Beloved, long-awaited child for parents is not only a joy, but also a responsibility. After all, as long as the baby is not able to move independently, make choices, talk, it is mom and dad who become his support and incentive for development. What information do adults need to know about the psychomotor development of a child in order to be able to respond in time to the difficulties that have arisen?
How to determine the normal development of an infant
The importance of the period of intrauterine development and birth is great. By the time of birth, many systems and organs are in a state of development, and functional maturity is still very far away. For a child to survive in a new (aggressive) environment, it is necessary to provide appropriate care and conditions.
A child's adaptation to the environment and his physiological development are assessed in the first minutes of birth according to the Apgar scale (named after the doctor who created it). Measurements are taken at the first, fifth and tenth minutes of life. If the indicators change upwards, the fact of goodchild's adaptation to the environment. The table reflects five indicators of the viability of the newborn's body: skin color, heartbeat, reflexes, breathing, muscle tone. A score of seven to ten points implies a good, timely psychomotor development of the child in the future. If the score after the first and second measurements remains at a low level, doctors diagnose impaired development and prescribe appropriate medical support.
The stage of the birth of a child affects the formation of a person's entire subsequent life, so it cannot be underestimated.
What does the term "psychomotor development" include
The maturation of the nervous system and centers of the brain in children takes place from birth to seven years. The final physiological formation is completed by adolescence. In this regard, there is a heterochrony in the development of mental and physical development.
In pedagogy and psychology, the phrase "psychomotor development" implies the timely formation of such characteristics as motor skills, static muscle work, sensory sensations, thinking, speech, social adaptation. To compile a reliable picture of the actual development of the child, his indicators are compared with the achievements of a normally developing peer. Scales of normative psychomotor development for each period of a child's life are developed on the basis of many years of observations of doctors and teachers, based on practical research. However, very often the words of a specialist about the discrepancy between the development of the babynormative minimum are broken against the wall of misunderstanding and protest of parents.
Why is it important to monitor the psychomotor development of the child and correct it in time:
- children, whose abilities and skills are formed on time (on a scale), are 100% successful in learning, have a good base for becoming a self-sufficient personality, adapt well in the social environment;
- if the deviation in psychomotor development occurs in all respects towards a decrease, then in this situation, the help of specialists (often narrow-profile) is needed to align the processes, parents themselves are not able to cope with such a problem;
- if the abilities and skills of the baby are ahead of the age norm, you should also not relax, because you need to work with talented children taking into account their individual characteristics.
Periodization of child development
The onset of crisis periods in childhood has a direct correlation with the formation of new skills, maturation of the nervous system and parts of the brain. In a word, this is a spasmodic restructuring of the body, which causes a certain “discomfort” in the baby, and not only in him. Parents have to go through six stages of growing up with their children:
- newborn (adaptation to environment);
- crisis of one year (associated with a change in position in space, the beginning of walking);
- crisis of three years (conditionally this period can begin from one and a half to three years, is associated with the allocationchild of his "I");
- crisis of seven years (begins at six and can manifest itself up to the age of eight, is associated with the formation of verbal-logical thinking);
- crisis of puberty (from eleven to fifteen years old, has a physiological basis);
- crisis of adolescence (comes from fifteen and can last up to eighteen years, associated with the formation of personality).
There is a pattern: the better the parents are ready for the manifestation of new skills in children, the more successfully the crisis stages for pupils proceed. Of course, we must not forget that boys and girls are formed and develop "at different speeds" due to the difference in physiological nature.
The scale of normative physical and psychomotor development of children takes into account all the features of the formation of the child. In most cases, it is enough to pay a little attention to the formation of a particular skill in time, without missing a sensitive period, and the baby will not even remember that he faced any problems.
If the baby has a systemic delay in psychomotor development, then half measures cannot correct the situation. Usually, such a picture is observed with a serious violation of the formation of organic processes, therefore, it is almost impossible to even out the development of a child without the help of specialists.
Shaping the personality of a child under three years old
For ease of use, the baby's normal development scale is placed in almost all "Child Development Diaries". There are different typesforms and editions of this manual, but the essence is unchanged: helping parents.
Communication, speech, thinking and self-care are also formed over a long period of time and have their own age milestones. Psychomotor development up to a year is very active, preparing the child's body for upright posture. By the age of three, the baby is already ready to communicate with other people. In the case of delayed psychomotor development, such an effect, depending on the severity of the disorder, is observed at the age of 4-5 years.
Personal characteristics of a preschooler
From 3 to 7 years old, children actively explore the space through outdoor games, various activities and sports. Independent movement makes it possible to study the space and objects of the surrounding world. It should be noted that the level of psychomotor development of preschoolers depends not only on the abilities of children, but also on the desire of an adult to teach children. The skills and abilities acquired by pupils at this time are more of a social nature and depend on correct learning. The role of an adult in shaping the personality of a child is only increasing.
In everyday life, the child becomes more independent, learns self-care skills (washes, dresses, cleans up after himself, eats properly). With the help of adults, he masters and learns to independently perform many physical exercises (rides a two-wheeled bicycle, plays tennis and other outdoor games that require coordination of movements). Learns to distinguish between the main sensory standards (shape, color, texture,volume, etc.), masters graphic skills. Subject to the norm of development, by the age of seven, the child masters the figurative side of the statement (not only understands the figurative comparison, but also uses it independently), knows how to correctly articulate all the sounds of his native speech and build the statement intonation.
What does school readiness mean
Having successfully passed the period of "why" and "dreamer", the child is preparing to enter school. In order to study the characteristics of the psychomotor development of children, psychologists and speech therapists conduct tests, the results of which recommend admission to the first grade or other options for education. Unfortunately, parents rarely listen to the recommendations of specialists, hoping for "maybe they will outgrow", "the whole summer is ahead, they will grow up", etc.
It's one thing if a baby has 1-2 functions that fall out, which, with proper pedagogical support, level out quickly enough. But if a child is recommended a program to compensate for delayed psychomotor development in children, then the priority is simply obvious. Again, unfortunately not for all parents.
Importance of choosing an educational route
Psychomotor development disorders are often caused by factors such as developing deafness, blindness, dementia of the nervous system, severe diseases of the nervous system (for example, cerebral palsy, an organic form of mental retardation), and pedagogical neglect. In such cases, children are recommended different educational routes, which are selected by specialists in accordance with existingproblems. It is worth noting that the programs are adapted to teaching children with different educational needs, but parents are often unable to assess the real state of affairs, motivating their refusal with the phrase “my child is no worse than the rest.”
In fact, he is not worse or better, he just has other needs that he will not satisfy by studying according to the ordinary school curriculum. As a result, education for the child, at best, will become a real hard labor, if it does not cause concomitant stuttering. But adults rarely think about it.
Children with special needs
The first thing that special children need is an understanding by adults of this feature and the presentation of requirements, taking into account the existing situation. There are no identical people, therefore, what is good for one is like death for another. The principle of "be like everyone else" works only to the detriment of the child. Children are all different, but they equally want to experience the joy of victory, touching something new, the unconditional love of their parents. Therefore, adults should weigh the pros and cons? making a decision about the fate of a special child.
Junior student: does he need help
Entering first grade is, above all, stressful. Expected, controlled, dosed (to a certain extent), but still … If in kindergarten a child felt like a fish in water, then at school the learning process comes first, so the help of adults is simply necessary. Sometimes the support and confidence of parents in the success of the student allow you to breathefreer.”
Advice for parents
Psychomotor development of babies should take place under the close supervision of parents. At the age of 0 to 3 years, many problems can be removed with the help of baby massage. It is difficult to find specialists of this class, but it is possible.
Problems that arise in early childhood are mostly corrected quite quickly due to the abundance of sensitive periods in this period of life. Therefore, their decision cannot be postponed until later - it will be too late.
The choice of the educational route of the child should be justified not by the requirements of the parent to the child, but by the needs of the latter in development and education.
When making any decision, remember that children count on the unconditional love of their parents.
There are no identical people, so take care of the unique world of your child.
