Question No. 19

Features of mental development of children of primary school age

The boundaries of primary school age, coinciding with the period of study in primary school, are currently established from 6-7 to 9-10 years.

Starting school leads to a fundamental change social situation of child development.With the start of school, the child’s lifestyle changes radically. The system of “ child - teacher", which determines the child’s relationship with parents and peers.

In connection with admission to school leading activities the child becomes a learning activity.

The transition to systematic education creates conditions for the development of new cognitive needs of children, active interest in the surrounding reality, and in mastering new knowledge and skills.

Noticeable shifts are occurring in the development of voluntary forms of behavior and activity. The main factor in the development of volitionality in a child is the appearance in his life of educational work in the form of permanent duties.

The development of voluntariness proceeds in two directions:

the child’s ability to be guided by the goals set by an adult is formed;

The ability to set goals yourself and, in accordance with them, independently control your behavior is formed.

Along with their studies, children and adults also participate in work activities. They spend quite a lot of time playing.

Children at this age are cheerful, alert, active and extremely inquisitive. A characteristic feature of primary school age is the child’s emotional sensitivity and responsiveness to everything bright, unusual, and colorful.

During this age period, the child actively develops social emotions, such as self-esteem, a sense of responsibility, a sense of trust in people and the child’s ability to empathize.

At primary school age, communication with peers becomes increasingly important for the development of a child, which contributes to the assimilation of such types of relationships as leadership and friendship.

The development of cognitive mental processes in primary school age is characterized by the fact that from involuntary actions, performed unintentionally in play or practical activities, they turn into independent types of mental activity that have their own purpose, motive and methods of implementation.

Perception. There is a transition from involuntary perception to purposeful observation of the object. Preschoolers are characterized by analyzing perception; by the end of primary school age, synthesizing perception appears.

Memory. Voluntary memory develops, children are already able to remember material that is sure to be of interest to them; Memory processes are characterized by meaningfulness (the connection between memory and thinking). First, the child begins to realize a special mnemonic task. He separates this task from every other. secondly, there is an intensive formation of memorization techniques. At an older age, from the most primitive techniques (repetition, careful long-term examination of the material), the child moves on to grouping and understanding the connections between different parts of the material.

Attention. At primary school age it predominates involuntary attention. The attention of a younger student is different instability, easy distractibility. Younger schoolchildren do not know how to quickly switch their attention from one object to another.

Younger schoolchildren can concentrate on one thing for a short time (15-20 minutes) due to the rapid onset of fatigue. Gradually, the attention of the younger schoolchild becomes pronounced arbitrary, intentional character.

Thinking. Thinking is characterized by a transition from visual-figurative to verbal-logical thinking; Theoretical thinking develops through the assimilation of scientific concepts.

Imagination. The arbitrariness of the imagination is formed.

At school, all activities are voluntary in nature, therefore they actively develop will and self-organization(actions of planning, self-control and self-assessment).

Motivational sphere.

Social motives of learning. Among the various social motives for studying, the main place is occupied by the motive of obtaining high grades. When a child studies successfully, he is praised by both the teacher and his parents, he is set as an example for other children, high grades and other assessments provide appropriate status.

Other broad social motives for learning are duty, responsibility, and the need to get an education. The abstract concept of duty for him or the distant prospect of continuing his education at a university cannot directly encourage him to study. The mark is a really active motive; In order to receive a high mark or praise, the child is ready to immediately sit down and diligently complete the entire task.

Cognitive motivation. Developed cognitive motivation that ensures interest in studying any academic subject is rare in primary school. If a child, during the learning process, begins to rejoice that he has learned something, understood something, or learned something, it means that he is developing motivation that is adequate to the structure of educational activity. Unfortunately, even among well-performing students, there are very few children who have educational and cognitive motives.

Achievement motivation. If attention from an adult and most of the child’s actions are focused on success, then a motive for achieving success develops.

If adults reward them little for successes and punish them more for failures, then eventually a motive to avoid failure which is accompanied by anxiety, fear and gives learning activities a negative emotional connotation.

By the third grade, underachieving children develop a special compensatory motivation. These are secondary motives in relation to educational activity, allowing one to establish oneself in another area - in sports, music, drawing, in caring for younger family members, etc. When the need for self-affirmation is satisfied in some area of ​​activity, poor performance does not become a source of difficult experiences for the child.

Prestigious motivation is typical for children with high self-esteem and leadership inclinations. It encourages the student to study better than his classmates, to stand out among them, to be the first.

Self-awareness.

Types of self-esteem. Younger schoolchildren, unlike preschoolers, already have self-esteem of various types: adequate, overestimated and underestimated.

The development of the personality of a primary school student depends on the effectiveness of educational activities. School performance is an important criterion for assessing a child as an individual. Successful studies and awareness of one's abilities and skills lead to the development of a sense of competence. If a sense of competence in educational activities is not formed, the child’s self-esteem decreases and a feeling of inferiority arises; Compensatory self-esteem and motivation may develop.

Development of adequate self-esteem. For children to develop adequate self-esteem and a sense of competence, it is necessary to create an atmosphere of psychological comfort and support in the classroom.

The development of self-esteem of a junior schoolchild depends not only on his academic performance and the characteristics of the teacher’s communication with the class. The style of family education and the values ​​accepted in the family are of great importance.

Features of the emotional-volitional sphere of a junior schoolchild

In educational activities and in a group of peers, a primary school student first of all develops such strong-willed character traits asindependence, self-confidence, perseverance, endurance.

In some cases, the lack of independence and criticality leads to increased suggestibility: children imitate both good and bad. Therefore, it is very important that the examples of behavior of the teacher and the people around him are positive.

Restraint, as a character trait, appears precisely at primary school age and is quickly consolidated. Many students can already prepare their lessons on their own, restraining the desire to take a walk, play, read, without being distracted, without doing extraneous things.

Persistence, as a character trait, it is especially evident in grade II. Thanks to it, students achieve significant success.

In the process of learning and development, the volitional qualities of a junior schoolchild are improved.

The student’s highest feelings become increasingly deeper and more conscious: moral, intellectual, aesthetic.

At primary school age, during the learning process, such moral feelings as love for the Motherland, collectivism, a sense of camaraderie, friendship, duty, and honor develop.

Awareness of moral feelings for the third grade is manifested in the fact that children choose a friend, a comrade, not based on random external circumstances (they live nearby, go home together), but motivate their choice by characterizing the moral traits that contributed to getting closer to their classmate.

Along with the sense of camaraderie, a sense of collectivism also develops. Collectivism as a character trait develops gradually in a child. In the process of collective work, children are convinced that any task is best done by everyone together.

The process of cognition, causing pleasure, contributes to the formation of cognitive interests. With proper organization of education, intellectual feelings become a necessity for students.

Primary school age is called the peak of childhood. In modern periodization of mental development, it covers the period from 6-7 to 9-11 years.
At this age, a change in image and lifestyle occurs: new requirements, a new social role for the student, a fundamentally new type of activity - educational activity. At school, he acquires not only new knowledge and skills, but also a certain social status. The perception of one’s place in the system of relationships changes. The interests, values ​​of the child, and his entire way of life change.
The child finds himself on the border of a new age period.
From a physiological point of view, this is a time of physical growth, when children quickly grow upward, there is disharmony in physical development, it is ahead of the child’s neuropsychic development, which affects the temporary weakening of the nervous system. Increased fatigue, anxiety, and increased need for movement appear.
Social situation in primary school age:
1. Educational activity becomes the leading activity.
2. The transition from visual-figurative to verbal-logical thinking is completed.
3. The social meaning of the teaching is clearly visible (the attitude of young schoolchildren towards grades).
4. Achievement motivation becomes dominant.
5. There is a change in the reference group.
6. There is a change in the daily routine.
7. A new internal position is strengthened.
8. The child’s system of relationships with people around him changes.

Leading activity
The leading activity in primary school age is educational activity. Its characteristics: effectiveness, commitment, arbitrariness.
The foundations of educational activities are laid precisely in the first years of study. Educational activities should, on the one hand, be structured taking into account age-related capabilities, and on the other hand, should provide them with the amount of knowledge necessary for subsequent development.
Components of educational activities (according to D.B. Elkonin):
1. Motivation.
2. Learning task.
3. Training operations.
4. Monitoring and evaluation.

Motives of the teaching:
cognitive (aimed at mastering knowledge, methods of obtaining knowledge, methods of independent work, acquiring additional knowledge, self-improvement programs);
social (responsibility, understanding of the social significance of teaching, the desire to take a certain position in relations with others, to gain their approval);
narrowly personal - to get a good mark, to deserve praise (according to E.E. Sapogova).
School education is distinguished not only by the special social significance of the child’s activities, but also by the indirect nature of relationships with adult models and assessments, by following rules common to everyone, and by acquiring scientific concepts.
As a result of educational activities, mental new formations arise: arbitrariness of mental processes, reflection (personal, intellectual), internal plan of action (mental planning, ability to analyze).
SPEECH
The vocabulary increases to 7 thousand words. Shows his own active position towards language. With training, he easily masters the sound analysis of words. The child listens to the sound of the word. The need for communication of younger schoolchildren determines the development of speech. Contextual speech is an indicator of the child’s level of development.
In written speech, correctness is distinguished between spelling (correct spelling of words), grammatical (construction of sentences, formation of morphological forms) and punctuation (placement of punctuation marks).
THINKING
Thinking at primary school age becomes the dominant function, and the transition from visual-figurative to verbal-logical thinking that began in preschool age is completed.
By the end of primary school age, individual differences in thinking (theorists, thinkers, artists) appear.
During the learning process, scientific concepts (the foundations of theoretical thinking) are formed.
MEMORY
Memory develops in two directions - arbitrariness and meaningfulness.
In educational activities, all types of memory are developed: long-term, short-term and operational.
Memory development is associated with the need to memorize educational material. Voluntary memorization is actively formed.
ATTENTION
Children are able to concentrate, but their involuntary attention still prevails.
The arbitrariness of cognitive processes occurs at the peak of volitional effort (a special one organizes itself under the influence of requirements). Attention is activated, but not yet stable. Maintaining attention is possible thanks to volitional efforts and high motivation.
PERCEPTION
Perception is also characterized by involuntariness, although elements of voluntary perception are already found in preschool age.
Perception is characterized by weak differentiation (objects and their properties are confused).
At primary school age, orientation towards sensory standards of form, color, and time increases.
IMAGINATION
Imagination in its development goes through two stages: in the first - recreating (reproductive), in the second - productive. In the first grade, the imagination is based on specific objects, but with age, the word comes first, giving scope for imagination.
7-8 years is a sensitive period for the assimilation of moral norms (the child is psychologically ready to understand the meaning of norms and rules and to implement them on a daily basis).
SELF-AWARENESS
Self-awareness develops intensively. The formation of self-esteem of a junior schoolchild depends on the performance and characteristics of the teacher’s communication with the class. The style of family education and the values ​​accepted in the family are of great importance. Excellent students and some well-achieving children develop inflated self-esteem. For underachieving and extremely weak students, systematic failures and low grades reduce self-confidence in their abilities. They develop compensatory motivation. Children begin to establish themselves in another area - in sports, music.
Value orientations towards the name become the norm of life. It is important that the child accepts another type of address to him - by his last name. This provides the child with self-esteem and self-confidence.

Municipal budgetary educational institution

Odintsovo secondary school No. 17

with in-depth study of individual subjects

Features of children's development

primary school age

Teacher: Barsukova

Elena Evgenievna

Odintsov

Features of children's development

primary school age

The transition to school is not easy even for well-prepared children. With the child’s arrival at school, a completely new stage in his development begins, which is characterized by the emergence of a new social position: the child becomes a student, i.e. participant in educational activities that require great effort, will, and intellect. The adaptation of a young student to many of the new school requirements occurs gradually, not always smoothly, and is necessarily associated with the breaking of existing psychological stereotypes.

First of all, the lifestyle changes. Now every day you need to get up on time by the alarm clock in order to have time to do exercises, wash, get dressed, eat and not be late for school when classes start. We must learn to count and value time so that there is enough time not only for studying, but also for games and walks. Moreover, he will be able to rest after he has done the most important thing - prepare for tomorrow's school day.

A restructuring of value orientations is also taking place. Previously, the child was praised for quickly eating, washing, and dressing. Now it turns out that all this is needed in order to have time to fulfill, first of all, educational duties. Often they begin to scold him for what they previously praised him for: “You’re playing again, instead of studying.” And the attitude of adults and peers towards him will be largely determined by his success in learning.

The child's main concern is studying. You can’t forget about it, put it off while doing something more interesting, or refuse it if you’re not in the mood. The degree of regulation of behavior also changes:in class: you cannot engage in extraneous matters, be inattentive, demand special treatment, ask questions without the teacher’s permission, or be offended by his comments.

This far from complete list of problems that a child faces shows that readiness for school does not directly depend on the level of his knowledge.

For some reason, adults often convince children that studying at school will be easy, and they develop the idea of ​​studying as a new exciting game. This is serious work that requires the exertion of all the internal forces of the most capable student. A child who is not prepared for such stress begins to fall into despair and become disgusted with learning as soon as he encounters the first difficulties. This would not have happened if he knew that they were natural and not only completely surmountable, but also necessary, needed in order tolearn to be a student.

It is necessary to explain to the child that all people, including adults, encounter difficulties, that any work (and study too!) involves difficulties, only then is it interesting. Moreover, difficulties should attract the child, and overcoming them should bring joy and satisfaction.

It is very important that the student treats all school subjects equally responsibly.

I would like to warn parents against a common misconception - focusing on excellent grades. Parents often tell their children that at school they should only get good grades, since bad grades are given to those who are careless and incapable. As a result, the children get the impression that the main task of a student is to get excellent grades. There is a substitution of goals: the main thing is to get a good grade, to avoid a bad one in every possible way, and not the desire for knowledge. The child must understand that the main thing is not the mark itself, but what it was put for. After all, in itself it is neither good nor bad: a mark makes it possible to see your mistakes, mistakes and achievements. A bad mark received for unlearned educational material must be discussed with the child and try to explain what it suggests, what he does not know, what rule he did not apply. “2” cannot be punished. What is needed here is a particularly calm, friendly, constructive approach in order to outline specific measures to overcome the backlog.

With fives, things are sometimes more difficult than with twos. After all, good grades can be ensured by the fact that some parents go through part of the school curriculum with their children in advance. In this case, “5” are easy to get, but they will not be associated with the discovery of new knowledge or overcoming difficulties. If a good grade is the result of a child’s great efforts, you must definitely help him see his progress in knowledge and skills, and be happy with what he has learned and learned.

An interest in the environment cultivated in preschool childhood, the desire to learn as much as possible becomes the basis for the formation of the need for learning, the desire to overcome difficulties along the way. However, we are often faced with such a paradox: the active cognitive interest shown by a child in everyday life seems to fade away in the conditions of compulsory and organized schooling; it does not capture the main sphere of his life - educational, the purpose of which is precisely daily knowledge, the discovery of new things. , previously unknown. It is important to be aware of this danger and do everything so that the child is actively involved in learning, is personally interested in acquiring knowledge, and experiences pleasure and joy from educational work, i.e. you need to turn the obligatory “need” into “want”.

No less important is genuine and constant attention to all the school affairs of the little student, to his learning.

The goals that we set for the child must be specific, understandable, and evoke the desire to achieve them at any cost. The child is little inspired by distant, vague prospects. For example, we say: “If you learn to read, you will be able to read books yourself.” A child who still barely knows how to read syllables may experience not joy, but disappointment: it seems to him that he will be deprived of the enormous pleasure that an adult’s reading gives him. So is it worth striving for? When a child is given accessible goals, and he is convinced that he can cope with them day after day, this instills in him faith in his abilities, fills his learning with meaningful content and contributes to the development of cognitive interest. Let the child think out loud when solving a particular problem that has arisen. Let's try to show him that the same goal can be achieved in different ways. Thus, we will draw his attention to methods of activity and awaken interest in them.

Even peers make their demands. The child begins to worry and tries to think through the situation: will he be able to study like everyone else, will the guys in the class be friends with him, will they not offend him with words or actions. Interpersonal connections arise, mutual demands and mutual evaluation appear, the feeling of sympathy for a peer becomes stable (he defends his right to sympathy for another child and can contrast his opinion with the opinion of an adult if he does not approve of his choice). During this period, adults should pay attention to how children address each other and stop unacceptable forms of treatment.

Positive relationships with other children become of great importance for a primary school student, therefore one of the main motives of his behavior is the desire to earn the approval and sympathy of other children, and at the same time he strives for recognition from an adult. Thanks to this, the child tries to behave correctly because adults are interested in him. In unfamiliar situations, the child most often follows others, contrary to his desires, and often common sense. At the same time, he experiences a feeling of strong tension, confusion, and fear. Peer following behavior is typical for this age. This is confirmed in lessons: the child raises his hand after everyone else, although he does not know the answer to the question and is not ready to answer.

The child is trying to establish himself among his peers, to be better than everyone else. This manifests itself in the readiness to complete a task faster and better, to read the text. If the child is unable or finds it difficult to do what is expected of him, then childish whims arise. Whims are often repeated tearfulness, unreasonable willful antics, acting as a means of attracting attention to oneself and taking over adult antisocial forms of behavior.

In order to avoid their occurrence, parents should try to make demands that are feasible for each child so that he is able to fulfill what is expected of him.

With all these significant changes that have occurred, parents should not forget that first-graders remain very emotional, have increased excitability, therefore they quickly get tired, their attention is very unstable, and their behavior largely depends on the external situation. Children do not yet know how to work in a team. A new, unusual environment at school does not affect everyone in the same way: some experience psychological stress, others react to the novelty with physical stress, which may be accompanied by disturbances in sleep, appetite, and weakened resistance to disease.

It is necessary to develop the child’s independence, awaken in him a sense of responsibility for the work, the desire to look for and correct his own mistakes. In cases where he finds it difficult, he needs to be helped, suggested the path to search, and find it together.

Psychological characteristics of children of primary school age

Psychologists around the world talk about a certain general infantilization of children, that is, modern seven-year-olds are personally younger than their peers ten years ago. Despite the selection, many children still miss letters and confuse their multiplication tables. But the most unpleasant thing is that the majority of modern children do not like and do not want to study and that, even after graduating from school and passing university exams with the help of tutors, they experience enormous difficulties in the process of further education and often do not receive the coveted higher education. In addition, they are almost as likely as elementary school students to write poorly and do not always remember the multiplication tables correctly.

This state of affairs is no secret to anyone. It is not for nothing that almost every new minister of education tries to implement a new education reform, which always affects primary school students. However, if you look at everything said above through the eyes of a psychologist, then one of the most important reasons for the problems and difficulties of primary education is that educators and teachers have little understanding of the psychological characteristics of children of primary school age.

Outstanding psychologists of the twentieth century L.S. Vygotsky and J. Piaget strongly emphasized that a child is not a small adult, that he has a different logic and a different perception of the world around him. Therefore, no innovations or new original items can change anything qualitatively, unless they are orientedon the characteristics of modern primary schoolchildren.

Psychologists linksolving the problem of psychological readiness withcrisis of seven years.

Based on the understanding of the crisis as the result of a smooth accumulation of changes, we can say that 7 years -another age crisis. The child finds himself on the border of a new age period.

It is at this age that the child first begins to clearly understand the relationship between him and others, to understand social motives of behavior and moral assessments. He is aware of his place in the world of social relations.

The child’s desire to occupy a new social position leads to the formation of his internal position as a schoolchild. Study becomes a significant activity. At school, the child acquires not only knowledge and skills, but also a certain social status, his self-awareness changes (the birth of the social “I”). There is a reassessment of values; interests and motives are related to studies.

At the same time, intensive biological development of the child’s body occurs. The basis of this restructuring is an endocrine shift. Such a physiological restructuring requires a lot of stress from the child’s body to mobilize all its reserves. During this period, the mobility of nervous processes increases, excitation processes predominate, and this determines such characteristic features of 7-year-old children as increased emotional excitability and restlessness. Physiological transformations cause great changes in the mental life of the child. The formation of voluntariness (planning, implementation of action programs, control) moves to the center of mental development.

The crisis also occurs in the emotional and motivational sphere of the child. Children are sensitive to the influences of environmental living conditions, impressionable and emotionally responsive.

In this period, two defining motives of behavior come into conflict: the motive of desire “I want” and the motive of obligation “I must”. If the motive of desire always comes from the child himself, then the motive of obligation is more often initiated by adults.

Depending on the influence that parents and surrounding adults have on the child during this crisis, the further development of the child’s individuality, the formation of his self-esteem, and filling him with new value orientations will depend.

ExactlyThe crisis of seven years crowns the development of a child in preschool age and opens the period of primary school age. You could even say:a child has gone through the crisis of seven years, has learned to generalize his emotions - he is a schoolboy, has not gone through the crisis of seven years - he is psychologically a preschooler.

A junior schoolchild is different from a preschooler (this isthe essence of the problem of children's psychological readiness for schooling ) by the fact that he loses spontaneity, that he learns to anticipate his emotions, and if these emotions were negative, then he learns to intentionally and voluntarily escape from these situations. That is, firstly, he begins to become aware of his emotions. Secondly, he learns to manage them. He acquires the ability to avoid situations that are undesirable for him and at the same time produce situations that are positive.

B. Elkonin, discussing the problem of readiness for school, put the formation of prerequisites for educational activities in the first place. He considered the most important prerequisites to be the child’s ability to focus on a system of rules in work, the ability to listen and follow an adult’s instructions, and the ability to work according to a model.

A child's ability to behave voluntarily speaks about psychological readiness for schooling, because voluntary behavior ensures the full functioning of all mental functions and behavior in general. Based on practice, it is the insufficient development of voluntariness that lies behind many actual educational difficulties, poor discipline, inability to work independently, etc.

Depending on the level of mental development of the child, i.e. on how developed the voluntary sphere is (the ability to listen, accurately follow the instructions of an adult, act in accordance with the rules, the development of voluntary attention, voluntary memory), the speech sphere, certain types of thinking are formed, how socially developed the child is, etc. and the level of psychological readiness for school will depend.Those. psychological readiness for school is a certain level of mental development of a child.

What determines the psychological age of a child? The psychological age of the child and his characteristics are determined by the central psychological neoplasm.

According to L.S. Vygotsky,central psychological neoplasm primary school age is a mental function that determines the specifics of the development of all other mental functions and processes - voluntary attention.

Children of primary school age can realizefree forms communication if theycame out of the crisis 7 years ago , if they are able to build their relationships with others not directly, but guided by a certain semanticcontext situations.

It is at this age that the child first clearly begins torealize relationships between him and others, understand social motives of behavior, moral assessments. He is aware of his place in the world of social relations. During this period, the child begins to lose childish spontaneity in behavior.

Having passed the crisis of seven years, the child psychologically becomes a junior schoolchild. At the same time, he already has the ability to see the same situation differently depending on what “figure” and what “background” he identifies in it. However, this ability will remain an unrealized opportunity if it is not purposefully developed. That's whyThe most important task of teaching in elementary school is the task of developing voluntary attention.

Voluntary attention occurs only in purposeful activities. A person focuses on the final result of his work, shows will, and consciously maintains this attention to accomplish this work. The emergence of voluntary attention necessarily presupposes goal setting. It is possible that it is the process of goal setting that “switches on” attention to effectively manage the course of activity.

No calls or instructions will lead to actualization of attention if the student does not feel real interest in the task being performed. Other motives can also force a child to be attentive: getting a good grade or approval from adults, achieving recognition in the class, avoiding punishment for a bad grade, etc. But the most valuable motive in this case, of course, is cognitive. It manifests itself in the form of a child’s interest in learning. Passion for a task leads to voluntary attention.

K.D. Ushinsky wrote: “... Remember that not everything can be entertaining in learning, but there are certainly boring things, and there should be. Teach your child to do something other than what he has to do - to do it for the pleasure of fulfilling his duty.”

L.S. Vygotsky callsmemorycentral psychological function primary school period of development.

The memory of a junior schoolchild, compared to the memory of a preschooler, is more conscious and organized. There is a transition from involuntary to voluntary memorization. L.S. Vygotsky strongly emphasized thatcentral psychological function becomesvoluntary, that is, controlled, consciously controlled and mediated. These characteristics cannot be attributed to the memory of preschoolers. A preschooler remembers directly and, most often, emotionally.

During the transition to primary school age, qualitative changes occur in the child’s memory. First of all, she becomesindirect – the child learns to remember using a variety of means for his memorization.

Two important laws of memory developmentat primary school age:

Firstly , For the development and successful use of indirect memorization, it is better to have a not very good mechanical memory.

Mechanical memoryinterferes with the development of higher, mediated forms of memory.

A child with good mechanical memory needs, first of all,understand the meaning. Do not memorize words, do not reproduce material, but understand the meaning of a particular text, film, content. In this case, the child no longer depends on specific words and sentences, formulas and models. At the same time, it is important thatthe medium played a secondary role and did not distract the child from the content of the memorized material.

You cannot clog up your memory by haphazardly reading or memorizing any material in a row. When organizing memorization, it is important to develop in students not just the desire to remember as much as possible, but the ability to memorize material in a certain system, which is achieved by working on comprehending the text.

Not everything requires long-term retention in memory; the material needs to be analyzed from this point of view. If the spelling of words and historical facts require memorization “for life,” then the plot and numerical data of a mathematical problem, a number of texts for reading do not need to be saved for a long time, and there will be no harm if they are soon forgotten.

Secondly, memory in primary school age is closely related to attention.

The main line of memory development in primary school age - it turns from mechanical to semantic.

To develop semantic memory, it is necessary to accustom children to remember logically related meanings. To do this, the teacher needs to teach children how to properly organize the memorization process, break down the material for memorization into sections or subgroups, highlight key points for assimilation, and use logical diagrams. Not only the teacher, but also parents, should encourage meaningful memorization and fight meaningless memorization. Understanding is a necessary condition for memorization - the teacher fixes the child’s attention on the need for understanding, teaches the child to understand what he must remember.

It should also be noted that children's memory is uncritical, which is accompanied by uncertainty in learning the material. Uncertainty often explains the cases when younger schoolchildren prefer verbatim memorization to retelling. Therefore, the next condition for the development of semantic memory is to contribute to the development of children’s self-confidence and their own abilities. The more knowledge, the more opportunities to form new connections, the more memorization skills. Another condition is constant reliance on visual-figurative material (when drawing up a plan in the form of a sequential series of pictures), i.e. on visual-figurative memory, which at this age is developed quite well.

Why do children who, according to psychological research, have a high level of development of mental abilities, already in elementary school show a negative attitude towards school and low academic performance?

It turns out that the main reason is the weak development of cognitive interest or its absence at all. The majority of underachieving children are “intellectually passive” children, i.e. Children who are not accustomed to think actively have no interest in mental activity. The role of interests is very great. Only a child who has an interest in mental activity is able to transform the acquired knowledge into deep and lasting knowledge. Interests develop and improve the quality of mental activity, influence the overall development of the child, activity in learning, and create favorable conditions for the development of all mental processes.

Parents at home should try to support the child’s curiosity by doing homework with elements of creativity, i.e. supplementing the mandatory part of the assignment with your own findings taken from additional literature.

The creative potential of even a 7-year-old is significantly higher than that of an adult. But it is necessary not only to have creative potential, but also to be able to use it. Creative potential in itself will not provide a child with real achievements in the future.

Therefore, we must strive to stimulate the child’s motivation to express creativity and create conditions for the development of creative thinking.

Today we will talk about preparing homework. Homeschool work is difficult.

Firstly , most students do not have independent work skills. Here we are talking not only about learning ability, but also about the lack of skill to act independently.

Secondly , children use time irrationally (children who do their homework completely independently, without parental control, usually spend up to 70% of their time irrationally).

Parents who give their children the opportunity to exercise complete independence in preparing homework are also wrong, as are those who overprotect their child. Some adults say: “The lessons are assigned to you, not to me, so you do it!” Others ask affectionately: “Well, what have we been asked to do today?” - and open the textbook and notebooks. In the first case, resentment arises at the indifference of relatives to such important school matters and the quality of the tasks performed suffers, and in the second, irresponsibility is formed, the confidence that everything will be done well and without much effort.

Teaching children to learn meansteach them how to organizenot only yoursmental learning activity(in the process of which new knowledge is acquired), but also one’s ownexternal behavior(so that mental work occurs as successfully as possible). We have a long and difficult time ahead.work on developing the quality of arbitrariness in a student– the ability to manage one’s own behavior so that a person becomes the master of his desires, and not vice versa.

Adult help should be expressed in creating conditions for the child to achieve independent success. Give up constant care and control - otherwise the child simply will not learn to act without your help.

The child gets used to having everything chewed up for him, “served on a silver platter,” and does not show any initiative. With constant guardianship, parents seem to block and paralyze the child’s actions. In fact, the mother or grandmother helps the child maintain his childhood position of being inept and helpless.

Many parents are focused only on direct help. In educational work, they take on the functions of planning, analysis, and control. Help is provided with a “do as I do” attitude. This strategy deprives the child of experience, the right to make mistakes, and delays the formation of learning skills. It is necessary to give the child the opportunity to solve his own educational tasks. Possible failures will mobilize his attention at school and increase his responsibility.

Only in certain cases can parents provide direct assistance (if the child was not at school or came with clearly defined difficulties). But even then you need to start with leading questions so that the child makes every effort. It is difficulties that develop in children the abilities necessary to overcome them; it is in overcoming difficulties that the child develops.

Teach your child to a time limit, instill in him that the task must be completed within a certain time. The passage of time can be observed on an hourglass.

An adult’s willingness to help and the desire to always be there are not the same thing.

You should not take on the child’s responsibilities for preparing the workplace or collecting school things and supplies for school.

The child needs to complete the task independently, but at the same time he must constantly feel that adults are not indifferent to his work, he needs kind and intelligent help from you (from time to time, in fact, and always - emotional psychological support).

So, kindness, patience, faith in the strength of the little schoolchild, the conviction that he is good and capable - these are the main tips that will help organize children’s homework.

Mistakes that both parents and children can make.

1. Parents limit themselves to the question: “Have you done your homework?” This is not a test. And the children soon understand this.

2. Children do the exercise and then learn the rule, and not vice versa!

3. Adults overly control the student or try to do everything for him themselves.

4. Parents forget to praise their child for a successfully completed task.

5. If the child does not understand the topic, parents begin to explain in their own way. The child is lost and does not know who to listen to: the teacher or the parents.

How to avoid mistakes?

1. If a child misses vowels, it is good to enroll him in choir. In singing, vowels are extended and are not lost when writing. The rhythmic pattern of the song will teach him to listen, and therefore to write dictations correctly.

2. When reading, do not rush your child. He must pronounce the words accurately. Occasionally ask questions: “how do you understand this?” Be sure to read aloud at night, taking turns. Be sure to praise your child!

3. When completing tasks in the Russian language, pay attention to completing the task completely. Try to explain the rules in your own words.

4. It’s good to hang a reminder about preparing homework above the table.

5. The reminder is needed not only for children, but also for parents!

Don't stand behind!

Don't make your child angry or angry with him.

Be patient!

Let the child himself evaluate the quality of the work, and you help him find the reasons for the failures, tell him that tomorrow it will turn out better, instill in him confidence in his abilities.

6. Take the position of a benevolent adviser.

Parental “DON’Ts” when following a daily routine

IT IS FORBIDDEN:

Do not forgive the child’s mistakes and failures.

Wake up the child at the last moment before leaving for school, explaining this to yourself and others with great love for him.

Feed the child dry food and sandwiches before and after school, explaining to yourself and others that the child likes this kind of food.

Demand from a child only excellent and good results at school if he is not ready for them.

Do your homework immediately after school lessons.

Deprive children of outdoor play because of poor grades at school.

Wait for mom and dad to start doing homework.

Sitting in front of the TV and computer for more than 40 - 45 minutes a day.

Watch scary movies and play noisy games before bed.

Scold your child before bedtime.

Do not engage in physical activity during free time from lessons.

Talking to a child about his school problems is both evil and edifying.

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF AGE

Features of age

How do they affect the development of a child?

How to use it when working with a child

Brain

Weight is 50 g less than that of an adult, but significantly different in structure: the activity of the subcortex predominates, but the frontal lobes are not formed

(frontal lobes are responsible for complex activities, speech, control of body movements)

Difficulties in performing logical tasks and complex activities

Divide a complex action into simpler ones; in solving logical problems, show the solution path (method); use various diagrams and drawings-tips

Bones

Are in the process of active growth

The spine, fingers, phalanges, wrists are not ossified, and therefore children cannot sit straight for a long time and write for a long time

Regularly remind about correct posture, do exercises for your fingers, arms and spine

Muscles

Large groups are well developed

Small groups are poorly developed

It is convenient to make large movements, but the movements are imprecise (you can see when a child is in a hurry, everything falls out of his hands)

Inability to do small, jewelry work

Loyal to falling pens, other school supplies

Develop fine motor skills, and with it speech (the development of fine motor skills is directly related to the development of not only speech, but also thinking and writing)

Nervous system

Unstable

Excitation and inhibition of the nervous system is associated with its low mobility

The balance between nervous excitation and inhibition has not developed

Fatigue, inability to perform monotonous work for a long time, easily distracted, inability to switch from one type of activity to another

Haste in actions, inaccuracy, sloppiness

Organize safe, active recreation; use a variety of dynamic pauses; change the type of activity more often

Attention

• Involuntary, selective

unstable

Focuses on objects due to their attractiveness

Easily distracted

Use bright, visual, unusual and unexpected material; connect auditory, kinesthetic, and visual perception systems

Thinking

specific

does not differentiate the characteristics of an object into essential and non-essential

generalizes according to the principle of purpose

often find it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships

analysis and synthesis visual

very developed imagination

The child thinks primarily in visual representations, on which he relies in the course of reasoning.

Use visual and household materials, diagrams, symbols; specify questions

Memory

mechanical

involuntary

Children often memorize texts word for word.

You remember easily and simply what is in itself connected with emotions, actions, with what causes a smile and interest.

Develop logical ways of memorizing; it is very important to teach ways to obtain results (teach to listen, observe, remember, think); use of non-standard tasks and questions; creating unusual situations to attract children's attention

Sensations and perception

unfocused

holistically

direct

Something that is brighter in color is perceived better

Cannot be divided into units

Use selective brightness for clarity; take into account the individual characteristics of the child

Relationship with adults

The teacher is the bearer of requirements, social norms, evaluation

A significant figure for the child, the relationship is emotional; suggestibility

Relationships with peers

Determined by learning activities and teacher assessment

Attitude towards yourself

There is no personal self-esteem, there is an assessment of actions, depending on the assessment of adults and associated with educational activities

More is fair to encourage; know more about the individual characteristics of the child

Behavior

Impulsive, direct

Not restrained in emotions; fulfillment of momentary desires; there is a great need for approval and tactile contact

Regulate behavior through workload, instructions, solving a specific problem

Sensitive period

(the period most favorable for the development of certain mental functions)

To develop labor and everyday skills; for the development of humane feelings (attention, care, pity)

Develop work and everyday skills

Literature for teachers:

Voskoboynikov V.M. How to identify and develop a child's abilities. St. Petersburg: Respex, 1996

Lokalova N.P. How to help a low-performing student. – M.: Axis – 89, 2003

Sonin V.A. Psychological workshop: Problems, studies, solutions. – M., 1998

N.I. Derekleeva. New parent meetings: grades 1-4. – M.: VAKO, 2006

Kaleidoscope of parent meetings. Ed. E.N. Stepanova. - M.: Sphere shopping center, 2002

N.I. Derekleeva. Parent meetings: grades 1-4. – M.: VAKO, 2004

L.I. Salyakhova. Parent meetings: grades 1-4. – M.: Globus, 2007

25 modern topics for parent-teacher meetings at school. Teacher's handbook. V.P.Shulgina.- Rostov n/a: “Phoenix”, 2002

N.A. Maksimenko. Give children love. – Volgograd: Teacher, 2006

L.I. Salyakhova. Handbook for the class teacher. 1-4 grades. – M.: Globus, 2007

Parent meetings in 1st grade. Check everything with your heart. Author-compiler V.N. Maksimochkina. – Volgograd: Teacher, 2008

Parent meetings: 1st grade. – M.: VAKO, 2011

M.M. Bezrukikh. Difficulties of learning in primary school. - M., AST: Astrel, 2004

O.V.Perekateva, S.N.Podgornaya. Modern work with parents in primary schools. – Publishing center “Mart”, Moscow – Rostov-on-Don, 2005

M.M. Bezrukikh, S. Efimova, B. Kruglov. Why is it difficult to study? Family and school. Moscow, 1995

M.M. Bezrukikh, S.P. Efimova, B.S. Kruglov. How to help a first grader study well. - M., AST: Astrel, 2003

M.M. Bezrukikh, S.P. Efimova. The child goes to school. – Moscow, Academy, 1996

Literature for parents:

Kolyada M.G. Cheat sheet for parents. _ Donetsk: BAO, 1998

Gippenreiter Yu.B. Communicate with the child. How? –M., AST: Astrel, 2010

Gippenreiter Yu.B. We continue to communicate with the child. So? –M., AST: Astrel, 2010

I.A.Bartashnikova, A.A. Bartashnikov. Learn by playing. - Kharkiv. "Folio", 1997

L. Mashin, E. Madysheva. Educational games. Mysterious stories. - Kharkiv. “Folio”, 1996 E.N. Korneeva. Why are they so different? - Yaroslavl. Development Academy. -2002

E.N. Korneeva. Oh, these first-graders!.. - Yaroslavl. Development Academy. -1999

L.B. Fesyukova. Education with a fairy tale. - Kharkiv. "Folio", 1996

B.S.Volkov, N.V.Volkova. How to prepare your child for school. – M.: “Os-89”, 2004

A.I.Barkan. His Majesty the CHILD.- M.: “Century”, 1996

G. Monina, E. Panasyuk. Pre-school boom. Ekaterinburg: U-Factoria, 2007

E.N. Korneeva. Children's whims. - - Yaroslavl. Academy Holding. -2002

A.L.Korobeinikova, I.M.Enaleeva. A smart book for smart parents. – Vozyakov Publishing House. Ekaterinburg, 2004

Primary school age is the most crucial period in a person’s life. It is at primary school age that purposeful education and upbringing begins; the main activity of the child becomes educational activity, which plays a decisive role in the formation and development of all his mental properties and qualities. A person learns and is educated not only in the elementary grades of school, but also in middle and high school, and all his life. But in the elementary grades, something is laid that will develop and strengthen with age. Therefore, teaching and educating a junior schoolchild is a very responsible task. The primary school teacher actually holds the fate of a person in his hands, and this fate must be handled with care and caution. A junior schoolchild is still a small person, but already very complex, with his own inner world, with his own individual psychological characteristics. In modern conditions, the number of children left without parental care, children with deficiencies in mental and physical development, children with disabilities is increasing. behavior, as well as the number of single-parent, large, and low-income families. Those. The number of children considered at risk is growing. Often such children end up in boarding schools. Not many boarding institutions manage to overcome the factors that traumatize their residents: the hospital principle of organizing living space; isolation and poor contact with the social environment; step-by-step control and complete dependence of the child on the mood of adults; violation of connections and relationships that are important for the child with other, but significant, persons; the acquisition by a child of various types of deprivation: maternal, sensory, emotional, social, etc. Despite the fact that various attempts are being made to overcome these contradictions by creating special institutions in different models and forms for children at risk, the problem of restoring a full-fledged childhood by pedagogical means in these institutions is still still remains unresolved. In order to qualitatively change the current situation of pupils in the boarding school system, it is necessary to pay great attention to the rehabilitation processes. If a little person is left alone with his difficulties in mastering the world around him, if his development takes place spontaneously and depends on random influences, he is unlikely to be able to find his place in life. Only with the help of a sensitive, benevolent adult is his normal social adaptation possible. Leaving a child without psychological help is unacceptable.

Of course, working with children in an orphanage requires not only knowledge and experience, but also patience and love for them, and this is a huge and painstaking work.

1. General characteristics of the development of children of primary school age.

The boundaries of primary school age, coinciding with the period of study in primary school, are currently established from 6-7 to 9-10 years. During this period, further physical and psychophysiological development of the child occurs, providing the opportunity for systematic learning at school. First of all, the functioning of the brain and nervous system is improved. According to physiologists, by the age of 7 the cerebral cortex is already largely mature. However, the imperfection of the regulatory function of the cortex is manifested in the peculiarities of behavior, organization of activity and emotional sphere characteristic of children of this age: younger schoolchildren are easily distracted, are not capable of long-term concentration, are excitable, and emotional. At primary school age, there is unevenness in psychophysiological development in different children. Differences in the rates of development between boys and girls also remain: girls are still ahead of boys. Pointing out this, some authors come to the conclusion that in fact in the lower grades “children of different ages sit at the same desk: on average, boys are a year and a half younger than girls, although this difference is not in calendar age” (Khripkova A. G., Kolesov D.V., 1982, p. 35).

The beginning of schooling leads to a radical change in the social situation of the child’s development. He becomes a “public” subject and now has socially significant responsibilities, the fulfillment of which receives public assessment.

Educational activity becomes the leading activity at primary school age. It determines the most important changes occurring in the development of the psyche of children at this age stage. As part of educational activities

psychological new formations are taking shape that characterize the most significant achievements in the development of younger schoolchildren and are the foundation that ensures development at the next age stage.

During primary school age, a new type of relationship with other people begins to develop. The unconditional authority of an adult is gradually lost, peers begin to acquire more and more importance for the child, and the role of the children's community increases. Thus, the central neoplasms of primary school age are:

· a qualitatively new level of development of voluntary regulation of behavior and activity;

· reflection, analysis, internal action plan;

· development of a new cognitive attitude to reality;

· Peer group orientation.

Thus, according to the concept of E. Erikson, the age of 6-12 years is considered as a period of transferring to the child systematic knowledge and skills that ensure introduction to working life and aimed at developing diligence.

The most important new formations arise in all areas of mental development: intelligence, personality, and social relationships are transformed. The leading role of educational activity in this process does not exclude the fact that the younger student is actively involved in other types of activities, during which the child’s new achievements are improved and consolidated.

According to L.S. Vygotsky, specifics of primary school age

is that the goals of the activity are given to children primarily

adults. Teachers and parents determine what a child can and cannot do, what tasks to complete, what rules to obey, etc. One of the typical situations of this kind is when a child performs some kind of assignment. Even among those schoolchildren who willingly undertake to carry out instructions from an adult, there are quite frequent cases when children do not cope with tasks because they did not understand its essence, quickly lost their initial interest in the task, or simply forgot to complete it on time. These difficulties can be avoided if, when giving children any assignment, you follow certain rules.

Kolominsky Ya.L. believes that if a child by the age of 9-10 has established friendly relations with one of his classmates, this means that the child knows how to establish close social contact with a peer, maintain relationships for a long time, that communication with him is also important to someone and interesting. Between 8 and 11 years old, children consider as friends those who help them, respond to their requests and share their interests. For the emergence of mutual sympathy and friendship, such qualities as kindness and attentiveness, independence, self-confidence, and honesty become important. Gradually, as the child masters school reality, he develops a system of personal relationships in the classroom. It is based on direct emotional relationships that prevail over all others.

In numerous studies by domestic psychologists there were

The most essential conditions are highlighted that allow an adult to form in a child the ability to independently manage his behavior.

These conditions are:

1) the child has a sufficiently strong and long-lasting motive for behavior;

2) introduction of a restrictive purpose;

3) division of an acquired complex form of behavior into relatively independent and small actions;

4) the presence of external means that are a support for mastering behavior.

The most important condition for the development of a child’s voluntary behavior is the participation of an adult who directs the child’s efforts and provides the means of mastery.

From the first days of school, the child is involved in the process of interpersonal interaction with classmates and the teacher. During primary school age, this interaction has certain dynamics and patterns of development.

2. Features of the cognitive sphere of children of primary school age

The transition from preschool to school childhood is characterized by a fundamental change in the child’s place in the system of social relations and his entire way of life.

Entering school is a turning point in a child’s life, a transition to a new way of life and working conditions, a new position in society, new relationships with adults and peers.

A distinctive feature of the student’s position is that his studies are a compulsory, socially significant activity. For this he is responsible to the teacher, school, and family. The life of a student is subject to a system of strict rules that are the same for all schoolchildren (V.S. Mukhina, 1985).

The main thing that changes in the child’s relationships is a new system of demands placed on the child in connection with his new responsibilities, which are important not only for himself and his family, but also for society. They begin to view him as a person who has entered the first step of the ladder leading to civic maturity.

Along with new responsibilities, the student acquires new rights. He can claim that adults will take his educational work seriously; he has the right to his workplace, to the time and silence necessary for his studies; he has the right to rest and leisure. Receiving a good grade for his work, he has the right to approval from others and demands from them respect for himself and his activities.

Research shows that young schoolchildren, in the vast majority of cases, love to learn. Social meaning of teaching

is clearly visible from the attitude of young schoolchildren towards grades. For a long time, they perceive a mark as an assessment of their efforts, and not the quality of the work done.

They love and respect the teacher, first of all, because he is a teacher, because he teaches; in addition, they want him to be demanding and strict, as this emphasizes the seriousness and significance of their activities.

At the same time, the social motivation for learning in a junior schoolchild is so strong that he does not always strive to even understand why he needs to complete this or that task - since it comes from the teacher, is given in the form of a lesson, it means it is necessary, and he will complete this task as carefully as possible.

All children experience difficulties adapting to new conditions of education and upbringing. They are psychologically tense - the effect of uncertainty associated with a completely new life at school causes anxiety and a feeling of discomfort. They are physically tense - the new regime breaks old stereotypes. This leads to the fact that even a well-bred child who knows how to follow the rules and lives under a strict regime changes behavior and deteriorates the quality of sleep. Some children react extremely strongly to a new situation in their lives. Their sleep and appetite are seriously disturbed, their health deteriorates, excitability and irritability appear. In some cases, neurosis may develop.

The overload that a child experiences leads to fatigue. Fatigue is a condition characterized by decreased performance.

Psychological tension goes away after one and a half to two months. If an adult calmly and systematically carries out routine tasks, the child

learns the mandatory rules of the regime and his tension drops. The routine and the release of mental stress also stabilize the child’s physical well-being. Children who are physically and mentally weakened get tired faster. Such children often get sick, are capricious and nervous. The malaise manifests itself in constant irritability, in tears over the most insignificant reasons.

The desire for positive relationships with adults organizes the child’s behavior: he takes into account their opinions and assessments, and tries to follow the rules of behavior.

The leading activity at primary school age is educational. In educational activities, the acquisition of scientific knowledge is the main goal and the main result of the activity.

Features of educational activities at primary school age:

The purpose and result of the activity coincide.

The characteristics of educational activities include five main parameters: structure, motives, goal setting, emotions, and the ability to learn.

The development of cognitive mental processes in primary school age is characterized by the fact that from involuntary actions, performed unintentionally in the context of play or practical activity, they turn into independent types of mental activity that have their own purpose, motive and methods of implementation.

The most typical feature of the perception of 1st and partly 2nd grade students is its low differentiation. Starting from the 2nd grade, schoolchildren’s perception process gradually becomes more complicated, increasingly

analysis begins to dominate in it. In some cases, perception takes on the character of observation.

Younger schoolchildren easily confuse three-dimensional objects with flat shapes; they often do not recognize a figure if it is located slightly differently. For example, some children do not perceive a straight line as straight if it is vertical or oblique.

One should also keep in mind the fact that the child grasps only the general appearance of the sign, but does not see its elements.

The perception of a primary school student is determined, first of all, by the characteristics of the subject itself. Therefore, children notice in objects not the main, important, essential, but what stands out clearly - color, size, shape, etc. Therefore, the number and brightness of images used in educational materials must be strictly regulated and extremely justified.

Features of the perception of a plot picture are as follows: younger schoolchildren use pictures as a means of facilitating memorization. When memorizing verbal material throughout the early childhood years, children remember words denoting the names of objects better than words denoting abstract concepts.

Younger schoolchildren do not yet know how to properly control their perception, they cannot independently analyze this or that subject, or fully and independently work with visual aids.

Thanks to educational activities, all memory processes intensively develop: memorization, preservation, reproduction of information. And

all types of memory: long-term, short-term and operational.

Memory development is associated with the need to memorize educational material. Accordingly, voluntary memorization is actively formed. It becomes important not only what to remember, but also how to remember.

There is a need to master special purposeful memorization actions - mastering mnemonic techniques.

Self-control when memorizing is insufficiently developed. The younger schoolchild does not know how to test himself. Sometimes he is not aware of whether he has learned the given task or not.

The ability to systematically and systematically learn educational material increases throughout primary school age. At the same time, at the beginning of primary school age (7-8 years), the ability to memorize is still not much different from the ability to memorize in preschoolers, and only at 9-11 years old (i.e., in grades III-V) do schoolchildren show clear superiority.

An adult should use the following techniques to develop voluntary memorization:

Give the child ways to remember and reproduce what needs to be learned;

Discuss the content and scope of the material;

Divide the material into parts (according to meaning, difficulty of memorization, etc.);

Learn to control the memorization process;

Fix the child's attention on the need for understanding;

Teach the child to understand what he needs to remember;

Set motivation.

At primary school age, the main type of thinking is visual

figurative. The specificity of this type of thinking is that the solution to any problem occurs as a result of internal actions with images.

Elements of conceptual thinking and mental operations are formed - analysis, synthesis, comparison, grouping, classification, abstraction, which are necessary for the appropriate processing of theoretical content. Practical and sensory analysis predominates. This means that students can relatively easily solve those educational tasks where they can use practical actions with the objects themselves or find parts of objects by observing them in a visual aid.

The development of abstraction in students is manifested in the formation of the ability to identify general and essential features. One of the features of abstraction among elementary school students is that they sometimes mistake external, bright signs for essential features.

Instead of generalization, they often synthesize, that is, they combine objects not according to their common characteristics, but according to some cause-and-effect relationships and the interaction of objects.

The formation of thinking in concepts occurs within educational activities through the following methods of activity:

Study the essential features of objects and phenomena;

Master their essential properties;

Master the laws of their origin and development.

The main source of development of concepts and thinking processes is knowledge.

Thinking in concepts needs the help of representations and on them

under construction. The more accurate and wider the range of ideas, the more complete and profound the concepts built on their basis.

Specially organized observations, based on the perception of the subject, are of great importance in the assimilation of concepts. A child’s story, built on the basis of a series of questions asked by adults in a certain order, leads to the fact that perception is systematized, becomes more focused and planned.

Thus, the most important feature of thinking formed during training is the emergence of a system of concepts in which more general and more specific concepts are clearly separated and correlated with each other.

Educational activities contribute to the active development of imagination, both recreative and creative. The development of imagination goes in the following directions:

The variety of subjects is increasing;

The qualities and individual aspects of objects and characters are transformed;

New images are created;

The ability to anticipate successive moments of transformation of one state into another appears;

The ability to control the plot appears.

The arbitrariness of the imagination is formed. Imagination develops in the context of special activities: writing stories, fairy tales, poems, stories. The development of a child’s imagination provides new opportunities:

Allows you to go beyond practical personal experience;

Overcome the normativity of social space;

Activates the development of personality qualities;

Stimulates the development of figurative-sign systems.

Imagination also has a therapeutic effect, when a child can allow himself to be in his fantasy who and what he wants and have what he wants. On the other hand, imagination can lead a child away from reality, creating obsessive images.

At primary school age, involuntary attention predominates.

It is difficult for children to concentrate on activities that are monotonous and unattractive to them, or on activities that are interesting but require mental effort. The reaction to everything new and bright is unusually strong at this age. The child does not yet know how to control his attention and often finds himself at the mercy of external impressions. All attention is directed to individual, conspicuous objects or their signs. The images and ideas that arise in the minds of children cause strong experiences that have an inhibitory effect on mental activity. Therefore, if the essence of the subject is not on the surface, if it is disguised, then younger schoolchildren do not notice it.

The attention span of a primary school student is smaller (4-6 objects) than that of an adult (6-8), and the distribution of attention is weaker. Characterized by the inability to distribute attention between various symbols, objects of perception and types of work.

The attention of a primary school student is unstable and easily distractible. The instability of attention is explained by the fact that in younger schoolchildren excitation predominates over inhibition. Turning off your attention saves you from overwork. This feature of attention is one of the reasons for including game elements in classes and is quite

frequent changes in forms of activity.

One of the features of attention that also needs to be taken into account is that younger schoolchildren do not know how to quickly switch their attention from one object to another.

Attention is closely related to the emotions and feelings of children. Everything that causes them strong feelings attracts their attention. Therefore, the very figurative, emotional language of artistic design of teaching aids disorients the child in the actual educational activities. Children of primary school age are certainly capable of maintaining attention on intellectual tasks, but this requires tremendous effort of will and high motivation. A junior schoolchild can engage in the same type of activity for a very short time (15-20 minutes) due to the rapid onset of fatigue and extreme inhibition. An adult should organize the child’s attention in the following way: with the help of verbal instructions, remind him of the need to perform a given action; indicate methods of action (“Children! Let’s open the albums. Take a red pencil and in the upper left corner - here - draw a circle...”, etc.);

teach the child to pronounce what and in what order he will have to perform.

Gradually, the attention of the younger student acquires a pronounced voluntary, deliberate character.

Noticeable shifts are occurring in the development of voluntary forms of behavior and activity. The main factor in the development of voluntariness in a child is the appearance of educational work in his life in the form of permanent responsibilities.

Children should be taught to manage their behavior. The development of voluntariness proceeds in two directions:

The child’s ability to be guided by the goals set by an adult is formed;

The ability to set goals yourself and, in accordance with them, independently control your behavior is formed.

It is known that a goal has different motivating power depending on how large the volume of intended work is. If the volume is too large, then the activity again begins to unfold as if there was no goal.

Little time should pass between the child’s creation of the corresponding intention and the fulfillment of this intention, otherwise the intention seems to “cool down”, and its motivating power is reduced to zero.

In cases where a child does not feel like completing a task, dividing the task into several small individual tasks, designated by a goal, encourages him to start the work and see it through to completion.

In terms of personal development, it is significant that the age of 7-8 years is a sensitive period for the acquisition of moral standards. This is the only moment in a person’s life when he is psychologically ready to understand the meaning of norms and rules and to implement them on a daily basis.

The formation of moral qualities of an individual is a special work on cultivating certain behavioral habits that form the foundation of personality qualities.

Before making a requirement and monitoring its implementation, an adult must make sure that the child understands its meaning.

Experiments have shown that in cases where it is possible to form an emotionally positive attitude towards fulfilling the requirements, the habit is formed within one month; in cases where punishment is applied, neither the necessary habit nor the right attitude is formed. Thus, the formation of stable

correct behavior and the formation of personality traits on its basis proceeds successfully only if the exercise in certain forms of behavior is carried out against the background of a positive motive, and not through coercion.

Junior school age is the age of greatest well-being in the affective-need sphere, the age of predominance of positive emotions and personal activity.

Name. Adults should pay attention to how children address each other and stop unacceptable forms of addressing each other that are organic to each child’s internal attitude towards a value-based attitude towards himself and his name.

The motives for establishing and maintaining positive relationships with other children are of great importance for the development of the personality of a primary school student. Therefore, the child’s desire to earn the approval and sympathy of other children is one of the main motives for his behavior.

A child of primary school age, like a preschooler, continues to strive to have positive self-esteem.

“I am good” is the child’s internal position in relation to himself. This position offers great opportunities for education. Claiming to

recognition from an adult, the younger student will try to confirm his right to this recognition.

Thanks to the claim to recognition, he fulfills the standards of behavior - he tries to behave correctly, strives for knowledge, because his good behavior and knowledge become the subject of constant interest from his elders.

The desire to “be like everyone else” arises in the context of educational activities due to the following reasons. Firstly, children learn to master the educational skills and special knowledge required for this activity. The teacher controls the whole class and encourages everyone to follow the proposed model. Secondly, children learn about the rules of behavior in the classroom and school, which are presented to everyone together and to each individual. Thirdly, in many situations a child cannot independently choose a line of behavior, and in this case he is guided by the behavior of other children.

In unfamiliar situations, a child most often follows others, contrary to his knowledge, contrary to his common sense. At the same time, regardless of the choice of behavior, he experiences a feeling of strong tension, confusion, and fear. Conformal behavior and following peers are typical for children of primary school age. This manifests itself in school lessons (children, for example, often raise their hands after others, and it happens that they are not internally prepared to answer), it manifests itself in joint games and in everyday relationships.

The desire to “be better than everyone else” in primary school age is manifested in the readiness to complete a task faster and better, solve a problem correctly, write a text, and read expressively. The child strives to establish himself among his peers.

The desire for self-affirmation also stimulates the child to behave in a normative manner, to ensure that adults confirm his dignity. However, the desire for self-affirmation in the event that a child is unable or finds it difficult to do what is expected of him (first of all, his success at school) can become the reason for his uncontrollable whims.

Caprice - frequently repeated tearfulness, unreasonable willfulness

antics that act as a means of attracting attention to oneself, “getting the upper hand” over adult antisocial forms of behavior. Children, as a rule, are capricious: unsuccessful in school, overly spoiled, children who receive little attention; weakened, uninitiative children.

In all cases, these children cannot satisfy the desire for self-affirmation in other ways and choose an infantile, unpromising way to attract attention to themselves. The child’s behavior takes the form of whims with still hidden accentuations in personality development, which can later manifest itself in adolescence in antisocial behavior.

How to give a child an assignment? Having assigned a task, ask to repeat it. This allows the child to think about the content of the task and relate it to himself.

Offer to plan your work in detail: set an exact deadline, distribute the work over days, set a working time.

These techniques help create the intention to definitely complete the task even in those children who initially did not have it.

Self-esteem determines the student’s self-confidence, his attitude towards mistakes made, and the difficulties of learning activities. Younger schoolchildren with adequate self-esteem are distinguished by their activity, desire to achieve success in learning, and greater independence.

Children with low self-esteem behave differently: they are not confident in themselves, they are afraid of the teacher, they expect failure, and during lessons they prefer to listen to others rather than join in the discussion. Unfortunately, parents and teachers often compare children with different abilities. Setting an example for a child who is not doing well in school, another, more gifted or hardworking one, they try to increase the performance of the first one, but instead of the expected result

this leads to a decrease in his self-esteem. Comparing a child with himself is much more effective: if he is told how much he has progressed compared to his previous level, this can have a beneficial effect on his self-esteem and become a prerequisite for increasing the level of educational activity.

Full-fledged living of this age, its positive acquisitions are the necessary foundation on which the further development of the child as an active subject of knowledge and activity is built. The main task of adults in working with children of primary school age is to create optimal conditions for the development and realization of children's capabilities, taking into account the individuality of each child.

3. Peculiarities of development of children at risk

As you know, many children are characterized by temporary deviations in behavior. As a rule, they are easily overcome through the efforts of parents, teachers, and educators. But the behavior of some children goes beyond acceptable pranks and offenses, and educational work with them, proceeding with difficulties, does not bring the desired success. Such children are classified as “difficult”.

These include children with disorders in the affective sphere, educationally neglected children, children with mental retardation, children with developmental problems (oligophrenic), children with psychopathic behavior and many others. Having studied the literature on defectology and psychology, it turned out that left-handed children and children with emotional disorders can also be included in this category.

Recently, a lot has been written and said about difficult schoolchildren. As a rule, this is the name given to underachieving, undisciplined schoolchildren, disruptors, that is, students who are not amenable to training and education. “Difficult” teenager, “difficult” schoolboy have become fashionable words. It is believed that the majority of juvenile offenders were formerly difficult students.

When people talk about difficult children, they usually mean pedagogical difficulties. In this case, most often one side of the phenomenon is taken as a basis -

The difficulty of working with these children and the second is not considered - the difficulty of these children’s lives, the difficulty of their relationships with parents, teachers, comrades, peers, adults. Problematic children are often not so much unwilling as they are unable to study well and behave appropriately.

The composition of difficult children is far from homogeneous, and the reasons for this difficulty are not the same. The difficulty of schoolchildren is determined by three main factors:

1) pedagogical neglect;

2) social neglect;

3) deviations in health status.

In some cases, pedagogical difficulty is a consequence of the predominance of one of these factors, in others - their combination, complex. In cases where this difficulty cannot be overcome, a “difficult”, “incorrigible” child appears. Those pedagogically and socially neglected children for whom the teacher was unable to find the right approach are often included in the category of “difficult” and “incorrigible”.

The issue of difficult children, teenagers, and schoolchildren is not new. In the 20-30s, many teachers, psychologists, psychoneurologists and lawyers studied it. A special institute was created to study difficult children, many interesting articles and monographs were written about the nature, origin and forms of manifestation of difficult childhood (P.P. Blonsky, V.P. Kashchenko, G.V. Murashev, L.S. Vygotsky, V. N. Myasintsev and others). Considering difficult childhood as a result of the unfavorable influence of the environment, improper upbringing in the family and school, they divided difficult children into pedagogically neglected, socially neglected and neurologically ill (suffering from mental disorders). There were other attempts to group difficult children (N.V. Chekhov, A.N. Graborov, P.I. Ozeretsky). With the development of pedology, pedologists began to deal mainly with difficult children. During this period, scientific, Marxist positions were gradually replaced by non-scientific ones; most of the difficult children were viewed as morally and mentally defective, it was proposed to create special schools for them with a primitive educational program, etc. However, the elimination of pedology as a science also entailed the actual cessation of the study of difficult children, work to prevent and overcome this phenomenon. And only at the end of the 50s did individual works devoted to the problem of children’s pedagogical difficulties begin to appear again (L.S. Slavina, V.A. Sukhomlinsky, G.P. Medvedev, V. Matveev, L.M. Zyubin, E. G. Kostyashkin and others).

The problem of “difficult” students is one of the central psychological and pedagogical problems. After all, if there were no difficulties in raising the younger generation, then society’s need for developmental and educational psychology, pedagogy and private methods would simply disappear. Based on the analysis of modern scientific and pedagogical literature, three essential features that make up the content can be identified:

concept of “difficult children”. The first sign is the presence of deviant behavior in children or adolescents.

By “difficult” schoolchildren we mean, secondly, such children and adolescents whose behavior disorders are not easily corrected. In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish between the terms “difficult children” and “pedagogically neglected children.” All difficult children, of course, are pedagogically neglected. But not all educationally neglected children are difficult: some are relatively easy to re-educate.

“Difficult children,” thirdly, especially need an individual approach from educators and the attention of a group of peers. These are not bad, hopelessly spoiled schoolchildren, as some adults incorrectly believe, but they require special attention and participation from others.

The main reasons for the difficulties in raising individual schoolchildren are incorrect relationships in the family, miscalculations at school, isolation from friends, environmental maladaptation in general, the desire to assert oneself in any way and in any small group. Often there is a combination, a complex of all these reasons. Indeed, it often happens that a student does not study well because of troubles in the family, and this causes him to be disdained by teachers and classmates. Such an environment leads to the most undesirable changes in the student’s consciousness and behavior.

4.Hyperactive and passive children

It is impossible not to notice hyperactive children, since they stand out sharply from their peers with their behavior. We can identify such features as the child’s excessive activity, excessive mobility, fussiness, and the inability to concentrate on anything for a long time.

Recently, experts have shown that hyperactivity is one of the manifestations of a whole complex of disorders observed in such children. The main defect is associated with insufficiency of the mechanisms of attention and inhibitory control.

Attention deficit disorder is considered one of the most common forms of behavior disorder among children of primary school age, and is more common in boys than in girls.

Entering school creates serious difficulties for children with attention deficits, since educational activities place increased demands on the development of this function.

As a rule, in adolescence, attention defects in such children persist, but hyperactivity usually disappears and is often replaced by inertia of mental activity and lack of motivation.

Primary behavioral disorders are accompanied by serious secondary disorders, which include poor academic performance and difficulties communicating with other people.

Poor academic performance is a typical phenomenon for hyperactive children. It is due to the peculiarities of their behavior, which does not correspond to the age norm and is a serious obstacle to the full inclusion of the child in educational activities. During the lesson to these children

It’s difficult to cope with tasks, because they experience difficulties in organizing and completing work, and quickly disengage from the process of completing a task. Their reading and writing skills are significantly lower than their peers. Their written work appears sloppy and is characterized by errors that are the result of inattention, failure to follow teacher instructions, or guessing.

Hyperactivity affects not only school failure, but also relationships with others. These children cannot play with their peers for long; they are a source of constant conflict among others and quickly become rejected.

Most of these children have low self-esteem. They often exhibit aggressiveness, stubbornness, deceit and other forms of antisocial behavior.

When working with hyperactive children, knowledge of the causes of observed behavior disorders is of great importance.

The etiology and pathogenesis of hyperactivity have been studied by specialists. They concluded that the following factors are at play here:

Organic brain damage;

Perinatal pathology (complications during pregnancy);

Genetic factor (heredity);

Social factors (consistency and systematicity of educational influence).

Based on this, work with hyperactive children should be carried out comprehensively, with the participation of specialists in different fields and the mandatory involvement of parents and teachers.

First of all, it should be taken into account that drug therapy plays an important role in overcoming attention deficit disorder. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that such a child is under the supervision of a doctor.

To organize classes with hyperactive children, a specialist can use specially developed correctional and developmental programs to increase the volume of attention, to distribute attention, to enhance concentration and stability of attention, and switch attention.

Teachers and educators must remember that improvement in the child’s condition depends not only on specially prescribed treatment, but, to a large extent, also on a kind, calm and consistent attitude towards him.

An equally responsible role in working with hyperactive children belongs to teachers. Often, teachers, unable to cope with such students, insist on their transfer to another school under various pretexts. However, this measure does not solve the child’s problems.

There are no clear predictions regarding the further development of such children. For many, serious problems may persist into adolescence.

The opposite of hyperactive children are passive ones. The main reasons for the passivity of schoolchildren:

1) reduced intellectual activity;

2) physical health deficiencies;

3) developmental defects.

5. Left-handed child at school

Left-handedness is a very important individual characteristic of a child, which must be taken into account in the process of education and upbringing.

Hand asymmetry, i.e. dominance of the right or left hand, or preference for one of the hands, is due to the characteristics of the functional asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres. Left-handers have less clear specialization in the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres.

The specificity of the lateralization of brain functions of left-handers affects the characteristics of their cognitive activity, which include: an analytical method of processing information, better recognition of verbal stimuli than non-verbal ones; reduced ability to perform visual-spatial tasks.

Until recently, left-handedness represented a serious pedagogical problem. Children were taught to write with their right hand. Hence, they harmed the health of children (neuroses and neurotic conditions).

In recent years, the school has abandoned the practice of retraining left-handed students

children and they write with a hand that is comfortable for them. It is very important to determine the direction of the child’s “handedness” before the start of education: in kindergarten or when entering school.

Determining the child's dominant hand is necessary in order to more fully

use its natural features and reduce the likelihood of complications that arise in left-handed people during the transition to systematic schooling.

Thus, the question of retraining a left-handed child in every

A specific case should be decided strictly individually, taking into account individual physiological and psychological characteristics, the adaptive capabilities of the body and the personal attitudes of the child.

In the activities of a left-handed child, the peculiarities of its organization

cognitive sphere may have the following manifestations:

1. Reduced ability of hand-eye coordination: children

do not cope well with tasks of drawing graphics

images; have difficulty holding a line when writing, reading, how

usually have bad handwriting.

2. Deficiencies in spatial perception and visual memory,

mirroring of writing, omission and rearrangement of letters, optical

3. Left-handers are characterized by element-by-element work with the material,

laying out on “shelves”

4. Weakness of attention, difficulty switching and concentrating.

5. Speech disorders: errors of sound and letter nature.

One of the most important characteristics of left-handed children is their

emotional sensitivity, increased vulnerability, anxiety,

decreased performance and increased fatigue.

In addition, the fact that approximately 20% of left-handed children have a history of complications in the process may also be of no small importance.

pregnancy and childbirth, birth injuries. The increased emotionality of left-handed people is a factor that significantly complicates adaptation at school. For left-handers, the transition to school life is much slower and more painful.

These children need special activities aimed at developing:

Visual-motor coordination;

Accuracy of spatial perception;

Visual memory;

Visually – imaginative thinking;

Ability to holistically process information;

Motor skills;

Phonemic hearing;

When organizing development work, it may be necessary to

involving a speech therapist, defectologist, and psychologist in cooperation.

So, a left-handed child can have a lot of problems at school. But it should

note that left-handedness is a risk factor not in itself, but in

connections with those specific disorders and developmental deviations that may occur in a particular child.

6. Emotional disorders in primary school age.

The development of the emotional and volitional sphere is one of the most important components

readiness for school. One of the most common questions among teachers is the problem of emotional instability and imbalance in students. Teachers do not know how to behave with students who are overly stubborn, touchy, whiny, and anxious.

Conventionally, we can distinguish three most pronounced groups of so-called difficult children who have problems in the emotional sphere. Aggressive children. Of course, in the life of every child there have been cases when he showed aggression, but when highlighting this group, attention is drawn to the degree of manifestation of the aggressive reaction, the duration of the action and the nature of the possible reasons, sometimes implicit, that caused affective behavior.

Emotionally disinhibited children. These children react too violently to everything: if they express delight, then as a result of their expressive behavior they will turn on the whole class; if they suffer, their crying and moaning will be too loud and provocative.

Too shy, anxious children. They are embarrassed to loudly and clearly express their emotions, quietly experience their problems, afraid to draw attention to themselves.

A teacher working with children who have developmental difficulties

emotional sphere, at the diagnostic stage it is necessary to determine

features of family upbringing, the attitude of others towards the child, the level of his self-esteem, the psychological climate in the class.

Family is one of the most important factors influencing the emotional sphere. However, one cannot ignore that sometimes

Emotional stress in children is provoked by teachers, without meaning to or realizing it. They require behavior and levels of performance that

for some they are unbearable. Ignoring on the part of the teacher the individual and age-related characteristics of each child can be the cause of the student’s negative mental states, school phobias, when the child is afraid to go to school or answer at the blackboard.

Thus, the main factors influencing emotional disorders include:

1) natural characteristics (type of temperament)

2) social factors:

Type of family upbringing;

Teacher's attitude;

Relationships of others.

Such children require friendly and understanding communication, games,

drawing, moving exercises, music, and most importantly - attention to

child, maintaining a daily routine.

The characteristics of the “risk group” children we examined can help us in the next most important stage - the development of methods of psychological and pedagogical correction, differentiated depending on one or another type of behavior disorder in adolescents.

The organization of training and education of children at risk should

be implemented comprehensively, only then will it be effective. Doctor

psychoneurologist, defectologist, psychologist, speech therapist, social teacher. This

children require drug therapy provided by a doctor -

psychologist.

7. Forms and methods of social and pedagogical support.

All educational work on social and pedagogical support for children at risk is based on the following principles:

· the principle of respect for the individuality of the individual (if individuality is suppressed, the personality will not reveal itself, its inclinations and abilities will not develop);

· the principle of collective activity (a person must be able to coordinate with others, individuality flourishes in properly organized collective activity);

· the principle of reasonable demands (everything is allowed that does not contradict the law, school rules, does not harm health, does not humiliate the dignity of others);

· the principle of an age-based approach (each age period responds positively to its own forms and methods of educational influence);

· the principle of dialogue (equalizing the positions of teacher and student, adult and child helps to achieve trusting relationships. The child instinctively sometimes finds more original and optimal ways to solve many problems, tasks, projects);

· the principle of pedagogical support (the child should not feel unloved, even if he studies poorly. He should see in the teacher a teacher who will protect him from ignorance, from stress due to this ignorance);

· the principle of stimulating self-education (every student should know himself, learn to critically examine his actions, cultivate a sense of responsibility. The task of teachers is to create conditions where the child will gain experience in planning and reflecting on his activities);

· the principle of connection with real life (activities organized and carried out at school should be in contact with the real affairs of the village, district, region, country. Children should feel like citizens of Russia and act for its benefit);

· the principle of coordination (all actions of teachers must be coordinated with each other, subordinated to one common goal. In addition, each teacher must remember that his pedagogical duty is to create conditions for the coordination of children with each other, children and their parents).

Thus, the goals of the educational system for social and pedagogical support of children at risk are:

Forming a basic personal culture and providing each child with equal conditions for spiritual, intellectual and physical development, satisfying his creative and educational needs.

Formation of a socially active personality, capable of making independent decisions, changing social and economic roles in a constantly changing society.

The concept of the educational system for social and pedagogical support of “at-risk” children assumes the following functions:

· developmental, aimed at changing the motivation of children at risk for educational activities, the development of a creative personality capable of self-expression and self-realization;

· entertaining, creating a favorable atmosphere in the lesson, turning it from a boring lesson into an exciting journey;

· integrating, ensuring the interaction of all departments as a single educational space, expanding and deepening intra-school and extra-school connections;

· managerial, focused on optimizing the functioning and development of the school, creating conditions for positive changes in the educational process, professional growth of teachers, interaction of all participants in the educational system;

· protective, promoting the creation of an environment of sympathy, empathy, mutual understanding;

· compensating, communicative, involving the creation at school of conditions for self-expression, demonstration of creative abilities, and establishment of emotional contacts;

· corrective, aimed at correcting the child’s behavior and communication in order to prevent a negative impact on the formation of personality.

Conclusion

Primary school age is the most important stage of school childhood. The high sensitivity of this age period determines the great potential for the child’s diversified development.

The main achievements of this age are determined by the leading nature of educational activities and are largely decisive for subsequent years of education: by the end of primary school age, the child must want to learn, be able to learn and believe in himself.

Full-fledged living of this age, its positive acquisitions are the necessary foundation on which the further development of the child as an active subject of cognition and activity is built. The main task of adults in working with children of primary school age is to create optimal conditions for the development and realization of children's capabilities, taking into account the individuality of each child.

Literature

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2. To the teacher about children with developmental disabilities Vlasova T.A. Pevzner M.S. M.: Education, 1967. – 208 p.

3. The world of childhood: Junior schoolchild M.: Pedagogy 1981. - 400 p. - Ed. A. G. Khripkova; Rep. ed. V. V. Davydov

4. Schoolchildren who are lagging behind in their studies (Problems of mental development) M.: Pedagogika, 1986.-208 p. Ed. 3. I. Kalmykova, I. Yu. Kulagina; Scientific research Institute of General and Pedagogical Psychology Acad. ped. Sciences of the USSR.

5. Mental development of junior schoolchildren: Experimental psychological research

M.: Pedagogy, 1990.-160 pp.: ill. / Ed. V. V. Davydova; Scientific research Institute of General and Pedagogical Psychology Acad. ped. Sciences of the USSR

6. Features of the mental development of children 6-7 years of age

M.: Pedagogy, 1988 Edited by D. B. Elkonin, A. L. Wenger

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Academy of Development, 1997. – 240 p.

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M.: Pedagogical Society of Russia. - 1999 - 442 p.

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Wenger A.L. Tsukerman G.A. M.: Vlados, 2001. - 160 p.: ill. - (B-school psychologist)

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13. ABC of child psychology Stepanov S.S. M.: Sfera, 2004. 128 p.

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The beginning of primary school age is determined by the moment the child enters school. In recent years, due to the transition to education from the age of 6 and the introduction of a four-year primary school, the lower limit of this age stage has moved and many children become schoolchildren starting from the age of six, not seven, as before. Accordingly, the boundaries of primary school age, coinciding with the period of study in primary school, are currently established from 6-7 to 9-10 years.

During this period, further physical and psychophysiological development of the child occurs, providing the opportunity for systematic learning at school. First of all, the functioning of the brain and nervous system is improved. According to physiologists, by the age of 7 the cerebral cortex is already largely mature. However, the most important, specifically human parts of the brain, responsible for programming, regulation and control of complex forms of mental activity, have not yet completed their formation in children of this age (the development of the frontal parts of the brain ends only by the age of 12), as a result of which the regulatory and inhibitory influence of the cortex on subcortical structures is insufficient. The imperfection of the regulatory function of the cortex is manifested in the peculiarities of behavior, organization of activity and emotional sphere characteristic of children of this age: younger schoolchildren are easily distracted, are not capable of long-term concentration, are excitable, and emotional.

The beginning of schooling practically coincides with the period of the second physiological crisis, which occurs at the age of 7 years. A sharp endocrine shift occurs in the child’s body, accompanied by rapid body growth, enlargement of internal organs, and vegetative restructuring). This means that a fundamental change in the system of social relations and activities of the child coincides with a period of restructuring of all systems and functions of the body, which requires great tension and mobilization of its reserves.

However, despite certain complications noted at this time that accompany physiological restructuring (increased fatigue, the child’s neuropsychic vulnerability), the physiological crisis does not so much aggravate, but rather contributes to a more successful adaptation of the child to new conditions. This is explained by the fact that the physiological changes taking place meet the increased demands of the new situation. Moreover, for those lagging behind in general development due to pedagogical neglect, this crisis is the last time when it is still possible to catch up with their peers. At primary school age, there is unevenness in psychophysiological development in different children. Differences in the rates of development between boys and girls also remain: girls are ahead of boys. Pointing to this, some authors come to the conclusion that in fact in the lower grades “children of different ages sit at the same desk: on average, boys are a year and a half younger than girls, although this difference is not in calendar age.”

The transition to systematic education places high demands on children’s mental performance, which is still unstable in younger schoolchildren and their resistance to fatigue is low. And although these parameters increase with age, in general, the productivity and quality of work of junior schoolchildren is approximately half lower than the corresponding indicators of senior schoolchildren.

The beginning of schooling leads to a radical change in the social situation of the child’s development. He becomes a “public” subject and now has socially significant responsibilities, the fulfillment of which receives public assessment. The child’s entire system of life relationships is rebuilt and is largely determined by how successfully he copes with new demands.

Educational activity becomes the leading activity at primary school age. It determines the most important changes occurring in the development of the psyche of children at this age stage. Within the framework of educational activities, psychological new formations are formed that characterize the most significant achievements in the development of primary schoolchildren and are the foundation that ensures development at the next age stage.

The transition to systematic education creates conditions for the development of new cognitive needs of children, active interest in the surrounding reality, and in mastering new knowledge and skills.

Primary school age is a period of intensive development and qualitative transformation of cognitive processes: they begin to acquire an indirect character and become conscious and voluntary. The child gradually masters his mental processes, learns to control attention, memory, and thinking.

According to L.S. Vygotsky , with the start of school thinking moves to the center of the child’s conscious activity. The development of verbal-logical, reasoning thinking, which occurs during the assimilation of scientific knowledge, rebuilds all other cognitive processes: “memory at this age becomes thinking, and perception becomes thinking.” Mastering the fundamentals of theoretical consciousness and thinking during educational activities leads to the emergence and development of such new high-quality formations as reflection, analysis; internal action plan.

During this period, the ability to voluntary regulation of behavior. The “loss of childish spontaneity” that occurs at this age characterizes a new level of development of the motivational-need sphere, which allows the child to act not directly, but to be guided by conscious goals, socially developed norms, rules and ways of behavior.

During primary school age, it begins to develop a new type of relationship with people around you. The unconditional authority of an adult is gradually lost, peers begin to acquire more and more importance for the child, and the role of the children's community increases.

Thus, the central neoplasms of primary school age are:

• a qualitatively new level of development of voluntary regulation of behavior and activity;
• reflection, analysis, internal action plan;
• development of a new cognitive attitude to reality;
• peer group orientation.

To characterize primary school age as a qualitatively unique stage of child development, the approaches of foreign psychologists to understanding the essence of this age, its purpose and capabilities are of interest.

According to the concept of E. Erikson, the age of 6-12 years is considered as the period of transferring to the child systematic knowledge and skills that ensure introduction to working life and aimed at developing diligence. At this age, the child most intensively develops (or does not develop) the ability to master his environment. With a positive outcome of this stage of development, the child develops an experience of his own skill; with an unsuccessful outcome, a feeling of inferiority and inability to be on an equal footing with other people. Initiative, the desire to actively act, compete, and try their hand at different types of activities are noted as characteristic features of children of this age.

Within the framework of the classical psychoanalytic approach, the age of 6-10 years is considered a latent period when the child’s sexual development, under pressure from parents and society, is temporarily suspended and he is ready to accept the rules offered to him by society. Suppression of childhood sexuality creates great opportunities for further socialization: obtaining education, learning practical skills, gaining experience communicating with peers.

According to the concept of J. Piaget, The intellectual development of a child 7-11 years old is at the stage of concrete operations. This means that during this period, mental actions become reversible and coordinated. The concept of conservation for discrete and continuous quantities is acquired. The child develops the ability to overcome the influence of direct perception and apply logical thinking to specific situations. Currently, there is numerous evidence refuting the understanding of primary school age as latent. In fact, during this period, neither the general mental nor the psychosexual development of the child stops; on the contrary, deep and very important changes occur here. The transition to operational thinking entails a significant restructuring of all mental processes (perception, memory, imagination, speech, will), as well as the child’s consciousness, his moral judgments, and ability to cooperate with other people.

Thus, primary school age is a stage of significant changes in mental development. Full life for a child of this age period is possible only with the determining and active role of adults (teachers, parents, educators, psychologists), whose main task is to create optimal conditions for the disclosure and realization of the potential capabilities of younger schoolchildren, taking into account the individual characteristics of each child.

Practical educational psychology /

Edited by I. V. Dubrovina. - St. Petersburg, 2004.

The material was prepared by Elena Duginova.