Fashion or skills for the future: how technology is helping early learning

What is early learning 

It is important to distinguish between the concepts of “early learning” and “early development”, which

often confused, mixed up and used in inappropriate meanings.

The early development of a child occurs at the age ofyear to three years. During this period, the baby is actively developing: mastering large motor skills, speech, objective activity. It does not require special tools or classes. This development is inherent in human nature and occurs by itself if the child grows up in favorable conditions - in an atmosphere of love, care and support.

Early learning is directedactivities when a child masters knowledge: learns to read, write and count, remembers terms, learns a foreign language. Usually this is all the knowledge that the child must further master at school. That is, there is no strict need to give this knowledge to a preschooler.

But lately parents tend to educatechildren as early as possible, showing babies cards with letters and introducing foreign languages ​​even before the child has learned to speak their native language. This trend began with the emergence of new generations of parents, educated, reading books on parenting and advice from psychologists, saying that "it's too late after three." Indeed, new discoveries of scientists say that the brain perfectly absorbs information in the first years of life. What to do: educate the child from birth or wait until school? Of course, early learning has its pros and cons that are important to consider.

“Recently, parents are trying to educate their children as early as possible, showing babies cards with letters and introducing foreign languages ​​even before the child has learned to speak their native language”

Pros and cons of early learning

The brain easily absorbs information.The human brain is designed so that in the first three yearslife, he is as productive as possible, capable of rapid development and assimilation of various information. During this period, the child masters the world: learns to navigate in space, develops motor skills and speech. It is extremely important to provide the child with opportunities for this development and not interfere with him. Now is the time to touch and taste everything, learn colors and objects from the surrounding reality, communicate, learn about the surrounding space. The more knowledge about the world the child masters at this time, the easier it will be for him further. This is the base on which the rest of the knowledge will be layered in the future. But it is important to remember that this knowledge should correspond to the age and needs of the child.

Some knowledge can crowd out other, more important ones.When parents begin to learn letters, whilewithout giving him the opportunity to master the basics, the brain learns them, but knowledge takes the place of the basic ones, the result is problems in the future. In order not to harm the child, it is important to competently approach the process of his education, to observe the principle of harmony.

How to use early learning wisely 

Any training must be age appropriate,Otherwise, you can not only not benefit, but also harm. In the first months of life, the child needs care, the touch of his parents, the opportunity to hear the voices of loved ones, it is better to wait a little with developing cards. At three years old, the child should already be sufficiently socialized - here the way parents talk to him plays an important role, at this time he actively learns to interact. At 4-5 years old, the kid is already actively reaching for more scientific knowledge; here, only the game form of education, which was necessary earlier, is not always needed. All this depends on the characteristics of the brain and on the phases of its development.

Recent studies have shown that parts of the braindevelop in a certain order. The first are those that are responsible for feelings, emotions, movements, perception of space, memory and attention. And only after their development comes the time for the parts of the brain responsible for controlling speech, reading and writing.

When we force, for example, a child to read intoo young, when critical parts of his brain have not yet matured, and we replace the functions necessary for life with the skill of reading, we put an impossible task on his brain. Such actions have consequences - energy stealing of the brain occurs, its plasticity decreases.

“Education must still be age-appropriate”

The Consequences of Energy Stealing the Brainmay be different, depending on which part of the brain is affected. For example, a child may be clumsy, unable to perform the simplest household activities, not independent, although at the same time he will demonstrate scientific talents unusual for his age.

The consequences are often not immediately apparent.Sometimes an intellectually developed, successful, completely healthy child at school age develops various nervous disorders, fears, emotional breakdowns, and inexplicable aggression.

That is why training should still be age appropriate. Keep this in mind when asking your child to complete a task.

Learning should be fun

Learning should be a hobbyan exciting adventure, and not something that parents force you to do, or something that punishes you. (For example, the phrase “behaved badly - read 5 pages in a book and solve three math problems”).

You need to select tasks that are age-appropriate:as short and playful as possible for kids and a little more serious for older children. The game is the main form of activity of preschoolers, it is with its help that they learn about the world and learn. A three-year-old child should not be seated at a desk and put boring notebooks in front of him.

Older children can be taught with the help of gadgets.Of course, you should not give them a tablet with games or cartoons for several hours, but you can find something useful on the Internet. There are special educational online platforms that have interesting tasks not only for schoolchildren, but also for preschoolers. For example, on the iSmart platform, tasks are presented in the form of colorful interactive simulators with gamification elements: children upgrade their character, earn virtual rewards, while acquiring new knowledge - they learn to read and write, count and develop speech, learn the secrets of nature, and also develop critical thinking skills. thinking, logic and independence.

Learning should be a joyful event for children.Choose what the child likes, what captivates him and corresponds to his hobbies and tastes, even if it sometimes seems that modern cartoon characters are not as good as the heroes of your childhood.

“Older children can be taught with the help of gadgets”

Remember the sense of proportion

Often, parents who teach children from an early age are faced with the fact that by school, children begin to dislike learning, rebel, and refuse to complete assignments. 

The reasons may be different.Sometimes children get so tired of pre-school education, which deprived them of simple childhood joys, that they lose all interest in the world around them. In other cases, they acquire a strong sense of dislike for any education, if the parents behaved too persistently, forced to study, devoted a lot of time to study. There is a third option - the child knows too much, he becomes uninteresting in his peers.

Therefore, it is necessary to correctly allocate time foreducation. For example, to prepare a preschooler for entering the first grade, it is enough to set aside 10-15 minutes a day for classes on the iSmart platform. The child will not have time to get tired during this time, but he will be able to acquire new knowledge.

In a situation where the child is too developed forof his age, you should not, of course, artificially slow down his development, help him in another way. Find the right school or class for the right environment for him. Schools with in-depth study of any subjects or teachers who specialize in working with gifted children are suitable for you.

How does early learning affect a child's future?

The main task of the parent is not to make the childknew as much as possible as early as possible, but in making his brain as plastic as possible. So in the future, he will be able to acquire new knowledge faster and easier and adapt to any conditions of a changing reality. For this, the principle of "everything in its time" works.

Early learning can be a useful investment inthe future of the child, if this tool is used wisely. It is necessary to take into account age characteristics, interests and desires, features of his character. It is necessary to teach a child in an interesting and fun way and do not forget to give the opportunity to be just a child: to play and discover the world.

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