As the child grows and develops, the scope of his opportunities is constantly expanding. Over time, he has a transition from primitive manipulations with objects to a more conscious activity. Various types of leading activities in infancy can positively affect the psychological development of the child and form a truly versatile and interesting person out of him. Any changes that occur during this period of time have a strong impact on the formation of the baby and the process of formation of his personality.
Characteristics
Pediatricians and psychologists have identified the main distinguishing features of the leading activities of the child in infancy:
- help the baby develop a series of new actions that he will fully master in the future;
- with their help, the emergence and restructuring of certain functions of the psyche of a growing baby occurs;
- affect the personality, make visible changes to it.
The mental development of the child depends on the corresponding type of leading activity. When changing activities, it can be clearly said that the child has moved to another, more advanced stage of his development.
Structure and main varieties
The process of human mental development during the period from infancy to preschool age is classified into three separate structures:
- persisting - passed from the last stage;
- direct - determines the current stage of leading activities;
- nascent is a stage that is only at the initial stage of its development and will be the main one at the next stage.
The leading types of activities in infancy and in subsequent periods include:
- direct communication of the child with adults and people around him with the help of emotions (age range from birth to one year);
- subject-manipulative (from a year to three years);
- gaming (from three years before the start of schooling).
For schoolchildren aged 6 to 11 years old, the educational process is a priority, and for adolescents aged 11 to 15 years - communication with peers. The most important period of development for a child is the length of time from 0 to 7 years.
Activities from 0 to 1 year
At the beginning of life, the infant is completely dependent on the mother or the person who replaces her. Therefore, it is impossible to determine the leading activity of infants in the period from 0 to 2 months.
With the beginning of the second period (age from two months to a year) for the child, the main process becomes close emotional communication with his native person - mother. It helps to create important processes in the baby’s mental system:
- the ability to consciously share feelings and emotional state;
- involuntary attention (the child gets the opportunity to fix his attention on specific objects around on his own for a short period of time);
- in his mind the beginnings of visual-effective thinking begin to arise;
- perception of surrounding objects;
- the appearance of autonomous speech.
Leading activities in infancy help to form a central, basic neoplasm, which determines the transition to the next, more advanced stage of development of a small person. In the subsequent time, the need for communication with people around will become more and more acute.
Goals
The leading activity in infancy is the process that helps to form a full-fledged psyche of the baby, which allows him to go to a higher level of development. At this stage of life, the main role is played by objective and manipulative actions, with the help of which the child studies the world around him, learns the reality, in which there are a large number of different and interesting objects. All these processes are carried out under the close attention of parents.
The main distinguishing feature of infancy is the separation of the lines of development of the psyche of girls and boys. The instrumental activity is very important for boys, and for girls, communicative activity is very important.
Such processes can be explained by the specifics of communication with children: cultural norms of relations in society are aimed at the formation of the hallmarks of girls from boys with the help of various types of activities. It is for this reason that boys have the most developed abstract thinking, and girls - the skill of socialization.
What does it include?
Regardless of the gender of the children, leading activities in infancy are a factor that helps with:
- formation of self-esteem;
- the emergence of visual-effective thinking;
- recognition of people around them, their image, voice, speech, type of behavior;
- the development of active speech;
- the development of a child's involuntary attention;
- development of personal qualities, the concept of "I am myself."
During this period of time, the baby needs trust and greater independence.
Parenting in the first month of life
Begin classes with the baby should be from a very early age. It is important to remember that up to a year there is a laying of all the foundations for its further development. Already at this stage, the child understands and perceives a lot: it reacts to the sounds around it, determines the tone of the conversation, melody, distinguishes light from darkness, recognizes by smell that mother is somewhere nearby, feels all touches.
The child has well-developed congenital reflexes, for example, he searches for the mother’s breast, sucks it, starts from too loud or sudden sounds, steps with its legs, if you lift it and hold it in an upright position, grab it with your hands.
In this period of time, education should consist in simple methods. Develop color vision by placing bright rattle toys at a distance of about 30 centimeters from the child’s eyes. To train eye fixation by moving a bright toy in front of the child’s eyes at a distance of 20 centimeters, and then, after waiting for eye fixation on it, move it to the other side and in the vertical direction. To shape the baby’s hearing by speaking to him in a calm and calm voice, including music and rattling rattles.
Also, experts recommend carrying the child around the house, telling him about the objects that are around, sharing interesting stories.
Second month of life
Communication is a leading activity of infancy. Physical contacts with parents are additionally connected to communication. The child needs to be given a feeling of security and closeness, carried on his hands, massage, smile and try to provoke a response.
In the second month of life, parenting continues to consist in the development of vision and hearing. Subjects for study are already located at a distance of 30 to 50 centimeters. Sounds to learn become multifaceted.
In order to develop tactile sensitivity, the baby needs to be given toys and objects of various shapes. In order for the child to be able to independently independently hold the head in the future, a bright ball begins to be rolled in front of him. The baby will closely monitor him, thereby straining the muscles of the neck.
The third month of the baby’s life
The leading type of activity in infancy of three months will be the ability to show emotions. In order for the baby to develop facial muscles of the face, start to laugh, walk, show different emotions, it is important for him to pay increased attention. The parent should often pick up the baby, talk with him for a long time, tell stories, read books, and laugh.
Toys at this age will be bells, bells, balloons, rattles and everything that the baby can reach and that can tactilely feel. The parent is obliged to help the child to study the world around him and not to prohibit being curious.
At this stage of development, the baby begins to copy many of the gestures and habits of the parents, and also takes into account their attitude. For example, if the baby’s mother feels fear, the child will feel the same.
To develop only positive qualities in a child, one should show him as many positive emotions as possible, often smile and give a good mood.
Fourth month of life
At the fourth month, the baby already independently holds the head, knows how to gesture well with its feet and hands, studies objects around, flips from the back to the tummy. At this time, he not only looks at objects, but also sees them. Perceives voices around and sounds. She feels the need for her mother, not only for studying herself, but for everything around her.
The parent must control the mode of the day of the baby, as well as adjust it, if necessary. At 3-4 months, the average child needs 15 hours of sleep. 10 hours falls at night, and the rest are distributed evenly throughout the day.
If adults have decided that the child should sleep only in his bed, then you need to put him only there, thereby raising discipline and habit.
Features of education in the fifth month
The child not only walks, but also makes clearly distinguishable sounds. Seeing a toy nearby, he can touch it and also hold it tightly in his hands. He continues to perceive all things in taste and in tactile sensations.
The child’s muscles and limbs are already strong, which gives him the opportunity to raise his arms, stretch his legs and even get on all fours. It is important for the parent to continue to maintain maximum physical contact with the baby.
It is important to carry the child in her arms, often speak with him, answer something to his sounds, smile in response. It will also be good to develop a sense of rhythm in the kid, for this you should conduct massage and gymnastics with a score and dance to the music.
The child is very happy when he sees that they are satisfied. He shows emotions in different ways: he is naughty and crying to show discomfort, or he laughs and plays when he has fun. It is important to remember that with a loud cry, the child does not manipulate his parents, but simply shows his needs or dissatisfaction, since he still does not know how to do this in a different way.