Each child develops at its own pace. He can be ahead of his peers in some way, and lag behind in some ways. It is important for parents to know how the mental development of the child corresponds to the average indicators for his age. Minor deviations can be corrected even without contacting a psychologist or specialist in the field of correctional pedagogy.
It is necessary
- - the average indicators of the mental development of children of this age:
- - data of observations of the child;
- - toys and household items or pictures with their images.
Instructions
Step 1
To determine how the mental development of your child corresponds to the norm for a given age, you need to have average statistical data. For example, the Kindergarten Parenting Program can help you. It says what a child in every age group should know and be able to do. It is with these data that educators and psychologists operate when they carry out diagnostics. Keep in mind that mental development has three components - emotional, speech and logical. One way or another may be predominant.
Step 2
The mental development of a child under one year old can be determined by systematically observing him. Does your baby show interest in the world around him? Does he respond to stimuli? Does it distinguish between close relatives? Name familiar objects to a six-month-old child and ask them to show them. Check the compliance of the speech development of the baby with his age. But if the child is in no hurry to start talking, don't worry. This does not mean a delay in speech development. If a one-year-old baby is interested in the world around him, explores everything that falls into his hands and uses signs instead of words - everything is fine.
Step 3
Diagnostics of the mental development of children of early and preschool age is carried out in several directions. Test the child's knowledge of himself and the world around him. A one and a half year old baby should know his name and respond to it. At the age of three, he already knows his last name, and at four - his name, surname and gender. A child of five years old should know the address, be able to determine the time of year and day. At the age of six, he should already be guided by the clock, know the days of the week and months, and be able to compose a coherent story about himself. This story includes not only personal data, but also hobbies, circles where he studies, etc.
Step 4
Determine how understanding your child is. At different ages, different types of thinking prevail. For almost all younger preschoolers, the main types are visual-figurative and visual-effective types. The child is not yet able to independently establish causal relationships. Do not worry if, faced with a problem similar to the previous one, he cannot immediately solve it, but begins to experiment. The kid is just mastering research methods. The older preschooler should already anticipate what will happen if he does certain actions. A three-year-old wears a jacket simply because his mother is wearing it. The six-year-old has to explain that it's cold outside, so dress warmly.
Step 5
Check how your baby is able to generalize objects or phenomena. At the age of four, he should have already formed the simplest generalizing concepts - "dishes", "furniture", "clothes". Create a playful situation. Pile up different household items and have your child sort them. More complex generalizations are available to the older preschooler. For example, he can arrange the dishes as intended, separating the one in which they are cooking from the cups and plates. Your task is to determine to what extent the child is able to highlight essential signs. If at a younger preschool age he still has the right to make such mistakes, then in a preschool child, errors in classification may already be a symptom of mental illness. If he constantly makes mistakes and singles out insignificant signs as the main ones without a special task, show him to a psychiatrist.
Step 6
Can your child concentrate? Remember that a preschooler is not able to keep many objects in the spotlight simultaneously. Usually their number is calculated using the formula “age minus one”. That is, the child simultaneously observes several objects, if their number is one less than the age of the child himself. Consider this when creating game situations. For example, show a 4-year-old toddler 3 objects in sequence. Remove the items and ask your child to name them in the same order.
Step 7
In an older preschooler, concentration of attention can be checked by asking him to find objects in the room according to certain signs. For example, it can be large circles, small triangles, green squares, etc. The child must keep both signs in the field of attention.
Step 8
Find out if the child understands why certain items are needed. For a younger preschooler, the set should be the simplest - a table, a chair, a cup, a jacket. He can answer in monosyllables. You need a chair to sit on. The set of items for diagnosing inductive thinking in older preschoolers is quite large. The child already knows quite a lot about the world around him and knows how to establish causal relationships. You can ask about everything that surrounds the child. You can experiment by showing an unknown item in a store and asking what it might be for. Observe whether the child identifies significant signs and can relate them to the intended actions.
Step 9
An important indicator is mathematical thinking. A three-year-old child should be able to distinguish the most striking geometric shapes - a circle and a square, a cube and a brick. He can understand where is one object, and where is many. If the baby is gradually taught to count, then by the age of four he should be able to count to three. The older preschooler knows basic geometric shapes and bodies, can count to ten and perform basic mathematical operations.
