The beautiful word "sensitive" in Latin means "sensitive". Psychologists and scientists believe that a child at certain stages of life becomes especially susceptible to some kind of activity and behavior. This article will talk about such a phenomenon in child psychology as the sensitive periods of preschool age.
Definition of concept
Sensitive periods are periods of special sensitivity of children to certain phenomena, activities, types of emotional response, behavior and much more. Even each character trait is most sharply formed on the basis of some emotional and psychological reaction during a certain narrow time period. These stages are necessary so that the child has a unique opportunity to acquire the psychologically necessary skills, behavioral methods and knowledge, etc.
Man will never again have the chance to learn critical things so easily and quickly. For this, there are sensitive periods in children that nature itself has developed.
Importance of sensitive periods in child development
Influencethe timing and duration of these periods is not possible, but it is very useful to know about them. By understanding what sensitive period your child is in, you can better prepare for it and make the most of it. Knowledge, as you know, is the key to success. Sensitive periods are fully and in detail described by the famous teacher Maria Montessori and her followers. In her research, she explained the nature of the development of any child, regardless of his place of residence, ethnicity, and cultural differences.
On the one hand, these periods are common to all children, because absolutely all children went through them in one way or another. On the other hand, they are unique because the biological age does not always correspond to the psychological one. Sometimes psychological development lags behind the physical, and sometimes vice versa. Therefore, you should look at the individual child. If a child is forced to do something by force, without paying attention to the level of his development, then they do not come to the corresponding result at all or are very late. Therefore, various methods such as “reading before walking” should be treated with great care.
Period up to a year
During this period, the child imitates sounds, he wants to talk and emotionally interact with adults. At this age, he really wants to talk, but he can't do it yet. If the baby was deprived of normal emotional contact (especially on the part of the mother), for example, children in shelters and boarding schools without parents, this, alas, is an irreparable event, andthe whole process of the further development of the child is already disturbed to some extent.
One to three years period
At this age, the child develops oral speech (it is known that if the baby for some reason was separated from human society and did not hear human language, he will never be able to speak normally, for example, a child like Mowgli in Kipling's book). This time is a sensitive period in the development of speech.
With great speed, the child begins to increase his vocabulary - this is the most intense period in a person's life to increase vocabulary. During this period, the child is most sensitive to linguistic norms. This is why Montessori advises adults to talk to the child so that he speaks clearly. Now scientifically proven.
Stage three to six years
After three years, the child develops an interest in writing. With great zeal, he tries to write specific words and letters. And, by the way, not necessarily a pen on paper. Children are happy to lay out letters from rods and wire, sculpt them from clay or write with a finger in the sand. At the age of five, most children show an interest in reading. It is easiest to teach a child this skill at this age. Ironically, it is more difficult to learn to read than to write. Therefore, as the Italian teacher Montessori advises, it is better to come to reading through writing, because this is the expression of one's own thoughts and desires. Reading is an attempt to understand the thinking of different people, solving “foreign” puzzles.
Critical period of up to three years for the formation of a skill to order
Order for a child is not the same as for an adult. The fact that everything is in place becomes unshakable for the baby. Everything that happens every day is a certain routine, in this the child sees stability in the world. The external order is so involved in the internal psychology of the child that he gets used to it.
Sometimes adults think that children aged 2 to 2.5 are intolerable and cranky (some even talk about a two-year crisis). But it seems that these are not so much whims as a requirement to preserve the order of things. And if this order is violated, he unsettles the little man. Order must be in everything, in the time schedule (every day passes in a certain sequence), as well as in the behavior of adult family members (they act according to certain norms that do not change depending on the mood of one of the parents).
Sensitive period for sensory development: 0 to 5.5 years
At this age, show the ability to see, hear, smell, taste, etc. This, of course, happens naturally, but for more intense sensory development, Maria Montessori recommends, for example, special exercises: close your eyes to recognize the texture, smell, volume.
The child's sensory experience should be as high as possible. And it doesn't have to be done every day. For example, you can take the baby to the theater or to a concert of symphonic music. Alsoyou can offer such a game - guess how different household items sound. Ask your child to listen for sounds to distinguish between them. For example, the sound of a glass (the baby will lightly hit it with a teaspoon) or the sound of an iron pan or a wooden table.
Kids this age (and adults too) love the Magic Bag game. A variety of small items are placed in a bag with an opaque fabric: pieces of different fabrics (chiffon or silk), figures made of wood, plastic, metal, pieces of paper, various materials - from fabric to sand, etc., and then it is determined by touch that is in the bag.
Sensitive period for perceiving small objects: 1.5 to 5.5 years
Adults are horrified to see how small children play with peas or small buttons. Especially when kids are trying to figure out whether to put small objects in their ear or nose. Of course, these activities should only take place under the supervision of adults.
However, this is a fairly natural interest that stimulates the development of fine motor skills. Still, you need to make sure that playing with tiny things is completely safe. For example, a button may be strung on thick threads. Then you get original beads, the creation of which will take a lot of time. Together with you, the baby can sort out and collect things with the smallest details for a long time. This activity helps in the development of the child during the sensitive period.
Maria Montessori gave advice even to create a special collection of very small things.
Criticalmovement and action period: 1 to 4 years
This is an extremely important stage for a child. Due to the movement, the blood is saturated with oxygen, and oxygen-rich blood supplies the brain cells that are involved in the development of all intellectual functions. And therefore, any sedentary activity or monotonous work is unnatural for children at a young age.
Every year, children improve their coordination, develop new types of activities and learn everything new. The kid is open to new information and skills. Help him with this! Run with him, jump on one leg, climb the stairs. Such activities are no less important than learning to write and read.
Development of critical periods for mastering social skills: 2.5 to 6 years
At this age, the child learns social forms of communication, which is called etiquette in European languages.
Until the age of six, the foundations of social behavior are laid, the child absorbs, like a sponge, normal and acceptable examples, as well as tactless forms of communication. This is where imitation comes into play. Therefore, behave as you would like your child to lead and act.
Transition between stages
To understand how a child's psyche moves between these stages, it is important to understand how babies perceive the environment and use it to grow. Most theorists agree that there are periods in children's lives in which they become biologically mature enough to acquire certain skills that they could not have easily learned before.maturation. For example, studies have shown that the brains of infants and toddlers are more flexible when it comes to language learning than older people.
Children are ready and open to develop certain skills at certain stages, but not everything is so simple. To do this, they need proper incentives to develop these abilities. For example, babies have the ability to grow and gain weight remarkably quickly during their first year, but if they don't eat enough during this period, they won't have the opportunity to grow and develop at their age. That's why it's so important that parents and caregivers understand how their little ones develop and know what things they need to do for their children to help them grow up.
It should be remembered that the sensitive period of life for the formation of character begins with the birth of a child. Many agree that children who do not receive the right upbringing at the right time will have problems later in life, however, they do not believe that this developmental failure is permanent. For example, infancy is the time when children first learn that they can trust adults or parents. This encourages parents to take care of all the needs of children, including giving them unconditional love. Some babies live in orphanages where there are too many children for a few nurses and staff to properly care for everyone equally. These babies survive their early years without the touch or affection that would teach them to trust and show affection for people inthe future. If these children are eventually adopted by a loving family later on, they may have problems attaching to an adequate parent. This is the main problem with sensitive periods.
Reason for lagging behind
Sometimes babies without any cognitive or physical problems at birth fail to develop certain skills during the sensitive period of a child's development, that is, at the moment when the human being is most receptive. The reason for this may be any injury, illness, negligent attitude to care for the child. This also includes the lack of needs such as food or medical care, which make it difficult for the child to develop both physically and psychologically. Nutrients and vitamins are essential for obtaining important abilities at certain times in life. When these factors are absent, these children tend to have a more difficult developmental process, even if they later receive special attention and resources to help them make up for their earlier deficits.
How the theory came about
The concept of the critical period (as the sensitive period is called in another way) at the scientific level arose as a result of the study of etiology and evolutionary psychology, which specializes in the study of the adaptability or survival of biological species depending on their behavior and their evolutionary history. Konrad Lorenz, a European ethologist, observed patterns of behavior that promote survival. The most famous of these is the so-called imprinting, that is,imprinting certain events and facts into the subconscious at a psychological level. This is a rather important area of psychology that can be effectively used in teaching children of a sensitive period. So parents will be able to invest in their children the norms of good and evil, the rules of correct behavior and other useful skills and habits that will be useful to them in their later life.
