Message at the round table meeting “Modern kindergarten, what is it like?” “A modern preschooler, what is he like?”

Modern preschooler on the threshold of school

Author: Fomina Tatyana Alevtinovna

"To change society,

you need to educate another person,

a person who knows how to live in the modern world,

navigate in any life situation.”

Erich Seligmann Fromm

Preschool age is one of the key years in a child’s life and largely determines his future development.

The development of a child in the preschool years is a complex and multifaceted process. Every day the world around him is revealed to the child - the world of nature, art, human relationships. An insatiable thirst for knowledge encourages a preschooler to be interested in everything and participate in everything, to create and transform, to rejoice and be upset.

The main goal of modern educational preschool institutions is to ensure high-quality preparation of children for school. Practical searches in this direction are associated with deepening approaches to understanding the phenomenon of “Readiness of a modern preschooler for school”, with the development of content, pedagogical conditions and technology for preparing children for school.

Preparing for school is one of the most important tasks in teaching and raising a preschooler. At the same time, school readiness is an important outcome of a child’s development. It is the result of educational work with children carried out by families and kindergartens throughout preschool childhood. And besides, going to school is a new stage in the life of every child, a new round of life, a new atmosphere. The child learns a new role - a student, and at the same time new responsibilities. The word “I want” no longer exists, the word “Need” appears.

There is no one specific aspect of readiness for school; it is multicomponent and includes: physiological (physical readiness), psychological (psychological readiness) and social-personal aspect (social readiness). All these aspects are interconnected and cannot exist without each other.

The main criterion for preparing for school should be a developed cognitive interest, that is, the child should want to learn. If he wants this, then going to school becomes for him a joyful stage in life associated with the discovery of something new.

Parents and teachers working with preschoolers believe that modern children in their development are much ahead of their peers of previous years. Today, children much earlier than before become familiar with the basics of literacy - reading, writing, and counting. Already for two-year-old children, impatient parents buy “ABC” and hang the alphabet in pictures on the wall. Educational and useful games and toys are found in every home. Most six-year-old children know letters and numbers, can read syllables, can write in block letters and perform simple calculations. To the question “How, in your opinion, do children today differ from you at the same age?” The overwhelming majority of parents responded that today’s children are smarter, smarter, more developed, they grasp everything quickly, are relaxed, and are better adapted to modern life.

The modern child loses more in terms of psychological development than he gains.

Psychological examinations of older preschoolers, future first-graders, show that today, by the end of preschool age, many of them do not reach the level of psychological and personal maturity that is necessary for a successful transition to the next – school – stage of life. Thus, the cognitive development of modern preschoolers differs markedly from the age norm 15-20 years ago. Today's preschoolers are distinguished by a weakness of imagination, a pronounced focus on the clarity of perceived information and, accordingly, insufficient development of auditory perception and understanding, a lower level of speech development, imperfect communication skills, and the uniqueness of the emotional and moral sphere.

A characteristic feature of the cultural context of the development of modern children is the fact that favorite books, favorite characters, favorite plots are fundamentally different from the material with which they are found in the ABC and the first Books for Reading. Children are accustomed to more intense events and characters of the work, so the texts of textbooks are boring and incomprehensible for them, have little motivating power and, in fact, become just texts for practicing reading skills. Accordingly, the story about what he read does not captivate the child.

In modern children, the system of relationships dominates the system of knowledge. Instead of asking “why?” the question came “why?” If earlier a child had a well-developed imitative reflex and tried to repeat the actions of an adult, then in modern children the freedom reflex predominates - they themselves build a strategy for their behavior. Children are persistent and demanding, have high self-esteem, and do not tolerate violence. Their innate desire for self-realization and the manifestation of their active nature is noted. Children born at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century grow up in different economic, social and cultural realities than older generations. A significant change in the content of children's lives is noted by child psychologists and teachers in almost all economically developed countries. New socio-economic realities have significantly influenced the sphere of family relationships, especially the relationship between parents and children. In conditions when the state stopped strictly normalizing living standards, limiting and regulating the level of income of the population, people, especially young people, had a natural desire and, at the same time, the opportunity to work and earn more, improve the standard of living of their family, create better quality for their children. conditions of development and education. The top positions in the hierarchy of family values ​​are taken by concern for the material well-being of the family and the desire to provide children with the best opportunities for education, to give them a so-called “good start.” At the same time, the value of parent-child communication, spending time together, home traditions and customs, and family unity has noticeably decreased. Adult family members have neither the time nor the energy for all this; living together with their children has ceased to be interesting to modern young parents. Caring for the development of the child is increasingly transferred to professional teachers - nannies, kindergarten teachers, and additional education specialists.

Today's preschooler, faster than an adult, manages to master a mobile phone and computer, TV and tape recorder, goes to cafes and restaurants with family and friends, goes abroad on vacation, travels, knows car brands, names of clothing manufacturers, etc. Modern children are more focused on the future, they easily talk about where and with whom they will work, how much they will earn and spend, what kind of family they will have, in what conditions they will live and how to relax. In the behavior of children, there are some manifestations of adulthood, maturity in judgment, orientation to the future, understanding of oneself, one’s interests, needs, and capabilities. Modern preschoolers have become more relaxed, liberated, open, they show greater independence, initiative, they show feelings of freedom and independence.

Along with certain advantages of modern children over their peers of previous years, their obvious technical dexterity, ability to understand the language of modern technologies, rapid adaptation to changing conditions, one cannot help but notice the losses with which they paid for the achievements of scientific and technological progress. A significant portion of children entering school do not reach the required social standard for a first-grader. Children live in a world in which many aspects of human life are computerized. A computer is not a luxury, but a means of work, knowledge, and leisure.

Recent studies reveal that modern preschoolers have increased activity, high anxiety and excitability, aggressiveness, restlessness, a large amount of long-term memory, but are poorly able to concentrate for a long time. Modern preschoolers are in many ways more persistent and demanding of their parents; they know how to reflect on the meaning of actions and do not want to fulfill meaningless requests. These children are self-confident and more willing to show emotions, but at the same time they are in poorer health and sometimes have a number of diseases that children did not have before. The time of psychological crises in preschool children has also shifted: the crisis of 3 years now occurs a year or two later, while the crisis that previously occurred in a child before entering school now passes in children 7-8 years old.

However, thanks to modern educational and computer technologies, the child’s psyche becomes unstable. Every day he is faced with such huge flows of information that not every organism can withstand it. From an early age, a child is surrounded by television, radio, cinema, computer games, the Internet, he learns to handle them, but often acquires restlessness, unstable attention, and the inability to concentrate on one thing for a long time. Modern children can simultaneously listen to a fairy tale and draw or assemble a construction set, but are sometimes unable to sit still during a conversation.

A serious problem in preschool children lies in their hyperactivity and quality of speech. They talk a lot, loudly, but pronounce sounds poorly, and do not try to translate the quantity of these sounds into quality. Almost every 5-year-old child now needs the help of a speech therapist in developing correct and competent speech. Not only articulation suffers, but also vocabulary, which in modern children is much poorer than their peers from the 20th century. This influence is exerted on them by the constant proximity of TV and computer games instead of books.

The level of communication development of modern children turns out to be lower: they do not know how to establish relationships with each other, have difficulty joining in common activities, are reluctant to obey external requirements, and they have particular difficulty in following the rules that are common to all. This is due to a significant decrease in the importance of role-playing games in children’s lives, with its complex system of distribution of roles and responsibilities, requirements for compliance with rules and agreements among children.

In society today, close friendly ties between children have been disrupted; they have almost nowhere to communicate and play without the supervision of parents or educators. Previously, this function was performed by children's yard groups. Today it is too dangerous to let a child go for a walk alone, so the role of children's play has disappeared to almost nothing. The child still has educational games in kindergarten, but free creativity is becoming more and more irrelevant, and therefore the child’s imagination does not manifest itself so brightly. Children do not have heroes who could teach them moral principles by example. Modern heroes are bright, cheerful, but for the most part empty; a child simply has no one to adopt the best examples of behavior from.

We live in an era of economic crises and social changes. However, under the same circumstances, we behave and feel differently. For some people, life's difficulties have a depressing effect and lead to deterioration in health. For others, the same problems contribute to the awakening of previously hidden resources and spiritual improvement - as if in spite of emergency situations.

The child is helpless in these situations, but the wisdom of adults gives him protection, since it is the adults around the child who are able to create acceptable conditions for his full development. The basis of such development is psychological health, on which overall health largely depends.

The socio-psychological standard of the future schoolchild, specified in the relevant documents, clearly indicates that the school is expecting a completely different child than the one who enters it today. The documents clearly describe the image of an ideal preschooler who is ready to start school: independent, inquisitive, active, mastering the means of communication and ways of interacting with adults and peers, having developed speech, imagination, emotionally responsive, able to manage his behavior and plan his actions based on primary value concepts, having mastered the necessary skills and universal prerequisites for educational activities. It is assumed that a child comes to school and begins to study, having in his arsenal sufficiently developed cognitive processes, social interaction skills, and the proper level of motivation, which will become the basis, the basis for the formation of universal educational actions.

It is necessary to analyze the content of children's life and try to find new aspects and resources in it that can become sources of full-fledged mental and personal development of modern children.
comments powered by HyperComments

Features of the development of a modern child

The modern world is constantly changing. The speed at which our lives are undergoing transformation is much faster than twenty or thirty years ago. In the recently departed twentieth century, a child developed in a small society (family, yard company, pioneer organization) with a clear connection to a specific adult. Today, the child is placed in a situation of broken connections and a chaotic flow of information without structural and logical connections. Modern children are very different not only from those described in their works by I. G. Pestalozzi, J. A. Komensky and V. A. Sukhomlinsky, but also from their peers of the last decade of the twentieth century. Social changes have led to psychological changes. According to psychologists, there have currently been shifts in the onset of crises at 7 years of age and adolescence. Thus, the crisis that children of the last century went through before entering school (in the preparatory group of kindergarten) is now being experienced by younger schoolchildren (at 7–8 years old). And this entails a revision of teaching methods in primary school. Girls now pass the puberty crisis three years later, and boys four years later [7]. Currently, children are growing and developing in a post-industrial information society. From birth they are exposed to modern high-tech achievements. All technical innovations become part of the life of the younger generation. Computer games, interactive toys and museum exhibitions, commercials and new films. How does technological progress affect a child’s psyche? What is a modern child like? Today, scientists are seriously puzzled by this issue. At this time, attempts are being made to comprehensively study the modern preschooler [8]. The opinions of practicing teachers are also taken into account. In 2001, a round table was held at which teachers of Moscow preschool institutions “drew” a portrait of a modern child based on their own observations. Positive characteristics: developed, inquisitive, smart, erudite, liberated, free. Among the negative ones: impulsive, capricious, whiny, pugnacious, aggressive, pedagogically neglected, brought up by TV [3]. Specialist in the field of early language development N. A. Gorlova [2] names the following features of modern preschool children: the predominance of system-semantic consciousness over system-structural consciousness; increasing body tone, perseverance, demandingness, sensitivity, emotionality, and the need to perceive information; excitability, hyperactivity, anxiety, aggressiveness. Children are well informed. They talk about “adult” topics, watch TV series, understand the intricacies of love lines, remember well everything that happens to the heroes of passions and retell the episodes in detail to their grandmothers and mothers. Preschoolers sometimes make such unexpected conclusions and conclusions in non-childish situations that adults begin to seriously think about the premature maturation of modern children. This issue is controversial. Rather, it is “hearsay”, under which, unfortunately or fortunately, there is no experience. Great awareness has a downside. Modern children are by no means ahead of their age in the development of thinking and mental abilities. Moreover, due to health problems, many have delayed mental and speech development. Most 5-year-old children need help from a speech therapist. The modern preschool child speaks a lot (if he speaks), but poorly. Teachers are sounding the alarm. The lowest rates of implementation of the training and education program most often relate to the “Speech development” section. Not only the “Coherent Speech” section suffers, but also the “Dictionary” section. Children's awareness does not lead to an increase in vocabulary. In this situation, I recall a problem described in one of the old textbooks on child psychology. The child, under the influence of his parents, talks about the theory of the nucleus, but cannot follow the elementary verbal instructions of the teacher. The famous psychologist E. O. Smirnova cites UNESCO data that 93% of modern children from 3 to 5 years old watch TV 28 hours a week: “The first generation of “screen children” is growing up” [5, p. 254]. She draws disappointing conclusions about the impact of television viewing on children's mental development. The first and most deplorable is delayed speech development. Primitiveness and poverty of speech are noted. “Speech coming from the screen remains a meaningless set of alien sounds; it does not become our own. Therefore, children prefer to remain silent and express themselves by shouting or gestures” [5, p. 255]. An uncontrolled information flow leads to a lack of emotional-personal and emotional-business communication with the mother in infancy and early childhood, which leads to an increase in the number of children who do not master the curriculum in kindergarten and school. Neuropsychologist T.V. Akhutina sees the main reason for academic failure in a decrease in voluntary attention (along with poor ecology and stress). A bright toy attracts the child’s attention for a long time not on its own, but in interaction with the mother, when positive emotional reactions and a revitalization complex arise. The scientist writes: “For the formation of stable attention, it is necessary that the deep departments work well enough, and they are the ones who suffer most from troubles during the period of pre- and perinatal development. The maturity of the deep sections affects the child’s activity and his ability to maintain wakefulness. Another “component” of attention is the frontal sections... These sections act as organizers and conductors of behavior: they must interact harmoniously with other parts of the brain... The fact is that the brain is “finished” during active work and the number of nerve cells increases during the development of the child from birth up to a year... If a child, during his early development, does not receive enough information from the outside, if the nerve cells do not work, then their physiological death occurs. First of all, we mean tactile and visual information coming from the mother” [4]. Observations of children show that in kindergartens the phenomenon of the absence of so-called “average children” has begun to occur. Children in the group are divided into those who achieve and those who fail, those who master and those who do not master the curriculum. Whether this observation is a pattern or a feature of an individual preschool institution needs to be checked on a larger sample. The next conclusion of O. E. Smirnova about the influence of watching television programs on children is “the inability to self-absorb, to concentrate on any activity, lack of interest in the matter. This type of disease is especially pronounced in learning and is characterized by hyperactivity, situational behavior, and increased absent-mindedness” [5, p. 256]. Modern children are in constant, continuous movement, it is difficult to keep them in one place. During concerts, in cinemas, they move freely in an unfamiliar space. A child can simultaneously listen to a fairy tale and build with a construction set. Children are hyperactive. In organized activities they often cannot concentrate and still need playful and interesting moments. The time of voluntary concentration, characteristic of age, did not increase. The younger generation has a “clip consciousness”, fed by advertising and music videos. Indeed, films by cult directors, from which it is impossible to protect children's perception, are distinguished by intermittency, sharp transitions from one storyline to another, when the viewer must retain the pictures in memory so as not to lose understanding of the meaning of what is happening. Or maybe this is precisely what the director’s creativity is aimed at? The aesthetics and means of expression of the new cinema correspond to modern trends, otherwise it would not be in demand. And finally, the third conclusion of O. E. Smirnova is “a sharp decline in the imagination and creative activity of children. Children lose the ability and desire to keep themselves busy. They make no effort to invent new games, to write fairy tales, to create their own imaginary world. They are bored with drawing, designing, and inventing new stories. They are not interested or captivated by anything. Lack of self-content affects children's relationships. They are not interested in communicating with each other. It has been noticed that communication with peers has become more superficial and formal: children have nothing to talk about, nothing to discuss or argue. They prefer to press a button and wait for new ready-made entertainment” [5, p. 257]. Although modern preschoolers are technically savvy and can easily handle televisions, CDs, electronic and computer games, they build with construction sets in the same way as their peers of previous years, without being ahead of them in anything. A serious problem is the “withdrawal” of role-playing games from the life of a modern child. Experimental studies of role-playing games in preschoolers aged 6–7 years have shown that the game does not reach the highest level of development (according to D. B. Elkonin). Consequently, school motivation, generalization, the ability to plan, and build relationships with peers are not formed at the proper level. The result is a decrease in indicators of readiness for learning in primary school. Despite the fact that researchers and practitioners have thoughts about the need for role-playing games for a modern preschooler, the positive answer is unconditional. Moreover, Federal state requirements for the structure of the basic general education program of preschool education again put forward play as the basis for organizing all types of activities of children attending kindergarten. Among the factors influencing the mental and personal changes of a modern child, D. I. Feldshtein names the orientation of society and, accordingly, children towards consumption, marginalization, the growth of deviations, and the restriction of children's independence by parents. The result is a “rejuvenation” of diseases treated with antidepressants, increased anxiety and aggressiveness, decreased behavioral control and the development of addictions. There were children who did not want to grow up. Research has shown that this is due to the “inheritance of the experience of family failures,” which occurs as a result of children’s experiences of parental problems in the family and professional spheres, brought into the child’s everyday life [7]. Summarizing the fundamental academic research of recent years, Academician D.I. Feldshtein outlined a circle of 16 significant changes in modern children and adolescents [7]: 1. A sharp decline in the cognitive development of preschool children. 2. Increased emotional discomfort and decreased desire for active action. 3. The departure of role-playing games from the child’s life and, as a consequence, a decrease in voluntariness and the motivational-need sphere. 4. Decreased curiosity and imagination in preschoolers, underdeveloped internal plan of action. 5. Insufficient development of fine motor skills and, consequently, graphic skills in preschool children indicate the underdevelopment of the corresponding brain structures, including those responsible for voluntariness. 6. Significant decrease in social competence and independence in decision making. 7. Increase in screen addiction. 8. Limitation of communication with peers, the appearance of feelings of loneliness, confusion, and lack of self-confidence. 9. Increase in the number of children with emotional problems. 10. Decreased selectivity of attention and evaluation of information, decreased working memory capacity in adolescents. 11. Asthenia of physique and decrease in muscle strength. 12. Major forms of mental illness increase by 10–15% every ten years. 13. Increase in the number of children with disabilities. 14. Increase in the number of gifted children. 15. In adolescence – growth of individualization, criticality towards adults, search for the meaning of life and assertion of one’s uniqueness. 16. Changes in the value orientations of adolescents (I place – intellectual: education; II – volitional: perseverance, achievement orientation; III – somatic: good health, presentable appearance). In the hierarchy of values, the last places are occupied by moral, emotional, cultural and social ones. It is interesting to see what a modern preschooler will become as an adult. This can be done by analyzing the value orientations of modern teenagers and young people (i.e., future parents). In 2005, studies conducted by a scientific team led by L. V. Kashirina were published [6]. Scientists have compiled a psychological portrait of young residents of Khabarovsk at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The value orientations of young people aged 17, 24 and 29 were identified. For the longitudinal survey, a scale of 18 values ​​was compiled. The same questions were asked to respondents upon reaching a certain age. The survey results showed significant changes in the value orientations of Khabarovsk youth. In particular, the number of young people who consider themselves free and financially secure has decreased significantly. Health is given one of the first places as a value, while at the same time the number of respondents who consider themselves healthy and are making efforts to maintain their health is decreasing. The attitude towards marriage as an institution of the family has undergone serious transformations. Many recognized their families as unstable, the number of civil marriages increased, and the number of people wishing to have children decreased. The values ​​that received the least number of choices were “knowledge,” “creativity,” and “the happiness of others.” The leading values ​​of 17-year-olds were health, love and good friends. Scientists note an increase in tension due to anticipation of the future and obstacles that will have to be overcome. For 29-year-olds, material security and happiness in the family are important. At the same time, they revealed a discrepancy between life plans and achievements, an increase in individualism against the background of a decrease in collectivism and altruism. Modern youth choose higher education (often for the sake of a diploma), success, material well-being, and a good specialty. Professions have emerged from which there are high expectations of decent material remuneration - businessman, economist, lawyer. Professions that are not of interest are teacher, scientist, farmer, artist. Young people are not embarrassed by the fact that there is an overabundance of specialists in the economic and legal sectors and, therefore, a high risk of unemployment. According to recruitment agencies, there is demand for blue-collar and engineering professions. Khabarovsk respondents in most answers presented the following requirements for work: high wages, prestige of the company, comfortable working conditions and “interesting” work performed. Along with the increased demand for a prosperous life, young people showed an increase in tolerance for possible violation of the law and condemned forms of behavior: marriage of convenience, travel without a ticket on public transport, obscene language, accepting bribes and tax evasion. And also to such “little things” as taking something that is “bad”, getting it by force or cunning. Young people do not hide their positive attitude towards actions condemned in society and are confident in their own rightness. There is a distortion of moral values. Young people devote their leisure time to the computer and listening to music. And sleep... Apparently, modern stress, including information, and the high pace of life affect the endurance of a young body. Among the positive trends, Khabarovsk scientists identified an increase in patriotism and pride in the history of the Fatherland and democratic transformations [6]. In 2007, the All-Russian research project “Psychological Portrait of a Generation” was launched. The socio-psychological study covered about 5,000 children from the first to the eleventh grades. An attempt was made to find out children's ideas about goals for the near future, about the dream of adulthood and the business to which they want to devote their lives. Based on the results of their answers, the children were divided into groups depending on their life goals, worldview, and self-image. 15% of the sample were called “whole individuals.” These are those who see their life as a “single strategy”, implemented even in changing conditions, and for whom the dream acts as a compass in solving life’s problems. The largest group (up to 50%) were “effective functionaries”. These are children who set specific professional and career goals that allow them to earn good money, support their family and children, open their own business, and become influential and rich. It has been noted that the number of children - “public figures” and “housewives”, has decreased, that is, those who want to benefit society, help people, and those who set their goal to create a good family [1]. Thus, the problem of the development of the modern child remains relevant. Serious interdisciplinary research is needed at the intersection of psychology, pedagogy, sociology, and physiology. Structuring the information flow, its “pedagogical” reorientation will solve a number of problems of education. The identification of the characteristics of modern preschool children is an important material for updating the content and organization of the educational process, the direction of pedagogical activity in the direction of the personality of a person of the future. Literature 1. Gobova E., Ignatova O. Psychological portrait of generation. Typology of ideas about myself // School psychologist. 2007. No. 6. URL: https://psy.1september.ru/article.php?id=200700612. 2. Gorlova N. A. Modern preschoolers: what are they? // Hook: education, child, student. 2009. No. 1. P. 3-6. 3. Generation in diapers or a collective portrait of a modern preschooler. Round table // Preschool education. 2001. No. 9. URL: https://dob.1september.ru/2001/09/1.htm. 4. Generation inattentive. Interview with T. Akhutina // "School Psychologist". URL: https://psy.1september.ru/article.php?id=200201810. 5. Smirnova E. O., Lavrentieva T.V. Preschoil in the modern world. M.: Drof. 2008. 270 p. 6. Stepura I. Tribes young. Unknown // Russian newspaper - the Far East. 2005. No. 3912. October 28. 7. Feldstein D.I. Priority areas of psychological and pedagogical studies in the context of significant changes in the child and the situation of his development // Bulletin of the Higher Certificate Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. 2010. No. 4. S. 20–32. 8. School of L.V. On the state and prospects for the development of scientific research of the institution of the Russian Academy of Education “Institute of Art Education” // Pedagogy of art: electronic scientific journal. 2010. No. 4. url: https://www.art-education.ru/ae-magazine/archive/nomer-4-2010/shkolyar12-2010.pdf.

Currently, interest in childhood is becoming more and more intense, and the image of a child is occupying an increasingly significant place in the world of adults.

In modern science, research continues on certain patterns of level-by-level development of personality in ontogenesis. So, D.I. Feldstein considers childhood as a special phenomenon of the social world, which the scientist defines functionally, meaningfully and essentially. Functionally, childhood is an objectively necessary state in the dynamic system of society, the state of the process of maturation of the younger generation towards the reproduction of the future society. In essence, childhood is a process of constant physical growth, accumulation of mental new formations, mastery of social space, reflection of all relationships in this space, definition of oneself in it, one’s own self-organization, which occurs in the child’s constantly expanding and increasingly complex contacts with the adult community and other children. Essentially, childhood is a special state of social development, when biological patterns associated with age-related changes in the child largely manifest their effect, “submitting” to an increasing degree to the regulating and determining action of the social.

In contrast to the approach common in psychological research, when childhood is usually considered “disconnected” - a separate characteristic of infancy, early childhood, preschool age, etc. is given, D.I. Feldstein proposes to isolate the main formative line of development of a growing person throughout his childhood, which allows us to trace the real continuity of the process of growing up. The need to isolate a single formative principle is determined by the fact that the indicators of maturation available for different periods of childhood (in which individual mental new formations are identified) do not correlate with the integrating property, which is at the same time a general, constantly developing and self-developing phenomenon in ontogenesis, in relation to which all are determined. acquired neoplasms.

Usually, when characterizing the general orientation, such a component is emphasized as the child’s appropriation of social norms, values, and the level of organization of the life of the society in which he functions. But at the same time, the child’s individualization is considered, as a rule, outside of social connections, only as an individual’s reaction to them, which is actually opposed to those social relations in which his individuality is formed. Therefore, it is necessary to identify a kind of “end-to-end” definition of growing up, revealing the meaning and content of what develops in the child as the main thing in this growing up.

Each new generation of people appropriates the level achieved by humanity, taking it for granted. For example, today a child from an early age can freely handle a TV, a computer, and masters all this as already solved problems, a starting position. Modern children have become, on the one hand, much more active in their reflection aimed at the world around them as a whole; on the other hand, more infantile in terms of social orientation. Serious shifts have occurred in the motivational and need-based sphere of children - there is the emergence of new, often very controversial, values, an alarming shift in motives, etc.

To a large extent, this is due to the loss and lack of stable socially developed guidelines, clarity of positions in relation to the reality of the adult society itself. Children of preschool age are just entering the social world, they accept, often even before full awareness, the moral norms of relationships and behavior in human society, they perceive the world first of all with their feelings, and then with their consciousness.

Comparative studies in different areas of child development (intellectual, moral, physical, aesthetic, development of play, communication) conducted by T.I. Ponimanskaya, showed that modern children, just like children of the last century, learn, for example, such norms of relationships as mutual assistance and willingness to help a friend.

However, unlike children of the 80s of the last century, modern preschoolers express new opinions: of course, you need to help, but, firstly, only when you are asked for it, and you don’t need to take the initiative yourself, and, in -secondly, “when I see that he himself was working, but did not have time, and when he was chatting, there is no need to help him.” Differences also emerged in the manifestation of kindness and selflessness. Modern children are not in the mood to give their toy to other children “just like that,” but “if he gives you something, then you can.”

Such changes in children, in their assessments of the actions of their peers, in determining their own line of behavior are explained primarily by social changes.

In the 90s of the last century, during the period of revision of life guidelines and values, the focus on individuality, on the independence of people from each other, on focusing on oneself and one’s successes began to prevail. Children, as we know, reflect all the features of the adult world; they actively appropriate their forms of interaction with the outside world, with people.

A complex and inadequate situation has developed in building relationships between children and the adult world. On the one hand, the adult world seems to have moved closer: children have become more independent, relaxed in relation to adults, and more confident, which is associated with greater availability of information. On the other hand, at the same time, the adult world has moved away, since adults not only become less involved with children, but also do not appear before them in a clear position of their attitude and their demands.

We found that the scientific understanding of the uniqueness of children's nature began to take shape in the second half of the 19th century on the basis of the affirmation of the idea of ​​the child's self-worth. But only in the 20th century did society develop a steady interest in childhood as a social phenomenon, and an entire “children’s” industry was formed, covering both the material and spiritual spheres. It was during these centuries that through the efforts of F. Frebel, N.F. Pestalozzi, M. Montessori and other pedagogical reformers developed socio-psychological and cultural ideas about the special status of childhood. At the present stage, psychologists interpret childhood as a complex multidimensional phenomenon, which, having a biological basis, is mediated by many sociocultural factors.

Specialists of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A.I. Herzen under the leadership of A.I. Gogeberidze highlighted some characteristic features of a modern child:

1. Formation of civic position. A modern child loves his homeland, his family, his peers and friends, and wants to make life better, more worthy and more beautiful.
2. Formation of a value system. A modern preschooler has a good understanding of himself, his immediate environment, his present and future. He is ready to evaluate various phenomena and events of life from different points of view: interest, utilitarianism, usefulness, aesthetics, knowledge. Modern children are more focused on the future, they look to the future with confidence, easily talk about where and with whom they will work, how much they will earn to spend, what kind of family they will have, how many children they will have, in what conditions they will live and how they will relax. By older preschool age, children are able not only to accept a learning task, but also to understand its meaning for themselves. As a rule, it is associated with the successful future of the child: I will learn to read - I will do well at school - I will go to college - I will get a great job! - I will live well! Children's activities acquire more and more personal meaning for the child.
3. Manifestation of the position of an active figure. The internal reserves of a modern child are revealed in different types of their preferred activities: visual, gaming, musical, literary. But, unlike his peers of previous years, he confidently combines them, unites them with each other, because he is more comfortable this way and can do everything. He organically weaves his ideas about this world into different spheres of life. He is the bearer of a subculture that is inherent only to a preschooler and distinguishes him from children of other ages and adults,
4. The focus of the modern preschooler on communication, it is necessary to recognize that the modern child is lonely. He very often lacks communication with mom and dad, peers, he gets lost in the world of voluminous information, he wants to talk and act together.
5. The orientation of the modern preschooler towards knowledge of man and nature. A child is interested in a person from all sides: as a biological and social being, as a creator and bearer of culture. Children love to compare themselves and others, play at people of different professions, draw themselves and their peers, look at portraits and illustrations of fairy-tale characters, fashion magazines with men and women, play educational games related to the study of a person and his world, ask a variety of questions about him questions.
6. Modernity, in tune with the technological progress of the modern preschooler. This is a modern person who can master a mobile phone and computer faster than an adult. He listens to and watches the same songs and TV shows with his parents; goes with family and friends to cafes and restaurants, goes abroad on vacation, travels; navigates car brands and fashionable clothing and perfume designs, stores and products.

Let us also note that the life of a child of the 21st century has not only changed very much, but is also closely related to the capabilities of the parents. It can be noted that children’s judgments about life, their preferences, and interests depend on the area of ​​residence. The child’s growing interest in people and his thirst for communication with peers allows us to conclude that priority should be given to the personal and social sphere.

It seems important to think about what tasks of education and development would unite children with different life experiences and growth conditions, and to find specific ways to solve this problem.

Literature: 1. Study of the problems of preschool childhood in the multicultural space of Russian cities. Results of an interregional study. Monograph. [Text] - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen, 2009. – 521 p. 2. Feldshtein, D.I. Psychology of growing up: structural and content characteristics of the process of personality development: Selected works [Text] / D.I. Feldstein. – M.: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute; Flint, 2004, 2nd ed. – 672 p.

What are our children like today and what are we like?

 The famous Russian teacher and psychologist, specialist in the field of developmental and educational psychology, David Feldstein, came to the conclusion that our modern children are unhappy, lethargic and unsociable.

Over the past decades, David Feldstein has conducted personal observations and studies of the behavior of children, both preschool and school age, which allowed him to compile a list of distinctive features of modern children. In his opinion, children have changed completely over the past 5-10 years.

Firstly, the so-called cognitive knowledge of the world has greatly decreased in preschool children. To put it in simple, non-scientific terms, children have become less inquisitive and curious. They play role-playing games less often, which means that kids do not understand the motivations and needs of various characters. Girls have lost interest in dolls, boys are increasingly asking their parents for expensive robots and controllable cars, but they don’t understand what to do with them. The kid’s imagination is enough to pull out the battery or break it into pieces...

For preschool children, the main form of interaction with the outside world and its knowledge is play. Only during the game does the child communicate with the world around him, manipulate objects, observe, compare, gain personal experience, improve, and mature. But for these processes to take place purposefully and systematically, the main initiator and acquaintance is his close circle. A child should receive information, first of all, from adults, his parents.

Secondly, modern boys and girls do not know how to play yard games, such as hopscotch, Cossacks - robbers, towns, daughters - mothers and much more. There is a trend of empty playgrounds, where just 10-15 years ago you could see children of different ages having fun together. The elders took care of the younger ones, and the younger ones gained experience from the older ones.

Thirdly, older preschoolers have underdeveloped fine motor skills and a lack of graphic skills. Most first-graders do not know how to write with a pen and pencil, and they do not want to do it. It seems like we are teachers, but how can a child of 7–8 years old not be able to take care of himself? Tie the laces on a hat or shoes, fasten the buttons on a shirt or zipper on a jacket? Many people don’t even care what he’s wearing or what he looks like?

Kindergarten teachers state the facts that parents have ceased to monitor the child’s personal hygiene - they do not cut nails, do not take care of haircuts, rarely change underwear, things are not ironed and dirty. And most importantly, they violate and do not comply with the child’s daily routine, bring him to kindergarten whenever he wants and are in no hurry to pick him up in order to spend as much time as possible with him and talk.

Fourthly, a quarter of all children are absolutely helpless in relationships, both with peers and with adults. They are completely unable to resolve even the simplest conflicts, which mostly end in hysteria and aggression.

Fifthly, according to the scientist, modern schoolchildren speak poorly, do not know how to express their thoughts and absolutely do not want to learn. Interest in a joint conversation comes to the baby through communication with an adult after reading a book, looking at illustrations for it, discussing the actions of the characters, etc. Which modern mothers now sing lullabies, read nursery rhymes, fairy tales and tongue twisters? That's great rarity. Children spend most of their time at home in front of the TV and computer; the main thing is communication for our modern children. Receiving a huge flow of information from the screens of a TV, tablet, computer, phone, it is difficult for a child to understand what is good and what is bad, what is the right thing to do and react to this or that situation? So sometimes it seems to our children where they are at the moment, in the real world or in the virtual?

Sixth, physically, children and adolescents have deteriorated greatly: they are increasingly susceptible to respiratory and viral infections, doctors diagnose that they have no increase in muscle strength.

According to the scientist, the main reason is the high level of development of information technology. Not only teenagers, but also we adults have forgotten how to communicate in person. And, despite the fact that most modern people communicate on social networks from morning to evening, the vast majority suffer from loneliness.

Increasingly, modern children feel emotional problems, experience a constant feeling of insecurity, lack of support in their close environment. General computerization has already caused changes in children's heads: young people are less and less interested in the people around them and do not want to learn new things at all.

Analyzing the findings of Professor Feldstein, one can come to disappointing conclusions: the modern child grows up as a frail ignoramus, lonely and unhappy, completely unadapted to the problems and difficulties of adult life.

So is everything really that scary and nothing can be fixed? What should we, adults, do and do?

“What we want our future to look like depends largely on us and on the principles that we instill in the minds of children. What a person is, such is his activity, such is the world he creates around himself,” A. S. Makarenko believed.

In this regard, the key role in the upbringing and development of our children lies with adults, both parents and teachers.

Day after day, most of us spend most of our time chasing our ambitions and unfulfilled dreams. To achieve a lot in life: to earn even more money by buying a second car, a new fur coat. We expect a promotion, we dream of going to a more prestigious hotel on vacation, etc. And parents, first of all, have less and less time left for simple, but most important things - to communicate with their children and relatives, to read a good book, even cooking healthy food. Therefore, these cases are replaced by a real surrogate. Let's be completely honest! Instead of playing with the child - a cartoon on the computer, instead of walking with him - playing on the tablet, instead of going to the theater or stadium - again entertainment on the phone. The child is next to you, and at the same time on his own.

Now it is no coincidence that many television programs have begun to be broadcast on the main television channels for adults, with the participation of children: “Voice - Children”, “Best of All!”, “Blue Bird”. We also rarely read - newspapers, magazines, scientific literature and fiction. Parents are now interested in something completely different! Maybe this way, television, will attract parental attention, that a child lives and grows next to them, who requires their attention, care and love. The baby, first of all, expects praise and participation in his fate from his family and friends. And only then he needs the reaction of others.

Each of us can remember a moment when we caught ourselves thinking that, simply stunned by the rapid flow of information, news and events, we were living as if in a dream. We do something at work, we talk about something with people, we grab onto everything, but we don’t get anything done. And so hours, days, weeks fly by. It's impossible to concentrate. What remains? Just go with the flow, arriving in this suspended animation?

However, there are ways that can help and solve some of the problems of adults, modern people. Everything depends on our desire.

First: you need to simplify everything that happens, leave only the most necessary and cut off the unnecessary.

To begin with, our ancestors were healthier and fitter than us because they ate real, whole foods. A piece of meat, fish, vegetables, fruits - this is their diet. We eat and feed our children mostly processed food filled with useless calories, chemicals and sugar. So instead of buns, buns, chips and semi-finished products, it is better to prepare fresh broth and salad. Time for this can be found by reducing dependence on TV and involving all family members in this. Family is the main factor of happiness for a child. Only in a family does a person fully understand the significance of his existence. The younger generation should know not only the history of their state, but also the history of their family, the value of family traditions, professional priorities, in order to know who to rely on in life, what to pass on to their descendants.

The second main question is, is there any benefit to anyone from doing things that take up a lot of time? If not, is it possible to move them and not do them at all? Think about it, sitting on the computer for hours on end certainly does no good to anyone, setting an example for your child on how to “usefully” spend your free time. After all, for a child, the main authority is his parents.

Third: do we need so many things, objects, technology that surrounds us? Does it benefit us or is it just excess consumption, a tribute to fashion? But besides the money to buy them, we spent a lot of time choosing them. And now they still have to serve them and look after them, again wasting their time and energy. Maybe instead of expensive expenses and buying bright toys and gadgets, buy a family board game that will be understandable and interesting to everyone? And it’s even better to draw together or make a craft, and not pay off for the lack of attention with another robot that will soon be disassembled or lying around idle.

Fourth: do we have time to be with ourselves? Should we think, take stock, make sure that we are living exactly the life we ​​wanted, and not participating in a race in circles, fighting against “windmills”? Remember your goals for this year and check whether they came true or not, and why? How can you make it come true?

Fifth tip: remember that the most important thing in the world is love! It’s easy to value what you have and it’s easy to lose it, but sometimes it’s impossible to gain something new. Know how to forgive, then conflicts will end faster, relationships will become real and open. We must learn to give more than we take and think of others before ourselves. And remember that our children are a reflection of ourselves at different periods of time. And learn to ask yourself: has my day brought any benefit or goodness to anyone? Start with yourself!