There is a baby growing in your family. And parents have questions about how to raise and develop him. Every mother wants her baby to grow up to be the best... How to do this without harming the physical and mental health of the baby?
What kind of beast is “early child development”? Does my baby need this? At what age does this “early development” begin? These and many other questions occupy many mothers, and grandmothers too. Of course, it is impossible to answer all questions in one article. Therefore, we decided to devote a series of articles to this topic.
Early development is an integrated approach to raising a child, when both games and communication are aimed at maximizing the child’s potential, both physically and intellectually. You need to start developing your baby from the first months, and not from 3 years, as was previously customary.
There are myths about the early development of children. Here are some of them.
It is difficult for children under one year old to explain anything, to convey the necessary information to them, so classes with early age don't make sense. This myth is completely false. Little children rely on and communicate not through experience or reason, but through feelings, but they can and should be developed. Such activities will have a beneficial effect on the child’s intelligence, physical and communication abilities.
Early development can be dangerous for children under one and a half years old.
It's not about classes. If a mother fanatically and without interruption strives to teach her child everything at once, then yes, this is dangerous! After all, overload is not good for anyone. And you can make the baby disgusted to any classes. If you start small, gradually increasing the load and not imposing strength training, then they will only bring benefits.
Early development is difficult.
There is nothing complicated! Play with your baby and enjoy spending time together! Just choose activities and games that develop logic, motor skills, and replenish and expand your child’s knowledge about the world around him.
We choose a method for the early development of a baby from the first days of life.
There are many early development methods, they are varied and it can be difficult to choose one. This is not necessary. Check out several and choose the one that is most interesting to both you and your baby. Or combine several methods into one, your own. The main thing is to observe the baby and focus on his reaction. If the child is happy and likes it, then you can continue learning, but if not so much, if the child cannot understand the meaning of the lesson, choose a different method. Or change your approach to studying. Very important: All activities with children should take the form of an exciting game, alternating physical and intellectual stress. The younger the baby, the more often there should be breaks.
Here are some of the techniques for you and your baby:
Early development according to Montessori.
The meaning of the technique is “Give not a fish, but a fishing rod,” that is, teach the child to do something independently. In the case of infants, the approach is slightly different. For children in the first year of life, the most important thing is the development of sensory - sense organs, since they do not yet have experience, and they rely mainly on their feelings and emotions. This is what Maria Montessori’s method for children under one year is designed for.
It is not necessary to look for and buy special expensive Montessori materials and teaching manuals. All educational materials and toys can be made independently or bought at a regular children's store.
Remember, the main motto here is: “Mom! Help me do it myself!”
"Letters and numbers"
You need large (the size of an adult's palm) letters and numbers made of textured and bright fabric (felt, terry cloth, velvet). They need to be sewn in the form of pillows, filled with various fillings - cereal, padding polyester, paper, foam balls, fur, etc. You need to give these pads to your child and clearly say the names of the letters and numbers each time.
Educational toys for newborns have a huge impact on the development of the baby. During the first months of life, the main toy is a rattle that can be placed in the baby’s hand. By feeling them, the baby will develop fine motor skills, color perception, and in the future it will be easier to master the alphabet.
Classes with a newborn can be started from the first month of life. Just put a toy, letter or number in your baby's hand. This can be done several times throughout the day. In the future, we show the child how to transfer the rattle from one handle to another. Hanging toys should be positioned so that the baby can reach and hit the toy/module with a handle. At first involuntarily, then the baby will understand that he himself manipulates objects and will reach out to bright toys. When the child begins to reach for objects and take them in his hands, you can put him on his tummy and lay out educational material around him.
Glen Doman Method
This technique is aimed at a harmonious combination of physical and mental stress for the development of the child. Doman's technique is based on his research and observations. The bottom line is that the more a child moves, the better and more successfully he learns new knowledge and skills. The lesson lasts a few minutes to avoid overtiring the baby. It is recommended to start mastering this technique from 9-10 months of age. The essence of the technique: letters, numbers, and various animals are printed on cards. The cards are shown one by one, several at a time, and the names of the objects depicted in the pictures are carefully pronounced. The exercise is repeated several times a day, the rest of the time it is recommended motor activity child. Thanks to such activities, it will be easier for children in the future to master the alphabet, learn and remember foreign words. To begin, put household objects (table, chair, plate, glass), animals (cat, dog, guinea pig), toys (ball, pyramid, car) on the cards and label them. As you get older, increase the time and make the task more difficult.
Drawing technique of Maria Gmoszynska
“Baby drawing” is a technique that has been known and practiced in European countries for decades. According to this technique, children begin to draw from the age of six months or even earlier, provided that the child sits well. Remember that there is no need to rush to sit your child down. ! For drawing, you use fingers, palms, legs and bright, safe, non-toxic paints, which you can also make yourself from food products and dyes.
Classes help very well to develop a child creatively, have a positive effect on the development of personality, and also contribute to the development fine motor skills, spatial perception and sensory. You can exercise with your baby 2-3 times a week. For the lesson you will need:
non-toxic paints in several bright colors;
stable jars with a wide neck;
a sheet of Whatman paper (the larger the better);
oilcloth (to place under the little genius and his creation).
Don't teach your child to draw something specific. The baby still cannot imagine the end result. Just show him what to do by dipping your finger in paint and drawing on whatman paper. Start with the points on ladybug, on a fly agaric, raindrops, etc. If you want to draw something, draw next to your baby.
The above is only a small part of what can be used in the development of a baby. The most important thing is to play, play, play with your favorite little one! Play is the main type of mental activity from birth to 7 years. We will cover ideas for play and creativity in our next publications.
To be continued!!!
It may seem that the baby sleeps most of the time in the first months of life, and the main role of the parents during this period is to provide him with food and comfortable clothes; in fact, this is far from the case. It is during this period that the child actively learns about the world and its laws; during this period the foundations of his visual and auditory perception and thinking are laid. Therefore, from the first months of the baby’s life, mothers and fathers should not forget to conduct simple classes on early development. This is not at all a tribute to the fashion for child prodigies, but a feasible and necessary assistance for your child in successfully mastering the space around him.
For early development in the first year In life, it is important to develop the baby’s auditory perception. To do this, he must constantly hear a variety of sounds of varying volume and intensity that are pleasant in timbre. This could be the affectionate speech of an adult addressed to him, lullaby, you can include listening to collections in the program of such developmental mini-lessons classical or folk music, as well as sounds of nature, specially arranged for children. At about 2-3 months, you can already play with the baby using a bell or bright rattles. Stand next to the baby's crib at a distance of about 10-20 cm, shake the toy slightly, ensure that the child hears the sound and finds its source, then slowly move the rattle to the other side of the crib. You can also play a kind of hide and seek with your baby. Cover yourself with a wide scarf or diaper, and then call the baby from under it; when you see that the child has guessed where the sound is coming from, surprise the baby by throwing off your improvised disguise.
It is important that the baby learns to understand the speech of an adult early. To do this, try to talk with a child of the first year of life in simple, intonational phrases, highlighting the main points. It is equally important to show in detail what exactly you want from your child. If you want to put the baby to bed, you can pat the pillow; if you invite him to a meal, show him a bottle or plate of porridge, etc. Pause, perhaps in the first minutes the child will comprehend and remember what he needs to do, and only then, if no action is taken, patiently explain again. By about six months, you can learn the simplest skit games with your baby, these are the classic “Ladushki”, “Magpie”, “Horned Goat”. Simple rhythmic words are easily learned by the child, and the repetition of funny gestures helps develop motor coordination.
Stimulate the cognitive interest of your six-month-old baby. Simple questions are quite suitable for this: “Where is mom? Where is dad?”, “Where is the light bulb?” etc. Now you can play this game with your child: first ask the child about the location of the toy or rattle, after he has turned his head and looked for the given object with his eyes, move the toy to the other end of the room and repeat the question. The baby will begin to explore the space in search of the “missing” rattle.
At eight to nine months, you can invite your child to build pyramids from cubes and buy a simple one constructor With large parts. At approximately the same age, a child is able to disassemble a pyramid. Be sure to encourage any successes of the baby; in the second half of life, the baby is already perfectly able to distinguish the speech of an adult by intonation.
Develop your child's color perception. During the game, name the most basic colors, focus on the difference between colors.
Gradually, the child becomes noticeably more active, he can already sit and crawl, his playing skills and coordination of movements are improving. At the age of 8-9 months, it is important to organize for the child the maximum amount of space in which he will move freely and safely.
Try to please 
curiosity of the baby, talking at an accessible level about the name and purpose of various objects, showing how they can be manipulated. Encourage a variety of object games.
For the successful early development of thinking and speech, training fine motor skills of the hands is important, so the baby can be offered classes with large mosaics or puzzles consisting of 2-3 elements. Perfectly improves coordination of movements and inset frames, which will also help the baby better perceive the concept of the shape of objects.
If your child does not yet show interest in this kind of activity, it is better not to force him, try asking him to sort pebbles or buttons, you can play “painting” with your fingers on buckwheat or other types of cereals. The main thing is to make sure that the baby does not succumb to the temptation to put small objects into his mouth. At the same age, you can try to lay out simple logical chains with your baby. Cards with large, clear images, pyramid rings, or sets of cups of different sizes are suitable materials for laying out such sequences.
At about the same age you can offer your baby finger paints. Being a non-toxic material, they will be safe for the health of the baby, even if they accidentally get into the mouth. To begin with, you can try to “draw” a palm print; this task is not difficult for a child to complete, and the resulting spectacular and bright print will certainly give the little artist a lot of pleasant impressions. Exercises with finger paints stimulate the development of tactile perception, help in the formation of color standards, and stimulate the development of creative thinking.
By the tenth month of life, the child should know the names of all members of his family, be able to show the main parts of the body and face (arms, legs, eyes, mouth, etc.). At this age, it is important to teach your child to respond to your verbal requests; these can be simple instructions “give”, “bring”. During this period, the baby happily carries out any instructions from adults. Most often, at first, the child will give or bring the toy that he holds in his hands or that is closer to him. Try, using this tendency of his, to gradually expand the passive vocabulary, offering to remember the names of more and more new items that you need to help bring to your mother.
The development of speech and thinking is also stimulated by reading the first children's books. You can opt for short folk tales(“Chicken Ryaba”, “Kolobok”) or the easily remembered quatrains of Agnia Barto. You can also purchase special children's books, the pages of which rustle, squeak and have other sound effects. Classes with such a book will diversify the experience of tactile sensations of a child of the first year of life, will help improve coordination of movements and fine motor skills.
In the last months of the first year of life, the child pronounces his first syllables and sounds with pleasure; this hobby should also be used for early child development, asking adults to repeat simple onomatopoeias and syllables: “ma-ma”, “nya-nya”, “mu-mu”, etc.
For a baby in his first year of life, there is no need to arrange special developmental activities; all developmental elements are an integral part of the game. All training and development exercises must be implemented in gameplay when the baby is in good mood, not tired and full of strength. Attention to the development of a child in the first year of life will not require any special skills from you; all developmental activities are within the capabilities of every mother; if you find time for them, they will become a reliable foundation for further harmonious development.
For a baby in infancy, it is the mental that is more important, physical development. A child who develops correctly at a young age learns better later. Parents are obliged to constantly monitor and help their child. The child should not stay in one position for a long time, otherwise a curvature of the spine or flat feet may develop. Due to the immobility of the baby, the blood circulation process slows down, there is a significant load on the muscles of the same group, so it is necessary to periodically turn the baby over.
The early development of children under one year old necessarily includes the creation of the most comfortable and comfortable conditions for the development of the child's movements. In order for a baby to learn to crawl, you need to prepare him for this: teach him from the first days, lying on his tummy, raise his head and hold it, roll over from his back to his tummy and back. When the child crawls freely, you can help him and learn to sit down. All movements that a baby makes up to one year old have a beneficial effect on his general development. After all, if the baby is sedentary and passive, then his musculoskeletal system and muscles will not strengthen well. While moving, the child shows independence, perseverance and perseverance, gets a lot of pleasure and is in a good mood.
The early development of children under one year old also involves having a conversation with the baby even before he begins to babble. Constantly comment on what you do in the presence of the child, talk about the objects in his environment, read fairy tales, sing songs. The baby learns to listen, then recognizes words that he has often heard, and this has a positive effect on the process of speech formation.
Moms and dads need to learn how to play with their child. Games bring pleasure to the baby, help him master the world, and promote development. There are a variety of educational games that help parents realize the early development of children under one year old. You can choose such games yourself, or rely on the recommendations of children’s consultation specialists or teachers in specialized schools.
A small child will be interested in everything: pouring sand, pouring water from one bucket to another; stack pyramids; make patterns from cubes; find and hide objects; tear grass, paper; open and close doors, boxes; look at and paint books; listen to fairy tales. In the future, the child will understand that all objects are different and will learn to compare them, sort them by color, structure, shape. During this period of time, communication with nature will become indispensable. Let the baby know that the kitten is warm and fluffy, the snow is cold, the tree is rough, etc.
The successful early development of children under one year of age is confirmed by the formation of new skills. Since the child grows quickly, educational means must change. You need to understand when, for example, to start showing pictures to your child, and when to teach him to sculpt from plasticine or draw. But in any case, the early development of children under one year old should begin from birth.
The early development of children under one year old should be based on care and love for the baby. After all, it is parental love and affection that gives a child the opportunity to feel protected, develop emotionally and strive to understand the world around him.
It may seem that the baby sleeps most of the time in the first months of life, and the main role of the parents during this period is to provide him with food and comfortable clothes; in fact, this is far from the case. It is during this period that the child actively learns about the world and its laws; during this period the foundations of his visual and auditory perception and thinking are laid. Therefore, from the first months of the baby’s life, mothers and fathers should not forget to conduct simple classes on early development. This is not at all a tribute to the fashion for child prodigies, but a feasible and necessary assistance for your child in successfully mastering the space around him.
For early development in the first year of life, it is important to develop the baby’s auditory perception.
To do this, he must constantly hear a variety of sounds of varying volume and intensity that are pleasant in timbre.
It could be affectionate adult speech, facing him, lullaby, you can include listening to collections in the program of such developmental mini-lessons classical or folk music, as well as sounds of nature, specially arranged for children. Approximately at 2-3 months you can already play with the baby using bell or a bright rattle.
How to play with a child to develop hearing?
Stand next to the baby's crib at a distance of about 10-20 cm, shake the toy slightly, ensure that the child hears the sound and finds its source, then slowly move the rattle to the other side of the crib. You can also play a kind of hide and seek with your baby. Cover yourself with a wide scarf or diaper, and then call the baby from under it; when you see that the child has guessed where the sound is coming from, surprise the baby by throwing off your improvised disguise.
It is important that the baby learns to understand the speech of an adult early.
For this, try talk with a child of the first year of life in simple, intonationally colored phrases, highlighting the main points. It is equally important to show in detail what exactly you want from your child. If you want to put the baby to bed, you can pat the pillow; if you invite him to a meal, show him a bottle or plate of porridge, etc. Pause, perhaps in the first minutes the child will comprehend and remember what he needs to do, and only then, if no action is taken, patiently explain again. By about six months you can learn with your baby simple skit games, these are the classic “Ladushki”, “Magpie”, “Horned Goat”.
Simple rhythmic words are easily learned by the child, and repetition of funny gestures helps develop coordination of movements.
Stimulate the cognitive interest of your six-month-old baby.
Suitable for this simple questions: “Where is mom? Where is dad?”, “Where is the light bulb?” etc. Now you can play this game with your child: first ask the child about the location of the toy or rattle, after he has turned his head and looked for the given object with his eyes, move the toy to the other end of the room and repeat the question. The baby will begin to explore the space in search of the “missing” rattle.
You can already start showing educational cartoons.
At eight to nine months You can invite your child to build pyramids from cubes and buy simple constructor with large details. At approximately the same age, a child is able to disassemble a pyramid. Be sure to encourage any successes of the baby; in the second half of life, the baby is already perfectly able to distinguish the speech of an adult by intonation.
Develop your child's color perception. During the game, name the most basic colors, focus on the difference between colors.
Gradually, the child becomes noticeably more active, he can already sit and crawl, his playing skills and coordination of movements are improving. At the age of 8-9 months, it is important to organize for the child the maximum amount of space in which he will move freely and safely.
Try to satisfy your baby's curiosity by talking at an accessible level about the name and purpose of various objects, showing how they can be manipulated. Encourage a variety of object games.
For successful early development of thinking and speech, training of fine motor skills is important.
You can offer classes with a large mosaic or puzzles, consisting of 2-3 elements. Insert frames also perfectly improve coordination of movements, which will also help the baby better perceive the concept of the shape of objects.
If your child does not yet show interest in this kind of activity, it is better not to force him, try to offer him sort pebbles or buttons, you can play "painting" with fingers for buckwheat or other types of cereals. The main thing is to make sure that the baby does not succumb to the temptation to put small objects into his mouth. At the same age, you can try to lay out simple logic chains with your baby. Cards with large, clear images, pyramid rings, or sets of cups of different sizes are suitable materials for laying out such sequences.
At about the same age you can offer your baby finger paints. Being a non-toxic material, they will be safe for the health of the baby, even if they accidentally get into the mouth. To begin with, you can try to “draw” a palm print; this task is not difficult for a child to complete, and the resulting spectacular and bright print will certainly give the little artist a lot of pleasant impressions. Exercises with finger paints stimulate the development of tactile perception, help in the formation of color standards, and stimulate the development of creative thinking.
By the tenth month of life, the child should know the names of all members of his family, be able to show the main parts of the body and face (arms, legs, eyes, mouth, etc.).
At this age, it is important to teach your child to respond to your verbal requests; these can be simple instructions “give”, “bring”. During this period, the baby happily carries out any instructions from adults. Most often, at first, the child will give or bring the toy that he holds in his hands or that is closer to him. Try, using this tendency of his, to gradually expand his passive vocabulary, offering to remember the names of more and more new objects that you need to help bring to your mother.
The development of speech and thinking is also stimulated by reading the first children's books.
You can opt for short folk fairy tales(“Chicken Ryaba”, “Kolobok”) or easy to remember quatrains Agni Barto. You can also purchase special children's books, the pages of which rustle, squeak and have other sound effects. Classes with such a book will diversify the experience of tactile sensations of a child of the first year of life, will help improve coordination of movements and fine motor skills.
In the last months of the first year of life, the child pronounces his first syllables and sounds with pleasure.
This hobby should also be used for the early development of a child, suggesting that adults repeat simple onomatopoeia and syllables: “ma-ma”, “nya-nya”, “mu-mu”, etc.
For a baby in his first year of life, there is no need to arrange special developmental activities; all developmental elements are an integral part of the game. All educational and developmental exercises should be introduced into the gameplay when the baby is in a good mood, not tired and full of strength. Attention to the development of a child in the first year of life will not require any special skills from you; all developmental activities are within the capabilities of every mother; if you find time for them, they will become a reliable foundation for further harmonious development.
