Intellectual development of the child: types, methods and features

The development of the child is an important stage in the formation of a self-sufficient personality. It is at an early age (before puberty) that basic life skills are formed, fundamental knowledge about the surrounding reality is laid, and new information is most quickly absorbed.

Intellectual development of the child: concept

Psychologists and educators in specialized literature are debating the nature of intellectual development. It is believed that this is a certain sum of skills and knowledge or the ability to acquire this knowledge and skills, to find solutions in non-standard situations. In any case, the child’s intellectual and cognitive development cannot be unambiguously determined in advance: the pace can be accelerated, slowed down, partially or completely stopped at some stage (depending on the circumstances).

The multilateral and complex process associated with the development of various aspects of the personality is an important part of the overall development, preparation of the child for school and further life in general. The intellectual and physical development of the child is carried out as a result of exposure to environmental conditions and circumstances. The leading role in this process (especially with regard to children of preschool and primary school age) is given to systematic education.

Intellectual parenting

The pedagogical impact on the younger generation with the goal of developing intelligence is called intellectual education. This is a systematic and purposeful process, which involves mastering the socio-historical experience that has been accumulated by older generations represented in skills and knowledge, knowledge, norms and rules, assessments.

Intellectual and creative development of children includes a whole system of various methods, means, the creation of optimal conditions. Depending on age, the child goes through several stages. For example, at the end of the first year of life, most babies have visual-effective thinking, because they have not yet mastered active speech. At this age, the child gets acquainted with the environment through tactile study of various subjects.

Developmental sequence

Each previous stage of development of the child creates the foundation for the next. As you master new skills, the old ones are not forgotten and do not stop being used. That is, if a child has already learned, for example, to tie shoelaces on his own, then he cannot “forget” this action (except in cases of serious illnesses and injuries affecting the brain), and any failures can be perceived by parents as whims.

Components of Intellectual Development

Intellectual and moral development of children is achieved by various pedagogical and educational methods. A significant role in this process is played by the family (the desire and ability of the parents to take care of the child, a favorable atmosphere) and the school (training sessions, various activities, communication with peers and interaction in society).

Parents, educators and teachers, as well as all other persons involved in the learning and development process, need to encourage the activity of the child, the desire to learn new things. Joint activities are very productive. It is necessary to choose an activity that is interesting for both (a child and an adult), an entertaining intellectual problem, and try to solve it.

An important aspect of the intellectual development of preschool and primary school children is creativity. But a prerequisite is that the child should enjoy the process of cognition and creativity. If the tasks are carried out in order to earn some kind of reward, out of fear of punishment or out of obedience, then this has nothing to do with the development of intellectual abilities.

The game is one of the most important activities for the child. It is during the game that one can instill an interest in learning, creative and cognitive activity, and reveal artistic abilities. Usually the game develops the ability to concentrate attention and act actively longer. Themed games require imagination, observation and develop memory, while modeling and drawing are useful for developing fine motor skills and a sense of beauty.

Emotional development of a child up to one and a half years

The intellectual development of a child from birth to three years is based on the emotional perception of the world. Information is absorbed only through emotional images. This forms the further behavior of the child. At this age, it is necessary to strive to maintain a friendly atmosphere in the family that positively affects the growing baby.

The jump in physical and mental development occurs at the age of 1.5-2 years. At this time, the child learns to speak, learns the meaning of many words, can be explained to others. The child can fold the pyramids and towers from cubes, he can handle a spoon well and can independently drink from a mug, dress and undress, learns to tie shoelaces, fasten buttons and zippers. The character is noticeably changing.

Logical model of information assimilation

From one and a half to five years, a new stage begins, the level of intellectual development of the child rises. The basic life skills are actively formed, the ability to assimilate musical tones, artistic images appears, logical thinking develops. Intellectual games, for example, logic tasks, constructors and puzzles, strongly stimulate the development of the child. This age is great for learning a variety of creative activities, active reading books and learning a foreign language. The child absorbs knowledge, strives to develop and quickly perceives new information.

Speech development model of a preschool child

In the intellectual development of preschool children (4-5 years old), the moment when the child begins to perceive and remember information spoken aloud becomes an important stage. Practice proves that a preschooler can learn a foreign language much faster than an adult. Therefore, many parents make maximum use of this fruitful time in order to direct the energy of the baby in a useful direction.

Useful activities will be reading books, talking about the world around us (the period of “pochumuchki” is not yet over), memorizing short verses for memory. Parents need to maintain constant contact with the child, find answers to all questions and select useful options for spending time (preferably joint). Emotional support and praise for achievements do not lose relevance.

Between three and six years, it is advisable to use puzzles, an independent or joint intellectual solution with a child. The child’s intellectual development does not boil down to learning specific skills (reading, writing, counting), because the modern generation requires well-trained semantic memory, developed logical thinking and steady attention for successful study and further life. These are complex mental functions that you need to begin to form in older preschool age.

The tasks of mental education of preschool children

In the process of intellectual development of preschool children, several pedagogical tasks are achieved, among which are:

• development of mental abilities;
• the formation of a general idea of ​​the norms and rules governing social relations (interaction between children, children and adults);
• development of complex mental processes (speech, perception, thinking, sensations, memory, imagination);
• the formation of ideas about the world;
• development of practical skills;
• the formation of various ways of mental activity;
• the formation of literate, correct and structured speech;
• development of mental activity;
• formation of sensory perception.

Development Models for Preschool Children

The features of the child’s intellectual development are individual, but the many years of pedagogical experience of researchers (educators, teachers and psychologists) made it possible to identify the main models. Distinguish between emotional, speech and logical development models.

Children who develop mainly according to the emotional model are usually more susceptible to criticism, need approval and support, successful in the humanities and creative activities. The logical model assumes the ability to solve logical problems, determines the disposition to exact sciences and susceptibility to musical works. The speech development model determines the child’s ability to memorize information well by ear. Such children like to read books and talk on given topics, cope well with the humanities and learn foreign languages, memorize poems.

In order to grow a developed personality, prepared for future life, it is important for parents to take an active part in the process of intellectual development of the child, without assigning all responsibility to the educational (educational) institution, teachers and educators or other persons (grandparents). A prerequisite is a comprehensive impact on the consciousness of the younger generation, which can be carried out during the game, joint developmental activities or just productive communication.

Theory of Intellectual Development Piaget

The Swiss philosopher and biologist believed that the thinking of an adult differs from that of a child by a greater logic, therefore it is precisely the development of logical thinking that needs to be given significant attention. At different times, Jean Piaget distinguished various stages of intellectual development, but most often the classification included four successive stages: the sensorimotor stage, the preoperative stage, the stage of specific operations and formal operations.

In the period of the sensorimotor and preoperative stages, children's judgments are categorical, units, not connected by a logical chain. The central feature of the period is self-centeredness, which should not be confused with selfishness. Starting from the age of seven, a child begins to actively form conceptual thinking. Only by the age of twelve or a little older does the stage of formal operations begin, which is characterized by the ability to think combinatorially.

Children with intellectual disabilities

Corresponding to the medical term “mental retardation” in pedagogy is the concept of “intellectual failure”. A special educational system has been created for children with intellectual disabilities, there are separate schools and orphanages, but in some cases today inclusive education (joint with children without intellectual disability) is used.

Typical manifestations of a reduced level of functioning of mental processes aimed at cognizing the surrounding world and sequential development are deficiencies in mnemonic activity, a decrease in indicators of verbal-logical thinking, difficulties in understanding and perception, the prevalence of visual-figurative thinking in front of abstract-logical, insufficient knowledge and volume of representations for a certain age.

Causes of failure

Intellectual failure is the result of a combination of organic and social factors. In the first case, we are talking about the features of the functioning of individual brain structures caused by injuries, injuries, congenital or acquired diseases. The group of secondary causes is special development conditions (domestic violence, conflict, neglect, parental alcoholism, neglect of the child).

Special child education

The purposeful development of a child with intellectual disability is more significant than teaching his normally developing peer. This is due to the fact that children with disabilities have fewer opportunities to independently perceive, save and further use the information received. But to achieve success, it’s important not just any, but special organized training, which is aimed at creating positive personality traits, provides a range of necessary practical skills and basic knowledge necessary for existence in the modern world, provides for the correction of existing shortcomings.