Under the emotional-volitional sphere of a person is understood the features related to the feelings and emotions that arise in his soul. It is necessary to pay attention to its development in the early period of personality formation, namely in preschool age. What important task should parents and educators solve? The development of the child’s emotional-volitional sphere consists in his training in managing emotions and switching attention. At the same time, it is important that the preschooler learns to do everything correctly and through his “I don’t want to”. This will allow him to develop his willpower, self-discipline, as well as prepare for training in elementary grades.
Improving the emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler is a rather difficult task. Her decision will require a lot of patience, attention and love for the baby from teachers and parents, understanding of his needs and capabilities. Great help in this case is provided by developmental games. Their use allows you to direct the energy of the preschooler in the right direction. For example, relieve emotional and muscle tension or throw out aggression.
Main components
The emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler includes the following elements:
- Emotions They represent the simplest reactions that occur in a child when he interacts with the outside world. There is a conditional classification of emotions. They are divided into positive (joy and delight), negative (fear, anger), and neutral (surprise).
- The senses. This component of the sphere under consideration is more complex. It includes various emotions that are manifested in the individual in relation to specific events, objects or people.
- Mood. It is a more stable emotional state, depending on many factors. Among them: the state of health and tone of the nervous system, social environment and activities, the situation in the family, etc. Mood is classified according to duration. It is changeable or stable, stable and not. Such factors are determined by the nature of the person, his temperament, as well as some other features. Mood has a serious impact on people's activities, stimulating or upsetting it.
- Will. This component reflects a person’s ability to consciously regulate their activities and achieve their goals. It is worth noting that in younger students this component is already developed quite well.
Features
The characteristic of the emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler allows us to judge that the personality traits related to it possess progressive development in childhood. And this happens thanks to the activities of a small person. Moreover, the regulation of all areas of the child's study of the world is subject to the influence of emotional processes, the ontogenesis of which is closely related to the mental development of the baby. And all this is impossible without cognitive activity, self-awareness and the connection of motivation and needs.
The content of the emotional-volitional sphere of the preschooler, as well as its age dynamics, is determined by the change in the child’s reaction to the objects of the surrounding world as he grows up. Based on this, the following stages are distinguished:
- The period from the moment of birth to 1 year. Signs of the normal development of the child’s emotional-volitional sphere are considered to be his parents' recognition, as well as the ability to distinguish loved ones and show a reaction to their presence, voice and facial expressions.
- The period from a year to 3 years. This is the time when the formation of a minimum level of self-confidence and independence. Intervention in the development of the child’s emotional-volitional sphere is required of adults only when it is clear that the baby is doubtful of his abilities, he has poorly developed speech and there are impaired motor skills.
- The period from 3 to 5 years. The emotional-volitional sphere of the personality of a preschooler at this age is manifested in an active desire to know the world around us, in a vivid imagination, as well as in imitation of the actions and behavior of adults. Correction for children of this age is required only if the child is constantly depressed, he has lethargy and lack of initiative.
- The period from 5 to 7 years. This is the time when, thanks to the formation of the emotional-volitional sphere of the preschooler, he expresses a pronounced desire to achieve his goal and a sense of duty. At the same time, cognitive and communicative skills quickly develop.
With the passage of the period of preschool age, the content of emotions gradually changes in the child. They transform and new feelings appear. This is due to changes in the structure and content of the activities of a small person. Kids are more familiar with nature and music, develop their aesthetic emotions. Thanks to this, they have the ability to feel, experience and perceive the beautiful that is in our lives and in works of art.
Games and classes for the development of the emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler develop in them curiosity and surprise, the ability to doubt or confidence in their actions and intentions, as well as the ability to experience joy from a correctly solved task. All this leads to the improvement of cognitive skills of children. At the same time, moral emotions develop. They play a significant role in the formation of the active position of the child and in his personal development.
Manifestation of feelings
The main changes in the emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler occur in connection with a change in the hierarchy of motives, the emergence of new needs and interests. In children of this age, the impulsiveness of feelings gradually decreases, which become deeper in their semantic content. However, children still cannot control their emotions to the end. This is due to the organic needs of a person, such as thirst, hunger, etc.
In addition to this, the role of emotions in the activities of a preschooler is subject to change. And if at the earlier stages of ontogenesis the main guideline for a small person was the assessment of adults, now he is able to experience joy based on his own prediction of a positive result and the good mood of others.
Gradually, the preschooler masters the expression of emotions in their expressive forms. That is, facial expressions and intonations become available to him. Mastering such expressive means allows the child to be deeply aware of the experiences of other people.
When studying the emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler, it becomes clear that speech has an important influence on its development. In this case, the intellectualization of processes associated with the knowledge of the world.
At about 4-5 years of age, a sense of duty begins to arise in children. The basis of its formation is the moral awareness of the child of the requirements that are presented to him as a person. This leads to the fact that preschoolers begin to correlate their actions with the similar actions of surrounding adults and peers. Most clearly the sense of duty is demonstrated by children aged 6-7 years.
Thanks to the intensive development of curiosity, preschoolers more often begin to show surprise and joy in learning new things. Aesthetic feelings also receive their further development. This happens due to the activities of the child in the creative and artistic direction.
Emotional Development Factors
There are certain key points due to which the formation of the sensory-volitional sphere of the child occurs. Among them:
- Mastering by a preschooler of social forms conducive to the expression of emotions. This factor allows you to create a sense of duty, becoming the starting point for the further development of the moral, intellectual and aesthetic qualities of a small person.
- Speech development. Thanks to verbal communication, children's emotions are becoming more conscious.
- The general condition of the child. Emotions are for a preschooler an indicator of his physical and mental well-being.
Volitional processes
To develop independence in preschool children, mastery of goal-setting, planning and control is necessary. And this is possible with the formation of volitional action.
Such work begins with the development of goal setting. It implies the ability of the child to set a specific goal for his activity. In an elementary manifestation, such activity can be observed even in infancy. It is expressed in the fact that the child begins to reach for the toy that attracted his attention, and if she falls outside his field of vision, he will certainly begin to search for it.
Around the age of two, babies develop independence. They begin to strive for the goal. However, they get it only with the help of adults.
The goal-setting of preschoolers is developed with the initiative, independent setting of goals. Moreover, their content is gradually changing in the process of becoming an individual. So, in the younger preschool age goals are only related to their interests. They are also based on the immediate desires of the child. Older preschoolers strive for what is important not only for them, but also for other people.
Motives of activity
In preschool age, the isolation of what determines the behavior of the child occurs. This is the leading motive that subjugates all the others. This happens when communicating with adults. As a result of the emerging social situation, certain actions of the child acquire a rather complicated meaning.
From about three years old, children's behavior is increasingly affected by motives. They reinforce, enter into conflict or succeed each other. After this age, intense formation of randomness of movements occurs. And mastery of them in perfection becomes the main goal of the preschooler. Gradually, the movements begin to become controlled. The child begins to control them thanks to the sensorimotor image.
At 3-4 years old, children increasingly begin to use games to solve cognitive tasks. They have a significant impact on the development of the emotional-volitional sphere of preschoolers. The most effective incentives for this are penalties and incentives. At 4 years old, children begin to highlight the object of their activity and realize the goal of transforming a specific subject. At the age of 4-5, a significant part of preschool children become characterized by moral motives. Children exercise control of their own behavior through vision control.
At the age of 5-6, some tricks appear in the arsenal of preschoolers that allow them not to be distracted. By the age of five, children begin to realize that the various components of activity are mutually dependent.
Upon reaching the age of six, the child's activity becomes generalized. He forms arbitrary actions, which can be judged by the initiative and activity of the preschooler.
By 6-7 years of age, children are more adequately related to their achievements. At the same time, they see and evaluate the successes of their peers.
In older preschoolers, randomness begins to be observed in mental processes. This applies to their internal mental characteristics, such as thinking and memory, imagination, speech and perception.
Development of the emotional-volitional sphere
Improper communication with a child can lead to the following:
- One-sided affection of the baby to the mother. Such a process often leads to a limitation of the child's need for communication with their peers.
- Parents expressing dissatisfaction with or without him. This contributes to the child's constant feeling of fear and excitement.
In the psyche of a preschooler, it is possible to undergo irreversible processes that are triggered due to the parents imposing their emotions. In such cases, children cease to notice their own feelings. For example, sometimes various events occurring in the life of a small person do not cause him any emotions. However, the constant questions of adults about whether he liked something, whether he was offended by certain actions of peers or adults around him, lead to the fact that the baby has to notice such situations and somehow react to them. Do not do this.
In order to develop the emotional-volitional sphere of children, parents and teachers need to conduct games, music lessons, drawing lessons, etc. for preschoolers. In the process of such specially organized activities, children learn the ability to experience the feelings that arise through perception.
The active development of the emotional-volitional sphere is facilitated by the use of two techniques. This is sand, as well as fairy tale therapy. Let's consider them in more detail.
Fairy tale therapy
The history of this method has rather deep roots. However, until the studies of R. Gardner and W. Propp were carried out, fairy tales for children were considered nothing more than fun. Today it is already known for certain that with the help of such fantastic and rather interesting stories, the process of integrating the personality, expanding the consciousness of a small person and developing his creative abilities is very active. In this case, the formation of the line of interaction of the child with the outside world takes place.
If the tales for preschoolers are chosen correctly, they can cause a great emotional resonance. At the same time, their plots will be addressed not only to consciousness, but also to the child's subconscious.
Especially relevant are fairy tales for preschoolers in the case of deviations in the emotional sphere that children have. Indeed, in this case, the creation of the most effective situation for communication is required.
Tales help to develop the emotional-volitional sphere of a child due to the following functions:
- psychological preparation for difficult situations;
- fitting various roles, as well as evaluating actions and results of activities;
- the formation of conclusions, as well as their transfer to real life.
Fairytale therapy is used in the form of various methods. It could be:
- Fairy tale metaphor. The images and plots of fantastic and unusual narratives help to induce free associations in the child’s mind. In the future, all of them should be discussed and adjusted by adults.
- Drawing heroes and plots of fairy tales. When applying this method, associations arise not in verbal but in graphic form.
Fairy tales help preschoolers form a concept of what is good and what is bad in life. Based on the actions and deeds of the characters, the child renders his verdict of a particular line of behavior.
A fairy tale can be used when conducting games for preschoolers. In this case, the child develops facial expressions and intonations.
The effectiveness of fairy tales for the development of the emotional-volitional sphere of a preschooler is explained by the fact that these narratives lack direct moralizing and edification. In addition, the events described are always logical and dictated by the causal relationships existing in the surrounding world.
Sand therapy
A similar method of activating the child’s emotional-volitional sphere is simple, affordable, convenient and diverse. What are its advantages? Sand therapy is effective in that it allows preschoolers to build their individual world. In this case, the child feels himself in the role of the creator, setting the rules of the game.
The usual pouring of sand allows the kids to calm down and relieve stress. When sculpting the figures, they develop fine motor skills, wake up imagination and stimulate interest.
Thanks to the use of sand therapy, specialists can identify psychological injuries in a child and eliminate them. A similar method is most actively used when working with those children who have developmental delay and lack of verbal sphere.
Emotional intellect
The international abbreviation for this term is EQ. It is understood as the ability of children to be aware of their own emotions and associate them with actions and desires. With low values of EQ, we can talk about the low socio-communicative development of preschool children. Such babies have conflicting behaviors. . .
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This type of training also contributes to the effective development of the emotional-volitional sphere of the child. Consider what its features are.
Musical games for preschoolers help them enter the role of characters and images, while conveying the feelings associated with them. The main tool in this case is the child himself. During musical games for preschoolers, children use their voice, body, reproduce various sounds, expressive movements and gestures.
When activating the emotional-volitional sphere using this method, it is important for the teacher to go from the simplest to the most complex. To do this, in the initial classes, only individual emotional and game components are used. And only later, children begin to play the image on their own.
Types and forms of music games can be very different. These are plastic improvisations, and dialogues to the sounds of melodies, and dramatic productions, and so on.
One of these musical games is called Call By Name. The purpose of its holding is to foster a benevolent attitude of children to their peers. The child is invited to throw the ball to a peer or pass a toy, at the same time affectionately calling him by name. The baby is given some time to choose the one to whom the actions will be addressed. In this case, moderate music should sound. At the end of the melody, the preschooler will have to make a choice.