Psychology of preschool age. Junior and senior preschool age

The questions of pre-school psychology are important and significant in the development and upbringing of children. The fact is that the foundations of the correct perception of the world are laid down in childhood. They further help to form an individual picture of the world of the person, contribute to the formation of self-consciousness. Psychology of preschool age includes many related components, which determine the degree of success of the child's development. Of course, all children can not be the same.

The development of each of them proceeds in different ways. However, there are common components that pre-school pedagogy studies . The psychology of preschool children is based on the basic principles of upbringing and development: to grow a person who is able to take responsibility. This is an important task, and it should not be overlooked. Responsibility for one's own actions and actions does not arise by itself, but certain efforts must be made to this.

In this article, the features of the psychology of preschool children will be considered. The information will be useful for teachers who work with this group of children, as well as parents.

Age boundaries

A truly amazing science is child psychology. Preschool age is an interesting stage in the life of each person. The age boundaries of this period are quite large: from three to seven years. The features of the psychology of preschool age are largely determined by the group to which the child belongs. Accordingly, the approach to education will be somewhat different.

The psychology of younger preschool age includes such concepts as sex, the need to be seen by adults. This group includes children from three to five years. Psychology of the senior preschool age takes into account such important components as the formation of self-esteem, the development of creative abilities, self-awareness. The age range of this period is five to seven years.

Leading activity

Each period of development is characterized by its own occupation, which at this moment is the most demanded and the most important for the individual. The psychology of children of younger preschool age is such that they like to play with different subjects. While it is more comfortable for them to interact only with toys: to build from the dices "at home", to sculpt from plasticine, to collect a mosaic or pyramid. Communication with other children is episodic and often ends in disputes.

In five to six years the child begins to badly need to interact with peers. If by this time he still for some reason did not begin to attend a children's educational institution, then his development may even begin to lag behind. The point is that for a successful socialization, the baby needs to be in the peer group. Comparison of oneself with others gives a powerful stimulus for the development of all cognitive processes: attention, memory, thinking, imagination, speech.

The leading activity in five or six years is the story-role game. The child seeks to interact with peers. If you observe children in the senior and preparatory groups, you can notice that they are broken into small islets. Such small subgroups are usually united in interests. When choosing a particular micro-collectivity, personal sympathy plays a big role. And if the psychology of younger preschool age is based on the need to be approved by an adult, then for older children, the opportunity to display one's individuality is of great importance. Disclosure of needs occurs in the process of interaction with peers.

The psychology of children of the senior preschool age is such that they strive first of all for collective activity to be accepted by the group. They need to build individual ties, make new friends, maintain relationships with peers.

Neoplasms

In each age period, the individual faces a certain task that must be solved. In preschool childhood there are several such new formations:

1. Ability to see the results of their work. The child learns to draw conclusions from his actions and actions. That is, gradually comes the realization that as a result of certain steps a very concrete reaction will follow. A child already at the age of four years is able to learn that if you indulge in classes in kindergarten and interfere with the rest, you can cause discontent of the educator.
2. The development of speech is a powerful neoplasm throughout the entire preschool childhood. First, the child learns to pronounce the words correctly, then build the sentences. By five or six years, the speech becomes properly designed, literate, abounds with complex sentences.
3. Communication with peers. In the preschool period of life, the child learns to interact with others. He begins to build his own opinion about a situation or person, there are personal likes.

Crisis period

The development of the child, as a rule, occurs not by progressive movements, but by leaps and bounds. According to observations of parents and educators, yesterday the kid behaved in one way, but today he began to act differently. In fact, there was a long-standing readiness for change, but there was no certainty that a new need could be manifested. The stage of crisis in psychology is called a turning point, which changes the way of thinking, the ability to perceive the surrounding reality as a whole.

Parents should be extremely careful not to miss significant changes in the life of their son or daughter. How to behave with a child in this difficult period for him, studying age psychology. Preschool age is a special world of childhood, when a baby needs to feel loved, protected from all troubles. In five or six years, both boy and girl live in their world, which is very different from the world of an adult.

The crisis period always shows what parents should strive for in their relationships with children, and helps to understand the interests of the child himself. In three years, the baby needs to emotionally separate from mom and dad: he begins to feel like a person. There is a feeling of negativism, the desire to contradict all adults, to demonstrate independence in every possible way. "I myself" is a characteristic feature of three years, connected with the need to defend one's individuality.

The second crisis of preschool childhood is associated with the development of self-awareness and preparation for school. Usually it comes in six to seven years. The child begins to realize that the society puts forward certain demands to him, and henceforth he must meet the expectations assigned to him. He is even more eager for independence, but for him it is now extremely important to be accepted in a social group. One of the most interesting stages of childhood is the preschool age. Developmental psychology sets as its goal the study of significant periods of the formation of personality.

Sexual identification

Already in three years the child knows whether he is a boy or a girl. In addition, the baby no doubt knows how to determine the gender of his classmates. At first the crumb identifies itself with the parent of her gender, tries to imitate him. Boys pay attention to fathers, they want to be as strong and courageous. Girls correlate with their mother, imitate her. In five or six years, the daughter may well start helping in the kitchen, participate in all the everyday affairs of the family.

As a rule, children in the younger group easily interact with representatives of both their sex and the opposite. But, reaching about five years, the child begins to communicate more with members of his gender. The girl has a need to have a girlfriend, play with her dolls, share secrets, and she looks at the boys without much interest. At this stage of development, for her, they are beings from another planet.

Most preschoolers take their sex unconditionally and are very happy with it. For example, boys can with some contempt speak about girls, considering them weak, but are proud of their own strength. Psychology of children of younger preschool age is such that they are more focused on their inner world and prefer to build friendly relations based on gender.

The main need of the child

Each little man first of all wants to feel loved. It is important for the child to understand that he is fully accepted in the family as he really is, and not for some merit. After all, otherwise, he starts to consider himself bad, unworthy of love and better attitude. When parents impose a certain model of behavior on their own children, then, of course, they do not think about how much the inner world of the baby is wounded, they make them feel deceived, confused, unnecessary. The main need of a child is love. And the task of the parents is to help him feel fully accepted.

Psychology of preschool age studies the inner world and the emotional needs of the child. If they are not taken into account, the little person is in a state of frustration, which in no way can positively affect the overall development of the individual.

Formation of self-esteem

Why is it important to develop an adequate self-image from an early childhood? Self-esteem largely determines how he will continue to treat himself. It will show whether the child will allow others to treat with disregard for their own person or still make them respect their choice. Formation of self-evaluation occurs in the period from three to five years. It was at this time that a small person begins to receive an assessment of his actions from an adult. If the actions are characterized as positive and the kid is generally praised by educators, then he will feel comfortable in the community. Otherwise, his constant companion will become a constant sense of guilt. Parents should not abuse their child too much. Try to avoid unfair criticism, be more delicate.

The psychology of preschool age is such that the child perceives everything much more seriously than it really is. He can not yet form an independent image of himself without the participation of an adult. For this he lacks life experience, elementary confidence in his own abilities. When we praise a child, he postpones in his subconscious that he, as a person, is worth something and valuable in himself. In the case of frequent criticism (especially unfair), our child only closes and ceases to trust the world around him. In other words, self-esteem is made up of how adults treat a child. Let the kid know that you always stay on his side. A son or daughter must know that there are no unsolvable situations. On your own example, show that you can take advantage of everything.

Development of cognitive processes

Psychology of preschool age is an amazing and useful science. She is able to prompt parents in the right way out of the current situation, give reasons for support and additional joy. Sometimes it is difficult for adults to cope with an alarming problem. And then pedagogy comes to the rescue. The psychology of preschool age is focused precisely on the development of children, including any psychological difficulties.

Cognitive processes necessarily participate in the formation of personality. The development of attention, memory, thinking, imagination, speech is impossible without systematic studies with the child. How much time should this be given? In fact, a preschooler is only fifteen to twenty minutes a day. The development of cognitive processes is better in the form of a game. Then the child will be able to relax and learn much more.

Development of creative abilities

Every person is talented in something. And a small child, who is only four years old, is no exception. Parents should first notice the ability of their child to develop talents from a young age, and not hide them. Unfortunately, it is often possible to observe such a picture: real natural makings are ruined at the root, opportunities are closed. And all these parents do unconsciously, putting before the child a whole bunch of restrictions. In this case, is it any wonder that children grow up to be passive, passive and lazy?

A small child learns everything by playing. He does not yet know how to take everything seriously in life. The development of creative abilities must begin with a conscious intention to bring more bright colors and impressions to the child's life. It is better to write a four-year-old kid in several themed interest groups. In the course of the lessons, it is necessary to observe him and draw the appropriate conclusions: what turns out better, what is worse, what the soul lies for, what natural inclinations are there.

In order for the abilities to really develop, it is necessary to free the mind from all fears. Parents sometimes fear the possible failure of even more children themselves, which is why the desire to move forward disappears. Do not be afraid to experiment, spend money on getting a new experience. Acquiring useful skills is a priority. Let the baby really feel important and valuable.

Effective tips for parents and educators

Adult people often ask such an important question: how to develop in a child a full member of society with high moral values? What to pay special attention to? Where can I get additional support? What should be considered when raising a baby?

1. Teach him to respect himself. In a modern society, there are so many people who can shake our self-esteem! Do not take away from your own children the opportunity to appreciate yourself. Never humiliate yourself - not alone, not even in public. A kid should not feel vulnerable, feel ashamed before the society. Otherwise, you will help him to only create a low self-esteem.
2. Develop in it an individuality. A person can not be happy if she performs other people's goals in life, she does not solve her tasks. Let the child have his own landmark, do not interfere with the development of individual opinions on some issue. Time will pass, and you will see the results of such education: the baby will become more self-confident.
3. Harmonious development of personality. A really happy person is interested in everything, not just in work. He has many hobbies in his arsenal, the inner world is distinguished by unprecedented wealth. Such an individual is always open to new impressions, with pleasure he gets the knowledge he needs. He will never humiliate another, he will not hurt others. A harmonious person seeks to live in peace with his own emotions and respects the feelings of others. It is to this ideal that we should strive to raise a child.

Thus, age psychology deals with the development of self-awareness, overcoming crises, studying the characteristics of behavior. Preschool age is an important stage in the comprehensive development of the individual. It is during this period that a small person takes the main lessons of society, learns to effectively interact with others. Parents and teachers should support the child in all possible ways in all his endeavors, promote the formation of a stable interest in various useful activities, develop creative thinking, the ability to see the situation from several sides at once.