So elementary school is over. This, at first glance, a simple event is fraught with quite a few problem stones. And most importantly, parents forget that this event is associated with the end of childhood in children.
After the summer holidays, children go to school in a new quality, middle-level students. They feel older. Their first day at school is more like a state of euphoria. After all, the students met after a long vacation. They have something to talk about with each other, they have something to share. Children experience an influx of energy and strength, it seems to them that they are ready to accept all the innovations that have appeared in school life. But such a condition lasts, as a rule, not for long, about 1-2 weeks, no more. And then the mood drops sharply, especially after the first independent and control. A wave of "joyless" everyday life, lower grades than they were in elementary school, are rolling on students. And with this, fear also passes: “What will father and mother say?” And then the most difficult period of adaptation begins.
Parents can often tell a lot about how their child got used to kindergarten, how many problems with adaptation were when he went to first grade. But if you ask them about a fifth-grader child and his problems with adaptation at school, such a question can be bewildering. Parents simply do not know about these problems, believing that the child is already an adult and is able to solve them himself. But just this period, coinciding with the beginning of the transition to adolescence, is very difficult in school life. The child has already grown up, has become independent, but nevertheless, the adaptation of a fifth grader in school requires tangible help from the parents.
The transition to the secondary school level for any child is an important stage in his life. He is experiencing a certain kind of stress, because now the conditions of his training are undergoing changes, it is necessary to adapt to them. How successful this adjustment will be depends on many factors and not only on the child himself.
What is adaptation and maladaptation?
In simple words, adaptation is the body’s ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. This term can be attributed to both a physiological state and a psychological one. Talk about the latter.
The psychological adaptation of fifth graders is the ability of students to invent new ways of behavior, depending on the situation, that is, to be flexible. In this case, flexibility should be understood as a personal quality. Its presence depends on various factors, but primarily on life experience.
Adaptation of fifth graders is a complex process that, for certain reasons, may fail. And then the opposite effect occurs, called maladaptation.
Types of maladaptation in fifth graders
- Emotional - manifests itself in anxious behavior, in feelings about school activities, an inexplicable fear of a teacher or classmates.
- Behavioral - the child behaves inappropriately: shows aggression, lack of discipline, often becomes the instigator of the conflict.
- Intellectual - characterized by a low motivational level regarding studies, unwillingness to continue training.
- Communicative - expressed in an anxious and closed state, which does not allow the child to effectively build relationships with adults and peers.
Factors Affecting the Adaptation of Fifth Graders
An analysis of the adaptation of fifth graders shows that there are certain factors that directly affect the success of this process. It is very important for both parents and teachers to be knowledgeable in this area in order to be able to help the child in time. Adaptation of fifth graders is conditionally divided into external and internal.
External adaptation factors include
- The impact of environmental conditions.
- Features of the organization of the learning process.
- Competence of pedagogical influences.
- Adequacy of training requirements.
- Features of parenting in the family.
- Ability to engage in extracurricular activities.
Internal adaptation factors include
- Features of the child’s personal warehouse: sociability, a tendency to manifest independence and organization.
- Health status.
- The degree of development of the intellectual sphere.
- Motivation for learning.
- The ability to maintain performance at a high level for a long period of time.
Signs of successful and unsuccessful adaptation
There are a number of signs that you can focus on when analyzing the adaptation of fifth graders. This is necessary in order to timely detect the problem and be able to help the child in a timely manner.
Characteristic signs of successful adaptation
- Satisfaction of the child with social contacts and interpersonal communication within the school team.
- Positive attitude of the student to the process of conducting lessons.
- The child does not have any special difficulties in mastering the educational material.
- A sufficient level of independence in the preparation of homework.
Signs of maladaptation include
- Disorders of a psychophysiological nature (anxiety sleep, heavy rise in the morning, frequent headache, lethargic state, chronic fatigue).
- Dissatisfaction with relations with classmates, fear of the teacher.
- Hiding emotions, reluctance to talk about your impressions.
Why are there difficulties in adapting fifth graders
The transition to high school is a period when the child gradually begins to strive for an independent solution to life's difficulties and tasks. It must be remembered that the adaptation of fifth graders in school is associated with changes not only in the physiological plane, but also in the mental. The manifesting sense of growing up forces the child to uphold his independence. Along with this, there is a desire to resist the advice and guidance of elders, denying almost any of their influence.
Since the fifth grader is on the verge of transitional age, he has a desire to stand out among the school team, to become a standard for others. For this, the child begins to look for that character or family member on whom he could keep an equal, imitate him.
During this period, the child appears criticality, which is closely related to the emerging self-esteem. The rudiments of reflection (a tendency to introspection, self-education) arise. On the basis of reflection and the emerging theoretical kind of thinking, the child develops his own opinion and idea on various issues.
The role of parents in the adaptation process
At the beginning of the school year, it is advisable for teachers to hold a special parent meeting. Adaptation of fifth graders is a rather multi-structural process that affects all the child's life systems. Therefore, at this parental meeting most attention should be paid to this topic. It is very important that the class teacher is able to correctly convey to parents all the nuances and aspects of such a difficult process as adaptation to the middle link. Indeed, most of the successful course of adaptation of a child depends on parents.
Parents should know that during this period the child needs their support, in particular, unconditional acceptance of himself and his actions. Do not blame the child too much for misconduct or for an unsatisfactory rating. It will be much better if the parents go to meet their child and try to help him correct the situation. Adaptation of fifth graders in the school will be much more successful if parents can create a clear daily routine for their child and carefully monitor its implementation.
How teachers can help
The process of getting used to the changes should be comprehensive, and for its successful passage the help of subject teachers, as well as the class teacher, is necessary. In August, before the start of the school year, teachers should have a teacher's council on the adaptation of fifth graders, at which urgent issues should be considered within the framework of this topic.
In order to prevent the possible occurrence of an uncomfortable state in children, the class teacher should first of all take care of creating an optimal psychological climate in the classroom. This can be achieved if, when seating children at their desks, try to take into account their psychological compatibility, the wishes of the parents, as well as the individual characteristics of each. It will also be useful for the children to take a short tour of the classrooms in which they will study. Such tactics will help relieve tension and excessive anxiety in students.
In addition, do not forget that the parent meeting plays an important role in solving the difficulties of the adaptation period. Adaptation of fifth graders should be one of the key issues that should be covered throughout the entire adaptation period, which lasts about a year.
Important aspects of psychological diagnosis
An important role is played by the diagnosis of adaptation of fifth graders. The methods that are used for this purpose are designed not only to show the current state of the child, but also to help predict the occurrence of future problems. In addition, such techniques can provide information on the reasons that do not allow adaptation processes to proceed successfully.
It is clear that all methods should be carried out by a specialist with a psychological education. On the basis of the work done, he must draw up a special reference document, entitled "Adaptation of fifth graders." Help of this kind may include a program to study this phenomenon, a listing of the methods used, as well as interpretation with the results and basic recommendations to teachers and parents.
The psychologist needs to remember that all methods must be valid, that is, correspond to the age characteristics of children, as well as the problem being studied. Otherwise, the psychologist will receive distorted diagnostic results, his help in this case will be zero.
Questionnaires that can be used in this case
Undoubtedly, one of the most complex processes that occur in the life of the school is the adaptation of fifth graders. Diagnostics in this case should include diverse tests and techniques. Various questionnaires have proven themselves very well. It must be said right away that the teachers' council for the adaptation of fifth graders, of course, gives teachers an idea of ​​what signs correspond to successfully passed adaptation of students. But it is impossible to rely only on the knowledge of teachers in assessing the psychological state of schoolchildren, so the use of methods becomes necessary.
Questionnaires
- "Attitude to academic subjects."
- “Feelings at school.”
- “Features of an ideal teacher.”
The questionnaire “Attitude to educational subjects”, as a rule, provides information on the inclinations and abilities of the child. Thanks to the “Feelings at School” questionnaire, you can determine the level of adaptation of an entire class, rather than a single student. “Features of an ideal teacher” is a technique that can help identify teacher mistakes that impede the successful adaptation of students.
Methodology “Colored letters”
Do not forget that during the transition to the middle link the child experiences a lot of stress, which is called "adaptation of fifth graders". The methods work very well if they are aimed at the unconscious sphere of the child. One such option is the Color Writing method. It enables the psychologist to obtain information about the presence of psychological comfort or discomfort among students in a variety of lessons. In addition, using this technique, you can identify the most stressful school activities for each individual child.
The test is provided in the form of a form on which the names of the studied school subjects are imprinted on the left side, and a chain of empty squares is printed on the right. The psychologist asks the students to take colored pencils and opposite each subject to paint over the square with any color. Colors used may be repeated. After that, the specialist processes the data obtained, based on the color values ​​according to Luscher, and also prescribes recommendations for the adaptation of fifth graders. The recommendations of the psychologist should be strictly followed by teachers and parents, as this can greatly help the child.
“An open letter to parents”
The process that occurs during the transition of children from junior to secondary is the inevitable adaptation of fifth graders. Diagnosis must necessarily be based on a comprehensive study of a particular class or individual child. To obtain objective results, it is necessary to use several techniques at the same time.
“An open letter to parents” is a technique that is aimed at the conscious sphere of the student. It is one of the most commonly used, because usually with parents the child may be more frank than with other adults. This makes it possible to obtain accurate results.
The student’s response form contains the beginning of sentences that he needs to continue. They are all focused on his school life. In particular, this test provides information on some levels of adaptation, usually social and psychological. In addition, this technique reveals the characteristics of the student’s relationship with classmates and teachers, and in some cases helps to identify the causes of maladaptation.
We must not forget that the psychologist should strive for the comprehensive conduct of work, which is the diagnosis of adaptation of fifth graders. Methods should be selected very competently, taking into account the age characteristics of children.
Phillips test
This technique is very relevant for fifth graders, since most often they experience a feeling of uncertainty, fear, excitement, which, of course, negatively affects their general well-being and the process of assimilation of knowledge.
The Phillips technique is used to determine the level of anxiety of children associated with being in an educational institution, and also gives an idea of ​​the possible causes of this condition. This test is very detailed can answer the question of how well the adaptation of fifth graders is successful. The technique works equally effectively for both middle and primary school age. The test has 58 questions, so it should be carried out when students are not very tired of the lessons. Students must give either a positive or negative answer to each question. After carrying out the methodology, the psychologist calculates the results obtained using the key to the test, and compiles the interpretation. It is very convenient to provide already processed data in a diagrammatic form, so the difference in indicators will be immediately noticeable.
Such a problem as the adaptation of fifth graders requires increased attention from both teachers and parents. This process cannot be left to chance, it is imperative to monitor the child’s mental comfort and try to control his emotional state. After all, not only the quality of the current knowledge acquired by him, but also the attitude to school and work as a whole depends on how successfully this stage is completed in the child’s life.