The sensitive period of the child's development. What are the sensitive periods in the development of children The sensitive period of the development of speech falls on the age

Researchers of human nature and psyche have identified an interesting fact that says that at certain moments in life, specific qualities and traits are formed in the human personality. It is important to pay attention to the fact that the appearance of certain mental abilities depends on the person's age. It is this phenomenon that underlies the phenomenon of sensitive periods. In this article, we will talk about sensitive periods and their features.

Sensitivity - the optimal combination of conditions for the development of mental processes inherent in a certain age period

Understanding the terminology

Before talking about the features of sensitive periods, let's get acquainted with the very term "sensitivity". The Latin word sensus is translated as feelings, which should be understood as the ability to perceive the surrounding world. Thus, sensitivity is the ability to perceive and respond to external stimuli. All people inhabiting our planet can be divided into two conditional groups: individuals with increased or decreased sensitivity. Belonging to one of these groups is determined by the influence of the following factors:

education and personal self-development;
close environment (parents and relatives);
hereditary factors;
social environment;
age and disturbances in the work of the central nervous system.

All of the above factors have an important impact on the development of the human personality.

Throughout human life, the degree of emotional sensitivity and perception of the surrounding world change. These changes in personality perception occur at specific phases. Experts say that in the model of personal development, two periods play an important role - sensitive and critical. Knowledge of their characteristics allows you to cope with various life difficulties that a person faces during the growing up process. In addition, timely intervention in the process of personality development makes it possible to correct deviations in the development of the psyche.

Sensitive periods of personality development

The sensitive period in psychology is the process of changing the level of sensitivity, provoked by the entry into a certain phase of growing up. Above, we have listed the main factors that affect the degree of sensitivity and have an important role in the process of personality formation.

The sensitive period is a kind of step in the "ladder of life", where a person meets all the favorable conditions for the formation of certain qualities. One example of such periods is the age, between one and a half and three years, when children begin to develop speech skills. The social environment and the influence of teachers are important components in the development of various skills. It should be noted that during these life phases the degree of perception of the influence of external factors changes.

In sensitive periods of life, a person becomes more predisposed to pedagogical influence.

In sensitive periods there is a great opportunity to develop the abilities of children to the utmost.

Let's take a look at the sensitive periods of a child's development:

From the first day to one and a half years- development of motor skills.
From one and a half to four years- the formation of muscular coordination.
From one to four years- the emergence of interest in small objects.
From two to four years- the formation of the perception of order.
From two to six years- the perception of musical sounds and compositions.
From two to six years- training in politeness and etiquette.
From two to six years- differential perception.
Three to five and a half years- mastering reading.
- mastering writing.
From three and a half to four and a half years- development of spatial perception.
Four to six years old- mastering elementary mathematics.

Description of the features of the sensitive period

Scientists have made several interesting conclusions about the peculiarities of the sensitive phases in childhood development. The first of them says that each child, as they grow up, goes through certain periods of sensitivity. However, the very time of entering this phase is purely individual. The mental and intellectual abilities of some children develop at a fast pace, while in others at a slow rate. It is important to pay attention to the fact that the omission of the period in which the child could acquire certain skills leads to difficulties with their development in the future.

In order not to miss the most important moments of personality development, you should be aware of the characteristics of a certain age. Experts recommend devoting as much time as possible to children and observing the manifestations of the transition between the various stages. During this period of life, it is very important to create the right environment for the assimilation of certain skills and the development of abilities.

The stages of sensitive development can be divided into three components:

Start Is one of the best times to acquire different skills.
Peak- the most pronounced period in which the abilities characteristic of a certain age are manifested.
Recession- smooth completion of the stage, which implies a decrease in the craving for the development of various abilities.

Critical phases of personality development

The sensitive period is not the only important stage in the formation of a personality. According to experts, there are critical phases that are characterized by emotional outbursts, which manifests itself in the form of a sharp change in mood and changes in the behavioral model. During critical phases, the child's emotional sensitivity increases sharply. Such changes are explained by the restructuring of the internal systems of the body.

This period is extremely important for child development, since the lack of positively influencing factors can provoke the formation of irreversible disorders. As an example, we can say that at the time of intrauterine development, the baby's body is subject to the influence of various negative factors. Lack of oxygen, nutrients and negative environmental influences can affect the physical development of the fetus.

The influence of negative factors becomes a triggering mechanism for the development of irreversible processes. Critical periods, along with sensitive ones, have an important role in the development of personality.

Sensitive period - a certain period of a child's life, in which optimal conditions are created for the development of certain psychological qualities and types of activity

How to develop sensitive skills

Thanks to sensitive skills, a person gets the opportunity not only to develop his personality, but also to interact with the people around him. In adulthood, you can strengthen your sensitive abilities with the help of special trainings that imply personal growth. Such trainings allow you to develop empathy, observation and understanding of the behavioral model of others. Let's take a look at these types of psychological training.

Development of observation. A group of several people is required to conduct this workout. One of the group members leaves the room, while the other members of the training are placed in various positions. After that, the person who came out must return to the room and remember the location of all members of the group. After this person leaves the room again, half of the training participants change their position. When the released person returns, the task is set before him - to recreate the original picture. As a result of such training, a person's observation ability can be assessed.

Development of emotional perception. All members of the group should sit in a semicircle so that they can see each other. After that, they are given special cards on which certain emotions are recorded. The participant's task is to go to the center of the hall, stand with his back and, using various gestures and body movements, show the given emotion. The task of the rest of the group is to recognize the feelings that are shown to them.

Development of observational sensitivity. The members of the group should form a kind of circle holding hands. The task of each group member is to feel the emotions of the person he is holding with his left hand. Having expressed his assumption, a person will find out how true his guesses are. With the help of such training, you can learn about stereotypes that are mistakenly used in the analysis of the behavior of people around you.

The alignment of children with flowers is not only related to poetry. It makes practical sense. The gardener takes care of flowers and trees, the parents carefully raise the child, wishing to receive good fruits.

Trees need to be watered, trimmed, dug in, fed, and all this must be done at a strictly defined time. There are also periods in a child's development when he is most sensitive to certain “influences”. During these periods, it is not difficult for him to learn something new, everything happens as if by itself. Whereas in other periods the same skill, the same information is either learned with difficulty, or not at all.

This feature in the development of children was noticed by Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky, who said that timeliness is one of the main principles of teaching. Observing children, teachers noticed that at a certain age the formation of certain qualities and functions of the psyche occurs very quickly and efficiently. This is especially noticeable in the example of speech: in early childhood, a child masters speech unusually easily, so naturally that it seems to many for granted. At the same time, it is worth skipping a few favorable years, and the development of speech will become extremely difficult.

Such favorable conditions for the development of a child in one direction or another, characteristic of a certain age, are not caused only by external influences - upbringing or the environment around the child. They are associated with internal processes, with the peculiarities of the development of the psyche, with the activity of the child's brain.

This is how any person works - at different periods of his life he pays attention to different sides of the world around him. A young person perceives the world in a completely different way from a mature or elderly person. In a child, the psyche is just being formed; it changes much faster than that of an adult. For the correct formation of different sides of the psyche, its different functions, a different range of sensations, impressions, different information coming from the surrounding world is needed. Due to this, the child's perception, thinking, everything that relates to the analytical activity of the brain, at one time or another, becomes especially susceptible to strictly defined sensations, impressions, information. This susceptibility, "age sensitivity" is called sensitivity or sensitivity(from the Latin word sensus - sensation, feeling).

Sensitive developmental periods- age intervals of individual development, during which the internal structures are most sensitive to the specific influences of the surrounding world.

Researchers began to closely study sensitivity in the first half of the 20th century. Lev Semenovich Vygotsky wrote:

During this period, certain influences have a sensitive impact on the entire course of development, causing one or another profound change in it. In other periods, the same conditions may turn out to be neutral or even have the opposite effect on the course of development. Sensitive periods coincide quite with what we called ... optimal training times.

Maria Montessori, an Italian teacher, author of the famous methods of early child development, studied in great detail the sensitive periods of development of preschool children.

The essence of her methodology is that, giving children maximum freedom, unobtrusively helping their development within each sensitive period (for this, special didactic materials are used).

Types and properties of sensitive periods

In the development of a preschooler, the following sensitive periods can be distinguished (based on the classification of P. Epstein):

The period of development of the "sense of order" (from 0 to 3.5 years)
Period of development of movements and actions (from 0 to 4 years)
Period of perception of small objects (from 1.5 to 4 years)
Period of development of social skills (from 2.5 to 6 years)
The period of refinement of the senses (from 2.5 to 6 years)
Period of speech development (from 0 to 6 years)
Writing period (3.5 to 4.5 years)
Reading period (3 to 5.5 years)
The period of development of spatial relations (from 4 to 6 years)
Period of development of musicality (from 2 to 6 years)
Period of development of mathematical representations (from 4 to 6 years)

There are other classifications, usually shorter ones. For example, the developmental period of speech (from 0 to 6 years) includes an interest in writing and reading, and feelings and spatial relationships can be attributed to the general period of sensory development (from 0 to 5.5 years).

It should be added that school-age children and adolescents have their own sensitive periods. For example, at the age of 10-11 years, there is a peak of cognitive interest (the interests and hobbies of a child at this age are especially diverse). The sensitive period for the development of mental abilities is 4-10 years.

In elementary school, children are sensitive to learning activities: they are diligent, diligent, receptive, uncritically take the teacher for the highest authority, and his words for the truth. Their minds are aimed at learning by imitating, repeating the necessary actions after the teacher. At this age, it is easy to develop correct, positive.

Teenagers over 14 years old are sensitive to mastering their inner world. This is a huge, not always noticeable inner work: finding yourself, your place in the adult world. The emotional sphere is enriched, the teenager learns to manage himself, the sense of responsibility is sharply increased.

In general, the sensitive periods of schoolchildren and older are not well understood. And yet, one can say for sure: the conventional opinion that with age the child's abilities increase, the internal conditions for his development become more and more favorable, is not true. The general characteristics of sensitive periods have been well researched; they support this conclusion.

Properties of sensitive periods:

Versatility... Sensitive periods are directly related to human ontogeny, therefore, they are characteristic of all children, without exception, regardless of cultural, social, racial, or any other differences.
Individuality... The time of occurrence, intensity and duration of sensitive periods are individual for each child. In the classification, the average values are indicated.
Expressiveness... If the onset of a sensitive period can be difficult to notice, then the peak of its intensity can amaze inexperienced parents. The child begins to relate to the activities necessary for him with extraordinary passion; his interest is focused on the chosen subject so that he ignores all other elements and qualities of the environment. He shows miracles of hard work and energy, long and intense work does not cause him fatigue. The sensitive period is so pronounced that it is difficult not to pay attention to it.
Temporality... With the end of the period, the "window of opportunity" closes forever, regardless of the extent to which the child has been able to use them.

A brief description of the sensitive periods in the development of a preschooler

Periods of development of speech, reading and writing

The kid perceives and "absorbs" the sounds that he hears from other people. He tries to repeat them (at the same time training his vocal apparatus), experiments and, finally, after frequent repetitions, he understands the connection between the word and the object that denotes it.

Accumulating, auditory, visual, motor experience causes the formation of speech centers in the brain. It has been established that speech centers do not develop, or develop poorly if during this period the child is surrounded by people with speech defects (deaf parents) or completely deprived of human society (children raised by animals). It is impossible to make up for the lack of speech impressions at a later age.

The child's brain "processes" absolutely everything that it perceives, regardless of the complexity of lexical and grammatical structures. The degree of development of his speech centers depends on how rich, beautiful, correct speech the child hears during this period.

The periods of speech development in children have been studied very well, and a lot of materials on this topic can be found. It is curious that the child's interest in reading (and the corresponding sensitive period) usually arises later than the interest in writing - the graphic reproduction of speech signs. This must be taken into account when working with a child.

Until now, in pedagogy, there is no single view of the best age to start learning a foreign language. Observations show that in bilingual families, where different languages surround the child from early childhood, are used freely by family members, there are no problems with mastering both languages at once. Grammatical constructions, pronunciation, vocabulary are learned equally well. In cases where the second language is learned, but does not surround the child in everyday life, the results are controversial. KD Ushinsky believed that until the child completely mastered his native language, it would be a mistake.

It is believed that the sensitive period studying foreign language - 5-10 years. Normally, a five-year-old child speaks his native language at a very high level. His speech is correct and rich, his vocabulary is high, he often knows how to read, and quite fluently. It is well established that after 10 years, the basic neural networks necessary for the formation of speech no longer develop.

The period of development of the "sense of order"

Having got out of infancy, the baby has an urgent need to explore the world around him. He begins to establish connections between objects and people around him. He draws on these connections to move his research further and further. Agree that you can only rely on something constant, unchanging, such as the earth, on which we lean when walking (we believe that gravity will not disappear under any circumstances). In early childhood, the child is very sensitive to order.

The sense of order for him is not entirely about keeping things clean and the toys standing in their places decorously. Order is consistency, which means predictability and safety. Pajamas are always in the top drawer of the chest of drawers, mother always reads a fairy tale before going to bed, covers, kisses and wishes good night, the world around is constant and predictable, which means everything is in order, - the baby feels. The child will protest, it is worth breaking the usual ritual or putting some thing in an unusual place.

Order-consistency must be maintained in relation to:

Things, home furnishings
Regime of the day and daily rituals (morning procedures, meals, bathing, going to bed)
Requirements that adults place on a child

“Outright disorder” (from the point of view of an adult) can also take hold as an “image of order”. In this regard, consistency is important to the child, not purity. If scattered things, toys are the norm of life in a family, then such constancy will not harm the development of a “sense of order” (but, of course, it will bring up sloppiness). Impermanence is much more dangerous - in this case, the child will not only feel uncomfortable, but will transfer the external disorder into his inner life.

The period of development of movements and actions

Small children are exceptionally mobile, everyone knows that. But it is not obvious to everyone that movement for a child is an urgent need, and not self-indulgence and a whim. Movement is directly related to the development of the brain. The child's body insistently requires physical activity. Running, fussing, noisy games and walks should be perceived by adults as an undoubted blessing. The more time the child spends in motion, the better it grows.

The norms adopted by the state suggest that a healthy preschool child should walk for 4-4.5 hours every day (2 hours in the morning before lunch and in the afternoon). The walk can only be canceled if the wind speed is more than 15 m / s and the outside air temperature is below 15 degrees (for children under 4 years old) and below 20 degrees (for children 5-7 years old). In this case, the second half of the walk according to the norms is assigned to outdoor games.

Four and a half hours a day, excluding morning exercises and home games!

Period of perception of small objects

All parents notice the peak of this period, because small objects, to which the child is literally "drawn" at this time, are dangerous for him.

The reason for this attraction is an interest in the composition of objects and in how the parts and the whole relate. In addition, from manipulating small objects, fine motor skills improve, which is directly related to the development of speech. Wise nature "knows" about this and directs the child in the right direction.

To keep the child safe and to get the most out of the sensitive period, it is necessary to create the conditions for the study of small objects. Give him a string of beads on a strong fishing line, sew different buttons to a piece of fabric. Offer your baby special exercises, for example, string nuts, large buttons, sort peas, beans, beans, assemble and disassemble models with small parts.

Period of development of social skills

It is interesting to watch children in the sandbox. Children under 2 years old play "each by himself", and if they notice an interesting toy from a neighbor, they calmly come up and take it. The neighbor is not upset if he has something to do, however, the first baby is not very upset if it was not possible to take possession of the toy.

This is not how children over 2 years old behave. They are already aware of themselves as individuals, and they understand that other people are also individuals. A heightened sense of possessiveness provokes tears, conflicts and even fights. From this age, children begin to actively master communication skills.

During this period, it is extremely easy to teach the child etiquette. He trusts adults to such an extent that he literally copies their behavior, gestures and words (which often makes adults smile). One has only to slightly direct the child in the right direction, explain some courtesy rule and practice, how the baby will start to please the parents with good manners.

Children of this age are spontaneous, sociable without shyness and any pretense. Suggest: “Go to the boy and ask him for a typewriter like this:“ Please, lend me this typewriter for a while, play, ”and the child will come up and repeat your phrase exactly. Or: “Come to the girl and say:“ Hello, let's go for a ride on the swing together? ”- You will be surprised how naturally the same question will sound from the lips of a baby.

Talk to your child about other people as often as possible, sort out situations from everyday life, and reason out the rules of behavior logically. At the same time, remember that these rules are obligatory for parents as well - practice should confirm the theory.

In the case when a child behaves ugly, shouts, fights, takes toys from other children, it will be correct to work out a conflict situation on the spot. To do this, you need to reassure the baby, then show how to fix what he was wrong about (for example, approach, comfort the victim, apologize) and do it. In conclusion, it is good to discuss what could be done to make both parties to the conflict feel good.

It is curious that in the classroom, equipped according to the Montessori method, all teaching materials are presented in a single number. This is done on purpose. When several children want to work with the same material, they will have to negotiate, give in to each other. This is how they learn to build relationships, to cooperate.

The period of refinement of feelings

Feelings are not just intermediaries between the child and the outside world. They are the basis of thinking, because it is the processing of sensations that causes the formation of the first connections between neurons in the brain. The more subtle, the richer the child's sensory experience in early childhood, the more flexible his thinking will be.

Maria Montessori paid special attention to the sensory development of children. She has created a unique set of educational materials that help children train the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, stereognostic feeling (the ability to recognize an object by touching). Moreover, Montessori believed that the essence of such training is not just for the child to recognize the color, shape, and other qualities of objects of the surrounding world, but that he thinned his feelings, that is, he practiced attention, comparison, acquired the skills of recognition.

The emotional sphere, creative imagination, artistic taste, the ability to see the beautiful also belong to the field of feelings. The subtlety of feelings has a positive effect on all spheres of human life.

Today, many parents are realizing the importance of early childhood development. What we have learned about sensitive periods, on the one hand, supports this idea. On the other hand, it seems controversial the desire of parents, almost from the cradle, to load the baby with serious classes in a foreign language, sports, dancing, reading and other objects useful for his future.

It is more correct to listen to nature in order to give the child the maximum number of opportunities for development in a favorable period, to create conditions in which the formation of different aspects of the child's psyche will be optimal. For this:

Watch your child. Remember that a child's commitment to an action or object is a sure sign that he is at the peak of the corresponding sensitive period.
Try not to waste time, because favorable periods are irretrievable. Prepare in advance for the onset of the next period: prepare the environment, select didactic material, think over the methods of training.
Remember that sensitive periods are individual. Their timing may be different for different children, and the severity of the peak of the period may also be different. Assuming the onset of the period, work with the child c. Then it will be easy to notice the beginning of the period.
During the beginning and peak of the period, try to give the child as much material as possible for the activities. At this moment, do not be afraid to overload it - the speed of perception and processing of the material corresponding to the period increases by 10-15 times (compared to usual time).
Don't fight nature; do not force the child to do something under duress. The result is likely to be mediocre. On the contrary, classes within the framework of a favorable period will bring not only great results, but will bring joy to both the baby and his parents.

Never again has a child been able to learn something so quickly, fully and joyfully, except in the appropriate sensitive period.

Maria Montessori

M. Montessori argued that never again does a child manage to learn something so quickly, fully and joyfully, except in the corresponding sensitive period.

The beautiful word "sensitive" in translation from Latin means only "sensitive". It turns out that a child in different periods of life is especially "sensitive", susceptible to a certain type of activity.

On the one hand, sensitive periods are universal, because everyone goes through them in one way or another. On the other hand, they are individual, because biological age does not always correspond to psychological age - in some children, psychological development lags behind physical, in others it is ahead.

If a child has to do something under compulsion, outside the framework of the corresponding sensitive period, then they come to the corresponding result later or do not come at all. Therefore, a variety of techniques such as "Read - before walking" should be treated with great caution. Nature does not forgive violence against itself.

Adults have no influence on the timing and duration of sensitive periods. Adults can create favorable conditions for the implementation of the inner "life impulses" of children. The Montessori environment is created in such a way that, while practicing in it, the child will not be able to miss a single sensitive period, because everything necessary for their satisfaction exists in the environment. Sensitive periods manifest and last for each child their own time. Therefore, the frontal approach to teaching is ineffective and harmful to health. In a Montessori environment, each child works in accordance with his own internal plan of physiological and psychological development.

Montessori singled out the following main sensitive periods of age 0 months - 6 years:

1. Period of perception of order (from 0 to 3 years)

This is the best time to teach your child to order.... The main areas of order: in the environment; in time and sequence of events (the child's “internal clock” starts); in interaction with adults. Above all, external order can help a child to understand the chaos of the world. The importance of order cannot be overestimated - external order determines the appearance of internal (order in thoughts, feelings, movements). The entire process of activity with Montessori materials is structured in such a way as to maximize the implementation of the tasks of the sensitive period of the order.

2. The period of development of movements and actions (from 1 to 4 years)

An important indicator of the general mental development of a child is psychomotor development(which is what gross motor skills are). Exercise has a beneficial effect on the entire body. In this age physical movement actively affects the development of the brain. The consequences of these processes stimulate the intellectual and social growth of the child.

That is why babies are drawn to outdoor areas with their stairs, slides and rocking chairs. All this allows you to maximize the development of motor skills, coordination of movement, the vestibular apparatus of the child, his flexibility and dexterity, to strengthen various groups of muscles and joints.

3. Period of sensory development (0 to 5.5 years)

You probably noticed that the baby, getting acquainted with the subject, uses all channels of perception(examines, feels, makes sounds, sniffs, tastes), that is, studies it in a holistic manner. With age, one of the channels of perception becomes the leading one. The Montessori environment reminds the child that the world is filled with sounds, smells, sensations. The kid learns the world in all its diversity - which is so important at this age. At this time, the first concepts of color, shape, size of objects were formed.

4. Period of perception of small objects (from 1.5 to 5.5 years)

Everyone knows about the role of the development of fine motor skills: communication with the speech center, the development of hand-eye coordination, dexterity and accuracy of movement, the development of the hand and fingers, preparation for writing, and much more. Materials such as Laying beads, beans, Stringing small beads on a string, Mosaic, Bowl with millet and small toys hidden in it, Spooning and pouring cereals, and much more satisfy the needs of this sensitive period.

5. Period of speech development

The smaller the child, the more descriptive all the concepts with which he gets acquainted should be. To effectively assimilate a concept, a so-called “sensory experience” is necessary (touch, touch, smell, etc.). In the language zone, the kid gets acquainted with the world around him: sets of animals (domestic and wild), dummies of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, mini copies of a residential building and a farm, models of animal dwellings, thematic puzzles, cards and books, etc. - all materials allow you to learn new things as much as possible. However, do not forget that the source of information in the language zone is an adult (teacher or mother).

6. Period of development of social skills

At the age of 2.5 - 6 years, the child begins to take an active interest in the forms of polite behavior. Mastering other (impolite) ways of behavior happens by itself, since there is a courtyard, inscriptions on fences and "guys who smoke openly at bus stops." We all had to face this: the child imitates what he saw and experienced at home, on the street, and reproduces it unconsciously in his behavior.

This is the time when the child needs to be helped to learn cultural forms of communication, so that he feels adapted and confident, being in the company of a wide variety of people. A child at this age quickly learns the forms of communication and wants to use them. He wants to know how to politely ask the other not to interfere, how to introduce himself to a stranger, how to say hello, say goodbye, ask for help, etc.

To master polite forms of communication, exercises in social skills, which are described in the works of Maria Montessori and her followers, serve.

In conclusion, we will once again formulate the main conclusions that we, parents and teachers, need to remember:

Adults need to know that a child will never learn as easily as they did during the corresponding sensitive period of their development.

Sensitive periods are universal and individual at the same time, so the art of observation plays a special role in tracking the progress of a child's development.

Knowing the timing of the onset of the main sensitive periods, it is necessary to arrange for the child to exercise their senses, social life skills, speech, etc.

Thus, the “prepared environment” and Montessori didactic material are not something artificial, but create optimal conditions for the natural course of development of each (unique and inimitable!) Child.

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A sensitive period is a certain period in the life of an individual, in which more optimal conditions are created for the development of certain psychological qualities and types of activity. Those. this is the period of maximum opportunities for the most effective formation of any property of the psyche. So, for example, the sensitive period for the development of speech in children will be the age from 1.5 to 3 years.

The sensitive period is based on a transient increase in sensitivity to certain external influences. In fact, such a period is a time period of higher plasticity, during which the function and structure show their ability to change according to the specifics of external circumstances.

Sensitive periods of child development

Age sensitivity is the best combination of conditions characteristic of a particular age stage for the formation of specific properties or processes of the psyche.

Each individual at any age, be it infancy or preschool age, develops individually. Individuals are not alike. Everyone is born with a certain set of properties of the psyche, inclinations. The degree of development of children depends on their perception of different types of activity.

The concept of "sensitive periods in a child's development" was introduced by L. Vygotsky. He believed that turning points in the development of children can sometimes take on a crisis character, when development becomes rapid or catastrophic. At such a time, the baby becomes especially susceptible to the acquisition of certain knowledge and skills. However, at the same time, transformations occur in the child's body, characterized by vulnerability and increased sensitivity. Such time stages occur in different periods and are characterized by a short duration. Neither teachers nor parents can influence the emergence of these stages, but with the right approach, they can be rather productively used for the further development of children.

The sensitive period is such a time period, which is characterized by maximum sensitivity and favorable conditions for the formation of a certain ability or type of activity of the body. Therefore, at a certain stage of developmental development, it is necessary to pay more attention to a specific area, while trying to develop the qualitative component of children's abilities.

In the first year of life, the baby learns the world, using auditory and tactile sensations for this. That is why, during this period, the formation of the sensory area becomes important.

Early childhood from one to three years of age is a sensitive period for the development of speech abilities. Their formation occurs quite quickly: first, the baby listens to adults and, as it were, accumulates vocabulary, and somewhere by the age of three, the baby's speech begins to acquire a substantive character. The kid learns to react to the words spoken by another person, perceives the mood of people, tries to express feelings and emotions.

The age from one and a half to two and a half years is characterized by manipulations with small objects, which indicates the formation of motor skills of fingers and hands, the hand is being prepared for writing. A kid at the age of two and a half years and up to three quite often talks to himself, which allows one to draw conclusions about the logic of the phrases he pronounces, the sequence and inconsistency of speech. Over time, such monologues are conducted mentally.

The sensitive period of preschool age from three years to seven is characterized by the fact that the baby begins to be included in adulthood, in activities. He begins to understand the power of thought, which can be correctly expressed through speech. During this period, kids can choose the themes of the games themselves, determine the roles. At this age, they are keenly interested in the designation of sounds with letters using symbols. The peculiarity of this stage is the game. The child experiences a strong desire to actively participate in an area of activity that is still inaccessible to him and very little known. At first, the director's game is formed, then either simultaneously with it or a little later, role-playing game appears. A little later, games with rules appear - role-playing games filled with content. The kid himself comes up with a plot and conditions. The creative nature of such a game is due to the presence of a plan, the implementation of which is associated with vigorous work of the imagination, with the formation in children of the ability to reflect their impressions of the world that surrounds them.

The ages of eight to nine years is the repeated peak of speech ability. Also, this stage is a time of rapid formation of imagination and perception of culture.

The sensitive period is an opportunity to maximally develop the abilities of children at a particular age, while paying attention to the quality of the development of abilities: up to one year - auditory and tactile sensations, from one to three years - speech, the child's ability to express his thoughts and feelings.

The sensitive period of preschool age provides the basis for the development of the ability to interact with others and communicate. A feature of the development of an individual is that all new skills, knowledge, skills are superimposed on those already learned, therefore it is very important to have time to invest in the baby as much as possible.

At an early age, it is quite difficult to recognize sensitive periods, however, along with this, you need to have time to start forming the skills given by nature in time. It is important to create the necessary conditions under which children can show their abilities, not limit the activities of the baby, provide the opportunity for free creative expression. Sensitive stages do not end at 9 years old, they are typical for adolescence and adolescence. But in the very early period of a child's life, a basis is laid that the individual will use at an older age.

The periods listed above necessarily occur for each individual, but the time of manifestation and the duration of the stages are quite individual.

Vygostkiy believed that along with the sensitive periods in children, there are three significant crisis age moments: at the age of one year, three, seven years. During such periods, children need to be given more attention from loved ones. It is necessary to understand that the more significant the sphere of interests of the individual, the more harmonious his development will be. And even taking into account the fact that the formation of the subject's intellectual sphere occurs during adulthood, at an early age it proceeds much more naturally and easily.

It is very important for parents to pay attention to the main sensitive periods and at the beginning of the manifestation of each of them, in order to timely prepare the basis and environment for optimal satisfaction of the needs of children at each stage of its development.

The Italian teacher M. Montessori identified the main sensitive periods of formation: the sensitive period of speech development occurs from zero to 6 years, the sensitive stage of perception of the order begins from zero to three years, the sensitive stage of sensory formation - from six months to five years, the sensitive stage of perception small objects - from one and a half years to six and a half, the sensitive stage of the formation of actions and movements - from one to four years, the sensitive stage of the formation of social skills - from two and a half to 6 years.

Sensitive periods of physical development

The formation of movements in children occurs in a set sequence. In order to perform any movement, you need to show certain physical qualities, have speed and dexterity, spend some strength. Therefore, along with the development of the main movements, the formation of physical qualities also takes place. The degree of development of physical qualities determines the quality and quantity of movements that the baby possesses.

Physical qualities are characterized by uneven development in different periods of the life of children. At one time, certain qualities are formed equally quickly and synchronously, at another time - qualities grow with different strength. The stages at which this or that quality is most strongly formed are called sensitive.

The sensitive periods of ability and the sensitive phase of the formation of physical development last from approximately one year to four years. Thanks to the movements, which are accompanied by intensive ventilation of the lungs of children, there is a saturation of oxygen in the blood in sufficient quantities to supply them with the brain cells involved in the formation of the functions of the psyche.

The course of this period is not always uniform and is characterized by moments when the baby focuses on specific actions or movements. At the beginning of this sensitive period, children are only interested in movements, and later they are interested in more difficult actions, in order to perform them, babies need to have a certain degree of coordination, expressiveness and freedom of movement.

Agility, quickness, dynamic and static strength - physical qualities and functional-motor skills, such as coordination and orientation tendencies, differentiation of spatial characteristics and power tensions, are moderately formed at the age of five. Also during this period, two main movements are developed - jump and balance.

At the age of six, there is a moderate increase in the formation of three qualities, such as flexibility, endurance, and speed strength, two tendencies, such as differentiation of spatial characteristics and orientation abilities. The development of the following important movements is more accelerated: throwing, walking, legs and arms movements.

Sensitive periods of abilities and the growth of two abilities - the differentiation of power tensions and coordination abilities, determine the seventh year of life. Also, this stage is characterized by a moderate, accelerated development of flexibility and dexterity, moderate development of such basic movements as running, walking, throwing, jumping, legs and arms.

The sensitive period of preschool age is also characterized by the development of non-verbal memory, namely, motor memory, which plays an important role in the control of movements.

The period of early childhood is the age when the needs for energetic motor activity are formed and the mechanisms for the formation of all children's abilities are launched. If you skip this period, then later it will be either impossible or rather difficult to catch up. That is why health-improving and corrective work on physiological education is so important.

Motor child activity at an early age requires a varied approach, which, first of all, consists in teaching local movements (movements of body parts), combinations of body movements, integral movements - body movements. Local movements and combinations of movements can be taught through developmental exercises. Holistic movements are jumping, walking, throwing, running.

In the processes of teaching children the basic movements, one should purposefully influence the formation of such physical qualities as strength, speed, dexterity, etc. Success in mastering skills and abilities that are important for life is due to the degree of development of physical qualities.

Sensual, mental and emotional areas are formed in the course of education of the above physical qualities. That is why the physical education of the baby is so important. Physical education is considered the first step in learning in general.

The age of children from seven to ten years, regardless of their morphofunctional type, is characterized by a rather high level of sensitivity to the influence of physical activity and the largest number of stages with the highest natural growth of motor qualities. And the period from ten years to thirteen is characterized by the smallest number of such stages.

Sensitive periods of mental development

Sensitive periods of human development need to be known and must be taken into account for the formation of an effective social influence on the development of the individual. In specific phases of life, children are especially sensitive to certain pedagogical influences and are sensitive to it.

Sensitive periods of human development are a sensitive and especially favorable stage in the formation of a personality to the formation of certain functions of the psyche.

If the sensitive period was lost, then subsequently the corresponding qualities of the child's psyche are formed quite difficult and cannot always achieve perfection.

Sensitivity must be interpreted as the most timely and most favorable conditions for the formation of a specific function or property of the psyche. It should be borne in mind that the sensitive period of the formation of certain functions of the psyche is of a transient temporary nature. So, for example, early childhood is a sensitive stage for the formation of speech and if for some reason it is missed, it will be quite difficult for the child to talk and express his thoughts coherently in the future.

Sensitivity depends on a whole complex of factors - on the patterns of the formation of the human brain, its previous achievements in mental development. It follows from this that the boundaries of the experience of the sensitive phase are individual for each individual. It should also be remembered that taking into account the sensitive phase should rely not only on previously established mental processes, but to a greater extent on those that are still in the process of maturation. An effective and competent approach to learning activates the inclinations of children, while stimulating their formation to the extent of skills, knowledge and abilities.

In modern science, the question of establishing sensitive periods for the development of all functions of the psyche, which are formed in the process of ontogeny of an individual, remains open. However, there are several common characteristics of such periods and they are always universal, i.e. appear in the process of development of all subjects, regardless of nationality and race, pace of development, differences associated with culture or geopolitics; they are necessarily individual in those cases when it concerns the duration of their course in a particular subject and the time of their appearance.

Critical and sensitive periods

The ability of the nervous system to transform under the influence of external factors is of a transient nature. And it coincides with a period of more enhanced morphological and functional maturation, which can be explained by the phenomenon of age-related sensitivity to environmental influences, with which sensitive and critical stages of development are interconnected.

Each of the stages has a number of characteristic features, although they are based on a temporary increase in sensitivity to certain external influences. Characteristic features: the level of selectivity for perception, time schedule, consequences of inadequate implementation, reversibility of outcomes.

Initially, such a concept as a critical period was used in embryology to designate periods of time that are characterized by high sensitivity to the effects of factors that go beyond physiological norms.

During the period of intrauterine formation in its clearly defined stages, each organ undergoes certain critical phases of differentiation.

A critical period should be called a period when the body must feel the normative influences, and this will be the condition for its future full development. All transformations that occur during the critical phase are characterized by irreversibility, as a result of which the function and structure receive a finished look that becomes insensitive to modifying influences at a later age. Critical phases are more typical for anatomical and morphological transformations in the process of formation. Since they are associated with a specific stage of morphological development, they can represent a chronological symmetry of development.

The concept of sensitive means a period of time characterized by a certain set of stimuli that have a greater impact on the formation of functions than before or after. In fact, such a period is considered as more favorable for development. In other words, the critical period means the action "now or never", and the sensitive one means "it is possible at another time, but now is better."

Sensitive and critical periods determine the mechanism of individualization of formation, since, depending on the implementation of a certain period, subsequent stages can receive more and more characteristic experience, characteristic only of a given subject.

Due to the fact that the individuality of the subject is integral at the entire stage of ontogenetic development, it can be concluded that crises have a systemic character and, as an invisible force, “include” significant physiological transformations.

Sensitive period of speech development

The sensitive stage for the formation of speech is quite long in duration and takes up almost the entire period of preschool childhood. The sensitive period of speech formation lasts approximately from zero to six years. Moreover, the beginning of this stage occurs even in prenatal development, when the child begins to perceive the mother's speech and the sounds of the environment through the waters. It is at this time that the baby gets used to speech, and can, while still in the mother's belly, react to the intonations and moods of the mother.

Age up to four and a half months is characterized by the fact that the baby perceives speech as something special. The consciousness of the baby at this age is not yet able to separate the pictures of the world around him, himself, into separate images. All his impressions of the environment are rather confused, but speech becomes the only vivid image for him.

Newborn children from the moment of birth are attentive to speech, they may freeze or listen to the spoken words. Often you can see how children look at the mouth of the speaker, turn around at the sound. By the lack of reactions to sounds and speech, one can judge the presence of hearing problems in children. Unfortunately, the position of some adults is that they believe that young children do not understand anything and therefore neglect to communicate with them. Thereby losing his sensitive period.

The kid is trying to learn how to imitate the sounds heard. This is the time when the baby constantly inflates bubbles from saliva, spits everything out, which indicates the beginning of training the muscles of the articulatory apparatus. Further, he begins to independently arrange the sounds he pronounced one after another, while trying to arrange them in different sequences and listen to the sound.

One of the steps on the path to the development and formation of speech, characterized by awareness, is first the gurgle of the baby, and then the pronunciation of some combinations of letters. However, in the beginning it happens unconsciously. The kid is just beginning to train his articulatory apparatus. However, he has already learned to understand the most frequent words that are addressed to him.

Around the age of about a year, the child tries to pronounce his first word - this is his first expression of thought. However, here he comes across a situation. He perfectly understands that speech should mean something, but he cannot use such knowledge due to a lack of words. The kid wants to talk, but it's not time yet.

Closer to the year, children can already use meaningfully more often pronounced words. At this age, the child fills his passive vocabulary. By the age of two, there will already be a lot of words in his vocabulary, while a small number of them will remain in the active one. At this age, an avalanche-like filling of the vocabulary of children occurs.

The kid begins to show his feelings and express desires at the age of about one and a half years. This stage is characterized by the fact that the child directly says what he wants or does not want. He speaks in the language of feelings, using orientational mechanical speech. For example, instead of the word "correctly" they pronounce the word "nice". This method of orientation is natural for the subject. In the future, a different way of orientation is imposed on a person in the process of upbringing. At this stage of formation, children are already able to perceive the grammatical standards of the language and are able to formulate phrases and sentences grammatically correctly. It is precisely because of the lack of words in adults that the impression is created that there is a characteristic children's language with certain norms of grammar.

Therefore, two important conclusions can be drawn. The first consists in a categorical prohibition for adults on the so-called "lisping" with a baby, on inventing by parents to facilitate communication of a special, simpler children's language. On the contrary, during the period of sensitivity, when children are more sensitive to the assimilation and perception of the norms of the language, the speech of adults should be characterized by literacy, clarity and clarity. At this stage, children more than ever need to be told as many stories as possible, including the variety and richness of words, grammatical structures of speech, stories that are an example of style, and communicate with him more. The second conclusion lies in the fundamental possibility of the subsequent speech development of children in a bilingual environment, i.e. when they have the opportunity to master two languages at once. You can be sure that there will be no confusion with words in children. They will not use English words in Russian grammatical constructions.

Age from two and a half years to three is characterized by the fact that the child begins to conduct a monologue with himself. As mentioned above, later monologues become internal. It will be possible to judge the peculiarities of thinking in the future only indirectly.

The age from three and a half to four years is characterized by the child's use of speech consciously and purposefully. He begins to solve his problems with the help of speech. For example, he may ask for something. This stage is due to the fact that the baby begins to realize the power of his thought, which is expressed competently and therefore is understandable to others. During this period, children are actively interested in letters, they can happily circle them or add various combinations of words from them.

The next serious step in the development of speech in a baby is manifested between the ages of four and four and a half years - the child begins to spontaneously write some words, phrases, small sentences and short stories. The most amazing thing is that this happens regardless of whether the baby was previously taught to write or not.

The age of about five years is characterized by the fact that the baby already without coercion, completely independently learns to read - to this he is guided by the logic of speech development. Since the process of writing is a kind of expression in a certain way of one's thoughts, and the process of reading provides, in addition to distinguishing letters and the ability to put them into words, also understanding the thoughts of other individuals who are behind these words. And this process is much more complicated than expressing your own thoughts.

From all of the above, it should be concluded that if children are forced to do something outside the boundaries of the corresponding sensitive period (for example, to master the skills of writing, reading), then the result, of course, will be, but much later, and sometimes the result may not be at all.