© LLC Publishing House "Karapuz", 2010.

© A.L. Wenger – compilation, introductory article, 2010.

Leonid Abramovich Wenger

In the sixties and eighties, psychology in Russia (then the Soviet Union) experienced a period of prosperity. Over the previous three decades, it was almost completely eliminated by the decisions of the party and government, the resolutions of the Pavlovsk session and the entire ideological atmosphere in which the very word “psyche” was perceived with suspicion: was it not a pseudonym for the soul, which, as is known, the Soviet person does not have and shouldn't it be? From schools, kindergartens, from industry, from hospitals, psychology was forced out into tiny scientific laboratories in which it originated a hundred years earlier.

Leonid Abramovich Wenger is one of those who returned child psychology to its place in real life. He began as an armchair scientist, studying children away from school classes and kindergarten groups (otherwise it was impossible then). This is probably why his works turned out to be so useful for practice: he came to it from the outside, not burdened with pedagogical routine and not inclined to neglect the interests of children in the name of “effective organization of the educational process.” He was free from the haste caused by the need to adapt to class schedules and fit into the rigid framework of the school year. His research, both scientific and applied, is distinguished by a detailed and thorough verification of each hypothesis put forward.

In the sixties, Leonid Abramovich was known both in Russia and abroad as one of the most serious researchers in the development of children's perception. The problems he studied looked very academic and far from life. Developing the concept of his teacher - the greatest child psychologist Alexander Vladimirovich Zaporozhets - he delved into the jungle, little understood by the uninitiated. What is the difference between subject prestandards and sensory standards? What is the orienting basis of perceptual actions? How are simultaneous and successive perceptual systems formed? However, the book that reflected the results of this work is called very simply: “Perception and Learning.” It absolutely proves that perception can and should be taught. Then sensory abilities - such as the eye, the ability to accurately perceive the proportions of objects, the ability to visually “grasp” complex forms - cease to be the property of individual gifted people (artists, architects, designers) and become available to every child.

In the mid-seventies, another book was published: “The Genesis of Sensory Abilities.” It contains research conducted under the leadership of L.A. Wenger and providing general methods and specific techniques for the formation of various abilities at the disposal of everyone. This is a sense of musical and visual rhythm, the ability to visually evaluate proportions, to perceive perspective changes in the shape and size of objects, to regulate hand movements when drawing.

Methods did not remain an attribute of scientific monographs: they were included in the educational program in kindergarten and were sent to their immediate recipients - children. In fairness, it must be said that their implementation in the work of kindergarten teachers was rarely at its best. The methodology is one thing, its implementation is another. This must be learned, and the preparation of educators to work under the new programs was quite poorly done at that time.

From childhood perception, Leonid Abramovich moved on to another, although not very distant, issue: the study of mental development in general. Following A.V. Zaporozhets, he believed that figurative forms of thinking are of greatest importance for preschoolers. Their development became the topic of his further research.

Under the leadership of L.A. Wenger began to develop a system for diagnosing the mental development of preschool children. In those years in the Soviet Union this was a new and very fashionable area of ​​research. Banned in 1936 by a resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, it was still not officially permitted. It was forbidden to use the word “tests”. Instead, the more neutral expression “diagnostic techniques” was used. And the need for them was very great: the teaching load at school and in kindergarten increased; many children could not cope with it. Tools were needed to find out the reasons preventing the child from mastering the program.

The easiest thing would be to translate (if necessary, slightly reworking) the tests developed in the West, where there was no notorious resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. However, they suffered from so many shortcomings that this path did not seem very promising. It was precisely in those years that massive criticism of existing tests unfolded in the United States and other Western countries. Their low viability has been proven in dozens, if not hundreds of studies. Why translate Western tests that turned out to be unsuccessful? It’s better to develop our own, more successful ones - and let them translate us. This was L.A.’s logic. Wenger and the laboratory he heads.

There is no need to tell anyone who has ever dealt with the development, testing and standardization of tests what a painstaking and time-consuming work it is, and you still can’t explain it to someone who has never done it. Therefore, I will only say that over several years, under the leadership of Leonid Abramovich, a huge amount of work was done, which led to the creation of a thoroughly tested and standardized test system for preschoolers. The book “Diagnostics of Mental Development of Preschool Children” has long become a bibliographic rarity, and the tests presented in it are still widely used today in many countries around the world. Methods developed in the laboratory of L.A. Wenger, do not have many of the shortcomings characteristic of Western tests. Their main advantage is that they not only allow us to identify existing developmental deviations, but also clearly indicate ways to overcome them.

The next stage for Leonid Abramovich was the development of a holistic system of preschool education aimed at developing the child’s abilities. Previously, only certain methods created by him and his employees were included in the mass kindergarten program. Now the task was set to create our own complete program, built on a new understanding of the principles of mental development of a preschooler.

By this time, the main provisions of the concept of L.A. had already taken shape. Wenger. According to his ideas, the basis for the formation of cognitive abilities is visual modeling. To put it somewhat crudely, we can say: a smart child differs from a stupid child in the ability to imagine a variety of objects and phenomena in the form of models, that is, in a generalized and schematized form. The child learns modeling in preschool activities: drawing, playing, constructing with cubes. However, with such spontaneous self-education, only a few children achieve a high level of development of mental abilities. To form them in all children (or at least in the majority), it is necessary to build purposeful and consistent teaching of modeling to children. The material for this will be the same types of activities, but enriched with special tasks and accompanied by the widespread use of models and diagrams.

In 1986, the book “Development of Cognitive Abilities in the Process of Preschool Education” was published. It presents a diverse educational program for preschool children, aimed not just at equipping them with knowledge, skills and abilities, but at their genuine development, at the formation of abilities. A practical experiment conducted in a mass kindergarten with several “generations” of pupils proved: children are not born capable or incapable. It all depends on upbringing. If it is built correctly, then everyone (or, in any case, almost everyone) becomes capable. Nominated L.A. Wenger's hypothesis about the nature of mental abilities was completely confirmed.

In the last years of his life, Leonid Abramovich continued to expand the field of his research. The system for developing children's abilities created under his leadership produced excellent results, but so far it was only an experimental program. It was carried out in just one kindergarten with the constant participation of an entire scientific laboratory. Subsequently, on its basis, methods were developed that were accessible to any competent educator. Thus was born the Development program, which is now used in hundreds of kindergartens across the country.

Work began on studying the formation of not only general cognitive abilities, but also so-called special ones (mathematical, artistic, musical, etc.). Leonid Abramovich began researching gifted preschoolers. Do they have any qualitative differences from other children, or do they simply have the same abilities at a particularly high level of development? Is there a “recipe” for nurturing giftedness? How do figurative forms of cognition relate to speech and language acquisition in a child’s development? Leonid Abramovich did not have time to find answers, but the questions he raised are still relevant. Not only L.A.’s direct students work on them. Wenger, but also many other psychologists who accepted his concept.

Pedagogy of abilities

Humanity needs talents 1
Pech. From: Pedagogy of abilities. – M.: Knowledge, 1973.

The age of the atom and human nature. Our century is designated differently: “age of the atom”, “age of electronics”, “space age”, “age of television”, etc. It all depends on who characterizes it and for what reason. And all this is true, because the undeniable sign of our time is the rapid and ever-accelerating scientific and technological progress...

The last fifty years have radically changed the face of the globe and created new living and working conditions for millions of people. But nuclear power plants, jet aircraft, electronic computers are nothing without people with their knowledge, experience, and abilities.

Let's try to imagine that suddenly all the machines, all the instruments of production were taken from a highly developed country to an economically backward country, and the developed country received primitive technology in exchange. What would happen in a few years? In all likelihood, wonderful modern technology would turn into a pile of scrap metal: there would be no one to use it or care for it. As for the inhabitants of an advanced country, thanks to their knowledge and skills they would be able to create everything anew and, perhaps, at a higher level.

A person with his knowledge and skills is the main productive force of society, the main driving force of scientific and technological progress. This means that he himself changed in the course of history, acquired qualities that he did not have at the beginning of his journey?

The answer to this question depends on what we mean – the stock of knowledge accumulated by humanity, the material and spiritual culture it has created, or the biological nature of man. Without a doubt, modern man flying a jet plane is very different from his cave ancestor, who walked towards a mammoth with a stone ax in his hand. He is immeasurably more educated, his mind has access to many secrets incomprehensible to Stone Age people. But all these are gifts of civilization, the result of the historical development of mankind. As for the very “nature” of man, it has not changed in the course of history. Biologists, anthropologists, and ethnographers speak about this with complete confidence. Since the appearance of “Homo sapiens” - “reasonable man” - as a special biological species, the laws of biological evolution, leading to changes in the structure of the animal body and the emergence of new, inherited forms of behavior in them, have lost their force. Natural selection - the survival of the strongest, those best adapted to the environment - ceased to operate, because people themselves learned to adapt the environment to their needs, to transform it with the help of tools through the power of collective labor.

The human brain - the most perfect instrument, the work of which today ensures the creation of spaceships, penetration into the secrets of the atomic nucleus, the birth of poems and symphonies - has not changed since the time of Cro-Magnon man, who lived tens of thousands of years ago. Of course, no one has studied the Cro-Magnon brain in the laboratory or compared it with the brain of our contemporary, but the structure of the brain is closely related to the structure of the skull, and the skulls of ancient people have been studied enough. And sometimes accidents, a rare play of natural forces, came to the aid of scientists. Thus, the brain of one of the ancient inhabitants of America was stored for eight thousand years in the warm springs of Florida and remained suitable for study...

But, in fact, there is no need to go back every time for evidence of the unity of nature of people standing at different levels of the cultural and historical ladder. And now there are tribes on earth who lead a primitive way of life, who do not know not only television, but also the use of metals, and who obtain food with the help of a stone ax. The study of representatives of such tribes suggests at first glance that they are strikingly different from modern humans. What is striking is the paucity of language, sometimes numbering only a hundred words, a strange for us, inconsistent course of reasoning in which reality and naive fantasy are merged, the inability to understand seemingly the simplest things... But all this is just the absence of modern culture, and not at all manifestation of any natural features. If you take a child from such a backward tribe and raise him in a modern family, he will be no different from any of us.

...The French ethnographer Villar went on an expedition to one of the hard-to-reach areas of Paraguay, where the Guayquil tribe lived. Very little was known about this tribe - that it leads a nomadic lifestyle, constantly moving from place to place in search of the main food - honey from wild bees, has a primitive language, and does not come into contact with other people. Villar, like many others before him, was not lucky enough to meet the Guayquils - they hastily left when the expedition approached. But in one of the abandoned sites, a two-year-old girl was discovered, apparently forgotten in a hurry. Villar took her to France and entrusted her with raising her to his mother. Twenty years later, the young woman was already an ethnographer.

So, man arrived in the atomic age, having retained practically unchanged the capabilities of his brain, which developed at a time when the mind of mankind was just beginning to dawn. This means that these opportunities were already enormous even then, providing a guarantee of acquiring almost limitless power over the forces of the surrounding nature. But does it follow from this that they are inexhaustible, that they will be enough for an even more rapid rush into the future?

There are enough grounds for assumptions about what this future will look like... when primitive and exhausting forms of human labor disappear, when smart machines take on not only hard physical work, but also the entire “technical” side of the mental one - calculations, observation of the flow production processes - and the share of man will remain creativity in all its forms - in science and technology, literature and art.

The increase in the share of creativity in general human labor already finds thousands of manifestations today. There are 10 times more scientists living on the globe today than there were at all times and in all countries combined. If at the beginning of the century there were about 15 thousand people who systematically carried out research work, now there are millions of them.<…>

This means that creativity as the main occupation of a person is what the future brings with it. And it is impossible to create, to create something new, without mastering what was created before. Otherwise, you run the risk of constantly inventing “wooden bicycles” - opening something that has long been discovered and is not needed by society. Naturally, increasing demands on a person’s creative capabilities is inevitably associated with increasing demands on his education and the acquisition of knowledge. And the amount of knowledge that needs to be mastered is growing like an avalanche, along with the development of science and technology.

Remember the old legend about the inventor of chess, who asked for a “modest” reward in the form of a grain of wheat placed on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, etc. In order to complete the 64- y cell, there was not enough grain brought from the whole kingdom! Something similar is happening now with the growth of scientific knowledge. Their volume doubles every 10 years. It is not for nothing that this process is called an “information explosion.”

It is not only people of science who feel the force of this explosion. It concerns no less (if not more) those whom we are preparing to participate in the life of modern and future society - our children. The “information explosion” shook the foundations of the school education system in all developed countries and raised the question of how to ensure that children could learn the basics of modern scientific knowledge... School should not be allowed to rely on the memory of children, on their memorization of a wide variety of information. The school needs to provide knowledge of general laws, from which the student himself must learn to draw conclusions, seriously and thoughtfully evaluate new facts, and independently select, perceive, process and use newly acquired knowledge. In other words, we can express it this way: in order to prepare a child for creativity at the level of modern development of knowledge, it is necessary to introduce elements of children’s creativity into the assimilation of knowledge itself. The creative activity of everyone in learning and in work is the requirement that humanity faces today.

And here we again return to the “nature” of man, to the possibilities hidden in the work of his brain. Are they sufficient to implement such a requirement? After all, we are now talking not about a person “in general,” but about each individual person, about any child who is born today.

But everything we know about the development of human culture in the past and present tells us that people are different in their capabilities, and creativity is the lot of the few, those who are called brilliant, talented, or at least capable.

Can every child become a musician, writer, scientist? After all, even at school it turns out that some children literally grasp knowledge “on the fly”, while others acquire it through hard work, stumbling at every step...

What does this difference depend on? What exactly does it consist of? Perhaps the limited capabilities of the brain, which we inherited from our ancestors, are precisely manifested in the fact that it creates an insurmountable barrier to the creative development of most people, for some reason opening only for some the road to the secrets of science and art? If so, then humanity has come to the most difficult moment in its history: the demands of the time have come into conflict with human nature. And if this contradiction is not overcome, humanity must stop...

Main question. The question of the development of abilities and their relationship to the capabilities of the human brain did not arise today.

Two hundred years ago, two famous French philosophers, Claude Adrian Helvetius and Denis Diderot, were arguing with each other. They were both atheists and materialists, they both hated slavery and ignorance, and they considered education to be the main force called upon to transform the world. At the same time, Helvetius and Diderot had different assessments of the possibilities of the influence of education on the human mind and on his abilities. This is precisely what their dispute was about, which went down in the history of philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy. Actually, the dispute was one-sided.

Helvetius wrote a book “On Man, His Mental Abilities and His Education,” in which he expressed views that were striking for that time. But the book was published after the death of its author. Diderot responded with a special work, “A Systematic Refutation of Helvetius’s Book of Man,” written in the form of a dialogue. Unfortunately, Helvetius could no longer respond...

What did Helvetius claim? There is a section in his book called: “All people with an ordinary normal organization have the same mental abilities.” This is the main idea of ​​the book.

“Currently, there are two points of view among scientists on this issue. Some of them say: the mind is the result of a certain kind of temperament and internal organization; but none of them has yet determined, by a series of observations, the kind of organs, temperament, or food which produces the mind. This vague and unsubstantiated assertion is thus reduced to this: the mind is the result of some unknown cause or some hidden quality, which I call temperament or organization.

Helvetius denies the innate foundations of mental abilities, believing that no one could ever find these foundations. He attributes differences between people entirely to differences in upbringing. It should be borne in mind that by education Helvetius understood not only education in the usual sense of the word, but the entire totality of human life conditions.

Let us now see what the objections were that Denis Diderot raised against the opinion of Helvetius. Without denying the importance of education, Diderot at the same time believed that it can only develop what nature gave in embryo. “You cannot endow a greyhound dog with a subtle sense of smell,” he wrote, “you cannot endow a pointer with the speed that is inherent in a greyhound; no matter what you do, the latter retains its finely developed sense of smell, and the former has the speed of its legs.”

Educational program "Development" PDF Print E-mail

07.03.2011 01:42

I. WHAT IS THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

1. Developing abilities is not easy.

The path that a child goes through in his development during the preschool years is enormous. During this time he gains significantly more than in his entire subsequent life. During preschool childhood, a person “forms.” The changes that occur in the development of the mind of a preschool child are surprising and elusive. Nevertheless, this “amazing” and “elusive” must be seen and understood. In other words, to highlight the most significant characteristics of changes in the child’s psyche. Characteristics are units that determine the main directions of a child’s mental development.

In the program, such a characteristic unit is the development of the child’s abilities. L.A. Wenger considered abilities to be orienting actions that are formed and manifested when a child uses existing cultural means. In preschool childhood, these means are figurative in nature and represent standards, diagrams, models, symbols.

O.M. Dyachenko proposed dividing abilities into two large groups. This division is arbitrary, but effective from the point of view of distinguishing between the means used by children when solving problems of different classes.

The first group is the ability to perceive reality, allowing the child, with the help of such means as diagrams, models, to isolate visual, objective connections between objects that are essential for solving a problem, i.e. summarize your learning experience. For example, a child uses a room plan to find a specific object in the room, or uses a diagram to build from the proposed parts (blocks, Lego elements, kinders, etc.).

The second group is abilities that allow the child to convey his attitude to reality by using symbolic means to designate the meaning of the situation. These means enable the preschooler to generalize and express his emotional and cognitive experience. For example, in a game, a child often reproduces joy, anger, disappointment, pleasure with the help of symbolism contained in facial expressions, gestures, exclamations, etc. By means of painting (composition, color, size, shape), the preschooler conveys his attitude towards the character or event being depicted.

Special developmental tasks for mastering various types of tools are offered to the child in sections of the program in the context of preschool activities (playing, drawing, designing, etc.). In activity theory (A.N. Leontiev, D.B. Elkonin, V.V. Davydov), special importance is attached to the leading activity, which in preschool childhood is play. In it, the child “lives” certain situations, combining his emotional and cognitive experiences.

Much attention in the program is paid to the development of the child’s own cognitive activity and his creative abilities.

One of the outstanding Russian psychologists, A.V. Zaporozhets, considered the preschool years to be an age of enormous opportunities that can fully manifest themselves if the goal of preschool education is not acceleration (acceleration), but enrichment (amplification) of child development. Amplification primarily involves the development of children’s abilities, the formation of an active, creative personality of the child.

The main condition for the development of children's personality is the presence of attractive activities, the opportunity to show initiative, attention and respect from adults for each child and the relationships between children, and genuine cooperation between adults and children.

Developmental activities enhance children's cooperation with each other. Classes are structured in such a way that they involve interaction between children (distribution of roles, material, functions and individual actions).

Much attention is paid to children's individuality: the pace of development and activity of individual children and their preferences are taken into account.

Both the activities of children with each other and the interaction of the teacher with children are in the nature of dialogue and active cooperation.

The Development program is designed for four age groups: junior, middle, senior, preparatory.

Children of the younger group are engaged in the most important activities for their age - playing, designing, drawing. In addition, the teacher reads poems and fairy tales to them, and talks about what they read. Much attention is paid to sensory classes, in which children, playing didactic games, unnoticed by themselves master such properties of surrounding objects as color, shape and size.

In the middle group, children continue to engage in construction, drawing and fiction, but at the same time solve more complex problems. New types of activities are appearing (in nature, mathematics and spatial orientation). Orientation in space plays an important role in the development of children in the middle group, so kids do it twice a week. Classes are usually held in the form of interesting games - the children help the doll arrange furniture in the doll's room, draw plans for the bedroom, mark hidden treasures on them, or, conversely, look for them.

In the senior and preparatory groups, classes such as design, drawing, familiarization with works of fiction, nature, spatial orientation, and mathematics continue, but new types (literacy and logic) also appear. Mathematics and literacy classes are not only of a narrowly pragmatic nature (to teach reading and counting), but also of a general developmental nature (children try to conduct a sound analysis of a word, compare numbers with each other, etc.). A special place is occupied by familiarization with logical relations - with the help of special techniques and tools (pictures, drawings, diagrams), children learn about the simplest logical operations.

In addition to these main sections, the program has additional ones (directing acting, artistic design, expressive movement). Classes in these sections can be conducted depending on the wishes of the children and the teacher.

The program also includes free time for music and physical education classes.

There is a more complex version of the program - “Development * (“Gifted Child”), aimed at working with mentally gifted children 5-7 years old (senior and preparatory groups of kindergarten). At the same time, the giftedness of preschool children is characterized by a high level of mastery of children's activities, cognitive activity, and development of mental abilities. These abilities are typical specifically for preschool childhood. They manifest themselves mainly in the field of figurative forms of cognition - visual-figurative thinking and imagination.

The Gifted Child program includes the following types of classes: familiarization with space, logical relationships, fiction, the formation of elementary mathematical concepts, speech development, literacy, construction, preparation for play, familiarization with nature and elementary physical phenomena, and fine arts.

2. Where does education begin?

SENSORY EDUCATION

At each age, it is necessary to pay attention to those aspects of the child’s development to which that age is most sensitive, most receptive.

At 3 years old, a child begins to actively explore the world around him. The source of a preschooler’s knowledge is sensory experience. This means that we must remember that the main thing at this age is to enrich the child’s experience, which is necessary for a full perception of the world around him, and first of all, it is to enrich his ideas about the external properties of objects.

When developing ideas about the color, shape, and size of surrounding objects, it is necessary to introduce children to generally accepted examples of the external properties of objects, the so-called sensory standards (seven colors of the spectrum, five geometric shapes, three gradations of size).

At first, children only get acquainted with sensory standards (they compare, select the same ones, remember the names). Then, when clearer ideas about the varieties of each property appear, a more subtle differentiation of standards occurs; finally, children begin to use these ideas to analyze and identify the properties of different objects in a wide variety of situations.

So, the sensory development of a child, on the one hand, has independent significance, since it ensures the receipt of clear ideas about the environment, on the other hand, it forms the foundation of general mental development, which is impossible without relying on full perception.

A GAME

The Development program devotes a lot of space to play, which is so important for a preschooler’s full life “here and now” and for his future, since it makes a significant contribution to his mental and social development.

A special section of the program (“Development of Play Activity”) provides for joint play between an adult and children, during which the child masters the basics of play activity, and then its more complex and varied forms (plot play, play with rules).

Methods of play activity acquired in joint activities with an adult will create the basis for the child’s free independent play, will help him easily occupy himself by developing a variety of imaginary play situations, will allow him to enrich and creatively realize his plans; the child will learn to enter into meaningful communication with peers (which in preschool age is based on play), control his immediate desires, obeying the rules of the game.

CONSTRUCTION

Construction is one of the most important and interesting types of children's activities. Unfortunately, parents now assign little place to construction in activities with their children, and a wooden construction set is a rarity in the set of children's toys. Constructive activity is undoubtedly important in the overall mental development of a child, since it contributes to the formation of the most important mental action - visual modeling. Design develops the ability to perceive such external properties of the objective world as shape, spatial and dimensional relationships, to understand some essential dependencies of the structure of an object on its function, and to create new, original images.

First, your children will learn how to stack cubes correctly, creating stable and level buildings; take into account the shape of various elements of building material (cubes); understand that depending on what or who they are building for, their structure will look completely different. Then, gradually, they will learn to “read” building plans (first in one plane, and later in three), which will allow them to more clearly navigate real objects, take into account their spatial multidimensionality, but most importantly, create new, complex designs of their own and correctly implement your intentions in the material. Moreover, they will also understand the symbolic side of constructive activity (the embodiment of which can be found in various styles of architecture), so Cinderella’s castle will be “kind, cheerful” for them, and Baba Yaga’s hut, of course, will be “evil”; such an understanding will enrich their imagination and contribute to the development of creative abilities.

FICTION AND SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

What does fiction mean to a child? This is a magical world into which every child is happy to immerse, and a source of information about the environment, and a necessary condition for normal speech development.

Classes on speech development and familiarization with children's fiction are held twice a week. During these classes, the teacher reads poems, fairy tales and stories to the children, and the children listen carefully, look at the illustrations and answer questions about the content of what they read. If an unfamiliar word appears in a fairy tale or poem, the teacher explains its meaning. Particular attention is also paid to familiarization with epithets, comparisons, metaphors and other means of artistic expression. When answering an adult’s questions, describing pictures or toys, or participating in acting out fairy tales, the child uses the tools that the adult introduced him to.

Classes in fiction begin in the junior group and continue in the middle, senior and preparatory groups. Growing up, kids learn not only to learn poems and solve riddles, but also to retell fairy tales. It is very difficult for a small child to highlight the most important thing in a fairy tale (characters and their actions), so teachers help children using special means - circles and squares of different colors and sizes, which act as substitutes for real characters. By the end of classes in the preparatory group, the children can already tell a fairy tale without relying on visual aids.

A special area of ​​work is the development of children's creative abilities. Even 3-4 year old children try to fantasize, composing unusual continuations of famous fairy tales. In older preschool age (5-6 years), children can come up with their own, original fairy tale or story on a given topic.

FINE ACTIVITIES

All parents want their child to draw well. Looking at the baby’s first “scribbles” (almost always the child explains what he has drawn: “this is a car” or “this is a dog”, etc.), adults try to teach him to draw and, first of all, give him his own example, i.e. . they draw a dog, a car, etc., expecting that the child will draw at least something similar.

In this case, adults often encounter refusal: “I can’t do that.” Repeating this kind of “activity” often leads to the child’s complete denial of this type of activity: “I don’t know how to draw!”

How to help a child in his desire to depict on a piece of paper the surrounding reality, a bright world that excites the child’s imagination?

According to the authors of the program, first of all, it is necessary to teach preschoolers to understand the language of fine art, the expressive means of which are color, line, color and tonal rhythms (these are like letters and syllables), and to use the expressive means of this language to create a composition.

The global artistic task that needs to be solved with children - combining an object drawing with the color organization of a sheet - is initially decomposed into two components. On the one hand, there is work with color, the creation of a harmonious space of a non-objective image on a sheet of paper, on the other hand, the development of object drawing.

At the same time, technical tasks (filling out a sheet, mixing colors, depicting an object) are necessarily included in a creative task that requires conveying the child’s emotional state (for example, “Golden Autumn,” “Fluffy Kitten”) and constructing an artistic and expressive image.

In creating this or that artistic image, the child proceeds from the emotional perception of the object, from the color spot, which is gradually developed, improved, and detailed.

Subsequently, more and more attention is paid to the transfer of the basic relationships and characteristics of an object (features of shape, specific features, relative sizes and functions, etc.), as well as relationships in the world of people, between a person and the world around him, relationships between objects (two-figure compositions, subject-story drawing).

All this gives the child the opportunity to further create complex multi-figure compositions that convey his emotional attitude, state, mood and impression.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SPACE

Imagine that you are on the street of a city unfamiliar to you. You have a map of this city in your hands, and you are trying to find the street you are on. For many, this task turns out to be difficult. Some people find it difficult to draw a floor plan of their own apartment, let alone floor plans or site plans. Insufficient development of spatial orientation reveals itself not only in this direct way. In primary and secondary school, children who have poor spatial orientation experience difficulties in mathematics, geography, drawing and physics.

And in the “Development” program, teaching children to read and depict plans of different spatial situations begins at the age of 4, that is, precisely when preschoolers, according to psychophysiological research, are most susceptible to this kind of training. By the age of 7, children not only know how to draw the layout of a room, an area for walking, or a small area, but also successfully “read” maps of their area or city; They enthusiastically play “topographers”, using plans to find the location of “treasures”, “surprises” on the site, on the street, etc.

Developing the ability to navigate in space makes it easier to master many school subjects, and in the future provides an opportunity to demonstrate one’s creative abilities in various fields (drawing, computer graphics, architecture, design, etc.)

EXPERIENCE NATURE

The influence of nature on a child's development is enormous. Your baby begins to get acquainted with the amazing, endless and constantly changing world of nature from the first years of life. He is attracted by the sound of rain, the rustling of leaves, a bright butterfly that has fluttered from a fragrant flower, a funny fluffy kitten and pearlescent fish in an aquarium, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. Nature is the source of the first concrete knowledge and joyful experiences, often remembered for a lifetime. The world of living and inanimate nature attracts with its beauty, bright colors, diversity and inexplicable mystery. By joining it, the child enriches his sensory experience, on which his further knowledge is based, mental abilities and creativity develop.

The baby gets older, reaching the age of “why” by the age of 4-5 years. Along with his growing ability to understand his surroundings, many questions arise that are not always correctly resolved on his own: why do birds fly away and leaves fall? Can spring come after summer? Based on the curiosity of children, an adult helps them understand the richness and diversity of relationships in nature, introduces them to the norms and rules of behavior in relation to animals and plants. Until the age of 5, children become familiar with the nature of their immediate environment and begin to understand the first simple patterns: the change of seasons and the changes that occur in the life of plants and animals depending on the coming season.

Older preschoolers' ideas about nature are not limited to phenomena and objects in their immediate environment. From books and films, children learn about unusual plants and animals that live in different parts of the Earth, about its ancient appearance. New questions arise: where do hummingbirds live? Why are there no dinosaurs now? When did the first people appear on Earth? The program for children 5-7 years old answers these and many other questions, introducing various natural areas, ecosystems and the evolution of life on Earth.

By learning about nature and its laws, the child begins to treat it more consciously. This is how the foundations of ecological culture are laid in preschool age. Directed work to familiarize yourself with nature in kindergarten not only lays the foundations for preschoolers to subsequently successfully master such school subjects as natural history, geography, biology, but also educates an environmentally literate, thinking person who, in adult life, will consciously and carefully treat everything living and nonliving on Earth.

ABOUT THE LITERATURE

When a child goes to school, every parent thinks about the question: should he be taught to read and write?

Everyone is well aware that inability to read or slow reading (letter by letter) is a serious obstacle to a child’s learning at school. In addition, it has been established that a 7-year-old child has a more difficult time mastering reading than a 6-year-old child.

What is reading?

This is the initial step in school teaching of the native language. The paradox is that first a first-grader is taught to read and write, and then he is introduced to the phonetics, morphology and syntax of his native language.

It turns out that at a certain age (“from two to five”) children are extremely interested in studying the sound side of speech. You can take advantage of this childhood interest and introduce the child, “immerse”, into the wonderful world of sounds, discover a special linguistic reality, where the basics of phonetics and morphology of the Russian language begin, and thus lead to reading by the age of 6, bypassing the notorious “torment of merging” sounds through connecting the letters: “m” and “a” - it becomes “ma”... A child masters reading when he experiences a special craving and interest in this process.

At the same time, children comprehend a certain system of patterns of their native language, learn to hear the sounds of our speech, distinguish between vowels (stressed and unstressed), consonants (hard and soft), compare words by sound, find similarities and differences, divide words into syllables, build words from chips , corresponding to sounds, etc. Later, children learn to divide the speech stream into sentences, sentences into words, get acquainted with all the letters of the Russian alphabet, compose words and sentences from them, using grammatical rules of writing, master syllable-by-syllable and continuous methods of reading. But reading is not an end in itself. This task is solved in a broad speech context, children acquire a certain orientation in the sound reality of their native language, and the foundation for future human literacy is laid.

The training is designed for the period from 4 to 7 years and is structured with maximum consideration of the age characteristics of preschool children and selective susceptibility to mastering literacy knowledge: for example, children 4-5 years old study the sound side of speech, showing special talent, and children 6 years old are very interested in the sign system, study it and read it.

Our students come to school not only reading, but also able to analyze oral speech and correctly compose words and sentences from the letters of the alphabet.

In the area of ​​teaching a child to write, we deliberately limit ourselves to preparing the hand for writing. For children 3-4 years old, we recommend voluntary exercises for hands and fingers, where the child adjusts his movements to a certain standard, pattern and masters them, learns to control his hands and fingers. This is still a preparatory stage. Children 5-6 years old learn to perceive various object images in the working line, close to the configuration of letters, and to write printed letters. When writing, it is especially important not so much to master individual skills, but to form the entire complex of a child’s readiness for writing: a combination of the tempo and rhythm of speech with eye and hand movements. All learning takes place in a fun and imaginative context of situations that are understandable to the child.

MATHEMATICS

Most adults interested in their child's development try to help him take his first steps in mathematics.

Not being specialists in the field of preschool education, they strive to immediately teach the child to count and solve problems.

But is this where we need to start?

In mathematics, the main thing is to teach how to think, reason logically, find mathematical relationships and interdependencies hidden for direct perception, etc.

That is why, according to the authors of the program, one should start not with counting, but with an understanding of mathematical relationships: more, less, equally. This is the so-called pre-numerical period of learning, when the youngest preschooler, not yet familiar with numbers, already comprehends quantitative relationships, comparing objects by size (length, width, height), comparing two groups of objects, first directly, and then indirectly, with the help of visual models, allowing to give the child not only specific, but also generalized knowledge.

The use of visual models of various types (a model of two groups of chips arranged according to the principle of one-to-one correspondence, a children’s abacus made of two lines of bones, a model in the form of intersecting circles or ovals, a “logical tree” model, etc.) will help the child subsequently gain a complete understanding about the number, about neighboring numbers, about the transition from one number to another, about the number series, about the composition of numbers from 3 to 10, will facilitate the understanding and solution of arithmetic problems.

This path of mathematical development of a child, on the one hand, will make it possible to generalize children’s ideas (use them to solve a wide range of problems), on the other hand, it will teach them to identify the signs that are essential for each cognitive task, to perform the necessary mental actions, i.e. will develop their mental abilities.

LOGICS

Often, parents of a preschooler are perplexed as to why their child cannot cope with seemingly simple logical tasks. For example, most children of senior preschool age cannot correctly answer the question of what is more: fruits or apples, even if they have in their hands a picture of fruits - a lot of apples and a few pears. Children will answer that there are more apples. In such cases, they base their answers on what they see with their own eyes. They are “let down” by imaginative thinking, and children by the age of 5 do not yet master logical reasoning. In older preschool age, they are just beginning to develop the elements of logical thinking characteristic of schoolchildren and adults.

When solving logical problems, it is necessary to identify and take into account significant, hidden from perception, signs of objects and phenomena, connections and relationships between them. Thus, you can determine which transport is faster: an airplane, a car or a bicycle, by comparing them by their speed of movement - a feature hidden from direct perception. According to essential, unobtrusive characteristics, a cow, a cat and a goat are included in the group of domestic animals, but a giraffe is not. These complex relationships become clear to preschoolers and are available for analysis if they are presented in a visual form. The acquired methods of mental activity allow children to analyze objects and phenomena, highlight what is essential in them, consistently reason and draw conclusions, and systematize acquired experience and knowledge.

Mastering logical forms of thinking in preschool age contributes to the development of mental abilities and is necessary for the successful transition of children to school education.

EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT

Every loving parent wants to see their child happy both in the present and in the future. It is understood that a happy child is physically healthy and strong, mentally and aesthetically developed, possessing a variety of practical skills that will help him establish himself in life, achieve success, and be loved by others. But at the same time, one very important quality is forgotten, that small key, without which it is impossible to open the “cherished door”. We are talking about the ability to build positive relationships with the outside world, and this includes the ability to understand other people, their feelings, moods, their own experiences and manage them, putting them into socially acceptable forms; express them in such a way as to be understood correctly by others. In mastering these skills, a large role is given to the development of expressive movements, plasticity, facial expressions, pantomimes, with the help of which people (consciously or unconsciously) express their emotions. These movements constitute a kind of (non-verbal) language of communication.

It is possible to begin such development - in terms of purposeful teaching of the language of expressive movements - in preschool childhood, if special classes are conducted in the section “Expressive movement”. During these classes, the child is offered educational play tasks that are close to theatrical performances. As a result, he develops the ability for emotional and plastic self-expression, transformation into a playful image, his movements become more free and relaxed, plastic and expressive, he learns to play theatrical performances (together with other children) and even independently invent and show small plot scenes and plastic sketches, he develops creative abilities and productive imagination. In line with this work, the child quite naturally develops the ability to be open and sensitive, friendly, understand the feelings and emotions of other people, and sincerely express his own experiences. All this contributes to the normalization and harmonization of the child’s communication with others in everyday life, which will undoubtedly be useful to him both in the present and in the future.

ARTISTIC CONSTRUCTION

The child’s desire to draw, sculpt, design, and make appliqués is explained by his interest in everything around him and the pleasure of working independently. But if we want to develop design as a visual activity, then this is not enough. It is necessary to teach the child to build (construct) an image.

The process of constructing an image is complex, so an adult must help the child master the basic visual means. Artistic design allows a preschooler not only to master the basic visual and expressive means, but also to solve visual and expressive problems.

Artistic design - construction from flat elements of a designer (geometric figures of various shapes, sizes, colors, having a clear geometric shape of a square, triangle, quadrangle, etc. and fastened with a fleecy surface of fabric) - is a synthetic activity that is most similar to the plot playing, drawing, applique, but is not equated to them.

The construction of an image occurs by connecting geometric shapes together to convey the main parts and details of the depicted objects.

Classes for teaching children (3-7 years old) artistic design include the development of cognitive and creative (development of perception, thinking, imagination), artistic and constructive abilities of children.

DIRECTOR'S PLAY

Play is the basis of mental development and creativity of preschool children. Each of the existing types of games - role-playing, didactic, game with rules, director's, etc. - has its own specific role in the development of children. Our program for the development of director's play and play based on fairy tales is aimed at maximizing the use of its developmental function. The specificity of director's play is that the child simultaneously does double work. He consistently plays the role of each character in the fairy tale and at the same time is above all the roles, carrying out another work: he, as a director, controls the movement of the plot, unfolds the fairy-tale event.

By acting out fairy tales, children try on an important personal quality - initiative. They learn to distinguish the world of ideas, imagination and fantasy from the surrounding reality.

In director's games, general methods of cognitive reality develop: children learn to look at the world around them not only from their own, but also from another point of view (the character being played). At the same time, they are able to take a position above different points of view and see the entire situation as a whole. In the sixth and seventh years of life, the director's play turns into theatrical activities and puppet shows.

3. We are getting ready for school

All parents are concerned about the problem of preparing their children for school, especially today, when many new educational structures have opened: gymnasiums, lyceums, centers with priority areas, etc. Many parents follow the path of searching for complicated program content, the availability of so-called special subjects: early reading and mathematics, computer literacy, foreign languages, etc. In this case, the information field of knowledge, skills and abilities grows. And very often this training does not bring the desired results, since the child, having a sufficient (sometimes excessive) amount of knowledge, does not know how to apply it in practice, at school. The stock of knowledge runs out very quickly, and often the child ceases to want to learn, since he becomes uninterested in engaging in activities that lead to failure.

Other parents believe that school will “do everything” (teach everything you need), and in preschool age you should not overload your child, the main thing is that he grows up healthy and strong. Physical education and psychological comfort are, of course, fundamental for any educational program (including the Development program). But how can you prepare a child for school so that he does not get confused in new conditions, wants to learn and learns, and is successful in achieving his goals?

If we look a little more broadly at the problem of preparing a child for school, then most likely it should be understood as the formation of his active life position, the development of means and ways of understanding the world around him. The difference between a preschooler and a junior schoolchild is that the schoolchild begins to consciously study in order to gain new knowledge in order to develop; the preschooler masters everything in specific activities and forms of learning that are unique to him: play, productive activities (construction, modeling, applique , visual, experimentation, etc.) – with the help of visual and figurative means.

What characterizes the transition from preschool to primary school education? First of all, this is the preservation and further development of the best that has been accumulated and learned in preschool childhood: the development of cognitive and creative abilities; visually imaginative vision of the surrounding world; productivity of children's activities; the receptivity of preschoolers to many pedagogical influences; responsiveness, empathy and much more, which, according to the wonderful child psychologist A.V. Zaporozhets, constitutes the “golden fund of personality” of a person.

As a result of the work carried out with them, by the end of preschool age, children who studied under the “Development” program have a number of achievements necessary for successful learning at school. They master constructive skills, including orientation in geographical diagrams, learn to understand the functional purpose of individual parts; master visual activity, spatial relationships, the ability to retell a literary work, structuring its content, and compose their own stories, subtly sense nature and highlight general patterns and interdependencies of natural factors; orientation in logical relationships, understanding of some mathematical relationships (formation of numbers, number series, establishing one-to-one correspondences, comparing numbers, working with the number axis, changing the reference point, solving problems, etc.). Using conventional images, children learn to understand abstract relationships between words in a sentence, between sounds or letters in words, and learn some patterns of the Russian language and grammatical rules. Children play, distributing roles, communicating with peers and adults.

Naturally, all of the above does not exhaust the possibilities of the program, but it clearly lays the general foundation for the full development of a future person and therefore prepares the child for any school program and ensures success in learning without setting tight limits. At the same time, the above innovative directions in a child’s education are of promising and priority importance for the initial stage in a school of developmental education according to the D.B. system. Elkonina - V.V. Davydova.

II. WHO WORKS WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

1. We have a special teacher

Anyone who is getting acquainted with the “Development” program for the first time is primarily interested in the question of whether it is designed for ordinary preschool institutions or is addressed to special kindergartens (lyceums, pro-gymnasiums, etc.).

Having already had sufficient experience working with preschool workers in various regions of Russia, we can speak with complete confidence about the possibility of working under this program at any ordinary preschool institution.

Will every teacher be able to work under this program?

Full mastery of the teacher’s “Development” program presupposes a clear understanding of the entire complex set of psychological and pedagogical foundations of educational work under this program. That is why the Training Center named after. L.A. Wenger organized special courses for methodologists and educators, training in which is a necessary condition for preparing a teacher to work under the program.

During the week, students not only get acquainted with the program, they get used to it, accept (or not accept) all the key concepts on which the concept of child development is based; master a special approach to the interaction of the teacher with children and children with each other.

The course work is structured in such a way that each section of the program is covered by its authors. Talking about their section and work methodology, they, together with the audience, relive that most interesting research work, the result of which was the section. Lectures are accompanied by a video showing classes in sections of the Development program. Watching the film makes it possible not only to see the methods of work, but also to get acquainted with new forms of conducting classes, which are characterized by a style of cooperation between children and each other and with the teacher.

Course participants receive a package of methodological documents (programs and lesson plans for all sections) that allow them to organize educational work in kindergarten, strictly following the logic of the program.

As a rule, preschool institutions in which teachers have completed courses and started working under the Development program do not lose contact with the Educational Center named after. L.A. Wenger. They call us, send us letters. In the process of mastering the program, of course, a lot of questions arise that cannot always be answered by phone or letter. To establish feedback, Center employees travel to various regions for the purpose of consulting and giving review lectures. In addition, the Center produces a large amount of methodological literature to help educators working under the Development program.

2. You can’t do without a psychologist

The Development program is addressed primarily to those preschool institutions that pay special attention to the mental development of their pets. Typically, in such kindergartens, in addition to other specialists (speech therapist, artist, physical education trainer), a psychologist also works. This is not accidental, because the program is aimed at developing the child’s abilities, and psychology determines the patterns of this process, answering the questions “why?” And How?".

The work of a psychologist in any preschool institution includes various aspects. It includes diagnostics and correction of the characteristics of the intellectual and personal development of children, psychological education of teachers, lectures for parents, etc. However, if the kindergarten operates under the “Development” program, then the psychologist has an additional function - active participation in the implementation of the program.

At the same time, he fulfills his special role without replacing the methodologist. The methodologist helps to carry out the general course of the program, develops specific game and teaching techniques, conducts pedagogical diagnostics, and the psychologist has his own tasks.

Firstly, the psychologist provides great assistance to the teacher by carrying out diagnostic work. A teacher, when working with a specific child, can always say what this child can do and what he cannot do, what difficulties he is experiencing. But very often the question remains unclear: why does Masha cope with the same task (for example, building a house out of cubes), but Vitya makes mistakes and confuses the details? This is where a psychologist comes to the rescue, finding out exactly what mental characteristics of the child do not allow him to complete the task, what needs to be done to change the situation (give the task in a different form, change the material, introduce a game moment, etc.).

Corrective work occupies a special place in a kindergarten that uses the Development program. Since the correctional capabilities of the program itself are great, in many cases the child does not need special work with a psychologist, but more intensive classes in individual sections of the program. Based on the recommendations of the psychologist, such work is carried out by the teacher. But there are children who need proper psychological help - this, naturally, is provided by a psychologist according to an individual program for each child, a necessary element of which is working with his parents.

In general, psychological education of parents is one of the important functions of a psychologist in an educational institution. In a kindergarten working under the Development program, a close relationship with parents is of particular importance. After all, for a small child it is very important how parents feel about his activities. The program is aimed at the development of children, and not at achieving specific results as early as possible. For example, children learn to read and count not in the younger, but in the older preschool age; in visual arts classes, the main attention is paid to the ability to convey one’s emotional state, and not to purely technical techniques, etc. Therefore, one of the tasks of a psychologist is to explain to parents the logic of development, the significance of sensitive periods, and to introduce them to the age-related characteristics of a preschooler. Such work is an important condition for the successful implementation of the Development program.

Psychological education is necessary not only for parents, but also for educators. After all, the program is deeply psychological, its structure corresponds to the internal logic of the child’s development. It is no coincidence that in order to work under the program, the teacher undergoes special training, receiving the necessary pedagogical and psychological training. However, during the work itself, questions usually arise, the answers to which are helped by the teacher not only by the methodologist, but also by the psychologist. Thus, in many kindergartens, a psychologist takes part in adapting the “Development” program to the specific conditions of a preschool institution.

III. WHAT DO THEY THINK ABOUT US?

1. “We chose this program...” (teachers about the program)

Our kindergarten has been working under the “Development” program for the fourth year, and the first graduating class will soon begin. Several years ago, when we were choosing an educational program, we were faced with a serious problem. Our kindergarten is the first link in the educational complex, so it is very important that children come to school well prepared. Of course, we regularly held classes, especially in the Russian language and mathematics, but not all of our students, when they came to school, pleased their teachers with their successes. Therefore, we needed a program that would not “train” children, but would promote their mental development. After reading the “Basic provisions of the Development program,” we chose this program.

Over the course of several years, observing our students, talking with their parents, conducting psychological and pedagogical diagnostics, we were convinced that we were not mistaken in our choice. Parents noticed that their children changed just a few months after starting the program. The kids have become more inquisitive, active, ask a lot of questions, and sometimes play at home the games they were shown in class. Of course, the attitude of parents towards kindergarten has also changed - they try not to leave their children at home without a serious reason, and are always ready to help with the preparation of didactic material. Teachers note that their work has become more interesting. The program contains lesson plans, not notes, so there is always room for the teacher’s creativity. As a leader, I am very pleased that both my staff and parents are positive about the program. But the main result is our children. It's nice to see how developed, erudite, and organized they have become. We are confident that our children will study at school not only with “good” and “excellent” grades, but also with pleasure.

(Serova Galina Nikolaevna, head of the kindergarten at UVK No. 1691)

2. “Our daughter has changed a lot...” (parents’ opinion about the program)

When the need arose to choose a kindergarten for our daughter, we first of all wanted to get into a good departmental kindergarten. But this was not possible and I had to go to the regular, district one.

At the parent meeting we were told that the kindergarten operates under the “Development” program, which is based on the development of children’s abilities. We didn't pay any attention to it then. There are so many companies, gymnasiums, pro-gymnasiums, etc. in our time. announce that they teach children in a new way and offer many paid services in teaching children. We were only pleased that in a regular kindergarten they would work with our child and they would do it for free. We did not expect great results, and, in general, then we believed that at such a young age there was nothing special to teach.

When Sasha started going to kindergarten, we didn’t notice anything outstanding. But soon she began to ask many questions, some of which we ourselves could not always answer. Suddenly she started asking what the parts of the construction set were called. We answered her, without thinking about the correctness of the names, something like this: “This is a stick, and this is a strip, etc.” Imagine our surprise when our daughter began to correct us: “Mom, this is a cube, and this is a block. You are confusing a block and a brick.” Like any parents, we wondered what our daughter was doing in kindergarten.

We decided to talk to the teacher and were touched that she took the time to tell in detail what the children were doing, she showed her daughter’s work and even invited her to attend classes. In addition, she suggested going to a seminar for parents, which was conducted by a psychologist. So we began to get acquainted with the program. Of course, we did not have enough time to delve into all its subtleties, but our help was needed both by our daughter and by the teachers. The program is quite complex, and sometimes requires the participation of parents in searching and preparing visual materials. It is important to find out what the child understands, what he is confused about, etc. While our daughter was in kindergarten, we did not always agree with the teachers’ opinions, and they did not always agree with ours, but on the whole our cooperation was to her benefit.

The main thing was that over the years spent in kindergarten, our daughter changed a lot. She is different from other children of her age, and this is manifested in the fact that she wants to learn new things, she is interested in everything, she constantly asks questions.

Now that Sasha is 7 years old, we have no problems getting ready for school. The daughter can read, count, retell texts, and is learning to write. In my opinion, she has all the knowledge and skills needed in school. It’s nice that our child is not afraid to start doing something new, can take on any task and is looking for a solution.

Perhaps I am exaggerating the role of the program, but it seems to me that it was it that made it possible to achieve such results. The fact is that not only Sasha studied from it, but we ourselves too. I had to delve into books, remember long-forgotten things, learn not to be embarrassed if you don’t know something, and look for a solution together. We also began to respect our daughter more, to see in her an independent person who has the right to her own opinion and to make mistakes. We realized that we can’t explain everything, we need to give her the opportunity to find answers herself, and we should only suggest ways to find them.

(Trubnikova Tatyana Nikolaevna)

The following literature was used in preparing the article:

Let's get acquainted with the "Development" program: A manual for educators and parents

Edited by O.M. Dyachenko, N.S. Denisenkova.-M.: International Educational and Psychological College, Gnome-Press LLC, 1999.-32 p.

Leonid Abramovich Wenger

L.A. Wenger developed a theory of the development of child perception ("Perception and Learning", 1969), which served as the basis for a series of studies of sensory abilities ("Genesis of sensory abilities", 1976) and the development of a holistic system of sensory education for children ("Didactic games and exercises on sensory education of preschoolers", 1973; "Education of a child's sensory culture", 1988) (the last three, edited by L.A. Wenger).

At the end of the 60s. under the leadership of L.A. Wenger, a study began on the issues of diagnosing the mental development of children. The results of this work, presented in the collection “Diagnostics of the Mental Development of Preschool Children” (1978), were a fundamentally new word in the study of this problem. These studies made it possible already in the 80s. move on to creating a theory and practice of developing a child’s cognitive abilities. L. A. Wenger relied on L. S. Vygotsky’s position on the indirect nature of higher mental functions. He put forward and confirmed in longitudinal experiments an original hypothesis about visual modeling as the main form of mediating the mental activity of a preschooler. The results of this work, reflected in the collection. “Development of cognitive abilities in the process of preschool education” (1986), made it possible to create holistic programs for the mental development of children, educational games and activities (“Games and exercises for the development of mental abilities in preschool children,” 1989).

The theory of ability development became a natural basis for studying the problem of mental giftedness in preschool childhood, which L. A. Wenger studied in the last years of his life.

Leonid Abramovich was not only a scientific researcher, but also the creator of an entire scientific school. In line with his ideas, a number of doctoral dissertations were completed under his leadership, and about 50 candidate dissertations were defended.

L.A. Wenger constantly presented the achievements of our science abroad, and was the organizer and participant of many international psychological conferences.

Possessing a rare talent as an orator and lecturer, L. A. Wenger gave brilliant lectures in our country and abroad. For many years, students of Moscow State Pedagogical University named after him listened to him with delight. V.I. Lenin, where he raised more than one generation of preschool workers

Alexander Vladimirovich Zaporozhets remained for L.A. Wenger teacher for life. He largely determined L.A. Wenger’s approach to understanding child development. This approach was a development of the cultural-historical theory of L.S. Vygotsky. L.A. Wenger believed that child development is conditioned by the development of a system of means of mental activity that humanity develops in the process of its formation. Cognitive abilities began to act as lifetime developed systems of operating with mental means. The undoubted merit of L.A. Wenger is that he theoretically developed, described in detail and experimentally studied the development of the cognitive abilities of preschool children.

The main feature of L.A. Wenger’s research activities was that he did not allow anyone to assert anything without evidence. All provisions of his theory were based on numerous experimental tests. He instilled this quality in his employees. All laboratory meetings were conducted by L.A. Wenger with great emotional excitement. He cannot be indifferent to any result obtained during the research - interpretation options and possible directions for further experiments were discussed for hours.

The laboratory created by L.A. Wenger worked as a single mechanism. All researchers took part in mass surveys, in writing collective monographs, in conferences and scientific discussions. It was a real scientific school. The results of her activities are reflected in a number of publications (Perception and learning. - M., 1969; Genesis of sensory abilities. - M., 1976; Development of cognitive abilities in the process of preschool age. - M., 1986, etc.). However, for L.A. Wenger, the laboratory was not only a community of work colleagues, but also an association of like-minded people, connected not only by the common content of research activities, but also by common views, interests and culture. In fact, L.A. Venger could not imagine his life without these people. That is why there were many informal activities in the laboratory: the birthday of any employee was an occasion to prepare gifts together, write poetry and express a positive attitude towards each other. Holidays such as New Year, March 8, May 9 were celebrated either directly at the institute, where the laboratory premises were located, or at one of the employees. It is not surprising that various psychologists, philosophers, artists and poets came to the laboratory - after all, the laboratory staff were aware of cultural life not only in Moscow or the Union, but also beyond its borders. The laboratory acted as a collective instrument for the spiritual enrichment of its members.

One of the most remarkable ideas of L.A. Wenger is associated with the search for a key means of mental development of preschool children. He managed not only to describe this tool, but also to develop a holistic program for the development of preschoolers. Visual models acted as such a means, and the main line of cognitive development was associated with the formation of the ability for visual modeling. This idea made it possible to solve a number of serious practical problems - to understand the specifics of the individual characteristics of the cognitive development of preschool children (including the specifics of children's giftedness); create a meaningful system for diagnosing child development, which allows you to determine specific ways of correctional work; build a system for training practical psychologists for preschool institutions.

Born on December 28, 1923 in the village. Luchinsky, Yaroslavl region, graduated from the Yaroslavl Pedagogical College (1942), and then from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute (1946), graduate school at the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR (1950). Doctor of Psychological Sciences (1970), Professor (1971), Corresponding Member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (1971), Full Member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR (1989), Full Member of the Russian Academy of Education (1992), Honored Professor of Moscow State University (1997). Laureate of the Presidential Prize of the Russian Federation (1998), Laureate of the M.V. Lomonosov (2001), honorary professor of the Faculty of Psychology (2003). Teaches at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov since 1950, head of the department of educational psychology and pedagogy of the department, and then the faculty of psychology at Moscow State University (1963-1995). Head of the Laboratory of Educational Psychology (since 1966) and Center for retraining of educational workers(since 1989) at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University. T. was the chairman, and now is a member of several councils for the defense of doctoral and candidate dissertations in educational psychology and pedagogy. T. was a UNESCO expert, for 7 years she was a member of the USSR Higher Attestation Commission in psychology and pedagogy. For more than 15 years she was a member of the editorial board of the journal “Soviet Pedagogy”, the International Journal “Scientific Foundations of Education” (Holland), and the European journal “Measurement and Assessment”. Currently, he is a member of the editorial board of the journal “Bulletin of Moscow State University. Series 14. Psychology" and series No. 20 "Pedagogical education". For scientific and pedagogical activities she was awarded medals named after. K.D. Ushinsky, named after N.K. Krupskaya, the “Excellence in Higher Education” badge, 2 VDNKh medals, the government Order of Cuba for his contribution to the development of education in the republic (1988), the Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Education, the Gold Medal “Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century” of the International Pedagogical Center.

Field of scientific activity: educational psychology. T. made a major contribution to the development of the activity theory of learning. In the 1950s in the candidate's dissertation, carried out under the guidance of P.A. Shevareva, T. studied the features of the reduction of mental actions in the process of their formation. Since the 1950s, T. has been conducting research in close contact with P.Ya. Galperin. The first cycle of research was devoted to the actions underlying the concepts, which made it possible to reveal the psychological mechanisms of the formation and functioning of scientific concepts. Mental actions that ensure the implementation of logical operations of proof and classification were considered as ways of developing logical thinking in children; The peculiarities of the functioning of logical thinking techniques in adults were also studied. This led to the development of a method for modeling different types of cognitive activity and the formulation of principles for managing the process of their formation, and helped to understand the relationship between psychological and logical approaches to the study of thinking. It has been established that managing the process of assimilation of mental actions underlying logical knowledge and operations allows the formation of full-fledged concepts already in children 5-6 years old, while the spontaneous development of logical thinking leads to the presence of defects in its functioning even in educated adults. This shows the inconsistency of considering age as a criterion for the development of logical thinking, reveals the dependence of the latter on the conditions of assimilation of social experience and proves the social nature of the human psyche. The study of the psychological mechanisms of generalization in experiments on normal children and on children with mental retardation revealed that generalization is not determined directly by the commonality of properties in objects, but depends on what a person focuses on when working with objects, what place certain properties occupy in the structure of the subject’s activity. This opens the way for managing the generalization process, planning the properties for which generalization is required.

In the 1960s with the advent of programmed training in technology, an analysis of the general theory of control is carried out, and the possibilities of its use in teaching are explored (in the development of the principles of programmed training). She formulated an activity-based concept of programmed learning, which differs from its American counterpart, built on the basis of behaviorism (Talyzina, 1969). This stage of T.’s research is summarized in her doctoral dissertation on “Psychological foundations of managing knowledge acquisition” (1970).

In the 1970s T. continued to study the laws of the process of assimilation and the possibilities of managing it (Talyzina, 1975; 1984); Research is being carried out on the psychological and pedagogical foundations of the use of teaching machines, identifying the functions of a textbook in the educational process; a methodology for compiling training programs is being developed; the control functions during knowledge acquisition are analyzed (Talyzina, 1977; 1980).

In the 1980s T. substantiates the activity-based approach to psychodiagnostics of students’ cognitive activity; the principles of compiling fundamentally new diagnostic techniques have been identified; a method for assessing the true capabilities of traditional tests is shown (Talyzina, 1987). A series of studies using the twin method was carried out, which confirmed the social nature of human abilities and made it possible to propose a new approach to the diagnosis of intellectual activity (Talyzina 1991). T.'s work in the field of didactics, built on the activity theory of learning, is important. First of all, it is worth noting T.'s research on the methodology of constructing training content based on a model of goals presented in the form of standard tasks (Talyzina, 1987).

T. gives lecture courses at Moscow State University: “Educational Psychology”, “Activity Approach in Psychology”, “Activity Theory of Learning”, “Psychological Diagnostics of Intelligence”, “Foreign Theories of Learning”, and has trained more than 60 candidates and doctors of science.

The total number of published works is about 400, some of them were published in 16 languages ​​abroad. Main works: Theoretical problems of programmed training. M., 1969; Ways and possibilities of automating the educational process. (Co-authored with T.V. Gabay). M., 1977; Methodology for compiling training programs: Textbook. 1980; Managing the process of knowledge acquisition. (Psychological foundations). M., 1975, 1984; Pedagogical psychology. Psychodiagnostics of intelligence. (Together with Yu.V. Karpov). M., 1987; Ways to develop a specialist profile. (Ed. et al.). Saratov, 1987. The nature of individual differences: Experience from twin research. (Together with S.V. Krivtseva, E.A. Mukhamatulina). M., 1991; Formation of methods of mathematical thinking (Ed. et al.). M., 1995; Pedagogical psychology. Tutorial. M., 1998-2008 (6 editions), “Workshop on educational psychology”, M., 2002, 2008.

MATYUSHKIN ALEXEY MIKHAILOVICH(b. 1929), professor, doctor of psychological sciences, academician of the Russian Academy of Education. Scientific research began under the leadership of S.L. Rubinstein. He studied the conditions for a person to carry out analysis and generalization, the role of relationships in solving mental problems. Theoretically and practically (experimentally) he developed the psychological basis of problematic learning as a factor in generating cognitive motivation and research activity. M. formulated in his works “Problem situations in thinking and learning” (1972); "Current problems of psychology in higher education" (1977); “Development of creative activity of schoolchildren” (1991 co-author), principles of psychological classification and optimal sequence of problem situations in the learning process; provisions on dialogue in interpersonal relationships as factors in the creative development of the individual. M. develops problems of children's giftedness and the development of students' professional thinking.

He considered problematic behavior as a factor in human mental development, ensuring the generation of cognitive motivation, creative research activity, and the development of individual abilities. Developed principles of psychological classification of problem situations in the learning process. He developed a number of “dialogical” laboratory methods for studying thinking. I began to solve the problem of giftedness in children. Essays: Problem situations in thinking and learning. 1972; Current problems of psychology in higher education. 1977; Psychological structure, dynamics and development of cognitive activity. 1984; Acceleration of socio-economic development of socialist society and trends in the development of psychology. 1986.

From Matyushkin’s book “Problem situations in thinking and learning. How to love children": Various didactic systems that took place in the history of pedagogy have always been associated with the corresponding psychological theories, with the psychological knowledge achieved by that time. Such didactic systems include, for example, the carefully developed systems of Comenius, Pestalozzi, etc., which were progressive for their time, and of the most developed domestic pedagogical systems, the Ushinsky system, in which a significant place is occupied by the analysis of psychological theories that existed at that time.

And in our time, all the most (developed) didactic systems are inevitably based on certain psychological theories.

The most famous psychological theories - associative psychology and behaviorism - for many years determined the ways of developing didactic systems and methodological principles of teaching in each of the academic subjects. This is understandable, because any other didactic theory must inevitably be based on some ideas about those mental processes in accordance with which the process of assimilation of knowledge, the process of development of the student’s personality, etc. occurs. By exploring the patterns of these processes, psychology thereby puts into the hands of the teacher the keys to control the process of assimilation and the processes of mental development of the child.

Associative psychology has studied the patterns of human memory in the most detail. In accordance with these laws, the process of assimilation was largely considered primarily as a process of memorizing and reproducing the acquired educational material. Didactics and methodologists spent a lot of effort and showed a lot of ingenuity to find the best conditions for memorizing knowledge, for consolidating it and reproducing it.

In domestic pedagogy and psychology, the associative approach to the analysis of learning processes was significantly strengthened by the reflex theory of I. P. Pavlov, which had a profound influence on the development of pedagogical and psychological thought. Thus, associative theory has made a significant contribution to the development of psychological and educational theory. The main laws in accordance with which methods for managing the processes of assimilation in pedagogical systems based on the associative theory were built were the laws of human memory.

The most important psychological theory, which received the name behaviorism in foreign psychology, contrasted associationism, which studied primarily the patterns of knowledge acquisition, the patterns of the formation of human actions - the patterns of the formation of his behavior. The central link of research in this system was the patterns of skill formation and training patterns. Systems of tasks were created that ensure the formation of actions from their initial forms to the levels of automated actions. Behaviorist psychological concepts and related pedagogical systems have made significant contributions to another area of ​​learning management - the area of ​​shaping human actions, the area of ​​skill formation.

It should be noted that none of the psychological systems considered set as their task or had the capabilities to study deeper processes - the processes of human thinking. Thus, associative psychology accordingly considered the processes of thinking as simple association and reduced thinking to memory; and behaviorist psychology began to consider thinking as a skill, as a system of certain actions.

The most far-sighted pedagogical theorists and methodologists have repeatedly emphasized the need to create learning conditions that would ensure the creative assimilation of educational material and the opportunities necessary for the development of a creative personality. At all turning points in the development of didactic theory, provisions were put forward on the need to create conditions for the creative activity of students themselves. This was the case during the period of struggle against scholastic teaching methods, this was the case at the beginning of our turbulent century, which created the need for a whole range of creative methods, and this is what is happening now, when the development of the creative capabilities of the individual becomes the primary task of society. Problem-based learning has become so widespread in our country because it tried to solve this important social problem - the formation of a creative personality.

This book is devoted to the analysis of those learning conditions under which students discover acquired knowledge and actions. A teacher who creates such conditions in learning can rightfully say that he not only imparts knowledge to students, but also develops their creative abilities.

However, in order to understand the principles and rules for creating such conditions, we need to consider a number of problems that are most important for modern science: the features of the psychological structure of those actions that are learned by a person; the structure of the conditions that cause problematic situations in learning and their main types; psychological patterns of students discovering new knowledge in problem situations and the possibility of using them to manage the processes of learning and development.

Z. ZAK

Development of logical thinking in older preschoolers.

Relevance: Psychologists around the world have recognized that the most intensive intellectual development of children occurs in the period from 5 to 8 years. One of the most significant components of intelligence is the ability to think logically. To develop logical thinking in preschoolers, it is best to use the “child’s element” - play (F. Ferbel). Let the children think that they are only playing. But unbeknownst to themselves, during the game, preschoolers calculate, compare objects, engage in construction, solve logical problems, etc. It's interesting to them because they love to play. The role of the teacher in this process is to support the interests of children. When teaching children through play, the teacher strives to ensure that the joy of play activity gradually turns into the joy of learning. Learning should be joyful! One of the most important tasks in raising a small child is the development of his mind, the formation of such thinking skills and abilities that make it easy to learn new things. A system for developing logical and mathematical concepts and skills in preschoolers is aimed at solving this problem, based on the use of games and exercises with didactic materials that are unique in their capabilities - Dienesh’s logical blocks, as well as the game by A.Z. Zak “Like a caterpillar and an ant in there were guests."

Target: Activation of the mental activity of children of senior preschool age in educational mathematical games. Tasks:

1. Learn to perform tasks of moving characters in your mind, making imaginary changes in situations. 2. Learn to compare tasks, check completion, guess moving tasks. 3. Learn to use different ways to complete tasks, take initiative in finding ways to achieve goals. 4. Develop intellectual flexibility, the ability to look at a situation from different angles. 5. Develop the ability to identify and abstract the properties of objects. 6. Develop the ability to compare objects according to their properties. 7. Develop abilities for logical actions and operations. 8. Learn to encode and decode the properties of objects using diagrams.

Fundamental question: How can a didactic game help? Problematic issues:

What is logic?

What is thinking like?

When and at what age does logical thinking begin to develop?

Why is a didactic game useful? Z. Zak “How the caterpillar and the ant went to visit”?

What does the didactic game “Logic Blocks of Dienesh” develop?

Materials for the educational project:

Business card File:Business card.doc

Presentation File:Activation of mental activity of children of senior preschool age in educational mathematical games.ppt

Example of publication

Crossword

Presentation evaluation criteria

Publication evaluation criteria

Website "Project Workbook"

Criteria for assessing tasks completed in the workbook

The overall goal of the work is the development of logical thinking. Children of senior preschool age are characterized by visual-figurative thinking. But, given the huge flow of information, the education of adults, a wide circle of communication, this type of thinking is at its peak and rises to a higher level - this is logical thinking. It is necessary to prepare a consistent transition in the development of thinking through mental operations (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, inference).

All this forms the basis of A. Zack’s methodology. Learning complex logical operations is carried out through play, and this is the main activity of a preschooler. This game did not leave children without interest and, moreover, turned into a hobby. The study of the patterns of development of thinking (as a form of creative mental activity of children) is one of the fundamental problems of developmental psychology. Knowledge of these patterns is necessary to develop more complete ideas about the development of a child’s personality in older preschool age, in particular about how intellectual abilities are formed at this age.

Mental development, the development of thinking is an important aspect in the development of the personality of preschoolers. For the mental development of preschoolers, it is necessary to use three types of thinking: visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical.

So, with the help of visual-effective thinking, it is more convenient to develop in children such an important quality of mind as the ability to act purposefully and thoughtfully when solving problems, consciously managing and controlling their actions. To develop visual and effective thinking, games such as “Gleams”, “Rearrange the card (picture)” are used.

The peculiarity of visual-figurative thinking is that, while solving problems with its help, the child does not have the opportunity to actually change images and ideas. This allows you to develop different plans for achieving a goal, mentally compare these plans to find the best one. Games aimed at developing visual-figurative thinking: “How the caterpillar and ant went to visit”, “Steps of a chicken, goose and duck”, “Journey of insects”, “Exchanges”, “Hare jumping”.

The uniqueness of verbal-logical thinking (as opposed to visual-effective and visual-figurative) is that it is abstract thinking, during which a person acts not with things and their images, but with concepts about them, formalized in words or signs. Therefore, the main goal of the work on the development of verbal-logical, abstract thinking is that. so that with its help they develop the ability to reason and draw conclusions. For this purpose, games such as “Who Lives Where?”, “Same and Different”, “Search for the Ninth” are used.

Solving fun problems with children serves as a reliable basis for their mental development; Formation of their cognitive interests. Favorable conditions are created for the formation of such a valuable quality of thinking as independence.

SAMPLE GAME PLAN

Creating a game situation. Meet the heroes of the game - the Caterpillar and the Ant. A 4-cell field is used.

Find single passages of a caterpillar and an ant. (“Where can… go?” or 2nd option - “Where can… come from?”), number of lessons 5.

We use a 6-cell field (the tasks are the same, and also additionally: “Find the correct move”, “Check: can he move like this...?”) - the correct move is indicated.

We take an 8-cell field. Tasks: find the wrong move. Introduce the concept of "Start and end cell" - a single move.

We use a 9-cell field. Tasks with two moves (i.e. we take two steps). Introduce the concept of "intermediate cell". At this stage, the following types of tasks are used:

children solve riddles,

check the correctness of the moves,

The child composes riddles on his own.

5. A 12-cell field is introduced into the game. Various types of tasks are being worked on.

6. We use a 16-cell field. Meet new characters: chicken, goose, duck.

METHODS AND METHODOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES

1. Group Form. (using tables, at the board, joint problem solving)

2. Individual (everyone works on a sheet).

3. In pairs (work in pairs, exchange work with assignments and checks).

Business game

Role-playing game.

Questions and answers hour.

What? Where? When?

Didactic fairy tales.

Trips. Auction.

Defense of the Fantastic Project.

Cognitive KVN.

Time to fix bugs.

Exchange time

You can start working with children of middle preschool age. Classes should be held regularly, with a gradual increase in complexity of the material, engaging children in a variety of game situations.

In parallel, you can use other intellectual games according to A.Z. Zak, such as “exchanges”, “same-different”.

For older age: “Postman”, “Bishop-Rook”, “Letters-numbers”, “Clearance”, “Search for the Ninth”, solving diagram problems, research problems (i.e. requiring drawing conclusions, inferences), Nikitin games, checkers, chess, etc.

Practice has shown that it is better to prepare the material for such games either like a flannelgraph or a magnetic board.

Seryozha Izaak 4 gr.

MATH LESSON

One summer, Seryozha was sitting in his room at the table and drawing. The balcony was open, and suddenly a green maple leaf flew into the room with the wind... It landed right on the table. An ant and a caterpillar sat on it, talking peacefully. Seryozha listened and was very surprised, because these two were talking about mathematics! The boy had not yet gone to school and therefore listened with all his ears to his first lesson.

The ant taught the caterpillar to distinguish geometric shapes. He made her crawl around various objects and tell her what happened. The caterpillar traveled throughout the apartment. Crawling around the table, vases, balls, pencils, chandeliers. The lesson lasted a long time. Seryozha learned that the ball, ball, and light bulb are round. But the windows, doors, books, TV, calendar, speakers from the tape recorder are rectangular. Pencil, ruler, pen, rope - straight. And the edge of the curtain, which is decorated with teeth, turns out to be zigzag. Seryozha listened attentively for a long time, saying that he was tired and fell fast asleep. And when I woke up, there was neither a caterpillar nor an ant. He decided that he had dreamed it all. But there was still a maple leaf on the table, and he immediately remembered all the figures and drew them on a sheet of paper.

Vanya V. HISTORY-MYSTERY

One day a caterpillar came to visit A. It sat for a while and went to B. And when it came, it turned out that B was sick. He asked the caterpillar to go to Tochka for some medicine. The caterpillar has set off. At this time, an ant came to B and when he learned that his friend was in trouble, he ran to A for pills. Soon the ant and the caterpillar returned with medicine. Soon B felt better, but probably not from the medicine, but from the kindness of his friends. Task: create a playing field for friends’ movements.

Sasha Yakovtsev 4 gr.

One day a caterpillar crawled into the forest for brushwood. And an ant comes towards her. The ant said hello and offered to help. The caterpillar said that it was not hard for her, and she could cope on her own. The ant invited the caterpillar to visit. The caterpillar agreed and went straight along the path. And the ant walked diagonally - it’s faster. He had already come home, put on tea, baked pies, but still no caterpillar. He left the house and began to wait for his girlfriend. And here she is. -Where have you been crawling for so long? Perhaps you met someone along the way?

No, I haven't been anywhere ant.

You have to take the shortcut, like me.

Don’t teach me, I can’t walk diagonally, but only straight!

The ant was not offended, but invited the caterpillar to drink tea. They have become friends ever since, although they go their separate ways.

(05/26/1925 - 06/19/1992) - Russian psychologist, researcher of the mental development of preschool children. Doctor of Psychological Sciences (1968), Professor (1973). Having been demobilized from the army after the Second World War, he graduated from the psychological department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov (1951) and was assigned to the city of Leninabad, Tajik SSR. He worked as a teacher at the Teachers' Institute, and since 1957 - head of the department of pedagogy and psychology at the Leninabad Pedagogical Institute. In 1960 he moved to Moscow and until the end of his life he worked at the Institute of Preschool Education of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and headed the laboratory of psychology of preschool children (since 1968). He combined scientific and scientific-practical work with teaching at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after. V.I. Lenin (since 1972). While still a student, Wenger began research into the development of perception under the leadership of A.V. Zaporozhets. In 1955, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on the topic: “Perception of relationships (based on illusions of heaviness and size)” and later summarized the results of his research into a doctoral dissertation: “The development of perception and sensory education in preschool age.” In 1967, the book “Perception and Action” was published (co-authored with A. V. Zaporozhets, V. P. Zinchenko and A. G. Ruzskaya), and in 1969 the monograph “Perception and Learning” was published. It presents the results of many years of research on the development of a child’s perceptual actions from the first months of life to the end of preschool age. Working in line with the cultural-historical theory of L. S. Vygotsky, Wenger experimentally substantiated the hypothesis of A. V. Zaporozhets about culturally developed sensory standards that mediate human perception. Early forms of “pre-standards” (motor, and later object-based), specific to infancy, early and preschool ages, were identified and studied. Together with his colleagues, Wenger developed a diagnostic system that allows one to identify the level of formation of various types of perceptual and intellectual actions that develop throughout preschool age (“Diagnostics of the mental development of preschool children,” 1978). Currently, this system is widely used not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world. Wenger’s important contribution to child psychology was the theory of the formation of cognitive abilities (sensory and intellectual), which formed the basis of the system of mental education of preschool children developed under his leadership. The main method of developing cognitive abilities is teaching children the ability to imagine various objects and phenomena in the form of models, that is, in a generalized and schematized form. This training is carried out in the form of “modeling” activities specific to preschool age: games, drawing, design, etc. A field experiment conducted in a large number of kindergartens confirmed the correctness of the assumptions made. Wenger's concept is presented in the monographs “The Genesis of Sensory Abilities” (1976) and “The Development of Cognitive Abilities in the Process of Preschool Education” (1986). He also published a series of books for parents, “Home School of Thinking” (1982-1985), which allows them to develop the abilities of children in the context of family education. A number of Wenger's books have been translated into German, English, Spanish and Japanese. Currently, his students in the Children's Center they founded. L.A. Venger (at the Institute of Preschool Education of the Russian Academy of Education) continue, based on his concept, to develop preschool education programs (“Development”, 1994; “Gifted Child”, 1995), which are used in kindergartens in many cities of Russia.

The book is intended for parents of three-, four-, and five-year-old children.

It contains tasks aimed at the mental education of the child: at the development of his perception, thinking, and imagination. The tasks are given in a playful way that is attractive to children of this age. For children with whom their parents have not previously worked, introductory tasks are given.

Home School of Thinking (for 5 year olds)

This is the third book in the “Home School of Thinking” series. Its addressee is parents of five-year-old children.

Five years is the beginning of senior preschool age. At this age, the child is already capable of conscious reasoning; he can identify the main thing in phenomena, making generalizations based on essential features (of course, on the simplest material). At the same time, the possibilities of analysis and highlighting the diverse unique features of an individual object or phenomenon increase.

The purpose of this book is to help parents create conditions conducive to the intensive development of the cognitive abilities of five-year-old children, primarily a generalized, but at the same time differentiated perception and understanding of reality.

What are you complaining about?

What are you complaining about? Identification and correction of unfavorable options for the personality development of children and adolescents.

A psychologist who conducts practical work with children and adolescents (diagnostic, advisory, psychotherapeutic) has at his disposal a wide variety of techniques. However, it can sometimes be very difficult to decide which of them will be useful in a particular case. Only the experience and intuition of a specialist helps you go from identifying a problem to eliminating it, from a client’s complaint to the recommendations of a psychologist.

This book will serve as a guide, which, of course, cannot completely replace intuition, but at least it will provide useful guidelines.

Psychological assistance to children and adolescents after the Beslan tragedy

“In this book we describe our experience in providing psychological assistance to victims.

We hope that it will be useful to specialists who work with children and adolescents who have experienced various psychological traumas - not necessarily as severe as those suffered by the Beslan hostages.

The book characterizes the condition of children and adolescents who came to us, describes the psychotherapeutic methods and approaches used, and organizational forms of work. We focused on the practical aspects of psychological assistance to victims. Theoretical issues related to stress and post-stress conditions and their correction are covered only to the extent necessary for understanding the practical material. This explains the minimization of literary references given in the book.”

Psychological drawing tests

From a person’s drawings, one can determine the make-up of his personality and understand his attitude to different aspects of reality. The drawings allow one to assess the psychological state and level of mental development, and diagnose mental illness. All over the world, drawing tests have become the main tool of practical psychologists.

Psychological counseling and diagnostics. Part 1

Specific recommendations for conducting a diagnostic examination of a child, interpreting the results and counseling parents and teachers. The first part is mainly devoted to diagnostic problems. Numerous illustrations to help interpret survey results.

Psychological counseling and diagnostics. Part 2

The second part describes the most common types of complaints and typical causes leading to behavioral difficulties, school failure and emotional disturbances. The direction of counseling is proposed in accordance with the client’s complaints and the psychological characteristics of the child.

Psychological examination of junior schoolchildren

In the practical manual for conducting a psychological examination of primary schoolchildren and analyzing the data obtained, special attention is paid to recommendations that can be given to teachers and parents based on the examination results.

The book is intended for school psychologists, employees of psychological and pedagogical consultations, as well as teachers working with primary schoolchildren.

Development of educational independence

What kind of pedagogical assistance does a schoolchild need to learn to learn independently, to be proactive in setting and solving new problems, and independent in monitoring and evaluating their educational achievements?

Based on data from a ten-year longitudinal study, it has been proven that the source of a student’s educational independence is a joint search for ways to solve new problems. It is shown how a teacher can manage children's search. The characteristics of the ability to learn at different levels of schooling and individual trajectories of the development of educational independence of primary schoolchildren and adolescents are described.

The book is addressed to all those who are interested in the problems of the connection between learning and the development of children's independence, who are engaged in assessing and diagnosing the developmental effects of education, who design and build education that develops the ability to learn independently.

Scheme of individual examination of children of primary school age

The published scheme of individual psychological consultation was developed by Alexander Leonidovich Wenger during many years of practical work and is outlined in his lectures for novice psychologists-consultants.

This brochure was prepared in the laboratory of student personality development at the VNIK “School” on the basis of tape recordings of lectures by A.L. Wenger and a number of his written materials.

Perception and learning (preschool age)

How does a child perceive the world around him? What determines the completeness and accuracy of its perception? How does it change with age?

These questions have long worried psychologists and educators. Studying the development of perception in children is key to understanding the mechanisms of perception in adults.

The book examines the patterns of development of perception in children of early and preschool age, provides a psychological assessment of various methods of developing perception, previously used and currently used in preschool pedagogy.