Early childhood - what is it? General characteristics, features and stages of development

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

It is important for every parent to know what stages of development a baby goes through in early childhood. After all, the whole life of a person is divided into numerous phases, which differ in their features of the formation of personality. Each stage must take place in its own time.

Therefore, it is very important what needs a child experiences in early childhood. This is the period when it is formed not only physically, but also psychologically. The kid begins to discover a new world and get to know him.

General information

Early childhood is the period from 1 to 3 years. In this period of their lives, boys and girls begin to follow different psychological directions of development. This means that their leading activity begins to differ. In the representatives of the stronger sex, first of all, objective activity develops. Girls are more likely to develop communication skills.

If we talk about object-tool activities that boys are interested in, then it includes manipulations with various objects. During this period, the future man has the beginnings of design, due to which, at an older age, he will have more developed abstract and abstract thinking.

Communicative activity, to which girls are more inclined during early childhood, allows them to master the basic principles of logic and the peculiarities of human relations. It is no secret that women are more socially developed than men. They know how to communicate with people around them. Also, ladies are more developed intuition and empathy.

Besides this, during early childhood comes the realization of sexual differences, when the boy and the girl begin to understand that they are not similar from each other. However, in this case, it is no longer about gender, but about the difference in social communication. Boys and girls begin to understand that they are interested in different things and tasks. However, it should be noted that there is much more in common between young male and female representatives. The main differences appear at a later age. And in the period from 1 to 3 years, boys and girls develop almost the same way.

In addition, by the age of 3, children begin to develop the "I" concept. It is worth noting that the first three years of the child go through most of their psychological development. That is why it is so important to be attentive to the child during this period in order to prevent psychological trauma that will leave a significant imprint.

By the first year of life, the baby begins to realize himself as a person. He sees parts of his body and some differences from adults, but so far he cannot generalize this information. If parents are active and make efforts to educate the baby, then by the age of one and a half, he will begin to recognize himself in the reflection.mirrors, will master and begin to identify this reflection with itself.

Also, early childhood is a period when a child is interested in everything around him. He begins to realize that he controls certain parts of his body. During the game, his imagination, memory and other skills develop. The kid learns to distinguish others by external signs, sound features and other parameters.

Walking

In psychology, early childhood is also called walking. As soon as the baby masters this skill, he begins to experience a strong desire for the support and approval of his parents. When bipedalism becomes more confident, the child works more autonomously and does not need help. He begins to independently and freely communicate with the outside world and perform the actions that he wants.

At the same time, more different items become available to him. The kid begins to learn to navigate in space. And during this period of time, children learn the world through interaction with surrounding objects. That is why, in the period from 1 year to 3 years, the baby begins to grab everything on the table and touch people by the hair and various parts of the body. Also during this period, the baby learns to use various objects.

Thinking

The development of this skill is carried out in several stages. At the beginning, the child has elementary thinking. This means that during the first three years of life, the baby begins to use ready-made connections more and more often and more productively. After a while, the child will learn to useitems to meet their needs.

In early childhood, the child begins to learn from his mistakes and gets the first experience. There is also a development of thinking, which is carried out after any visual actions. This means that if a child sees how adults do something, then he remembers these manipulations and subsequently tries to reproduce them on his own. A sign-symbolic function begins to appear in the baby's brain. This means that he is aware of how one item can be used to replace another.

Gender identity

Early childhood (age 1-3 years) is the period when the baby already understands whether he is a boy or a girl. Such knowledge the child draws, thanks to the observation of the behavior of elders. He realizes that a man and a woman are different from him, and understands that the world around him is waiting for him to identify himself.

In the period from 2 to 3 years old, the child begins to clearly relate himself to a certain gender. During this period, it is very important that the father was in the family. If we are talking about a single mother who is raising a boy, then the baby may have a distorted understanding of social roles. If a girl suffers from the absence of a father, then the consequences can affect her in adolescence. It will be more difficult for her to adapt to the female role and begin to communicate with members of the opposite sex.

Self-Consciousness

Early childhood is the period when a child begins to understand that some of his actions are evaluated positively, while othersevoke negative emotions in adults. He sees that by doing certain things, he becomes more attractive in the eyes of his parents. That is why the baby tries to earn praise and recognition.

Mastering gun actions

Features of early childhood include the fact that the child begins to learn to interact with various objects around him. The mastery of gun actions develops in several stages.

First of all, the child sees the object as an extension of his hand. At the same time, he tries to act as a tool as a tip. After a while, he begins to see connections between the weapon and other objects. Accidentally or intentionally, he begins to combine several objects and get new results. Gradually, the baby begins to learn how to hold objects correctly and find the most comfortable position in order to use them.

Speech Development

It's no secret that in the first years of life, the child begins to speak. Speech development also goes through several stages. Up to a year and a half, the attention of the child develops. The more often parents talk to the baby, the more he will perceive passive speech. After that, the baby tries to pronounce the words on his own. The stage of active speech comes.

Regardless of how the baby manages to pronounce certain phrases, communication goes to a new level for him. At this stage, the child learns the grammatical construction of phrases. He begins to use the endings, changing them. Thanks to this, the activity of early childhood becomesmore active. There is a more intensive development of visual and auditory perception.

Fears

Under the age of 1 year, the baby has practically no fears. However, as soon as mental abilities begin to develop, the child expands the range of his knowledge and receives new information. This leads to the appearance of the first fears. For example, if a baby notices that some object has disappeared from his field of vision, then he automatically begins to be afraid that the object will not return back.

During this period of time, fear can cause anything: a wig, new glasses from parents, scary masks and much more. Some children become afraid of animals or moving cars, while others cannot sleep alone. As a rule, most of the fears disappear over time by themselves, as soon as the child begins to master new methods of thinking.

Three-Year Crisis

In the process of development, a child in early childhood goes through many additional stages. The kid begins to see himself in the mirror, to identify his personality, to determine the quality of his appearance. Girls become interested in dresses, while boys are more interested in design and their effectiveness in this area.

During this period of life, children begin to react very sharply to failures in a situation. In such situations, the baby becomes uncontrollable, and sometimes becomes furious. At this stage, it is very difficult to correct the behavior of the child. Not only children, but also parents experience difficulties. During this period, the first manifestationnegative emotions. For example, if adults offer a child something that he does not like, he may begin to behave aggressively. Some babies do the opposite, even if they themselves know perfectly well that this is not the best idea.

Full-fledged communication of the child with adults

You need to understand that during this period of life, the baby is more proactive in terms of communicating with the older generation. He learns to cooperate and persevere in certain matters. At the same time, the baby is very trusting, so he is emotionally open.

Children need to be shown love and affection. For a child, the praise of an adult is important, and censure makes him sad and angry. Under the age of 3, the foundation of the psychological he alth of the baby is laid, so parents must learn to give the child everything that he needs in order to form as a complete person.

Memory

This skill is developed through perception and recognition. First of all, there is the development of figurative memory. With age, the amount of stored material in the child's head increases. Involuntary memory appears.

Baby can remember actions, words, sounds and more. After a while, he learns to reproduce everything that he had previously fixed in the brain. Also at this stage of life there is an active development of the imagination.

What factors influence development

First of all, it is worth mentioning heredity. This applies not only to physiological characteristics, but also emotional ones. The child sees the behavior of the parents and automatically repeatsthis model in your life. It is important to monitor the nutrition of children. In the process of active growth, the immune system is formed in babies, all organs begin to work in a stable mode.

Also, the environment is important for the child, the climate is the right lighting, and much more. The room where the child sleeps must be ventilated and ensured that the baby does not suffer from extreme cold. Also important is the socio-economic factor and how parents treat the child. If he is too much guarded, then in adulthood such a person may become too cautious, and sometimes cowardly. It is very important to learn how to communicate with the baby. Understand when to be "lisping" and when to be more serious.