Children over four years have truly enormous ability to learn. They have an instinct of knowledge and research of the world. Help your child develop and realize his potential. Spare no time. It will be paid off.
Your child will enter school with self-confidence, teaching will not be a heavy duty for him, but joy, and you will not have a reason to upset about his progress.
In early childhood education should be based on the material which is most understandable and interesting for a child. Try to make exercises actable, funny and captivating. Then they will become a source of pleasure and help develop not only your child’s thinking and speech, but also memory, attention, imagination and perception.
«Once upon a time …»
Fairy tale introduces a kid in a huge world of culture and is a universal textbook. Based on fairy tales, you can make the whole system of tasks and exercises for training, development and education.
Suppose you choose a fairy tale «A man and a bear», read it to a child and see a picture, which depicts heroes of a fairy tale near turnip. Ask a child to retell a tale, using image, or answer questions: Why heroes grew plants? Why in the first instance a man demanded roots, while in the second – fruits? Was a man kind to a bear? How they should divide the harvest in the first and second cases?
Perhaps a kid will want to invent a new tale, in which a man is kind to a bear, draw characters, or shade their outlines; make applications under your leadership; create names of the heroes of fairy tales using alphabet.
Together with your child, you can invent mystery tales about heroes. Riddles are compiled by comparing individual features of characters with traits of other objects or characters. For example: Big as a man, hairy, like a cat, likes honey and raspberries. Who is it? Bear. On top – green, on the outside – black as coal, inside – white as snow. What is it? – Turnip.
You can offer your child math tasks: Count how many turnips are shown in a picture, Whose pile of turnip is bigger? How many turnips one will get, if you add another one?
Talk with child about why plants should be sowed in spring, not winter; explain him the importance of roots, stems, leaves and flowers, tell what changes occur in plants after continuous rains or drought in summer, etc.
«Green, round, less than watermelon …»
Most parents are seeking to teach children count and solve tasks. However, knowledge gained in this way – only intellectual information, which does not teach a child to carry out mental operations, logical reasoning, and reveal hidden mathematical relationships and interdependence.
Sensual experience is a source of your child’s knowledge. Learning of standards of color and form influences a child’s future success in mathematics. If a child does not know how to recognize geometric shapes, you should take care of developing special benefits: logical blocks, frames and inserts in the form of geometric shapes, etc.
A child must also be acquainted with the concept of value. The ratio of values – a way to transition from sensuous knowledge to logical. Only then you can proceed to develop further properties of objects – numbers. Here, too, first of all we need to develop logical thinking of a child. If you prefer, you can find a lot of games on development of logic: squares and cubes, oriental puzzles, puzzles for toddlers. In parallel with development of logical operations, we can offer a child mathematical dominoes, lotto.
Classes of «mathematics» at an early age can more accurately be called counting, measures and logical constructs. It is this combination that provides a tangible representation of mathematics as a whole. Exercises children do are natural and easy for them: they compare, organize, and measure ranges. These actions lead to manifestations of mathematical cognition.
All children like to guess riddles. They experience joy due to the process and result of this kind of competition. Riddles develop their ability to provide essential features to an object or phenomenon, prove correctness of their decision, as well as reproductive imagination – ability to create an image of the subject in its verbal description. However, the process of guessing should have a developing effect, it is necessary to form child’s specific skills.
For example, having inattentively listened to the whole riddle «In winter – white, in summer – gray», a baby instantly utters cheerful shouts: «Snow». Tell a child that the mystery should listened to the end, thought and then guessed.
We need to teach a child to provide features of unknown object and compare these features among themselves. This comparison gradually leads to guessing. Failure to perform these actions makes it difficult to find a correct answer.
It also happens that a child deliberately throws away one of named indications, if it prevents anticipated solution, or replaces it with his one, corresponding to apparent answer.
For correct, well-informed response, a child must learn to devote all signs mentioned in a riddle. While the riddle is not solved, we can not say what of these signs is most important. This can be understood only after a riddle is guessed, based on comparisons of these traits. That is why we need to assume that all signs are necessary and equally important.
If a child feel it difficult to find a solution, do not tell the answer immediately, even when a child asks for it. Fast pace is not the most important, the correct answer should be found as a result of correct inference. Quick tips deprive a child of opportunity to think. He is accustomed to a ready answer, and gradually loses interest to puzzles at all.
Learning verses improves memory, broadens horizons, teaches perception of such genre, like poetry, and, finally, forms the overall level of human culture.
It is believed that the most favorable age for learning poems – 4-5 years. It is this time when a child’s memory starts growing faster.
If a poem is easy to learn, it must conform to the contents of child’s age and temperament. There is no need to make four little ones learn excerpts of serious poems, you need to teach him children’s classics. Memorize rhythmic, funny verses, or measured and fluid. Of course, in the school with their temperament was considered not to be, but so far they only learn how to teach poetry, it is better to do.
Learn a poem emotionally and with expression, otherwise it will be devoid of meaning for a child. And yet – teaching poems is better as a gift for dad, brother, grandparents, etc.
Learning in a game
Children of preschool age perceive strictly regulated, repetitive, monotonous tasks badly. Interest – the best of motivations, it makes children really creative, and empowers them to get satisfaction from intellectual work.
Do not let a child bored during classes. If a child has fun to learn, he learns better.
Development of child’s mental abilities is determined by time and practice. If some task is too difficult, make a break, go back to it later or offer your child a lighter version.
Do not show too much anxiety about lack of progress and moving forward or even a reversal. Be patient, do not hurry, do not give your child a job beyond his intellectual capacity.
Studying with a child requires measure. Do not make a child solving tha task, if he is vertical, tired, upset, engage with something else. Try to define the limits of child’s endurance, and increase duration of classes in each case, on very little time.
Give a child an opportunity to do business he likes more often.
Avoid criticism, find words of encouragement, praise a child for patience, perseverance, etc. Never underline his weak points in comparison with other children. Form self-confidence in him.
And most importantly, try not to take classes with a child as hard work, enjoy and get pleasure from the process of communication, never lose a sense of humor. Remember that you have a great opportunity to make friends with a child. Good luck and greater self-confidence and opportunities for your child!
