on them, then a little later the little person himself becomes the subject of such relationships. This is expressed in his empathy for others.

Emotions in an individual of preschool age help him to realize reality, as well as to respond to it. Basic set feelings during this period is greatly expanded. If earlier it was only joy and fear, then preschoolers are able to be jealous and angry, sad, etc. During this period, children learn the language of views, movements and gestures, through which they often convey their emotions to others. They also use different intonations of the voice.

Based on the fact that harmonious development in preschool age becomes possible only thanks to the environment of the child, it is important for adults to fill the world of the baby with emotional experiences and bright events, specially organized music classes, theatrical performances, and games. A significant role in this case is given to communication with peers, as well as work.

cognitive development

A similar direction in children is innate. Nature endows children with this trait for a reason. After all, with its help, kids are easier to adapt to life. But at preschool age, the cognitive direction develops into cognitive activity. Thus, the child forms the primary image of the world.

Cognitive activity in preschoolers can be traced in the form of:

• imagination, thinking, attention, perception and memory;
• obtaining information, as well as its analysis;
• emotional reaction to events, people, phenomena or objects.

All of the above components are inextricably linked. That is why the work on cognitive development preschool children should be exercised with each of these elements. At the same time, it is important for adults to ensure that children receive information that is in accordance with their cognitive abilities. Moreover, it must be taken only from reliable sources.

Speech development

How early a child begins to talk depends on many factors, including psychological features both the baby and his environment. But, as a rule, children of older preschool age use language not only as a means of communication, but also use it when thinking. The vocabulary of a child by the age of 6 increases to 3-3.5 thousand words, that is, it becomes approximately 3-3.5 times more than at three years. The older preschooler shows good command of all types of oral speech and can communicate using extended messages, including monologues and stories.

When learning their native language, children imitate others. That is why the key to the successful development of the speech of preschoolers lies in communication with peers, relatives and other people. At the same time, it is important that adults communicate with babies without lisping, without adjusting to their pronunciation of words. In order to promote the development of the speech of a preschooler, parents and educators should listen to him, ask leading questions, and respond to the child in a friendly and patient way to all his “why”. The desire of the child to "chat" adults should be encouraged by all means.

Physical becoming

In the preschool period, the child undergoes an intensive process of formation of the most important systems of the body, the skeleton becomes ossified, the circulatory, respiratory systems, etc. develop.

That is why the improvement of the baby at this age in the physical plane is no less important than in the psycho-emotional. Besides physical activity preschoolers with moderate sports loads is an excellent stimulus for their emotional and mental development.

Preschool education

The process of becoming a small person as a person can be divided into two parts:

• preparation for school;
• development of the personality characteristics of the child.

It can be said with confidence that preschoolers attending kindergartens and mastering educational programs in them receive the education they need in this period of their lives in full.

Child in the family

What do parents need to know about early childhood education? It is important for dads and moms to have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bsimple rules and strictly follow them. Parents should teach their children by example. This should not be forgotten. Indeed, in a child, as if in a mirror, all the negative that exists in the family will subsequently be reflected - rudeness and quarrels, untidiness and inattention to close person as well as bad habits.

Parents are encouraged to hug their son or daughter more often. In this case, the child will feel protection and love. Preschoolers are in dire need of tactile contacts. There should be at least eight of them during the day, according to the researchers.

In addition, the child should be praised. How many times a day? The more often this is done, the better for education. But at the same time, you should not show excessive fanaticism and flatter the baby. He will feel false immediately. But praise will certainly increase the self-esteem of a small person, motivating for self-improvement and good deeds.

Toddlers at preschool age should certainly be optimists. To do this, it is necessary to teach them to perceive the world that surrounds them, only positively.

Parents should talk a lot with their children. After all, all education begins with words. The kid must learn to hear adults, as well as be able to express their problems.

It is important for fathers and mothers to be interested in how their child lives, to ask him about what happens to him outside the home, what are his relationships with peers. The child must trust his parents. The bonus of this direction of education will be teaching the child to communicate and the ability to conduct a dialogue.

Also, parents should instill a sense of responsibility in their child. After all, a preschooler is not always aware of what they can ask him for his actions, as well as for what he was entrusted with by adults. He should be taught this. How can you get a good result? Just by showing your own example. So, if dad helps mom set the table, and after lunch or dinner washes the dishes, then the son will begin to understand that a man should help a woman. What activities at preschool age can be entrusted to the baby at home? This is cleaning your things, caring for your favorite animal, etc. Growing up, the child will begin to understand that any person in life should be responsible for something.

It is important for parents to constantly develop in their child the desire for knowledge, for learning new things. To do this, you will need to provide the child with educational games, organize viewing of encyclopedias, reading fairy tales, etc.

Preschool children should develop perseverance. This will be necessary when they sit down at the desk.

child in preschool

In kindergartens, educators carry out the entire learning process in the form of classes. During their conduct, teachers interact with preschoolers, forming their sports and labor skills, as well as contributing to the aesthetic and mental development children.

In this case, there are certain teaching methods, among which:

1. Verbal. They involve a dialogue with the kids, answering their questions and verbally explaining the task.
2. Visual. This method involves the use of pictures and objects, didactic materials and illustrations.
3. Practical. In these classes, the children use the acquired skills in real life. Improvement of practical skills is carried out by performing special exercises included in the training programs.
4. Gaming. This technique involves modeling life situations through the game. It should be noted that such education of preschoolers is the most effective. Educational programs for preschool educational institutions most often include training didactic games giving children multiple answers. This approach allows preschoolers to develop logic, calculating the consequences of their choice.

Preschool childhood is a long period of a child's life. The conditions of life at this time are rapidly expanding: the framework of the family is moving apart to the limits of the street, city, country. The child discovers the world of human relations, various activities and social functions of people. He feels a strong desire to get involved in this adult life, to actively participate in it, which, of course, is still inaccessible to him. In addition, no less strongly he strives for independence. From this contradiction, a role-playing game is born - an independent activity of children simulating the life of adults.

Preschool age is the stage of mental development from 5 to 7 years. It is characterized by the fact that the leading activity is the game. It is very important for the formation of the child's personality. It includes three periods:

junior preschool age - from 3 to 4 years;

average preschool age - from 4 to 5 years;

senior preschool age - from 5 to 7 years.

In the course of the game - game activity - the main methods of tool activity and the norms of social behavior are mastered. Along with play activity, other forms of activity are formed at this age: designing, drawing, etc. The mutual consistency of the motives and desires of the child becomes essential in the formation of personality; more and less significant ones are distinguished from them, due to which there is a transition from impulsive, situational behavior to behavior mediated by certain rules and patterns.

1. 1. Game as a leading activity in the development of preschool children

Role-playing or as it is sometimes called creative play appears at preschool age. This is an activity in which children take on the roles of adults and in a generalized form, in play conditions, reproduce the activities of adults and the relationship between them. The child, choosing and playing a certain role, has the appropriate image - mother, doctor, driver, pirate and examples of his actions. The imaginative game plan is so important that the game simply cannot exist without it. But although life in the game proceeds in the form of ideas, it is emotionally saturated and becomes for the child his real life.

As noted in the previous chapter, play with a plot "grows" out of object-manipulative activity even at the end of early childhood. Initially, the child was absorbed in the object and actions with it. As he mastered the actions woven into joint activity with an adult, he began to realize that he was acting on his own and acting like an adult. Actually, before he acted like an adult, imitating him, but did not notice this. As D.B. Elkonin, he looked at the object through an adult, "as through glass." At preschool age, the affect is transferred from the object to the person, due to which the adult and his actions become a model for the child not only objectively, but also subjectively.

In addition to the necessary level of development of objective actions, for the appearance of a role-playing game, a radical change in the relationship of the child with adults is necessary. Around the age of three, the child becomes much more independent, and his joint activities with a close adult begin to disintegrate. At the same time, the game is social both in its origin and content. It will not be able to develop without frequent full-fledged communication with adults and without those diverse impressions from the world around which the child also acquires thanks to adults. The child also needs various toys, including unformed objects that do not have a clear function, which he could easily use as substitutes for others. D.B. Elkonin emphasized: you can’t throw away bars, pieces of iron, shavings and other unnecessary, from the mother’s point of view, garbage brought by children into the house. Put a box for him in the far corner, and the child will have the opportunity to play more interestingly, developing his imagination.

So, on the border of early and preschool childhood, a game with a plot appears for the first time. This is a director's game already known to us. Simultaneously with it or somewhat later, a figurative role-playing game appears. In it, the child imagines himself to be anyone and anything and acts accordingly. But a prerequisite for the development of such a game is a vivid, intense experience: the child was struck by the picture he saw, and in his play actions he himself reproduces the image that caused him a strong emotional response. Jean Piaget has examples of figurative-role-playing games. His daughter, who watched the old village bell tower during the holidays, heard the bell ringing, remains impressed by what she saw and heard. for a long time. She walks over to her father's table and, standing still, makes a deafening noise. "You're bothering me, you see that I'm working." “Don’t talk to me,” the girl replies. “I am the church.”

Another time, the daughter of Jean Piaget, having gone into the kitchen, was shocked by the sight of a plucked duck left on the table. In the evening, the girl is found on the couch. She does not move, is silent, does not answer questions, then her muffled voice is heard: "I am a dead duck."

Director's and figurative-role-playing games become sources of plot-role-playing game, which reaches its developed form by the middle of preschool age. Later, games with rules stand out from it. It should be noted that the emergence of new types of games does not completely cancel the old ones, already mastered - they all remain and continue to improve. In the role-playing game, children reproduce actual human roles and relationships. Children play with each other or with the doll as an ideal partner who also has a role to play. In games with rules, the role fades into the background and the main thing is the precise implementation of the rules of the game; usually a competitive motive appears here, a personal or team win (in most outdoor, sports and printed games).

Let us trace the development of the game by considering, following D.B. Elkonin, the formation of its individual components and the levels of development characteristic of preschool age.

Each game has its own playing conditions - children participating in it, dolls, other toys and objects. The selection and combination of them significantly changes the game at a younger preschool age, the game at this time mainly consists of monotonously repetitive actions resembling manipulations with objects. For example, a three-year-old child "cooks dinner" and manipulates plates and cubes. If the play conditions include another person (a doll or a child) and thus lead to the appearance of an appropriate image, manipulations have a certain meaning. The child plays with the preparation of dinner, even if he forgets to feed it to the doll sitting next to him. But if the child is left alone and the toys that lead him to this plot are removed, he continues the manipulations that have lost their original meaning. Rearranging objects, arranging them according to size or shape, he explains that he plays "dice", "so simple". Lunch disappeared from his ideas along with a change in game conditions. The plot is that sphere of reality that is reflected in the game. At first, the child is limited by the framework of the family, and therefore his games are mainly connected with family, everyday problems. Then, as he masters new areas of life, he begins to use more complex plots - industrial, military, etc. The forms of playing on old plots, say, in "mothers and daughters", are also becoming more diverse. In addition, the game on the same plot gradually becomes more stable, longer. If at 3-4 years old a child can devote only 10-15 minutes to it, and then he needs to switch to something else, then at 4-5 years old one game can already last 40-50 minutes. Older preschoolers are able to play the same game for several hours in a row, and some of their games stretch over several days.

Those moments in the activities and relationships of adults that are reproduced by the child constitute the content of the game. Younger preschoolers imitate objective activities - they cut bread, rub carrots, wash dishes. They are absorbed in the very process of performing actions and sometimes forget about the result - for what and for whom they did it, the actions of different children do not agree with each other, duplication and sudden change of roles during the game are not excluded. For middle preschoolers, the main thing is the relationship between people, they perform game actions not for the sake of the actions themselves, but for the sake of the relationships behind them. Therefore, a 5-year-old child will never forget to put "sliced" bread in front of the dolls and will never mix up the sequence of actions - first dinner, then washing dishes, and not vice versa. Parallel roles are also excluded, for example, two doctors will not examine the same bear at the same time, two drivers will not drive one train. Children included in the general system of relations distribute roles among themselves before the start of the game. For older preschoolers, it is important to obey the rules arising from the role, and the correct implementation of these rules is strictly controlled by them.

original value. Actually objective actions are reduced and generalized, and sometimes they are generally replaced by speech ("Well, I washed their hands. Let's sit down at the table!").

The plot and content of the game are embodied in roles. The development of game actions, roles and rules of the game occurs throughout preschool childhood along the following lines: from games with an expanded system of actions and roles and rules hidden behind them - to games with a collapsed system of actions, with clearly defined roles, but hidden rules - and, finally , to games with open rules and hidden roles behind them. In older preschoolers, the role-playing game merges with games by the rules.

Thus, the game changes and reaches a high level of development by the end of preschool age. There are two main phases or stages in the development of the game. The first stage (3–5 years) is characterized by the reproduction of the logic of people's real actions; the content of the game are objective actions. At the second stage (5–7 years), real relations between people are modeled and the content of the game becomes social relations, the social meaning of the activity of an adult.

The game is the leading activity in preschool age, it has a significant impact on the development of the child. First of all, in the game, children learn to fully communicate with each other. younger preschoolers still do not know how to really communicate with peers. Here is how, for example, in the younger group of the kindergarten, a game of railroad is played. The teacher helps the children make up a long row of chairs, and the passengers take their places. Two boys who wanted to be a machinist sit down on the outermost chairs in the row, hum, puff and "lead" the train in different directions. Neither drivers nor passengers are embarrassed by this situation and do not cause a desire to discuss something. According to D.B. Elkonin, younger preschoolers "play side by side, not together."

The game develops the motivational-need sphere of the child. There are new motives of activity and goals associated with them. But there is not only an expansion of the circle of motives. Already in the previous transitional period - at the age of 3 - the child had motives that went beyond the situation immediately given to him, due to the development of his relations with adults. Now, in the game with peers, it is easier for him to give up his fleeting desires. His behavior is controlled by other children, he is obliged to follow certain rules arising from his role, and has no right either to change the general pattern of the role or to be distracted from the game by something extraneous. The emerging arbitrariness of behavior facilitates the transition from motives that have the form of affectively colored immediate desires to motives-intentions that are on the verge of consciousness.

In a developed role-playing game with its intricate plots and complex roles that create a fairly wide scope for improvisation, children develop a creative imagination. The game contributes to the formation of arbitrary memory, it overcomes the so-called cognitive egocentrism. To explain the latter, let's use the example of J. Piaget. He modified the well-known problem "three brothers" from the tests of A. Binet (Ernest has three brothers - Paul, Henri, Charles.

How many brothers does Paul have?" Henri? Charles?). J. Piaget asked a preschool child: "Do you have brothers?" - "Yes, Arthur," the boy answered. "No" - "How many brothers do you have in your family?" - "Two". - "You have a brother?" - "One". "Does he have brothers?" - "Not". "Are you his brother?" - "Yes". "Then does he have a brother?" - "Not".

As can be seen from this dialogue, the child cannot take a different position, in this case, accept the point of view of his brother. But if the same problem is played out with puppets, he comes to the right conclusions. In general, the position of the child changes radically in play. While playing, he acquires the ability to change one position to another, to coordinate different points of view. Thanks to the decentration that occurs in a role-playing game, the way is opened for the formation of new intellectual operations - but already at the next age stage.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Pashkina

Chief Physician of the Central Clinical Hospital of Omsk

Reading time: 3 minutes

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Speech

At preschool age, children complete the process of mastering speech. By the age of 7, language becomes a means of thinking and communicating a child. By this age, the development of the sound side of speech occurs, when children begin to realize the peculiarities of pronunciation. At this time, the child actively replenishes his vocabulary. If by the age of 1.5 the baby uses about 100 words, then at the age of 3 - already 1000 words, and by the age of 6 there are 2500-3000 words in the child's speech. The most important factor in improving speech in preschool age is full communication with peers. At the same time, the child actively enters into a dialogue with adults, whom he perceives as erudite, able to answer any question and explain everything in the world. The speech of the baby becomes more meaningful and meaningful, he learns to reason and think aloud.

Memory

Preschool children have involuntary memory. The child does not set a goal to remember something and does not know how to use special methods of memorization. Only interesting events and images remain in the minds of children. Verbal material that evokes an emotional response is usually remembered easily and involuntarily. Gradually, during the preschool period, the child learns to comprehend information, which helps to increase the efficiency of memorization. By the age of 7, the formation of mechanical memory occurs. This allows the child to memorize any material exactly in the form in which it was perceived, without taking into account its semantic content. Thanks to the mechanical memory, it becomes easier for children to memorize new words. It is with the reasoning ability that appears in the preschool period that is connected.

Perception

The development of children in this period includes the complication of perception. The child learns to rely on past experience, to associate an object with a variety of phenomena and surrounding objects, with which the child was once familiar. The child not only receives knowledge and new information, he begins to realize them. Children's perception of the surrounding reality becomes purposeful. The child begins to analyze, consciously observe, consider and look for answers to questions of interest.

Thinking

In this period, thinking gradually moves from visual-effective to visual-figurative. The child learns to imagine the development of the situation, to see the subject from several points of view. Visual-figurative thinking is the main one in this period, however, verbal thinking begins to form. The child learns to establish connections between objects using logic. This stage is one of the most important in the further development of intelligence in children.

Help your child develop their imagination

Includes the stage of the formation of the imagination. At 2-3 years old, kids begin to fantasize. They imagine themselves as heroes of their favorite fairy tales or cartoons, invent imaginary friends for themselves. To actively develop the child's imagination, play role-playing games with him. Let the kid independently choose a role for himself and for you or come up with rules. Together with the baby, you can make the necessary costumes or attributes for the game.

Teach your child to speak correctly

In the development of children, an important role is played by the formation of a beautiful competent speech. Preschoolers often copy the behavior of adults. In order for the child to speak correctly, try to monitor your speech. Talk more with the baby, tell him what he does not know yet. This will help expand his vocabulary and allow him to acquire communication skills. Teach your child poems and songs so that he remembers new words, ask him to retell a fairy tale, a cartoon. Try to isolate your child from watching movies and TV shows that use inappropriate language.

Help your child develop thinking

In the development of preschool children, the stage of formation of thinking plays a special role. Gradually, the child needs more complex toys, for example, puzzles and mosaics that make you think, fantasize, and solve a problem. Great for mind development logical games, for example, invite the baby to find an extra picture or word in a row.

Teach your child to read and write

The development of children should include the formation of writing skills. At the age of 5, the child begins to be interested in the letters of the alphabet, remembers them and looks for them in words. Show your child how to hold a pencil in their hands and write letters correctly. Try not to criticize the child for mistakes, calmly explain what he is doing wrong, and be sure to praise him for success. Try to write a letter to Santa Claus with your baby or create a book with pictures and stories. Have your child pronounce the letters as they write to learn how to put them into syllables and then into words. Invite the child to make up a sentence on their own, write it and then read it.

Teach your child to count

Another stage in the development of a child in preschool age is the formation of counting skills. Tell your child about the numbers, why they are needed, in what order they go. Try counting fingers or toys together. Tell your child about such concepts as half, part, whole, few, many. Be sure to teach your baby how to use measuring instruments: watches, rulers, scales, etc.