The problem of the child’s readiness for the schooling process is gaining its relevance already since the graduation groups of kindergarten. An even more acute problem of diagnosing psychological maturity is the education of children in schools from the age of six.
Definition
School maturity is a concept of psychological and pedagogical nature. First of all, it means compliance with a certain physical level and social development with the specific requirements of pedagogy. School readiness includes several components. This is physiological, and psychological, and social readiness.
The Importance of Psychological Preparedness
The determination of school maturity must be carried out until September, before the child goes to first grade. It often happens that when a first-grader enters school, he is able to count and write, but he is not yet ready internally and psychologically to study at school. Parents most often pay attention to the child’s intellectual readiness, completely forgetting about such an indicator as emotional and social readiness to study in school, because it is these aspects that ensure the success of training.
Matching the level of the child
Vygotsky wrote that in the process of child development there are optimal terms for various types of education. This means that at certain age stages, teaching a particular subject or knowledge is easier and more fruitful, which is why timely assessment of school maturity is so important.
It is known that until four months of age it is ineffective to teach babies speech, and hardly a two-year-old child will begin to teach literacy. All for the reason that at this age the child has not yet matured for this. He simply does not have those functions that are needed for this type of training.
Availability Components
School maturity is the achievement by a child of such a level of development of the psyche that provides him with the ability to take a direct part in the process of schooling.
This means that there are many objective reasons that can complicate the process of mastering school skills by a child. They are based on the physiology of the brain, namely the immaturity of cortical and regulatory structures. Thus, the concept of "school maturity" is based on the psychological components, and on the physiology of the child, and on his biological readiness for study.
Training sessions must be organized strictly with in accordance with the opportunities that the child has at this stage. On the threshold of school, the child must be mature:
- physically,
- mentally,
- emotionally
- socially.
If parents and teachers prioritize mental (or intellectual) development , then the child’s health and mental readiness are out of sight. This refers not only to physical health, but also to social. School readiness and school maturity are synonymous terms, they include the whole range of indicators. An intellectually prepared child will not become successful if he does not have social or emotional maturity. Psychologists unanimously argue: it is better that the child is a little short of a high level of intellectual development, but he will not have symptoms of neurotic stuttering. We are not talking about those children who have already reached school maturity.
This is an indicator that must be assessed by each parent before sending a child after reaching a certain age to school. Let her daughter better not claim the title of "Miss Best First Grader", but she will have nervous tics. Over time, success will come, and the difficulties of social adaptation in the first grade can have a negative impact on all subsequent education.
Maturity Levels: High Availability
The school maturity of a child is an indicator that has four levels. High is distinguished by the presence of the following skills and properties in a child:
- good physical development;
- readiness of the child’s hands for writing;
- the ability to accurately copy a printed or written test;
- ability to work with scissors;
- good hearing;
- wide enough horizons, general awareness;
- rich vocabulary;
- ability to read by syllables;
- the child understands the figurative meaning of proverbs;
- knows the numbers;
- regulates his behavior;
- has a steady desire to go to study.
Average level
At this level, the child can also be considered ready for school.
He suggests:
- readiness of the hand for writing;
- good hearing;
- knowledge of poems, fairy tales, good vocabulary;
- the child hears a fairy tale or story and after reading it to adults can answer simple questions;
- knows numbers and counts within 10;
- arbitrarily regulates his behavior;
- with little help from an adult, he is able to solve educational problems.
Below average
At this stage, schooling can create significant difficulties for the child. It is characterized by:
- satisfactory or good physical development;
- the ability to satisfactorily copy printed or written letters;
- poorly developed speech;
- the ability to establish obvious similarities and differences in concepts, to carry out simple generalization operations (for example, combine pictures on the basis of the "animals" or "plants" principle);
- unstable desire to learn.
Low level
It is not recommended to send children to school at this level. The main properties and signs of it are as follows:
- good or satisfactory physical development;
- narrow horizons;
- lack of readiness for writing;
- small vocabulary;
- the ability to retell the text only with the assistance of an adult;
- poor motivation to study;
- lack of skills of arbitrary activity.
Kern-Irazek method of school maturity
To determine the level of preparedness of the child, it will be most convenient for parents to use the Kern-Irazek test. It consists of three parts:
- draw a person;
- copy words written by hand;
- draw ten points that are arranged in the form of a pentagon.
Performing these tasks allows you to get an idea of the level of mental development of the child, his motor skills, thinking.
To conduct this test, take a blank sheet of paper and a pen (pencil). On the left, an adult writes a simple phrase: "He ate soup." The size of the main letter should be approximately 1.5 cm, and the rest should be 1 cm.
Then draw ten points in the shape of a rectangle. The distance between them should be approximately 1 cm, and the diameter should be 2 mm.
The child is asked to depict on the clean side of a man: "Please draw a man as good as you can." If the kid wants to draw a woman, it is necessary to insist that it is the man who needs to be portrayed, but the adult should not prompt.
After a short rest they give the second task: “Look at the phrase on the left side of the sheet. You have not yet learned to write, but now try - maybe it will work out. Look carefully at what is written here, and write right next to it on the right. ”
They give the following instruction to the final task: “Dots are drawn here. Try to portray the same next. "
In this case, the child must be praised, not urged to allow him to make corrections.
When the baby succeeds in completing all the tasks, the results should be evaluated. It is optimal to do this together with the teacher, but you can conduct the assessment yourself. A five-point scale is used, where the highest score is 1 and the worst is 5.
Assessment of the task "Draw a man"
It is made as follows.
- 1 point - the head, limbs, trunk are well drawn. There is a neck. The size of the head does not exceed the body, it shows the details (eyes, mouth, nose). There are hands. The figure has appropriate men's clothing. The picture was made in a synthetic way (it is clear that the legs are growing from the body, and not just attached to the upper part).
- 2 points - all requirements are met, except for the synthetic method.
- 3 points - the figure has a head, limbs, trunk. The figure has no hair, ears, etc.
- 4 points - a primitive image with a head and torso. The limbs are drawn using only single lines.
- 5 points - there is no clear drawing of the body.
Copy words
Evaluated as follows:
- 1 point - the phrase is copied completely and accurately. The letters of the child may be larger, but they exceed the pattern no more than twice. The phrase begins with a capital letter, all three words on a horizontal line are depicted. From it there may be a deviation up or down, however, no more than 30 ° .
- 2 points - the sample is written off well. The phrase can be larger than more than twice, go up or down;
- 3 points - there is a breakdown into three words. At least four letters are spelled out clearly;
- 4 points - coincidence with a sample of two letters;
- 5 points - scribbles.
Point drawing
Evaluated as follows:
- 1 point - the order is copied, deviations from the sample are negligible. There may be an increase or decrease, but no more than two times. The figure is parallel to the sample.
- 2 points - the location of the points corresponds. Deviations of not more than three points by such a distance that does not exceed half the original distance between points on the sample.
- 3 points - in general, the image corresponds to the sample, it is no more than the original more than twice. The number of points may not match. Their number should not exceed 20 and be less than 7.
- 4 points - the general contour does not correspond, but consists of points.
- 5 points - scribbles.
School maturity is an indicator that assumes from 3 to 15 points in total for this test. Its level is calculated as follows:
- 3-6 points - a high level of psychological maturity;
- 7-12 - medium;
- 13-15 - low level, the need to consult a specialist.
Diagnosis of school maturity allows you to determine the features of the development of the child in time. It often turns out that the documentary age does not correspond to the psychological and social. Therefore, parents should pay attention in advance not only to the intellect of the child, but also to his other abilities. If necessary, corrective work is carried out with a psychologist, which avoids the difficulties in teaching a younger student.