About early development today, perhaps, only very unpleasant parents have not heard. In recent decades, convincing evidence has been obtained of how limitless are the potential abilities of the child's brain. But in parallel, the voices of others, no less respected and respected specialists, also sound: psychologists, teachers, doctors. The fragile brain and the fragile nervous system of the little man require an extremely careful attitude, and excessive stimulation of the intellect will not only bring benefits, but can inflict irreparable harm on the child. The whole truth about the premature development of children - in this article.
Who is right?
A huge plus of the ideas of early development lies in the fact that due to their appearance, the attitude towards infants has changed significantly. From ancient times until very recently, they were considered helpless, ignorant, whose needs for many months are reduced to being fed and dry. Today, thoughtful parents know that even the tiniest little man is already a person with emotional and intellectual needs to be reckoned with. We can confidently talk about the formation of a new parent culture. What fifteen-twenty years ago only solitary originals were being solved, today becomes a mass phenomenon. More and more parents harden infants, teach them to swim and perform complex gymnastic exercises and, of course, are engaged in the early development of their abilities. On the other hand, just now, when the first generation of children brought up by the very pioneers of early development has grown up, it becomes clear how many pitfalls it holds and how many temptations lie in wait for parents who have set foot on this path.
Circus of trained children.
This is the most difficult to avoid. Well, how to resist not to show off to the girlfriends the amazing successes of the baby in reading, writing, music. How can you not be overwhelmed by his talents before your relatives and friends? How to refuse to participate in the competition of young talents? After all, how sweet is the heart when you see on a huge stage a tiny ballet dancer in a transparent pack or a young violinist who confidently performs a complex concert? However, experience shows that an early demonstration of talent is extremely harmful both to the child and to the parents. Joyful cooperation with the kid is instantly replaced by a dull, endless preparation for competitions and competitions. In place of sincere admiration will come vanity and an agiotage race for new achievements.
If he is really talented, prematurely to force his abilities is all the more dangerous. Children, gifted by any talent, have a very unstable nervous system. Therefore, unreasonable treatment burdened by parental ambitions can easily lead to nervous exhaustion and even to serious illnesses.
The roots of parental vanity.
Let's be honest with ourselves: in nine cases out of ten, the cause of parental zeal is dissatisfaction with one's own childhood. I dreamed of being an excellent student, but I could not get mathematics with physics at least on fours. I dreamed of sports victories, but they were rejected for health reasons. I wanted to learn how to play the violin, but there was no rumor ... And suddenly, when the baby appears, parents learn about early development. It turns out that there is a miracle way for any child to turn into a child prodigy! The main thing is to start on time. "After three it's too late!" The masters warned sternly. My child can surely achieve all that I could not, he will definitely become an excellent student, a musician, an athlete. The life of the whole family is subordinated to the great idea. She benefits from her career, her mother, the purchase of benefits and the payment of classes become the main article of the family budget. Grandparents, aunts, too, are connected to the all-family race. It's worth it: we bring up a genius! For the time being, the kid, perhaps, for the joy of the parents will perform everything that is required of him. But when he becomes older and it turns out that he does not dream of a career as a skater, painter or mathematician, real battles begin in the family. After all, in the name of his future, so many victims were sacrificed! After all, he achieved such brilliant success!
No less disappointment awaits the ambitious popes and mothers, if suddenly it turns out that the grown up child no longer pulls on the proud title of the child prodigy, and children of less advanced parents with age not only caught up, but also drove their child away. The child, feeling that he did not live up to his expectations, will suffer painfully. Or, much worse, will doubt: do the parents love him or was he valuable to them, only while he remained the champion and the winner?
Early or Timely?
In the first months of life, the baby's brain is rapidly growing, and connections between nerve cells are formed. During this time, the infant absorbs an enormous amount of information about himself and the world around him. Remember a few dozen or even hundreds of extra icons or concepts for him - a couple of trifles. So why not teach the baby to reading, math, music in this period, rather than at school age, when the growth of the brain is almost complete and any information is digested with much greater difficulty? Because in practice everything looks a little different. When a child is born, his brain is not yet fully formed and in the first months is really booming. But first, those departments that are responsible for more simple functions must first mature: sight, hearing, touch, coordination of movements, speech. And only then zones of the brain with more complicated specialization are activated: logic, perception of written speech. The child's brain is extremely plastic, and if stimulated the development of its upper divisions before the lower ones mature, this can lead not to the manifestation of early giftedness, but to the most unpredictable consequences: delay in verbal development, impaired motor skills, hyperactivity, even autism.
Does this mean that you need to abandon the idea of ​​developing the ability of the baby at an early age, putting it to the kindergarten, and even to school? Not at all. The active assimilation of information necessarily precedes the period of its passive perception. If during this period the child finds himself in an active developing environment, he will learn and remember everything when his body and brain are ready for it, that is, on time, and, perhaps, much earlier than generally accepted deadlines. This, in the language of modern pedagogy, is a zone of proximal development. So, if a child is awake from the first weeks of his life, lying on his tummy on the floor or in the arena, where there are many interesting toys, he may not crawl into the prescribed six, but at five or even four months. If the same child is kept sabelutym in the crib, laying on his stomach for only a few minutes, he can begin to crawl noticeably later than the deadline or not to crawl at all. The same can be said about any other field of activity. The child should hear the speech addressed to him long before he begins to speak; see letters and words - before they start to read, and pencils and colors - before drawing.
In other words, speaking of early development, we mean that the child will develop not earlier than the norm, but in a timely manner. That is, not later than laid. To this and should seek all parents. And finally, accept for myself the truth that the child does not owe anything to anyone. And give him to LIVE.