Development of cognitive processes in preschool children

How does this happen

The development of cognitive processes in preschool children is subject to a number of patterns.

The child begins not only to contemplate the objects around him, but begins to show a keen interest in them. He begins to understand that every thing has size, shape, color and many other distinctive features; they feel different to the touch and have different temperatures. Over time, in addition to vision and touch, the child begins to develop hearing. He gradually learns to identify and compare sounds by volume.

The first stage is the development of sensory cognition

Gradually, the child begins to regulate sensory processes by looking at something or listening to something. Attention and perception develop; sensory processes become more conscious.

However, the development of cognitive processes, both at younger and older ages in preschoolers, is still far from perfect. For example, it has been noticed that children do not immediately begin to understand perspective, as well as other spatial relationships. Difficulty perceiving time.

Let's consider how exactly the cognitive processes of preschoolers should develop, and how a parent can help a child master the complex, but amazing and mysterious world around him.

Attention in preschool age

It is worth noting that the attention of preschoolers is still involuntary. The child distinguishes objects from the total mass depending on their brightness, contrast, and difference from the main background. And only later does it acquire the features of intentionality. The parent begins to notice that the child prefers to strictly observe certain objects on which his activity is directed. Now he sees not only what is catchy, new and bright, but what is of interest to him.

Test for knowledge of names of objects

Despite the fact that in the preschool period the development and improvement of both involuntary and voluntary attention occurs, the main emphasis should be placed on the development of the second.

In order to teach a child to highlight the significant, “pushing” the less significant into the background, it is necessary to take into account the following.

For the development of voluntary attention, it is necessary that the child’s activity be directed. That is, when starting to carry out this or that activity, he must have a fairly clear idea of the desired result. This will allow the child to keep his attention on it and control distractions in the process.
Considering that at first it will be difficult for a child to carry out directed activities independently, at first he will need fairly simple, but clear and detailed instructions from an adult. Thanks to this, he will be able to get an idea not only of the goal, but also of the ways to achieve it. It is most desirable that the stages on the way to achieving it - small tasks and their results - be presented clearly. For example, when asking a child to do some kind of craft, it is best to do it with him, showing preliminary results and allowing the child to compare what he did with the standard. This will keep the child’s attention for a long time and keep it until the very end.

Attentiveness test for 6-year-old children
Voluntary attention of preschoolers develops on the basis of involuntary attention. That is why the objects that children will deal with during classes should be bright, unusual, novel, or of interest to him.

Memory development in preschool age

A kind of “starting point” for the development of voluntary memory in a child is considered to be the age of three years. It is from this period that most people begin to remember events related to their lives. However, memory in preschool age also has its own distinctive features. Firstly, like many other cognitive processes at this stage, it is involuntary. The child cannot yet control it, and memorization obeys a simple law: of all the stimuli affecting the child, only one, but the strongest, is remembered. Secondly, the child’s memory is situational in nature - when remembering something, the child can mention the circumstances accompanying the memorization process.

Development of attentiveness and motor skills in the game

It is involuntary memorization that has the most significant impact on the child’s activities.

However, the features of the development of cognitive memory processes in preschoolers are already beginning to be distinguished by the following features:

Isolating the object of memorization from the memorization situation itself
Using reliance on the sequence of events and building simple logical connections.
Strength of memory and the ability to retain information in memory for a certain time.
Using the simplest elements of voluntary memorization.

Studying nature develops memory
Just like for developing any other processes, first you need to use bright, contrasting objects. And also gradually move from visual objects to the perception of memorized material by ear. Excellent tools for the development of auditory memory in the preschool period are learning short children's poems and retelling the plot of favorite fairy tales.

Towards the end of preschool childhood, the child begins to show the rudiments of logical memory, which is built on the child’s understanding of the connections that exist between objects and phenomena. Now the child can remember larger amounts of information and more effectively apply the experience gained in practice.

Imagination in the preschool period

Despite the fact that children are always distinguished by a bright, developed imagination, this ability to process and recombine existing information does not come to them immediately.

At the very beginning of its development, imagination is built on joint work with the parent. And only then it is transformed into a process carried out on the basis of speech without the need to carry out any physical actions.

Modeling with plasticine develops imagination

In order for the imagination to be formed as effectively as possible, it is advisable for an adult to complement the images created by the child with specific details, giving them completeness. Then the child begins to “complete” the elements independently, combining the disparate elements of the picture into a single whole. And, perceiving information by ear, he learns to present it in the form of a visual, sensory or any other image. The child learns objectification and substitution. This feature of preschoolers is especially evident in story games, where, for example, a stick, depending on the conditions, can easily begin to be used both as a spoon for a doll and as a pistol. The child also begins to actively use schematization and detailing, coming up with all sorts of actions and functions, both for objects and their substitutes.

Schematization is expressed in the transfer of already familiar patterns of actions learned by the child to qualitatively new conditions. Detailing is manifested in the desire to supplement each action with new lines and voice intonations. The same plot can be played out differently in new conditions.

Games with cards develop attentiveness and imagination.
As we have already mentioned, the imagination of preschoolers already has a verbal form. Often this leads to the formation of a tendency to lies and fears: moving away from reality as much as possible, the child not only begins to create a new reality, but also to believe in it. However, at the age of 5 years, he already begins to clearly distinguish reality from fiction. Imaginary plots begin to be built on a certain logic and, over time, become as close to reality as possible. Attempts to build cause-and-effect relationships are traced. Realizing that he can easily be caught in a lie, the child begins to avoid it and understand what its harm is.

A great way to develop imagination is a construction set

Thanks to imagination, the child has the opportunity to experience new sensations, gain ground for self-expression and self-realization. It is on this feature that cognitive, creative, and play activities will be built in the future.

Until about 6 years of age, imagination is largely involuntary. The imagination acquires features of arbitrariness in older preschool age.

The concept and essence of cognitive activity of a preschooler

The following levels of cognitive activity of preschool children are distinguished:

The first level is reproductive activity. It is characterized by the child’s efforts to understand, remember, reproduce knowledge, and master the method of applying it according to a model. This stage is characterized by the inconstancy of the child’s volitional efforts, lack of interest in deepening knowledge, and the absence of the question “Why?”

The second level is interpretive activity. This activity is characterized by the child’s effort to find the meaning of the content being studied, the desire to identify connections between phenomena and processes, and master ways of applying knowledge in changed conditions. An indicator of interpretive activity, according to the scientist, can be a greater stability of volitional effort, which is expressed in the fact that the child makes an effort to complete the task, does not refuse to complete the task when it is difficult, but looks for ways to solve it.

The third level is creative activity, which is characterized by the child’s interest and desire not only to deeply penetrate into the essence of phenomena and their relationships, but also to find a new path for them [4, p. 188]. A characteristic feature of this level of activity is the manifestation of the child’s high volitional qualities, perseverance and perseverance in achieving goals, and broad and strong cognitive interests. This level of activity is achieved by exciting a high degree of discrepancy between what the child knew, what he had already encountered in his experience, and new information, a new phenomenon.

Thus, cognitive activity is a personal formation, an active state that expresses the child’s intellectual and emotional reaction to the learning process: the desire for knowledge, mental stress, the manifestation of volitional efforts in the process of acquiring knowledge, the child’s responsiveness to the learning process, the completion of individual and general tasks, interest in the activities of adults and other children. Animation material is a creative, purposeful activity during which children learn more about the phenomena of the surrounding reality in an entertaining way. Incorporating engaging material into classes makes learning fun, creates a joyful work environment, and helps children overcome learning difficulties. The use of entertaining material is justified only if it is closely related to the topic of the lesson, organically combined with educational material and consistent with didactic goals.

Researchers offer definitions for the following types of entertainment materials.

A riddle is an image or expression that needs to be solved or interpreted.

A phrase is a specially invented phrase with a complex selection of sounds, a quickly pronounced humorous statement.

A rebus is a riddle in which a word or phrase is represented by a combination of numbers, letters or symbols.

A proverb is a short folk saying with edifying content, a popular aphorism.

A proverb is a short, stable expression, usually figurative, which, unlike a saying, is not a complete statement.

A quiz is a game with answers to questions, usually related to a common theme.

Crossword is a task game in which a figure from rows of empty cells is filled with crossed out words with meanings specified by the game conditions.

Chainword is a game task in which the cells in a chain are filled with words in such a way that the last letter of one word introduces the next one.

Charade is a riddle in which the hidden word is divided into several parts - individual words; such a mystery is presented in vivid scenes.

A competition is a competition whose purpose is to reward the best participants and the best works [11, p. 39].

Entertaining material is considered one of the means to ensure a rational balance between the teacher’s work in the classroom and outside it. Such material can be included in the main part of the lesson or used at the end of the lesson when children's mental activity weakens. Elements of entertainment: games, everything unusual and unexpected awaken a sense of wonder in children, helping them cope with any educational material.

The formation of thinking in preschool age

Children are inquisitive. Studying the world around them, they note its distinctive features and ask questions related to it. By observing cause-and-effect relationships, they begin to understand over time why certain events occur.

The main types of thinking that function in the period of preschool childhood are visual-effective, verbal-logical and figurative.

Test for attentiveness and level of thinking

Visual-effective thinking is used to solve problems that are performed using objects or tools. A clearly defined practical result is achieved, most often by trial and error. However, as the problem becomes more complex, solving it this way becomes impossible.

It is then that the child begins to develop imaginative thinking. It is necessary in cases where the situation goes somewhat beyond the child’s personal experience. However, conclusions are based on properties visible to the eye, and often do not obey not only logic, but even general grounds. And yet, it is on the basis of imaginative thinking that attempts at qualification and generalization are built; the child learns to perform simple operations. imaginative thinking also largely serves as the basis for intuition and experience. Then the child learns to use diagrams and learns the relationships between sizes, shapes and colors. He develops the rudiments of logical thinking, allowing him not only to solve problems, but also to explain how this happens.

But before this happens, the child will need to acquire the skill of working with both real available objects and their substitutes, or symbols, drawings, or just names. The child develops a conceptual apparatus that allows him to solve emerging problems without the use of objects and images that replace them.

Exercises for mastering concepts
Mastering concepts occurs in the process of targeted learning. At the initial stages, work is done with a large number of visual aids. For example, when talking about the life of animals and birds, it is necessary to have pictures with you that illustrate different aspects of their life. And when learning basic arithmetic operations, it is best to perform them with chips or cards. Then the need to use them will disappear, and the child will perform all actions independently in his mind.

A good indicator of a child’s level of logical thinking is his ability to find and explain mistakes or absurdities, as well as his reactions to jokes.

Playing with sand and small objects greatly helps develop thinking

These features also indicate the child’s intellectual readiness for school. An important role is also played by the child’s attempts to carry out his own cognitive activity, connecting and separating objects, observing the behavior of people or animals, and mixing substances.

Speech features of preschool age

The preschool period is marked by the most intensive development of various aspects of speech. The vocabulary expands, attempts are made to communicate both with the child’s immediate environment and with new people still unfamiliar to him. In general, during this period it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

Speech development games

Enrichment of active vocabulary . During preschool childhood, vocabulary increases in volume almost three times. The use of various parts of speech begins, generic concepts are acquired and enriched. Thanks to this, the world around the child becomes more systematized: he already understands that in front of him is not just a “tree”, but an apple tree, willow, or birch. That mom brought from the store not just a toy, but a doll or a ball.
Mastering the correct grammatical structure of speech . The child learns to decline nouns by case, to agree words in gender, number and case. At the age of 4 years, a child already begins to speak with a certain intonation, which gives the speech certain emotional shades. Children begin to notice the similarities and differences between words; create new ones based on existing ones, which often looks ridiculous. The child begins to notice sounds that are pronounced incorrectly and makes his first attempts to correct his mistakes.
Understanding the phonemic composition of a word . Thanks to this, the child masters the verbal composition of speech and begins to understand what sounds a particular word consists of. However, it is still difficult for him to identify the first and last word in a sentence, as well as the first and last sound in a word.
Awareness of the function of speech and its role in human life . At preschool age, the child begins to regard speech as a means of communication. It begins to have an explanatory character, becomes richer and wider. Gradually, the child begins to understand another function of speech, which serves for thinking. there is a transition from egocentric speech to internal speech; its content becomes aimed at planning activities in the future.

Tips for parents on the development of a child’s speech
It is important to note that it is the child’s perception of adults’ speech and the development of his own that plays a decisive role in the development of many other cognitive processes of a preschooler.

And if we say that the development of cognitive processes in both primary and senior preschool age is largely determined by speech, this will not be an exaggeration. It is through clarification, explanation, correction that an adult has the opportunity to direct their development. And also receive “feedback” from the child, assessing how effectively the training is going.

The more you work with children, the faster they develop

The general characteristics of the development of cognitive processes in preschool age are as follows:

The preschooler's perception of objects in the surrounding world becomes more developed; the child no longer just takes a quick glance at them, but tries to carefully examine them, peering into the details.
Observing objects and phenomena, the child tries to establish cause-and-effect relationships and learn their properties.
Thanks to an increase in memory capacity, a preschooler is already able to remember the plots of fairy tales and learn short poems by heart.
Speech can be used not only to communicate with others, but also to control one’s behavior.
The child begins to listen to the instructions of adults and follow the instructions given by them.
Imagination becomes more developed; the child begins to clearly distinguish between reality and fiction, truth and lies.

The importance of entertaining material in the development of cognitive activity of preschool children

Any logical ingenuity task, no matter what age it is designed for, involves a certain mental load, which is often masked by an entertaining plot, external data, the conditions of the task, and so on. The mental challenge of creating or modifying a character, finding a solution, guessing a number is playfully translated into game actions. Ingenuity, resourcefulness, and initiative are manifested in active mental activity based on direct interest.

The variety of entertaining material - games, tasks, puzzles - serves as the basis for their classification, although it is quite difficult to classify such diverse material created by mathematicians, teachers and methodologists into groups. It can be classified according to several criteria: content and meaning, the nature of mental operations, as well as the focus on developing certain skills.

Based on the logic of the actions performed by the person who solves the problem, a variety of entertainment material can be classified into 3 main groups: Fun, mathematical games and tasks, educational (didactic) games and exercises. The basis for the classification of these groups is the nature and purpose of the material of one type or another.

Of all the variety of entertaining mathematical material in preschool age, didactic games are the most common. Their main goal is exercises in discrimination, identification, naming the number of objects, numbers, geometric shapes, directions, etc. Didactic games have the opportunity to form new knowledge and introduce children to the possibilities of action. Each game solves a specific problem of improving children’s mathematical (quantitative, spatial, temporal) concepts [6, p.83].

Didactic games are included in the training content as one of the means of implementing program tasks. The place of a didactic game in the structure of a lesson on the formation of elementary mathematical concepts is determined by the age of the children, the purpose, task and content of the lesson. It can be used as a learning task, an exercise, to complete a specific concept formation task.

Didactic games and game exercises with mathematical content are the most well-known and frequently used types of entertaining mathematical material in modern preschool education practice. In the process of teaching preschoolers, mathematical games take a direct part in learning, being a means of forming new knowledge, expanding, clarifying, and consolidating educational material.

In an integrated approach to the formation and education of preschool children in modern practice, an important role belongs to entertaining and educational games, tasks, and entertainment. They are interesting for children and emotionally captivating. And the process of solving, finding an answer based on interest in the problem is impossible without the active work of the mind. This situation explains the importance of exciting tasks for the mental and all-round development of children. Through games and exercises with exciting mathematical material, children acquire the ability to independently find solutions. Systematic practice of solving problems in this way develops mental activity, independent thinking, a creative attitude to a learning task, and initiative [19, p. 125].

Activating the cognitive activity of preschoolers is unthinkable without the use of entertaining games, tasks, and entertainment. Thus, the role of simple entertainment material is determined taking into account the age capabilities of children and the tasks of comprehensive development and education:

activate their mental activity,
stimulate their intellectual activity and interest in the subject,
exciting and interesting,
develop your mind, expand and deepen your understanding,
consolidate acquired knowledge and skills, practice them in other activities and new conditions.