Just yesterday, a cheerful little one was building Easter cakes in the sandbox and rolling cars on a string, and today there are already notebooks and textbooks on his desk, and a huge satchel hangs behind his back.
The preschool child has turned into a young schoolchild. What types of primary school age children are there, how to raise a student with and what you need to pay special attention to when teaching a child with hearing loss - all this will be discussed in this article. We will try to cover the topic in as much detail as possible so that you do not have any questions.
Age characteristics of children of primary school age
Age characteristics of children of primary school age 7-9 years old with hearing impairment are the slow and uneven development of objective activity. These children often cannot cope with tasks in which they need to use some additional object; they perform them directly, without the help of this tool. Help your child understand the essence, show by your own example.
Hearing-impaired children have difficulty with tasks that require analysis and generalization. It is difficult for them to recognize their own emotions and even more difficult for them to describe them. This leads to problems such as anxiety, isolation and aggressiveness.
By teaching emotional stability, you can help him in interpersonal relationships and adaptation in society.
Podlasy. Primary school pedagogy
Both primary school teachers and parents of first-graders will be interested in the works of Ivan Pavlovich Podlasov, in which he talks about the upbringing, formation and training of children.
Podlasy sees the age characteristics of children of primary school age in the socialization and adaptation of children to a new, adult, school life. This requires a connection between teachers and parents, their desire to pass on their experience to the children, to form a holistic personality capable of self-knowledge and self-improvement.
The development of a child depends on both internal (properties of the body) and external (human environment) conditions. By creating a favorable external environment, one can help overcome internal instability. It is also necessary to take into account the age characteristics of children of primary school age.
A table briefly describing the pedagogy theory of Podlasov’s elementary school:
| Pedagogy | The science of education, upbringing and teaching |
| Subject of pedagogy | Development and formation of a student’s holistic personality |
| Functions of pedagogy | Formation of tasks and goals of education |
| Tasks of pedagogy | Generalization and systematization of knowledge about education and training |
| Basic Concepts | Education - transfer of experience to the younger generation, formation of moral values Education is the process of interaction between students and teachers, aimed at the development of schoolchildren Education is a system of ways of thinking, knowledge and skills that a schoolchild has mastered during the learning process Development - changing the student’s qualitative and quantitative processes Formation is the process of a child’s evolution under the control of a teacher |
| Currents in pedagogy | Humanistic and authoritarian |
| Research methods | Empirical and theoretical |
The main thing should be noted - love your children, praise them for every victory, help them overcome difficulties, and then the cute baby will turn into an educated, well-mannered and happy adult.
In modern Russian psychology, the problem of interpersonal relationships began to be studied in the 1950-60s. At the beginning of the 20th century A.F. Lazursky made the first research on this problem. He characterized relationships as the mental content of the personality, and the personality from the point of view of its active interaction with the surrounding reality. The author noted that a person’s individuality is determined by the uniqueness of his internal mental functions (features of imagination, memory, etc.), as well as his relationship to the phenomena around him.
The concept of “interpersonal relationships” by S. A. Rubinshtein characterizes a specific form of reflection of reality. In his opinion, attitude towards other people is the basis of human life.
S. A. Rubinstein considered relationships within the framework of consciousness. Human consciousness in its own internal content, according to the researcher, is determined through its relationship to the objective world. Consequently, the presence of consciousness presupposes the separation of a person from his environment.
The most complete study of interpersonal relationships is presented in the theory of relationships by V.N. Myasishcheva. He defined relationships as “an integral system of individual, selective, conscious connections of a person with various aspects of objective reality.” Thus, interpersonal relationships flow from the entire history of human development and determine the nature of the individual’s experience, the characteristics of his perception, behavioral reactions, etc.
M.I. made her contribution to the development of relationship psychology. Lisina. She distinguishes three types of relationships: attitude towards oneself, attitude towards other people and attitude towards the objective world. These relationships are interconnected, since through things we relate to a person, and our relationship to the objective world is mediated by our relationship to ourselves and other people.
B.F. also studied interpersonal relationships. Lomov, A.A. Bodalev, Ya.L. Kolomensky and other domestic psychologists. In particular, Ya.L. Kolomensky characterizes interpersonal relationships as an internal state of a person, reflecting the attitude of people towards each other.
Many interpersonal relationships can be qualified by taking into account the components of interaction: people's perception and understanding of each other; interpersonal attractiveness (attraction and sympathy); mutual influence and behavior (in particular role).
Sympathy is an emotional positive attitude toward the subject of interaction. Attraction is mainly related to a person's need to be together with another specific person.
For the formation of friendly relations in couples, joint activities and belonging to the same group are of great importance.
In the process of deepening interaction by increasing the duration and significance of joint activities and communication, the role of leading interests and value orientations intensifies.
From the above text one can come to the following definition:
Interpersonal relationships are objectively experienced, to varying degrees perceived, relationships between people, without which the full formation of mental functions, processes and properties of a person is impossible. Stable interpersonal relationships are interactions between individuals that are based on stability in choosing a partner, stability of shared goals, motives, content, methods, forms of communication and emotional experience in socially acceptable norms.
Domestic psychologists, in particular JI.C. Vygotsky, A.B. Zaporozhets pointed out the role of interpersonal relationships in the formation of a child’s personal qualities, in the formation of forms of his behavior and interactions with people around him. A.B. Zaporozhets and M.I. Lisin put forward a hypothesis about the multiplicity of reasons that determine the child’s need to communicate with people around him. A.A. Bodalev, L.I. Bozhovich, E.A. Vovchik-Blakitnaya also argue that communication is crucial for child development
Many domestic psychologists associate the concept of personality with the unique system of relationships of a particular person to the world, with his individual abilities of social interaction.
An essential aspect of a personality is its attitude to society, to individuals, to itself and to its social and labor responsibilities. A personality is characterized by the level of awareness of its relationships and their stability.
A person’s abilities, interests, and character are formed throughout life on a certain hereditary basis: anatomical and physiological characteristics, the basic qualities of the nervous system, the dynamics of nervous processes.
The formation of a person’s personal qualities is a consistent change and complication of the system of relationships to the surrounding world, nature, work, other people and to oneself. It happens throughout his life
Primary school age is especially important in this regard. Psychologists and teachers argue that personal qualities are formed and developed in activity and communication. The leading personality traits develop as a result of external influence on the personality and its inner world.
At primary school age, children have significant development reserves. Their identification and effective use is one of the main tasks of developmental and educational psychology. When a child enters school, under the influence of learning, a restructuring of all his conscious processes begins, their acquisition of qualities characteristic of adults, as children are involved in new types of activities and a system of interpersonal relationships. The common characteristics of all cognitive processes of a child are their arbitrariness, productivity and stability.
In order to skillfully use the child’s existing reserves, it is necessary to adapt children to work at school and at home as quickly as possible, teach them to study, be attentive, and diligent. Before entering school, a child must have sufficiently developed self-control, work skills, the ability to communicate with people, and role behavior.
In connection with the child’s entry into school, a new significant step takes place in the development of communication and the complication of the system of relationships with others. This is determined by the expansion of the child’s social circle and the involvement of new people in it, as well as the variety of relationships that are established between these people and the child. In connection with the change in the external and internal position of a junior schoolchild, the topics of his communication with people are expanding, in particular, issues related to educational and work activities are included in the circle of communication.
The nature of social interaction of younger schoolchildren changes significantly from the time they enter school and towards the end of the period of primary education. Upon arrival at school, there is a decrease in interpersonal connections and relationships between children of primary school age compared to the preparatory group of kindergarten. Psychologists explain this by the novelty of the team and the new learning activity for the child. At first, the younger student is absorbed only in studies, has little contact with classmates and for some time feels like a stranger, whereas in kindergarten, during group games, he constantly communicated with peers. At first, the student perceives his classmates “through the teacher” and pays attention to them when, during lessons, the teacher evaluates them and emphasizes their successes or failures. In direct contacts between children, the teacher also often has to act as a mediator, since they avoid speaking or addressing each other, even if there is a direct need for this. Gradually, in the process of joint learning activities, children establish new relationships. After a few weeks at school, most first-graders adapt to the new conditions, their timidity and embarrassment disappear, they begin to carefully look at other children and try to establish contacts with classmates who sympathize with them or show similar interests.
At primary school age, a child has to overcome many
difficulties in communication, and above all - with peers. Here, in situations of formal equality, children are faced with different natural energies, different cultures of verbal and emotional communication among peers, different wills and different senses of personality. Such collisions can take on pronounced expressive forms, for example, tearfulness, aggressive reactions, motor disinhibition.
When a child enters school, active acquisition of communication skills begins. And the formation of his personality in the system of interpersonal relationships depends on building relationships with peers, on the child’s position, his status in the group. The foundation for the development of a child’s personality and the formation of his self-awareness is the experience of interpersonal relationships with adults and peers.
In the system of a child’s interpersonal relationships with other people – with adults and peers – a primary schoolchild experiences and develops a complex range of feelings that characterize him as an already socialized person. For example, a child’s desire for self-affirmation and competition with other people expresses self-esteem. Understanding a specific situation and complying with social norms in society contributes to a sense of responsibility. This feeling develops most intensively in a child during educational activities.
The positive qualities of a child’s social development should also include his disposition towards other people (adults and children), which is expressed in an internal sense of trust in them and is manifested in the child’s ability to empathize. The empathy of a “successful” child with an “unsuccessful” one creates a special atmosphere of solidarity between children: all participants in this situation become more attentive to each other and more friendly.
As the child masters school reality, a system of personal relationships in the classroom gradually develops. It is based on direct emotional relationships with peers and the teacher, which prevail over all others. Acquiring skills for social interaction with a group of peers and the ability to make friends is one of the most important stages in the development of a child of primary school age.
It is at primary school age that children learn to resolve difficult situations in friendly relationships, observe customs, social norms, conventions associated with gender, understand issues of justice, respect authority, power and the moral law. They gradually comprehend the rules and principles by which the human world exists.
The most essential property of a child’s relationships with peers is their fundamental equality, including equality of rights to their own emotional assessment of everything that happens in the children’s group. The pleasure of spending time together, doing things together, a strong desire to continue them - all this helps children overcome difficulties associated with differences in opinions, desires, and intentions.
Children develop the ability to build equal cooperation among their peers who think and feel differently. This contributes to the formation of a new stage of the child’s emotional development, characterized by the emergence of the ability to perceive the emotional states of another person.
In the elementary grades, the child already strives to occupy a certain position in the system of personal relationships and in the structure of the team. The discrepancy between aspirations and the actual state in this area has a negative impact on the emotional sphere of the child. Thus, schoolchildren whose position in the group of peers is good, attend school with great desire, are active in educational and social work, and have a positive attitude towards the team and its social interests. Children who do not receive reciprocation are not satisfied with their situation. As a rule, in the classroom they are unfriendly, have conflicts and seek communication with peers outside the classroom, which hinders their personal development.
Informal differentiation of a group of junior schoolchildren often occurs for the following reasons: the positive personality traits of the person chosen, the need for playful communication, the ability for any specific type of activity. Some younger schoolchildren sometimes motivate their choice by external factors: “we live next door,” “my mother knows her mother,” etc. . In addition, the relationships of first-graders are largely determined by the teacher through the organization of the educational process.
When conducting sociometric measurements, psychologists find that among the preferred ones there are often children who study well, who are praised and singled out by the teacher. Success at school is perceived by students as the main characteristic of their personality. However, scientists, based on research materials, argue that until the 3rd grade, the expectations of the group of peers do not yet become the true motive of children’s behavior, and if the desires of a junior schoolchild diverge from the desires of the team, the child, without much internal conflict and without struggling with follows his own desires.
In 3-4th grade the situation changes. A children's team begins to take shape with its own requirements, norms, and expectations, and the more deeply a student is “involved” in the team, the more his emotional well-being depends on the approval of his peers. And it is precisely the need for their approval, according to M.S. Neimark becomes the force that encourages children to learn and accept the values of the team.
From this period, the group of peers occupies an important place in the child’s life. Conformity to the standards, rules and norms of the collective takes the form of “religious worship”. Children unite in various communities, the organizational structure of which sometimes even takes on a strictly regulated character, expressed in the adoption of certain laws, rituals of entry and membership. Predilection for codes, ciphers, secret signs and signals, secret languages are one of the manifestations of the tendency to isolate themselves from the adult world and create their own. Interest in such things, according to M.V. Osorina, usually manifests itself in children after 7 years of age and blossoms, sometimes becoming a real passion, between 8 and 11 years.
Such groups tend to almost always consist of members of the same gender. They are united by common interests, occupations and certain forms of interaction between members of a given community. In addition, relations between such groups often become hostile.
Gender division at this age characterizes not only the composition of groups, but also the places where games and entertainment are held. Throughout the entire territory of the games, special “girls’ and boys’ places are formed, not externally marked in any way, but protected from the invasion of “outsiders” and avoided by them.
Communication and friendship with members of the same sex, as well as differentiation of groups by gender, contribute to the formation of a definite and stable identification with gender in a child of primary school age, the development of his self-awareness, and also prepares the ground for the formation of new relationships in him in adolescence and youth.
The desire for peers and the thirst for communication with them make the peer group extremely valuable and attractive for a primary school student. They value their participation in the group very much, which is why sanctions from the group applied to those who have violated its laws become so effective. In this case, very strong, sometimes even cruel, measures of influence are used: ridicule, bullying, beatings, expulsion from the “collective”.
One of the leading needs of children is self-affirmation and gaining the highest possible status in the group. In this case, we can talk about both the common features that unite children who have won a favorable position in the peer group, and about the features characteristic of children who have not received sufficient status in the group. Thus, children who have a disadvantaged position in the system of interpersonal relations in the classroom usually have difficulties communicating with peers and are difficult to get along with, which can manifest itself in pugnacity, irascibility, capriciousness, rudeness, and isolation; They are often distinguished by snitching, arrogance, and greed; many of these children are sloppy and untidy. Schoolchildren who have a high sociometric status in the group have an even character, are sociable, are distinguished by initiative and rich imagination; most of them are good students; girls have an attractive appearance.
The criteria for assessing classmates characteristic of younger schoolchildren reflect the peculiarities of their perception and understanding of another person, which is associated with the general patterns of development of the cognitive sphere at this age: poor ability to highlight the main thing in a subject, situational nature, emotionality, reliance on specific facts, difficulties in establishing cause-and-effect relationships . During primary school age, these criteria undergo changes, apparently associated, among other things, with the development of the cognitive sphere of the primary school student.
N.I. Babich came to the conclusion that the process of perceiving another person at the first meeting with him has age differences. So, for example, in the first grade, having a positive attitude towards all newcomers, children, as a rule, give a general definition - “kind”. In the second grade, the reflection of a stranger is already more flexible, i.e. Children note the states of those present in a communication situation and identify several signs. Perception becomes directly situational. For third-graders, the time allotted for the perception of one object is divided into a number of moments recorded by them; children note the qualities manifested in the current situation, often without connecting them to each other and without making generalizations. Their perception is indirect and situational.
When creating an image of another person at the first meeting, children use a wide variety of vocabulary. A peculiarity of first-graders is that, with their limited vocabulary, they use definitions that they have mastered well. Most often, epithets are used that children remember when reading fairy tales: “kind”, “good”, “cheerful”. There are direct comparisons with fairy tale heroes. The vocabulary reflects the content of the standards with which objects of perception are compared.
Second-graders already use words whose meanings are learned at school: “responsive,” “shy,” “caring,” but the epithets “kind” and “good” are still often used.
The vocabulary of third graders is more voluminous. When perceiving new acquaintances, they say: careful, active, attentive. Often words do not reflect the essence of the phenomenon seen.
Consequently, first-graders evaluate their peers by those qualities that are easily manifested externally, as well as by those that the teacher most often pays attention to.
Towards the end of primary school age, eligibility criteria change. When assessing peers, social activity also comes first, in which children really value organizational abilities, and not just the very fact of a social assignment given by the teacher, as was the case in the first grade; and still has an attractive appearance. At this age, certain personal qualities become significant for children: honesty, independence, self-confidence. Indicators related to learning among third-graders are less significant and fade into the background [p. 423]. “Unattractive” third-graders are most characterized by such traits as social passivity; unscrupulous attitude towards work, towards other people's things.
At primary school age, social relationships increasingly expand and differentiate. The social world becomes wider for the child, relationships become deeper, and their content becomes more diverse. With a gradually increasing focus on peers, the child’s emotional dependence on the parent becomes less and less significant. It is at this age that the gradual psychological separation of the child from the adult and the acquisition of independence and independence begin.
In parallel with this, at primary school age, communication with peers becomes increasingly important for the child’s development. In a child’s communication with peers, not only cognitive subject-related activities are more readily carried out, but also the most important skills of interpersonal communication and moral behavior are formed.
When communicating with peers at primary school age, this type of relationship arises as friendship. Children benefit greatly from close, trusting relationships with each other. Through friendships, children learn social concepts, master social skills, and develop self-esteem.
Friendship reinforces and reinforces group norms, attitudes and values, and also serves as a backdrop for individual and group rivalry. Children who have regular, satisfying friends have better academic attitudes and achieve greater success in life. The nature of friendship changes throughout childhood.
A child’s attitude towards friends, the very understanding of friendship, have certain dynamics throughout primary school childhood. For children 5-7 years old, friends are those with whom the child plays and whom he sees more often than others. The choice of a friend is determined mainly by external reasons: children sit at the same desk, live in the same house, etc.
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 between children, such personality qualities as kindness and attentiveness, independence, self-confidence, and honesty become important.
At the end of childhood and adolescence, group friendships become most common. Groups are usually large and contain a core of several boys and girls who regularly participate in common activities.
Friendly couples that have existed for a long time are most often characterized by the presence of common values, views and expectations for both friends. With a friend, children can share their feelings and fears, discuss in detail all the details of their lives. When a child has a best friend who can be trusted, he learns to communicate openly with other people without feeling embarrassed. Additionally, if two children are friends, it allows them to share secrets. It should be noted that close friendships are more common among girls; boys tend to open up less to their friends.
Despite the fact that research shows that almost all children are in friendship relationships, many of them lack mutual friendships characterized by mutual exchange and mutual assistance.
Children who are rejected by their peers are at risk of experiencing social adjustment problems later in life. However, the results of some studies suggest that having even just one close friend helps a child overcome the negative impact of loneliness and hostility from other children.
We can say that with the onset of primary school age and the start of school, the child’s lifestyle changes radically.
And first of all, the social environment changes significantly: the child enters into complex relationships of mediation between two institutions of socialization - family and school. The orientation of children in their behavior towards adults throughout primary school age is gradually replaced by an orientation towards a group of peers. At this age, communication with peers becomes increasingly important for the child’s development, which contributes to the formation of stable children’s groups and the assimilation of emotional-evaluative relationships, such as sympathy and antipathy, affection, and friendship.
During the school years, the child's circle of friends begins to grow rapidly, and personal attachments become more permanent. Communication moves to a qualitatively different level, as children begin to better understand the motives of the actions of their peers, which contributes to the establishment of good relationships with them. During the period of primary education at school, informal groups of children with certain rules of behavior in them are formed for the first time. Children of primary school age spend a lot of time in various games, but in the company of peers, not adults. During games, children's groups establish their own specific relationships in accordance with more or less pronounced motives of interpersonal preferences.
Thus, as a result of the study of psychological and pedagogical literature, a definition of interpersonal relationships of junior schoolchildren was formulated - this is a set of certain orientations and expectations of the student, which are mediated by the goals, content and organization of his joint activities, primarily with peers. Interpersonal relationships that develop in a team of junior schoolchildren shape the personality of each member.
When a child enters school, active acquisition of communication skills begins. At primary school age, children learn to solve difficult situations in friendly relationships, observe customs, social norms, understand issues of justice, respect authorities, power and the moral law.
In the elementary grades, the child already strives to occupy a certain position in the system of personal relationships and in the structure of the team. The discrepancy between aspirations and the actual state in this area has a negative impact on the emotional sphere of the child. Thus, schoolchildren whose position in the group of peers is good, attend school with great desire, are active in educational and social work, and have a positive attitude towards the team and its social interests. Children who do not receive reciprocation are not satisfied with their situation.
Junior school age (6 - 11 years)
The beginning of primary school age is determined by the moment the child enters school. The initial period of school life occupies the age range from 6-7 to 10-11 years (grades 1-4). At primary school age, children have significant development reserves. During this period, further physical and psychophysiological development of the child occurs, providing the opportunity for systematic learning at school.
Physical development. 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). At this age, there is an active change of milk teeth, about twenty milk teeth fall out. The development and ossification of the limbs, spine and pelvic bones are at a stage of great intensity. Under unfavorable conditions, these processes can occur with large anomalies. The intensive development of neuropsychic activity, the high excitability of younger schoolchildren, their mobility and acute response to external influences are accompanied by rapid fatigue, which requires careful treatment of their psyche and skillful switching from one type of activity to another. Harmful effects, in particular, can be caused by physical overload (for example, prolonged writing, tiring physical work). Incorrect sitting at a desk during classes can lead to curvature of the spine, the formation of a sunken chest, etc. 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 to this, some scientists 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.” A significant physical feature of younger schoolchildren is increased muscle growth, increased muscle mass and a significant increase in muscle strength. An increase in muscle strength and the general development of the motor system determines the greater mobility of younger schoolchildren, their desire to run, jump, climb and their inability to stay in the same position for a long time.
During primary school age, significant changes occur not only in the physical development, but also in the mental development of the child: the cognitive sphere is qualitatively transformed, personality is formed, and a complex system of relationships with peers and adults is formed.
Cognitive development. 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.
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.
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 perception, attention, and memory. A first-grader remains a preschooler in terms of his level of mental development. He retains the thinking characteristics inherent in preschool age.
The dominant function at primary school age becomes thinking. The thought processes themselves are intensively developing and being restructured. The development of other mental functions depends on intelligence. The transition from visual-figurative to verbal-logical thinking is completed. The child develops logically correct reasoning. School education is structured in such a way that verbal and logical thinking receives preferential development. If in the first two years of schooling children work a lot with visual examples, then in the following grades the volume of this type of activity is reduced.
Imaginative thinking is becoming less and less necessary in educational activities. At the end of primary school age (and later), individual differences appear: among children. Psychologists distinguish groups of “theoreticians” or “thinkers” who easily solve educational problems verbally, “practitioners” who need support from visualization and practical actions, and “artists” with vivid imaginative thinking. Most children exhibit a relative balance between different types of thinking.
Perception younger schoolchildren are not sufficiently differentiated. Because of this, the child sometimes confuses letters and numbers that are similar in spelling (for example, 9 and 6). In the process of learning, a restructuring of perception occurs, it rises to a higher level of development, and takes on the character of purposeful and controlled activity. During the learning process, perception deepens, becomes more analytical, differentiating, and takes on the character of organized observation.
It is at primary school age that attention. Without the formation of this mental function, the learning process is impossible. During the lesson, the teacher attracts the students' attention to the educational material and holds it for a long time. A younger student can concentrate on one thing for 10-20 minutes.
Some age-related characteristics are inherent in the attention of primary school students. The main one is the weakness of voluntary attention. The possibilities of volitional regulation of attention and its management at the beginning of primary school age are limited. Involuntary attention is much better developed at primary school age. Everything new, unexpected, bright, interesting naturally attracts the attention of students, without any effort on their part.
The sanguine person is active, restless, talks, but his answers in class indicate that he is working with the class. Phlegmatic and melancholic people are passive, lethargic, and seem inattentive. But in fact, they are focused on the subject being studied, as evidenced by their answers to the teacher's questions. Some children are inattentive. The reasons for this are different: for some - laziness of thought, for others - a lack of serious attitude towards study, for others - increased excitability of the central nervous system, etc.
Primary schoolchildren initially remember not what is most significant from the point of view of educational tasks, but what made the greatest impression on them: what is interesting, emotionally charged, unexpected or new. Younger schoolchildren have good mechanical memory. Many of them mechanically memorize educational tests throughout their entire education in elementary school, which leads to significant difficulties in middle grades, when the material becomes more complex and longer in volume.
Among schoolchildren there are often children who, in order to memorize the material, only need to read a section of the textbook once or listen carefully to the teacher’s explanation. These children not only quickly memorize, but also retain what they have learned for a long time and reproduce it easily. There are also children who quickly remember educational material, but just as quickly forget what they have learned. Usually on the second or third day they are no longer able to reproduce the learned material well. In such children, first of all, it is necessary to develop a mindset for long-term memorization and teach them to control themselves. The most difficult case is slow memorization and rapid forgetting of educational material. These children must be patiently taught the techniques of rational memorization. Sometimes poor memorization is associated with overwork, so a special regime and a reasonable dosage of study sessions are necessary. Very often, poor memorization results do not depend on a low level of memory, but on poor attention.
Communication. Typically, the needs of younger schoolchildren, especially those who were not raised in kindergarten, are initially of a personal nature. A first-grader, for example, often complains to the teacher about his neighbors who allegedly interfere with his listening or writing, which indicates his concern for his personal success in learning. In the first grade, interaction with classmates through the teacher (me and my teacher). 3rd - 4th grade - formation of a children's team (we and our teacher). Likes and dislikes appear. Requirements for personal qualities are revealed.
A children's team is being formed. The more referential the class, the more the child depends on how his peers evaluate him. In the third and fourth grades there is a sharp turn from the interests of an adult to the interests of peers (secrets, headquarters, codes, etc.). The instability of behavior, depending on the emotional state of the child, complicates both the relationship with the teacher and the collective work of children in the lesson. In the emotional life of children of this age, first of all, the content side of experiences changes. If a preschooler is happy that they are playing with him, sharing toys, etc., then a younger schoolchild is worried mainly about what is connected with learning, school, and the teacher. He is pleased that the teacher and parents praise him for his academic success; and if the teacher makes sure that the student experiences a feeling of joy from educational work as often as possible, then this reinforces the student’s positive attitude towards learning. Along with the emotion of joy, the emotions of fear are of no small importance in the development of the personality of a primary school student. Often, due to fear of punishment, children tell lies. If this is repeated, then cowardice and deceit are formed. In general, the experiences of a junior schoolchild sometimes manifest themselves very violently. At primary school age, the foundation of moral behavior is laid, moral norms and rules of behavior are learned, and the social orientation of the individual begins to take shape.
The character of younger schoolchildren differs in some ways. First of all, they are impulsive - they tend to act immediately under the influence of immediate impulses, promptings, without thinking or weighing all the circumstances, for random reasons. The reason is the need for active external release due to age-related weakness of volitional regulation of behavior.
An age-related feature is also a general lack of will: a junior schoolchild does not yet have much experience in long-term struggle for an intended goal, overcoming difficulties and obstacles. He may give up if he fails, lose faith in his strengths and impossibilities. Capriciousness and stubbornness are often observed. The usual reason for them is shortcomings in family upbringing. The child was accustomed to the fact that all his desires and demands were satisfied; he did not see refusal in anything. Capriciousness and stubbornness are a peculiar form of a child’s protest against the strict demands that the school makes on him, against the need to sacrifice what he wants for the sake of what he needs.
Younger schoolchildren are very emotional. Emotionality is reflected, firstly, in the fact that their mental activity is usually colored by emotions. Everything that children observe, think about, and do evokes in them an emotionally charged attitude. Secondly, younger schoolchildren do not know how to restrain their feelings and control their external manifestation. Thirdly, emotionality is expressed in their great emotional instability, frequent mood swings, a tendency to affect, short-term and violent manifestations of joy, grief, anger, fear. Over the years, the ability to regulate one’s feelings and restrain their unwanted manifestations develops more and more.
CONCLUSION
Younger schoolchildren face a very important moment in their lives - the transition to middle school. This transition deserves the most serious attention. This is due to the fact that it radically changes the conditions of teaching. New conditions place higher demands on the development of children’s thinking, perception, memory and attention, on their personal development, as well as the degree of development of students’ educational knowledge, educational actions, and the level of development of voluntariness.
However, the level of development of a significant number of students barely reaches the required limit, and for a fairly large group of schoolchildren, the level of development is clearly insufficient for transition to the secondary level.
The task of the primary-level teacher and parents is to know and take into account the psychological characteristics of children of primary school age in training and education, to carry out a complex of correctional work with children, using various games, tasks, and exercises.
Features 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.
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. During primary school age, a new type of relationship with other people begins to develop. The unconditional authority of an adult is gradually lost and by the end of primary school age peers begin to become increasingly important for the child, and the role of the children’s community increases
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. Gradually, motivation for learning activities, so strong in the first grade, begins to decline. This is due to a drop in interest in learning and the fact that the child already has a won social position and has nothing to achieve. To prevent this from happening, learning activities need to be given new, personally meaningful motivation. The leading role of educational activities in the process of child development does not exclude the fact that the younger student is actively involved in other types of activities, during which his new achievements are improved and consolidated.
According to L.S. Vygotsky, with the beginning of schooling, 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.”
According to O.Yu. Ermolaev, during primary school age, significant changes occur in the development of attention; all its properties are intensively developed: the volume of attention increases especially sharply (2.1 times), its stability increases, and switching and distribution skills develop. By the age of 9-10, children become able to maintain attention for a long time and carry out a randomly assigned program of actions.
At primary school age, memory, like all other mental processes, undergoes significant changes. Their essence is that the child’s memory gradually acquires the features of arbitrariness, becoming consciously regulated and mediated.
Primary school age is sensitive for the development of higher forms of voluntary memorization, therefore purposeful developmental work on mastering mnemonic activity is the most effective during this period. V.D. Shadrikov and L.V. Cheremoshkin identified 13 mnemonic techniques, or ways of organizing memorized material: grouping, highlighting strong points, drawing up a plan, classification, structuring, schematization, establishing analogies, mnemonic techniques, recoding, completing the construction of memorized material, serial organization of associations, repetition.
The difficulty of identifying the main, essential thing is clearly manifested in one of the main types of educational activity of a student - in retelling the text. Psychologist A.I. Lipkina, who studied the characteristics of oral retelling in primary schoolchildren, noticed that a short retelling is much more difficult for children than a detailed one. To tell briefly means highlighting the main thing, separating it from the details, and this is precisely what children do not know how to do.
The noted features of the mental activity of children are the reasons for the failure of a certain part of students. The inability to overcome the difficulties that arise in learning sometimes leads to the abandonment of active mental work. Students begin to use various inappropriate techniques and ways of completing educational tasks, which psychologists call “workarounds,” which include rote learning of material without understanding it. Children reproduce the text almost by heart, word for word, but at the same time cannot answer questions about the text. Another workaround is to perform a new task in the same way as a previous task. In addition, students with deficiencies in the thinking process use hints when giving an oral answer, try to copy from their friends, etc.
At this age, another important new formation appears - voluntary behavior. The child becomes independent and chooses what to do in certain situations. This type of behavior is based on moral motives that are formed at this age. The child absorbs moral values and tries to follow certain rules and laws. This is often associated with selfish motives and desires to be approved by adults or to strengthen one’s personal position in a peer group. That is, their behavior is one way or another connected with the main motive that dominates at this age - the motive of achieving success.
New formations such as planning the results of action and reflection are closely related to the formation of voluntary behavior in younger schoolchildren.
The child is able to evaluate his action in terms of its results and thereby change his behavior and plan it accordingly. A semantic and guiding basis in actions appears; this is closely related to the differentiation of internal and external life. A child is able to overcome his desires if the result of their fulfillment does not meet certain standards or does not lead to the set goal. An important aspect of a child’s inner life is his semantic orientation in his actions. This is due to the child’s feelings about the fear of changing relationships with others. He is afraid of losing his importance in their eyes.
The child begins to actively think about his actions and hide his experiences. The child is not the same on the outside as he is on the inside. It is these changes in the child’s personality that often lead to outbursts of emotions on adults, desires to do what they want, and whims. “The negative content of this age manifests itself primarily in mental imbalance, instability of will, mood, etc.”
The development of the personality of a primary school student depends on school performance and the assessment of the child by adults. As I already said, a child at this age is very susceptible to external influence. It is thanks to this that he absorbs knowledge, both intellectual and moral. “The teacher plays a significant role in establishing moral standards and developing children’s interests, although the degree to which they are successful in this will depend on the type of relationship he has with his students.” Other adults also play an important role in a child's life.
At primary school age, children's desire to achieve increases. Therefore, the main motive of a child’s activity at this age is the motive of achieving success. Sometimes another type of this motive occurs - the motive of avoiding failure.
Certain moral ideals and patterns of behavior are laid down in the child’s mind. The child begins to understand their value and necessity. But in order for the development of a child’s personality to be most productive, the attention and assessment of an adult is important. “The emotional-evaluative attitude of an adult to the actions of a child determines the development of his moral feelings, individual responsible attitude towards the rules with which he becomes acquainted in life.” “The child’s social space has expanded - the child constantly communicates with the teacher and classmates according to the laws of clearly formulated rules.”
It is at this age that a child experiences his uniqueness, he recognizes himself as an individual, and strives for perfection. This is reflected in all areas of a child’s life, including relationships with peers. Children find new group forms of activity and activities. At first they try to behave as is customary in this group, obeying the laws and rules. Then begins the desire for leadership, for superiority among peers. At this age, friendships are more intense but less durable. Children learn the ability to make friends and find a common language with different children. “Although it is assumed that the ability to form close friendships is determined to some extent by the emotional connections a child develops during the first five years of his life.”
Children strive to improve the skills of those types of activities that are accepted and valued in an attractive company in order to stand out in its environment and achieve success.
At primary school age, the child develops an orientation towards other people, which is expressed in prosocial behavior, taking into account their interests. Prosocial behavior is very important for a developed personality.
The ability to empathize is developed in the context of school education because the child participates in new business relationships, he is involuntarily forced to compare himself with other children - with their successes, achievements, behavior, and the child is simply forced to learn to develop his abilities and qualities.
Thus, primary school age is the most critical stage of school childhood.
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 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.
The period from 6-7 years to 11-12 years is usually called junior school age, which is considered the peak of childhood. The child retains many childish qualities - frivolity, naivety, looking up at the adult. At the same time, he is already beginning to lose his childlike spontaneity in behavior, and the nature of thinking of the younger schoolchild changes.
This period is characterized by changes in both the physical and mental spheres of the child.
The height and muscles of younger schoolchildren increase smoothly and slowly. Moreover, there is relative equality in physical strength between boys and girls. The first milk teeth are lost and permanent ones appear in their place. Younger schoolchildren are already able to perform controlled, purposeful movements. For this reason, they develop an interest in various sports and activities. Motor movement is making significant progress. The skills acquired in kindergarten play a role in the development of children's fine motor skills. By the age of 6-7 years, most writing skills are formed. During this period, perfect control of one’s body develops, thanks to which it becomes possible to appreciate oneself and understand that “I can.” Physical education plays a certain role in the physical and motor development of primary school children, provided that it is properly organized.
Changes also affect the brain: the morphofunctional organization of the cortex is improved, it regulates the functions of the subcortical stem formations of the brain; dominance and submission are established in the system of interhemispheric relations, which is associated with the maturation of the corpus callosum. All this provides physiological conditions for the formation and functioning of one of the main new formations of this age - the ability to voluntarily regulate mental processes, activity and behavior in general.
Globally, the leading line of formation of the psyche is intellectual development. During this period, according to the theory of Jean Piaget, the child is at a stage corresponding to the level of specific operations. Thinking turns into logical, moving further and further away from egocentrism and the predominance of intuition, and acquires an abstract and generalized character. It becomes more complex, reversible and flexible. When characterizing a junior schoolchild, one cannot avoid comparisons with the period preceding it - preschool childhood. Unlike preschoolers, children 6-7 years old have an idea of quantity and understand that changes in one parameter can be compensated by changes in another. They are also aware of the possibility of measuring differences between similar objects.
The stage of concrete operational thinking is achieved by children in the process of actively exploring the world around them, learning the properties of objects and accumulating this experience.
Changes during this period also occur with memory. At school, children are given an incredibly difficult task: to master a system of scientific concepts in a fairly short period of time. Memory acquires a pronounced cognitive character. Children can consciously set themselves the task of remembering certain information, and this task is separated from any other. Moreover, they use a variety of memory strategies: from basic repetition to structuring information and creating stories and visual images. Memory is especially important at primary school age, since for successful educational activities it is simply necessary to retain the information received. Important indicators are the volume of memorized information, the speed of memorization, as well as the accuracy of memorization and storage time of information. It is clear that with an increase in the level of immediate memory, the strength of memorization of the material increases. Along with the direct, the other side of memory is indirect memorization. Its essence lies in the use of certain objects or signs that help to better remember the proposed material. This type of memory, in addition to performing its main function, is closely related to thinking, which allows you not only to memorize material mechanically, but also to logically comprehend it and compare it with existing knowledge. The process of perception is now also subordinate to a specific task and consists of purposeful voluntary observation of an object. Educational activity is completely voluntary in nature and therefore plays a role in the development of will. It becomes possible for the child to focus his attention on uninteresting things.
Oral communication skills are improved. The vocabulary of younger schoolchildren continues to expand; they master more complex grammatical structures and more subtle word usage. This period is also accompanied by the active development of reading and writing skills. They involve mastering phonetics, the ability to decode the alphabet, and improving fine motor skills. At the same time, reading and writing are forms of symbolic communication and require attention, perception and memory. It is easy to see how different this is from the preschool period, when the main tasks of communication are “speaking” and “understanding.” Parents, brothers and sisters, teachers, and peers are constant companions in the development of reading and writing.
At primary school age, a radical restructuring of the child’s relationship with reality occurs. And here again comparisons with preschool childhood cannot be avoided. Social relations of preschoolers are divided into two spheres, or developmental situations: “child-adult” and “child-children”. Both of these areas are connected by gaming activities. The results of the game do not affect the child’s relationship with his parents, and relationships with other children also do not determine the relationship with his parents. Social situations of development exist in parallel and are hierarchically connected. The well-being of the child during this period depends on intra-family harmony and emotional and warm relationships.
The “child-adult” system for primary schoolchildren is divided into two directions: “child-parents” and “child-teacher”. Relationships with teachers are the first example of relationships with society. In the family, relationships are characterized by inequality, but in school everyone is equal. The teacher is the embodiment of the requirements of society, and the school system requires the presence of standards and measures for assessment. The school is characterized by a system of clearly defined relationships that are based on the adoption of specific rules. This new direction in social interaction permeates the child’s entire life: it determines his relationships with parents and peers. All favorable conditions for life depend on it.
The new social situation of development “child-teacher” requires a new type of activity - educational activity. It is aimed not at the result, as is commonly believed, but at highlighting the method of assimilating it. All subjects of educational activity are abstract and theoretical.
“School plays a decisive role in the development of children. It is here that the child is tested on his intellectual, physical, social and emotional abilities and has the opportunity to determine how he meets the standards set by parents, teachers and society as a whole.”
Learning activities are not given ready-made; they need to be formed. This is the main task of primary school - to teach a child to learn. This task is directly related to the formation of cognitive motivation. In the first weeks of school this is not a problem. By the end of preschool childhood, the child develops a fairly strong motivation to study at school. The loss of interest in the game and the formation of educational motives are associated with the peculiarities of the development of gaming activity. Children of preschool age enjoy the process of playing, and at 5-6 years old - not only from the process, but also from the result, the winnings. In games according to the rules typical for senior preschool and primary school ages, the winner is the one who has mastered the game better. In gaming motivation, the emphasis shifts from process to result; In addition, achievement motivation develops. The very course of development of children's play leads to the fact that play motivation gradually gives way to educational motivation. This new personal education is defined by Lidia Ilyinichna Bozhovich as “the internal position of the student.” It combines the child’s needs to attend school (do something new, carry a briefcase, notebooks), engage in learning activities that are new to him, and take a new position among others. However, there is a discrepancy between the motive and the content of educational activity, which is why it gradually loses its power. D.B. Elkonin argued that the content taught at school should motivate a child to learn.
The general dynamics of the motives of children of primary school age is as follows: first, schoolchildren have a predominant interest in the external aspects of being at school (sitting at a desk, wearing a uniform, a briefcase, etc.), then an interest arises in the first results of educational work (the first letters written and numbers, to the teacher’s first marks) and only after that to the process, the content of the teaching, and even later - to the methods of acquiring knowledge. However, a decrease in motivation towards the end of primary school is normal and understandable. Being at school in itself loses its immediate emotional appeal for the child, since this need has already been satisfied. And now the content of training and methods of acquiring knowledge come to the fore. The most effective for the formation of cognitive motivation are developmental activities and a problem-based approach. So, V.V. Davydov and D.B. Elkonin, within the framework of the theory of developmental learning, emphasized that learning should not be based on an ascent from everyday concepts to scientific ones. On the contrary, taking into account the active development of logical thinking, training should be based on generalization, on scientific concepts, which are further specified. Traditional training is less conducive to the development of motivation. Most often, the leader becomes interested not in the process, but in the result of learning - a mark, praise or material reward. The traditional education system also creates some difficulties for the development of creativity - the ability to find new, unconventional ways to solve various problems. This skill is of great importance for the level of activity performed, for the way of communicating with other people, for awareness of one’s own qualities, one’s strengths and weaknesses. “Creativity in primary school age forms the ability to use acquired knowledge arbitrarily and productively, helps to learn not ready-made concepts, but ways to solve various problems, forms an attitude toward potential knowledge, toward learning to “learn” rather than use ready-made knowledge. In a complex and rapidly changing world, such abilities are extremely important; they help not only to adapt to a wide variety of situations, but also to realize self-realization in them.”
Educational activity is unique, since while acquiring knowledge, the child does not change anything in this knowledge. For the first time, the subject of change becomes the subject who carries out this activity. The child turns toward himself, his own changes, and reflection occurs. This is the reason for including assessment in any learning activity. However, the assessment should by no means be purely formal. By meaningfully assessing educational activities, their results and process, the teacher sets certain guidelines - evaluation criteria that must be mastered by children. It is through assessment that one identifies oneself as a special subject of change in educational activities.
The structure of educational activities includes 4 components:
1. The learning task is what the student must learn in the process;
2. Educational action - active activity of the student, changes in educational material until the discovery of the properties of the subject being studied;
3. Control action - an indication of whether the student is performing the action correctly;
4. The action of assessment is comparison with the task, determining whether the student has achieved the result or not.
The construction and implementation of educational activities has specific features. To characterize them, we can return again to previous periods of development and assume that at first everything is in the hands of the teacher, and he acts with the hands of the student. However, the subject of educational activity is ideal objects, which makes interaction difficult. It is no coincidence that when children make mistakes in already formed actions, they can find and correct them without difficulty, but with one condition - the encouragement of an adult. Despite the transfer of the entire operational composition of actions by the teacher to the students, he alone continues to remain the bearer of meanings and goals. While the teacher is the center of the learning situation and exercises control, learning activities are not fully internalized by students.
How can you avoid this? Within the framework of Russian psychology, extensive research has been carried out on the role of cooperation with peers in the mental development of primary schoolchildren. In particular, G.A. Tsukerman experimentally established that children who act in the form of joint work in the classroom are more successful in developing reflective actions compared to students who study in the traditional way. Learning built on cooperation removes the contradiction between the appearance of cooperative learning and the real individual focus of traditional learning. These findings allow us to draw some parallels with Jean Piaget's position on the child-child relationship. In his opinion, only when children communicate with each other can such fundamental qualities as criticality, tolerance and the ability to take the point of view of another be formed. Gradually, genuine logic and morality replace egocentrism.
Also G.A. Zuckerman emphasized the qualitative differences between collaboration with peers and collaboration with adults. There is always a division of functions between an adult and a child: the first sets goals, controls and evaluates the actions of the second. However, even with joint activity and subsequent internalization of actions, some components continue to remain with the adult. Cooperation with peers has a completely different effect on the process of internalization. It is a mediating link between the beginning of the formation of a new action when working with an adult and the completely independent end of the formation. In cooperation with peers, communication is equal in nature, control and evaluative actions and statements take place. In cases where an adult only organizes and “starts” the work, and children act independently, it is better to ensure that the partner’s position and point of view are taken into account. There is a development of reflexive actions. Another important feature of such joint activities is that children pay attention not only and not so much to the result, but also to the method of action, both their own and their partner’s, and their coordination occurs. This can best be observed in weak students - when working together, they become active and interested. On the slightly different side, cooperation with peers was studied by V.V. Rubtsov established that this type of joint activity is the basis for the origin of the child’s intellectual structures.
Educational activity, as already noted, is leading at primary school age. All other activities, including play, are subordinate to it. It would be wrong to assume that the game completely disappears from the world of the primary school student. It remains, but undergoes significant changes. As you grow older, the pleasure of playing is replaced by the pleasure of achieving a result known in advance. At school age, play is hidden and moves into the realm of imagination. It allows you to make the meaning of things more clear to the child, bringing him closer.
Primary school age is characterized by certain dynamics in the development of the motivational-need sphere. The development of thinking and the ability to understand the surrounding world is gradually transferred to oneself. Comparing one's successes and grades with the achievements of classmates plays a role in differentiation and increasing the adequacy of a child's self-esteem. School, teachers and classmates play a dominant role in the self-identification of a younger student. The positive development of his personality depends on how successfully the child begins to study, how he develops relationships with teachers and how his academic success is assessed. Low performance and conflicts with the teacher during this period can lead not only to cognitive deviations, but also to the appearance of other negative symptoms, for example, anxiety, aggression, and inadequacy.
What neoplasms of primary school age can be identified based on the above?
Firstly, the arbitrariness and awareness of mental processes and their intellectualization. Thanks to the assimilation of the system of scientific concepts, their internal mediation also occurs. However, all this does not yet apply to the intellect, which does not yet “know itself.”
Secondly, active awareness of one’s own changes as a result of the development of educational activities, that is, the formation of reflection.
Thirdly, the formation of adequate and stable self-esteem, the source of which is the comparison of one’s successes and grades with the achievements of classmates within the framework of educational activities.
So, junior school age is the blossoming of childhood and at the same time the beginning of a new, school life. By entering it, the child acquires the internal position of a schoolchild and learning motivation. All mental processes are mediated by the development of intelligence. Educational activity becomes the leading activity for the younger student. The teacher embodies for him the requirements and expectations of society. Personal communication at this age depends on success in school learning, the attitude of the teacher and grades. On the other hand, it makes self-esteem more adequate and helps children socialize in new conditions, as well as stimulates their studies. In the conducted studies, it was experimentally established that the situation of equal communication gives the child experience of control and evaluative actions and statements. The partner’s position and point of view are better taken into account, and egocentrism is overcome. There is a development of reflexive actions.
