School psychologist's page

FOR PARENTS OF FIRST GRADER CHILDREN

Entering school is a turning point in the life of every child. The carelessness, carelessness, and immersion in play characteristic of preschoolers are replaced by a life filled with many demands, responsibilities and restrictions: now the child must go to school every day, work systematically and hard, follow a daily routine, obey various norms and rules of school life, fulfill the requirements of the teacher, engage in the lesson that is determined by the school curriculum, diligently complete homework, achieve good results in academic work, etc.

During this same period of life, at 6-7 years old, the entire psychological appearance of the child changes, his personality, cognitive and mental capabilities, sphere of emotions and experiences, and social circle are transformed.

The child is not always well aware of his new position, but he certainly feels and experiences it: he is proud that he has become an adult, he is pleased with his new position. The child’s experience of his new social status is associated with the emergence of the “internal position of the student.”

Having an “internal student position” is of great importance for a first-grader. It is she who helps the little student overcome the vicissitudes of school life and fulfill new responsibilities. This is especially important in the first stages of schooling, when the educational material the child is mastering is objectively monotonous and not very interesting.

Many of today's first-graders are highly skilled in academic pursuits even before they arrive at school. Intensive preparation for school, attendance at preschool lyceums, gymnasiums, etc. often leads to the fact that entering school loses the element of novelty for the child and prevents him from experiencing the significance of this event.

In maintaining the “inner position of a student” in a first-grader, parents play an invaluable role. Their serious attitude to the child’s school life, attention to his successes and failures, patience, mandatory encouragement of efforts and efforts, emotional support help the first-grader feel the significance of his activities, help increase the child’s self-esteem and self-confidence.

NEW RULES

Numerous “can”, “cannot”, “must”, “should”, “right”, “wrong” fall like an avalanche on the first grader. These rules are related both to the organization of school life itself and to the inclusion of the child in educational activities that are new to him.

Norms and rules sometimes run counter to the child’s immediate desires and motivations. You need to adapt to these norms. Most first grade students cope with this task quite successfully.

However, starting school is a stressful time for every child. All children, along with overwhelming feelings of joy, delight or surprise about everything that happens at school, experience anxiety, confusion, and tension. In first-graders, in the first days (weeks) of attending school, the body’s resistance decreases, sleep and appetite may be disturbed, the temperature may rise, and chronic diseases may worsen. Children seem to be capricious, irritated, and cry for no reason.

A period of adaptation to school, associated with adaptation to its basic requirements, exists for all first-graders. Only for some it lasts one month, for others - one quarter, for others - it lasts for the entire first academic year. Much here depends on the individual characteristics of the child himself, on his prerequisites for mastering educational activities.

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MATURITY

Inclusion in a new social environment and the beginning of mastering educational activities require from the child a qualitatively new level of development and organization of all mental processes (perception, attention, memory, thinking), and a higher ability to control his behavior.

However, the possibilities of first-graders in this regard are still quite limited. This is largely due to the characteristics of the psychophysiological development of children 6-7 years old.

According to physiologists, by the age of 7 the cerebral cortex is already largely mature (which makes it possible to transition to systematic learning). However, the most important, specifically human parts of the brain are responsible for programming, regulation and control of complex forms of mental activity. Children of this age have not yet completed their formation (the development of the frontal parts of the brain ends only by the age of 12-14, and according to some data - only by the age of 21), as a result of which the regulating and inhibitory influence of the cortex is insufficient.

The imperfection of the regulatory function of the cortex is manifested in the peculiarities of the emotional sphere and organization of activity characteristic of children. First-graders are easily distracted, incapable of long-term concentration, have low performance and get tired quickly, are excitable, emotional, and impressionable.

Motor skills and fine hand movements are still very imperfect, which causes natural difficulties in mastering writing, working with paper and scissors, etc.

The attention of 1st grade students is still poorly organized, has a small volume, is poorly distributed, and is unstable.

First-graders (as well as preschoolers) have a well-developed involuntary memory, which records vivid, emotionally rich information and events in the child’s life. Voluntary memory, based on the use of special techniques and means of memorization, including methods of logical and semantic processing of material, is not yet typical for first-graders due to the weakness of the development of the mental operations themselves.

The thinking of first-graders is predominantly visual and figurative. This means that in order to perform mental operations of comparison, generalization, analysis, and logical conclusion, children need to rely on visual material. Actions “in the mind” are still difficult for first-graders due to an insufficiently formed internal plan of action.

The behavior of first-graders (due to the above-mentioned age restrictions in the development of voluntariness and regulation of actions) is also often characterized by disorganization, lack of composure, and lack of discipline.

Having become a schoolchild and starting to master the intricacies of educational activities, the child only gradually learns to manage himself, to build his activities in accordance with his goals and intentions.

Parents and teachers must understand that a child's enrollment in school does not in itself ensure the emergence of these important qualities. They need special development. And here it is necessary to avoid a fairly common contradiction: from the threshold of school, they demand from the child something that has yet to be formed.

First-graders who have already crossed the seven-year mark are more mature in terms of psychophysiological, mental and social development than six-year-old schoolchildren. Therefore, seven-year-old children, all other things being equal, as a rule, are more easily involved in educational activities and quickly master the requirements of a mass school.

The first year of schooling sometimes determines the child’s entire subsequent school life. Much along this path depends on the parents of the first grader.

How to help your child adapt to school.

The most important and necessary thing for a child of any age, and especially for a first-grader, is the correct daily routine. Most parents know this, but in practice it is quite difficult to convince them that many learning difficulties and deteriorating health are associated precisely with violations of the regime. It is very important to have a daily schedule drawn up together with the child, and the MAIN THING is to follow it. You cannot demand organization and self-control from a child if the parents themselves are not able to follow the rules they themselves have established.

Awakening

There is no need to wake up the child; he may feel a sense of hostility towards his mother, who always disturbs him by pulling off the blanket. It is much better to teach him to use an alarm clock, let it be his personal alarm clock.

If a child has difficulty getting up, there is no need to tease him as a “lazy baby” or get into an argument about the “last minutes.” You can solve the issue differently: set the clock five minutes earlier: “Yes, I understand, for some reason I don’t want to get up today. Lie down for another five minutes.” You can turn the radio up louder.

When a child is rushed in the morning, he often does everything even slower. This is his natural reaction, his powerful weapon in the fight against a routine that does not suit him.

There is no need to rush again, it is better to say the exact time and indicate when he should finish what he is doing: “In 10 minutes you have to go to school.” “It’s already 7 o’clock, we’ll sit down at the table in 30 minutes.”

So, the child got up (an hour and a half before going to school), did morning exercises, and had breakfast (breakfast must be hot, and you should not hope that the child will eat at school...).

Going out to school

If the child forgot to put a textbook, breakfast, glasses in the bag; It is better to stretch them out in silence than to indulge in a tense discussion about his forgetfulness and irresponsibility.

“Here are your glasses” is better than “Will I really live to see the time when you learn to put your glasses on yourself?”

Do not scold or lecture before school. In parting, it is better to say: “May everything be fine today” than “Look, behave well, don’t play around.” It is more pleasant for a child to hear a confidential phrase: “See you at two o’clock” than “Don’t wander around anywhere after school, go straight home.”

Returning from school

Do not ask questions to which children give usual answers.

How are things at school?

Fine.

What did you do today?

Nothing.

Remember how annoying this question was at times, especially when the grades did not meet the expectations from the parents (“they need my grades, not me”). Observe the child, what emotions are “written” on his face. (“Was it a hard day? You probably couldn’t wait until the end. Are you glad you came home?”).

Came home from school. Remember - when your performance is declining! That is why it is absolutely necessary for him to first have lunch, rest - and under no circumstances sit down to his lessons right away (and this, unfortunately, happens often). You need to rest not lying down, not in front of the TV or VCR, but in the air, in active games, in movement.

Hygienists believe that the normal walking time for primary schoolchildren is at least 3-3.5 hours.

And there are also frequent cases when parents deprive their children of walks - as punishment for bad grades, bad behavior, etc. You can’t imagine the worst! They punished not the offense, but the child himself, his mood at school tomorrow!

For children who are weakened, often ill, or with a weak nervous system, the best rest would be an hour and a half nap during the day in a well-ventilated room. Sleep also helps relieve stress on the musculoskeletal system and serves as a good prevention of postural disorders. But this is specifically for weakened children - there are many for whom movement is the best rest.

The best time to prepare lessons is 15-16 hours. Every 25-30 minutes - a break, physical education minutes with music (they restore performance, delay fatigue). You need to start preparing your lessons with the least difficult ones (remember to practice them!), then move on to the most difficult ones.

The sore point is TV. Junior schoolchildren should not sit in front of the TV for more than 40-45 minutes a day! And for excitable and weakened children, it is better to reduce this time too. Under no circumstances should you watch TV while lying down.

It's time to sleep

Maintaining the required duration of sleep at night is especially important to combat fatigue. A first grader needs to sleep 11.5 hours a day, including 1.5 hours of daytime sleep. In order for your sleep to be deep and peaceful, you need to follow basic rules: before going to bed, do not play noisy, exciting games, do not play sports, do not watch scary movies, do not engage in bullying, etc.

And this affects little by little: memory, attention, and performance deteriorate. Decreased performance and increased fatigue can also be observed with sufficient time, but restless sleep, frequent awakenings, which often happens when a TV or radio is turned on in the room where the child sleeps.

It is better for preschoolers and younger schoolchildren to be put to bed by their parents (mother and father). If you talk to him in confidence before going to bed, listen carefully, calm his fears, show that you understand the child, then he will learn to open his soul and be freed from fears and anxiety, and will fall asleep peacefully.

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

1) under no circumstances compare his mediocre results with the standard, that is, with the requirements of the school curriculum, the achievements of other, more successful students. It is better to never compare your child with other children (remember your childhood).

2) You can compare a child only with himself and praise him only for one thing: improving his own results. If he made 3 mistakes in yesterday’s homework, and 2 in today’s homework, this should be noted as a real success, which should be appreciated sincerely and without irony by his parents. Compliance with the rules of painless assessment of school success should be combined with the search for activities in which the child can realize himself and with maintaining the value of this activity. No matter what a child suffering from school failure is successful in, in sports, household chores, drawing, design, etc., in no case should he be blamed for failure in other school activities. On the contrary, it should be emphasized that once he has learned to do something well, he will gradually learn everything else.

Parents must wait patiently for success, because school work is where the vicious circle of anxiety most often closes. School should remain an area of ​​gentle assessment for a very long time.

The pain in the school sphere must be reduced by any means: reduce the value of school grades, that is, show the child that he is loved not for good studies, but loved, valued, generally accepted as his own child, of course, not for something, but in spite of everything.

How can I do that?

1. Do not show your child your concern about his school success.

3. Emphasize, highlight as extremely significant the area of ​​activity where the child is more successful, thereby helping to gain faith in himself.

1. Clear distribution and regulation of parental attention to the child according to the formula “pay attention to the child not only when he is bad, but when he is good and more when he is good.” The main thing here is to notice the child when he is invisible, when he is not playing tricks, hoping to attract attention.

The main reward is kind, loving, open, trusting communication in those moments when the child is calm, balanced, and doing something. (Praise his activities, work, and not the child himself, he still won’t believe it). I like your drawing. I'm glad to see how you work with your constructor, etc.).

2. The child needs to find an area where he could realize his demonstrativeness (clubs, dancing, sports, drawing, art studios, etc.).

Never send your child to first grade and some section or club at the same time. The very start of school life is considered severe stress for 6-7 year old children. If the baby does not have the opportunity to walk, relax, and do homework without haste, he may develop health problems and neurosis may begin. Therefore, if music and sports seem to be a necessary part of your child's upbringing, start taking him there a year before the start of school or in second grade.

TEACHER

A teacher, even the strictest, not always fair, is “the best” for a child, especially at first, and your negative attitude towards her demands will only make it difficult for the child to determine his own status as a student. The criteria for “what is possible” and “what is not” are more often determined by the teacher, so do not be angry if, in response to your demand, you hear: “But Sofya Petrovna said that this is not possible.” Sofya Petrovna is the highest authority, before whom even parental authority pales. Don’t be upset and remember: countering this remark with the phrase: “Your Sofya Petrovna knows a lot...” or the like is a prohibited technique. If your kid gets up before dawn because he’s on duty today and says he has to come before everyone else, take it as seriously as he does. If he asked you to prepare something for school, and for some reason you did not do this, a violent reaction and even tears should not be unexpected for you. You yourself demand a serious attitude towards school, and the child does not know how to separate what is significant and what is not; everything is equally important to him: a blank notebook and colored pencils, a sports uniform and the flower that you promised to bring to class.

More than half a century ago, the famous teacher J. Korczak wrote: “All modern education is aimed at making the child comfortable; consistently, step by step, it strives to lull everything that is the will and freedom of the child, the fortitude of his spirit, the strength of his demands. Polite, obedient ", good, comfortable, but there is no thought that he will be internally weak-willed and weak in life."

Sleep is a major factor that influences physical and mental performance. Children 6-8 years old are recommended to sleep 11 hours. First graders who sleep on a schedule fall asleep faster. Lights out should be at 21.00, and rise at 7.00.

Before bedtime, do not allow your child to play outdoor games or play on the computer. Walking or simply airing the room promotes restful and deep sleep. Daytime naps are also required. Its duration should not exceed 1.5 hours.

Nutrition

It has been proven that children who eat strictly according to the clock are less susceptible to diseases of the digestive system and obesity. Therefore, try to adhere to this rule. It is also necessary to take into account that children 5-10 years old need five meals a day, which must include meat and dairy products, cereals, and a lot of vegetables and fruits.

Physical activity

Physical activity is necessary for proper development. Plan your day so that your child can do morning exercises and play and run outside in the afternoon. The walk time should not be less than 45 minutes, but no more than 3 hours.

Brainwork

Do not make your child do homework immediately after coming home from school. First there should be lunch, then rest or sleep, and then an afternoon snack and a walk. You shouldn't put off tasks until night either. The optimal time for homework is 17.00. Their duration should, if possible, not exceed 2 hours.

Primary general education

Correct daily routine for a first grader

A school teacher and a pediatric neurologist talk about excessive exercise, proper nutrition and the required amount of sleep.

A school teacher and a pediatric neurologist talk about excessive exercise, proper nutrition and the required amount of sleep.

“How to organize my first grader’s day?” - this question is regularly asked by parents, teachers, doctors and other experts. Indeed, a properly structured daily routine is extremely important for a child to smoothly and comfortably enter the educational process and maintain his health. Often parents themselves formulate rules that are not always enforceable and are not always really needed by a first-grader.

To correct possible mistakes of parents, we decided to turn to two experts - a primary school teacher and an experienced pediatrician. Let their advice and observations help us form an objective picture of what the daily routine of a modern first-grader should be.

Alexey Igorevich Krapivkin, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Director of the Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Child Psychoneurology

Daily routine: keep the kindergarten norm

When a child goes to school, his life changes a lot. But even in first grade, it is quite possible to maintain the same daily routine that you had in kindergarten: with regular meals, afternoon rest and fairly active walks, albeit not so long.

Nutrition: variety is key

The body of a first-grader is in dire need of regular nutrition in order to replenish the lack of glucose in a timely manner. By the age of seven, a child should already have developed eating habits: a mandatory full breakfast, a hot lunch, proper snacks - second breakfast, afternoon snack.

My main advice to parents: feed your children a variety of foods. Any excess product can affect the child's condition, digestion, sleep and physical activity. Of course, it is better to avoid an abundance of sweet, fatty or spicy foods in a child’s diet - for the same reason.

At the same time, if the child does not have serious illnesses, then there should be no deliberate restrictions on food. Coming to a new children's group, the child reconsiders his nutritional norm: if everyone eats cookies, why should he completely refuse them? If everyone is snacking after third period, why can't he take a sandwich or an apple with him?

And one more piece of advice: in order not to risk your child’s well-being at night, try to feed him dinner about two hours before bedtime, no later. If you didn’t manage to have dinner on time, offer food that is as light and safe for the gastrointestinal tract as possible.

Sleep: the main thing is not to fight for performance

Not only a first-grader, but any person should sleep as much as his body requires. But sometimes parents put the child to bed at almost eight in the evening so that he sleeps as long as possible; this, in my opinion, is an unnecessary measure.

According to statistics, an adult needs at least 8 hours of sleep per day. A first grader needs a little more, but not 12 hours like an infant. The most important thing is that when putting your child to bed early, do not fight for his performance, but rather look at his condition. Is it easy for him to wake up the next morning? Do you have enough strength until the evening?

It is best to put your child to bed between 9 and 10 pm, preferably no later than 10 pm. At the same time, the child should have free time 1.5–2 hours before bedtime to carry out daily rituals: water procedures, reading at night, a glass of milk - and as little stress as possible, then the child will smoothly fall asleep and be able to fully rest.

As for daytime sleep, it seems to me that there is no reason to insist that the child sleep during the day. If he wants to go to bed after lunch, great; if not, don’t insist. The main thing is that daytime sleep should divide the day into two equal periods. Don't go to bed later than 4 pm: then your night's sleep may suffer.

Loads: achieve a state of reasonable fatigue

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about the fact that first-graders can barely withstand the exorbitant workload that the school and parents place on them with their clubs and sections. I like the idea that the level of exercise should be determined by tolerance. If your child has enough resources to practice the piano for two hours after school and enjoy going to the sports section in the evening, then why not? For parents, the main indicator of the level of stress should be the child’s condition in the evenings. If he falls off his feet, is capricious, cannot eat, he is so tired - you have clearly gone too far. If he is active and could do something enthusiastically for a couple more hours, it means that the daily load was not enough. But if his fatigue is not excessive, is natural, and does not cause him serious discomfort, then the volume of the load is sufficient.

Physical activity

It is important to remember here that for a seven-year-old child simply sitting at a desk for several hours in a row is a colossal burden. To remove it, it is more useful not to put the child to bed, but to let him run around properly, to release the tension.

The child’s need for movement is natural and physiological. Be sure to give him the opportunity to jump, climb, and run properly after school, and if necessary, also in the evening.

Be sure to remind your child to do small warm-ups after sitting for a long time at lessons: basic gymnastics will be enough. And send your child to a sports section: two or three times a week.

Elena Aleksandrovna Chulikhina, primary school teacher at the MBOU "Malodubenskaya Secondary School"

Daily routine: on weekends as on weekdays

There is nothing to talk about here; every first-grader needs a full-fledged daily routine. It’s best if he doesn’t get lost on weekends, otherwise it will be difficult to adjust to the start of the work week.

Food: hot is better than cookies

Now almost all parents are very afraid that their children will go to school hungry. They are given sweets, cookies, buns, waffles and other “dry snacks” with them - despite the fact that the school has a canteen, where you can always eat a hot breakfast and have a good lunch. Naturally, having eaten enough sweets, the children in the cafeteria refuse a full hot meal. Therefore, I want to give parents advice: teach them better to go to the canteen, eat porridge or omelet in the morning, and have good hot soup for lunch in the afternoon, not candy. I am not against you giving your children treats, but in moderation, and not in such a way that it interrupts their appetite.

Sleep: don’t nod off in class!

I’ll tell you honestly, it’s very unpleasant when children in your class nod off during the first lesson. Therefore, please put your children to bed on time, at best around nine in the evening. There is no need to hope that you will get fifteen minutes of sleep in the morning: this is where morning delays begin, and this also does not really help children concentrate.

Daytime naps are a useful thing, especially since children themselves, as a rule, require an afternoon rest: they come home from school and immediately go to bed. This means that they need it, which means that parents need to take this need into account when creating a daily routine.

Loads

Now, due to the introduction of the Federal State Educational Standard, first-graders are entitled to up to 10 hours of extracurricular activities per week. They usually start in the afternoon and last up to two academic hours a day - this is in addition to the normal school load. In addition, almost every child attends various clubs, some of them are very serious and are located on the other side of the city. It turns out that first-graders are very busy on weekdays, even if they don’t have homework in first grade.

Here I have no right to give parents any advice: they decide for themselves how, what and how much to load their children with, what achievements to require, etc. But I would insist that at least on weekends the children should be free to study doing your own thing, playing, walking, spending an evening with your family. This is the best support we can give them.

Physical activity

We make sure that the children do warm-ups between lessons, can run around, and unload properly. It is important that parents care about the same. Be sure to let your children go for walks and exercise a lot. It's best when they walk home from school rather than driving.

YEREVAN, September 2. News-Armenia. It is often difficult for a child to switch to a new regime, especially when school starts. Elena Muradova, mother of three children and head of the BabySleep Center for Children's Sleep and Development, talks about how to cope with school workloads on the pages of the resource woman.delfi.ee.

1. Take short naps during the day

On average, a first-grader needs to sleep 10-11 hours a day. Studies have shown that children with more sleep had higher IQ scores and performed better in classes than those who did not get enough sleep.

Most children stop sleeping during the day by first grade, but if your child continues, don’t try to stop it with the beginning of autumn. Let him rest after school, but not for too long - otherwise it will have a bad effect on night's sleep and the child will get up in the morning not getting enough sleep.

2. Reduce extracurricular activities to a minimum

The school schedule of a first-grader may seem very easy to parents: only 4-5 lessons a day, “that’s the case nowadays.” But this simplicity is deceptive.

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Starting school puts significant pressure on a child’s psyche. And if you overload him with circles and activities, you can completely go too far. Because of overwork, children sleep poorly, learn new information less well at school, and get sick more often.

In first grade, it is better to reduce extracurricular activities to a minimum. Leave 1-2 hours of free time every day so that the child can choose what to do or just laze around.

3. Maintain the same sleep schedule both on weekdays and on weekends

School life requires adherence to a clear schedule. When it comes to sleep, predictability and routine are also important.

Most often you need to get up early for school, so going to bed in the evening should not be too late. If you need to get up at 7:00, then in the evening you need to go to bed no later than 21:00. And not just find yourself in bed, but already fall asleep.

It is also important that the regime is stable not only on weekdays, but also on weekends. If a child stays up late on Friday evening (“you don’t have to get up tomorrow”), and then sleeps off on Saturday and Sunday, then on Monday morning it will not be easy to get up, and he will not start the new school week in the best way.

4. Take away all gadgets an hour before bedtime

By the evening, most children get a second wind after studying, clubs and sections. Take away all his gadgets and turn off the TV at least 1 hour before bed so that he has time to calm down and fall asleep easier. Games and cartoons, especially without time limits, lead to excessive stimulation, and the light from screens slows down the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Before going to bed, it is better to give preference to a book.

5. Help your baby fall asleep with a bedtime routine.

Parents need to monitor the routine of a younger student. He is not yet able to discipline himself on his own. If you give up on the regime, in the morning your first grader will nod off in class and will hardly remember anything from the new material.

Chat with him before bed, discuss plans for tomorrow, help him pack his briefcase, check his school uniform - all this prepares him for a smooth end to the day. A predictable bedtime ritual that is repeated every evening relaxes your baby, sets him up for sleep, and helps him fall asleep quickly.

6. Explain why sleep is so important.

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For a child, going to bed late can be associated with growing up: “I’m not little anymore, I go to school and will go to bed late, like mom and dad.” Be sure to talk to your “adult” first graders:

Explain why it is so important to go to bed not too late.

Together, remember how difficult it is to get up in the morning when you don’t get enough sleep.

Tell us about the connection between quality sleep and school performance. I got enough sleep and learned the poem faster and wrote the test better.

Don't forget to set an example: you may go to bed later than the children, but falling asleep after midnight is not healthy even for night owl parents. -0-