Development of logical thinking in children of senior preschool age through logical games and exercises. Mini-project topic: “development of logical thinking in preschool children

Development of logical thinking in children

Your child is not yet 6 years old, but the period of senior preschool age is an important stage in preparation for school, when it is within our power, as parents, to make future learning fun and accessible. By age 7, your baby should be able to:
- denote the characteristics of objects (using qualitative and relative adjectives),
- identify objects according to the characteristics specified in the task,
- name the differences between objects, comparing them (objects) with each other,
- classify objects by: shape, size, color, functions,
- in the course of logical inferences, indicate the sequence of events,
- be aware of the temporal extent and time limitations for a particular activity,
- be able to navigate in space,
- have good hand motor skills,
- provide concepts with definitions and characteristics,
- show intelligence, ingenuity and resourcefulness.

To cope with such comprehensive preparation for school, it is necessary not only to constantly organize the child’s leisure time, saturating him with trips to places of cultural and educational recreation, but also to pay attention to his perseverance at home. The selection of tasks depends on you, depending on his inclinations and interests at this point in his life (i.e. if the child began to show interest in counting, take advantage of this - give tasks for counting; if for drawing, then give paints and paper more often; if Have you noticed that the child has begun to show a love for explaining everything; give tasks on classifying objects, where his skills of generalization and highlighting particular features will develop). The 8 tasks given in the article are aimed at developing attention, imagination, counting skills, and fine motor skills.

Print them out and do a little training to prepare for school. (Pictures enlarge by mouse click)

1. In front of you is a basket of groceries and two pans: for soup and compote. Where and what will you put, and why?

2. There are three houses in front of you. On each floor there should be as many people living as indicated in the circle with the number on the roof of the house. In the empty windows of each house, draw the required number of people so that the total number of people living on the floors is “3”, “4”, “5”.

3. Count and write - how many fish swim to the left and how many to the right?

4. Help the hedgehog imagine and draw shapes using circles.

5. Draw strings from the balls to the girl’s hand. Count how many there are.

6. Color the beads so that the rhythm of the pattern is consistent.

One of the significant indicators of a child’s intellectual development and its age-appropriateness is logical thinking. It develops in stages, starting from the simplest to the more complex. And thanks to modern educational technologies and unusual tasks, it can be turned from boring and monotonous learning into an exciting game that both parents and children will surely enjoy.

The development of logic is one of the most important aspects of intellectual development

Patterns of development of thinking in preschool age

In general, the thinking of preschoolers goes through three basic stages in its development:

  1. Visual-effective thinking allows you to solve problems that arise for a child by manipulating objects around him.
  2. Visual-figurative thinking begins to develop in the preschool period. It already allows the child to solve some problems in his mind with the help of images existing in his memory.
  3. Verbal-logical thinking allows the child to think using not the objects themselves, but their verbal designations. This type of thinking appears already in older preschool age.

Board games are the best way to develop logical thinking

Logic represents one of the highest stages in the development of thinking.

General rules for the development of logic in a child

The main activity in preschool age for a child is play. However, despite this, logic plays an important role for preschoolers. Imagination during this period is not yet well developed and in order for learning to be easier and more effective, during classes it is necessary to use a maximum of visual material: toys, pictures, puzzles, counting sticks, etc. Bright didactic material will turn any activity into an exciting game in which the child will be happy to take part.


Geometric shapes - developing logic in a playful way

As the child grows up, he will need demonstration material less and less. And the solution of more and more problems will take place in the mind, using verbal and logical thinking.

Logical thinking in early preschool age

Junior preschool age covers the period from 2 to 4 years. At this time, the child learns to compare objects and classify them according to such elementary characteristics as color, shape, size.

Developmental activities at this age are best carried out using bright toys or flashcards. It is desirable that the images are as simple as possible and contain a minimum of distracting details.


Exercising with your baby teaches him to think logically

Logical tasks for younger preschoolers are varied. Typical exercises to develop logic at this age could be:

"Place it in order"

The game helps the child understand cause and effect relationships, and also improves his perception of time.

For this activity you will need cards with pictures of animals and their babies. Children can be asked to match each card with a pair, having first laid out adult animals in front of him and given him the babies. After all the cards have taken their places, you can explain to the child that a tiny chicken eventually grows into a chicken or a rooster, a puppy grows into a dog, etc. Over time, this task can be complicated by offering the child pictures depicting scenes from his favorite fairy tales. And offer to put them in order, restoring the plot.


Matching game

"Finish the chain"

The child is offered logical chains of objects or pictures belonging to a certain class: these can be flowers, trees, animals or birds. And next to it is a group of different pictures, among which there should be one that belongs to the items in the chain. The child’s task is to complete the chain with a suitable element.

This task, despite its simplicity, well develops the ability to generalize and analyze, compare and classify.

“Whose subject?”

In this task for preschoolers, you can ask the child to name:

  • items used by representatives of various professions;
  • parts of certain machines or devices;
  • parts of the human body, animals, birds;
  • elements of houses.

Online game Find exactly the same cat - the child can play on the Internet

"Remove the unnecessary"

A group of pictures depicting various objects or toys is laid out in front of the child, among which there should be one extra one that does not fall under the general category. The child’s task is to find and remove this object using logical thinking. It is very desirable that the child can also explain his choice, telling why this or that item turned out to be superfluous.


Game Choose the smallest object

Over time, the task can be somewhat complicated by adding specific objects with natural phenomena, colors, etc. The logical connections between them are somewhat more complicated and in order to cope with this task the child will need to try very hard.

Classes to develop logic in older preschool age

The senior preschool period is marked by the intensive development of many mental processes. In particular, by the age of four, children begin to develop verbal and logical thinking, which allows them not only to solve certain tasks, but also to clearly argue their position.


Joint games develop logic in older preschoolers

The child no longer needs clarity due to a fairly well-developed imagination and an increase in memory capacity. And although it is still advisable to use all kinds of didactic material in classes, already at 4 years old you can ask your child to solve some problems in his head.

Here are just some logic tasks for older preschoolers.

"Ranging"

The development of preschoolers’ thinking processes is greatly facilitated by ranking (for example, by size, color, and later by the degree of expression of a particular feature). It is imperative to clarify to the child what exactly serves as the basis for ranking.


The Find the Difference game is a type of ranking game.

"General and Particular"

By the senior preschool age, the child’s conceptual apparatus has already fully formed ideas about the general and the particular. Therefore, he can already be asked to complete tasks on this topic.


Logical maze - a favorite pastime of preschoolers

Games to form ideas about the general and the particular are quite simple. It is enough just to lay out objects or cards with objects of the same type in front of the child and invite the child to determine the logical connections between them, calling them in one word. Just like in previous games, here you need to move from simple to complex, first using the simplest categories, where the common feature will lie on the surface. And over time, complicate the task by expanding the number of groups used.

If preschoolers encounter any difficulties while completing tasks, you should definitely talk to them about it. And solve the problems that arise together.

The thinking processes, in particular, logic, of preschoolers develop at a fairly intensive pace and by the time they enter school they are already at a good level, which allows them to assimilate the school curriculum as efficiently as possible.

Similar materials

Introduction


The solution to social, economic and cultural problems characteristic of today's reality is determined by the individual's readiness to live and work in new socio-economic conditions, and the ability to carry out lifelong education. The implementation of these requirements significantly changes the order addressed to the modern school. The ongoing changes in the system of higher and secondary education allow us to say that the school today is really focused on the diversity of educational needs and the personality of the student. Variative education helps schoolchildren find different ways of understanding and experiencing knowledge in a changing world. A modern student needs to be conveyed not so much information as a collection of ready-made answers, but rather a method for obtaining, analyzing and predicting the intellectual development of an individual.

Our society at the present stage of its development is faced with the task of further improving educational work with preschool children, preparing them for school.

But why does a small child, a preschooler, need logic? The fact is that at each age stage, a certain “floor” is created, on which mental functions that are important for the transition to the next stage are formed. Thus, the skills and abilities acquired in the preschool period will serve as the foundation for acquiring knowledge and developing abilities at an older age - at school. And the most important among these skills is the skill of logical thinking, the ability to “act in the mind.” A child who has not mastered the techniques of logical thinking will find it more difficult to study - solving problems and doing exercises will require a lot of time and effort. As a result, the child’s health may suffer, and interest in learning may weaken or even disappear completely.

The problem of the development of thinking was illuminated in the heritage of ancient philosophers - Aristotle, Democritus, Parmenides, Socrates, Epicurus. Various aspects of the problem of the development of systemic-logical thinking are reflected in the philosophical works of I. Kant, G. Hegel, F.V. Shellinga, A.V. Ivanova, A.N. Averyanova, Zh.M. Abdildina, K.A. Abisheva, I.D. Andreeva, A.F. Abbasova, N.T. Abramova, V.G. Afanasyeva, I.V. Blauberga, A.A. Petrushenko, E.G. Yudina, A.G. Spirkina. Their works explore the essence and specificity of thinking in the dialectic of everyday and scientific consciousness, reveal its structure, describe the functions of thinking, analyze its operational composition and the nature of its flow.

The interest of psychologists in the problem of the development of systemic-logical thinking is determined by the general theory of thinking (B.G. Ananyev, A.V. Brushlinsky, L.S. Vygotsky, P.Ya. Galperin, A.N. Leontiev, A.M. Matyushkin, S.L. Rubinshtein, K.A. Slavskaya) and the theory of thinking development (D.B. Bogoyavlenskaya, L.V. Zankov, N.A. Menchinskaya, L.A. Lyublinskaya, Z.I. Kalmykova, T.V. Kudryavtsev, I.S. Yakimanskaya). In foreign psychology, the works of J. Piaget, E. de Bonnet, R. Paul, and R. Ennis are devoted to the problems of the development of thinking.

In the works of H.M. Tyoplenka found that a 6-7 year old child can be taught full-fledged logical actions of determining “class membership” and “the relationship between classes and subclasses.”

In his works E.L. Ageeva shows that the use of such visual models as “classification trees” and Euler circles ensures the successful formation of ideas about logical relations in preschool children.

Psychological and pedagogical research by scientists has proven that basic logical skills at the elementary level are formed in children starting from 5-6 years of age. However, almost all of the presented works are aimed at developing individual components of logical thinking, and not logical thinking as a structure.

The question of acceptable and effective forms of teaching preschoolers that allow them to solve the problem of developing logical thinking also remains open.

In this regard, a contradiction arises between the need for the structural development of logical thinking and the lack of an effective means to implement this in practice; the desire to find ways to resolve this contradiction has determined the problem research.

In theoretical terms, this is the problem of justifying the structural development of logical thinking in preschoolers in a preschool setting through the implementation of game forms of conducting classes.

In practical terms, the problem of justifying the content of games that promote the development of logical thinking and the psychological and pedagogical requirements for them, the observance of which ensures the development of individual components that make up the structure of logical thinking with their further integration.

Object of study- thinking of preschool children.

Subject of study- psychological and pedagogical requirements for the organization of educational games as a means of developing logical thinking in preschoolers.

Purpose of the study- theoretically justify the use of cognitive games as a means of developing logical thinking, determine the psychological and pedagogical requirements that allow preschoolers to consistently master the elements of the structure of logical thinking, ensuring their holistic functioning.

Research hypothesis:Since logical thinking in preschool age predominantly manifests itself through individual structural components, their holistic development is possible through cognitive games, subject to compliance with psychological and pedagogical requirements that ensure a simultaneous impact on the emotional, cognitive, motivational spheres of the child by solving a system of logical problems: mastering individual features objects; penetration into the subject structure; unification of perceived features of objects; verbal analysis of object features; grouping of objects based on clearly suggested signs.

Research objectives:

1. Concretize the scientific idea of ​​the structure of logical thinking of preschoolers.

Determine the features of the manifestation and development of logical thinking in preschool age.

To develop and test a system of educational games that promote the development of logical thinking in preschoolers as a structure of interconnected components.

Research methods:

Review and analytical

mathematical-statistical

observation and conversation

testing.

The experimental base of the study was preschool educational institution of a combined type No. 433 in the city of Chelyabinsk. The total number of children was 81, of which 36 were girls and 45 were boys. 10 teacher educators, a methodologist and a senior educator took part in the study.


1. Theoretical approaches to understanding and developing logical thinking in preschoolers


.1 Characteristics of the basic concepts that make up the content logical thinking

logical preschool thinking

The main goal of the education system is to prepare the younger generation for an active life in an ever-changing society. And, since the development of modern society is permanent and dynamic, the key task of the educational process is to transfer to children such knowledge and develop such qualities that would allow them to successfully adapt to such changes. The search for effective didactic means of developing logical thinking in preschoolers is an integral part of this task.

To solve this problem at all levels of research (from socio-logical to methodological), a unified conceptual framework and clearly defined starting positions are needed. First of all, it is necessary to determine what logical thinking is, what place it occupies in thinking in general, what its specifics are.

Representatives of various directions of human thought such as Socrates, Aristotle, Descartes, Hegel, M. Berzfai, M. Montessori, J. Piaget, P.P. dealt with this problem. Blonsky, L.S. Vygotsky, P.Ya. Galperin, V.V. Davydov, A.V. Zaporozhets, G.S. Kostyuk, A.N. Leontyev, A.R. Luria, A.I. Meshcheryakov, N.A. Menchinskaya, D.B. Elkonin, N.N. Semenov, B.M. Kedrov, N.V. Grigoryan, L.M. Friedman, N.A. Podgoretskaya and others.

Thinking is the highest cognitive process. It is a form of a person’s creative reflection of reality, generating a result that does not exist in reality itself or in the subject at a given moment in time. “Human thinking... can also be understood as the creative transformation of ideas and images existing in memory. The difference between thinking and other psychological processes of cognition is that it is always associated with an active change in the conditions in which a person finds himself. In the process of thinking, a purposeful and expedient transformation of reality is carried out. Thinking is a special kind of mental and practical activity that involves a system of actions and operations included in it of a transformative and cognitive (tentatively research) nature.

Thinking is studied by a number of sciences, including philosophy (theory of knowledge, epistemology), logic, psychology, pedagogy, cybernetics, linguistics, and the physiology of higher nervous activity. Each of these sciences highlights a certain aspect of thinking as its own subject of study. Thus, it is philosophy that synthesizes in itself, in the most general form, the knowledge and morality of people, nations, and all of humanity. Psychological theories of thinking are the most constructive, since they are all directly addressed to the school. By the way, these theories usually combine philosophical, logical, psychological and other aspects of the analysis of thinking. From the point of view of philosophy, thinking is considered as a product of the historical development of social practice, as a special form of human activity.

Considering thinking as a form of human spiritual activity, philosophers revealed its original connection with material production and the practical activities of people. It arises in the process of human interaction with the environment and represents its most complex part. Human senses (vision, hearing, smell, tactile senses) allow us to perceive only the external properties (shape, color, sounds, smells, etc.) of objects and phenomena and help reveal thinking. Human intellectual activity appears to the researcher as a process, as an activity and as communication. A person is involved in the process of intellectual work whenever he begins to solve the problem facing him. Thinking as an activity assumes that, in accordance with the motives, needs that guide a person when solving certain problems, conditions, branched processes are updated - analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, etc. Thinking as communication involves people understanding each other, cognition by the subject the goals of another person, his motives, the course of his reasoning.

A.N. Leontyev, emphasizing the derivative nature of the highest forms of human thinking from culture and the possibility of its development under the influence of social experience, wrote: “... human thinking does not exist outside of society, outside of language, outside of the knowledge accumulated by mankind and the methods of mental activity developed by it: logical, mathematical, etc. .P. actions and operations. Each individual person becomes a subject of thinking only by mastering language, concepts, logic, which are a product of the development of socio-historical practice...” He proposed a concept of thinking according to which there are relations of analogy between the structures of external and internal activity. Internal, mental activity is not only a derivative of external, practical activity, but has fundamentally the same structure. “As in practical activity, in mental activity individual actions can be distinguished, subordinate to specific conscious goals... Like practical action, every internal, mental action is carried out in one way or another, i.e. through certain operations." At the same time, external and internal elements of activity are interchangeable. The structure of mental, theoretical activity may include external, practical, actions, and, conversely, the structure of practical activity may include internal, mental, operations and actions.

In modern psychology, thinking is understood as “a process of human cognitive activity, characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection of reality; the highest form of creative activity." Thinking, representing the process of cognitive activity, is characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection of reality. The adequacy of the mental reflection of reality is achieved with a harmonious combination and unity of concrete sensory and abstract logical thinking. Each mental act of reflection includes two moments: an object and understanding, attitude towards it. Comprehension, understanding of what is happening around, discovery of significant aspects, connections and phenomena of the surrounding world is the result of abstract logical thinking. The concept of “Thinking” includes the concept of “logical thinking”, and they relate to each other as genus to species.

Human logical thinking is the most important moment in the process of cognition. All methods of logical thinking are inevitably used by the human individual in the process of cognition of the surrounding reality in everyday life; from a very early age, F. Engels believed that “by type, all these methods - therefore, all the means of scientific research recognized by ordinary logic, are exactly the same in humans and in higher animals. They differ only in degree, in the development of the corresponding method.” The ability to think logically allows a person to understand what is happening around him, to reveal significant aspects, connections in objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality, to draw conclusions, solve various problems, check these decisions, prove, refute in words, everything that is necessary for the life and successful activity of any person.

Logical laws operate independently of the will of people, are not created at their request, they are a reflection of the connections and relationships of things in the material world. From the point of view of content (information), thinking can give a true or false reflection of the world, and from the point of view of form (logical actions and operations), it can be logically correct or incorrect. Truth is the correspondence of thought to reality, and correctness of thinking is compliance with the laws and rules of “logic.”

The ability to think logically, according to N.A. Podgoretskaya, includes a number of components: the ability to focus on the essential features of objects and phenomena, the ability to obey the laws of logic, build your actions in accordance with them, the ability to perform logical operations, consciously arguing for them, the ability to build hypotheses and draw consequences from given premises, etc. .d. Therefore, for her, logical thinking includes a number of components: the ability to determine the composition, structure and organization of elements and parts of the whole and focus on the essential features of objects and phenomena; the ability to determine the relationship between a subject and objects, to see their changes over time; the ability to obey the laws of logic, discover patterns and development trends on this basis, build hypotheses and draw consequences from these premises; the ability to perform logical operations, consciously justifying them.

In general philosophical terms, the idea of ​​​​forming logical thinking, according to N.V. Grigoryan, comes down to presenting information based on the following philosophical laws:

The relationship between the whole and its parts: the identification of a common essence is the law of the structure of the integral world.

Unity of opposites: every phenomenon has its opposite side.

The idea of ​​transformation: any change in any phenomenon always entails consequences.

Arguing the need for the purposeful development of a child’s thinking, scientists pointed out that the perfection of methods of mental activity, even perfectly mastered ones, constitutes only the potential capabilities of mental development, but not this development itself. The realization of these possibilities occurs only with their active use in various types of practical activities. And development is possible only with a certain structure of educational activities and the deployment of educational material.

The idea of ​​a holistic, systemic organization of higher cognitive processes was the basis for the construction of the theory of intelligence developed by J. Piaget. The works of J. Piaget and his colleagues demonstrate the leading role of internal spontaneous mechanisms of development of logical structures and their independence from learning. Piaget viewed development as an independent process with its own internal laws. The external, including social, environment plays the role of a “condition”, but not a source of child development. Like other external influences, learning only provides “food for knowledge,” material for exercise. Therefore, the only useful role of learning is to create situations that require the active functioning of the subject's action patterns. The effectiveness of training depends on the extent to which external conditions correspond to the current level of development.

When deciding on the relationship between training and development, we share the point of view of L.S. Vygotsky: learning leads to children's mental development. Accepting this point of view poses the problem of identifying the conditions under which training gives the greatest effect of development in general and the development of logical thinking in particular. For this purpose, we turned to psychological and pedagogical analysis.

The problem of developing logical thinking has been widely reflected in psychological and pedagogical literature. Scientific research covering this problem has been published, the possibility and necessity of developing a child’s logical thinking has been theoretically substantiated, and ways to solve the problem have been outlined. However, the age limits for the beginning of the formation of logical thinking are not clearly defined.

The study of thinking, as a subject of psychological science, is determined by theoretical ideas about it, as well as various specific tasks.

L.S. Vygotsky identified three main psychological aspects in the formation of scientific concepts in children:

Establishing dependencies between concepts, forming their system;

Awareness of one’s own mental activity;

Thanks to both, the child acquires a special relationship to the object, allowing him to reflect in it what is inaccessible to everyday concepts (penetration into the essence of the object).

With this organization of cognitive activity, the child, from the first steps of learning, establishes logical relationships between concepts and then makes his way to the object, connecting with experience. Here there is a movement from concept to thing, from abstract to concrete. The word plays a decisive role here, as a means of directing attention to the corresponding general feature, as a means of abstraction.

Based on the teachings of L.S. Vygotsky about the advanced nature of learning and orientation towards the child’s “zone of proximal development”, psychologists and didactics made a significant contribution to the development of the theoretical foundations of developmental education.

In the concept of D.V. Elkonina, V.V. Davydov noted that the formation of specific concepts occurs on the basis of a transition from abstract premises to concrete knowledge, on the basis of a transition from the general to the particular. At the same time, the success of mastering educational material depends on students’ mastery of generalized techniques and methods of cognition.

But the process of development of logical thinking presupposes not only the formation of a certain range of concepts and specific methods of their application, but also the necessary level of development of logical methods of thinking in the cognitive activity of students for the active acquisition of knowledge, the ability to apply it in the creative transformation of reality.

In the psychological and pedagogical literature there is no consensus on when children acquire the ability to form and develop logical operations. In modern psychology, there are two main directions in the study of the emergence and development of logical structures of thinking in children. The first of them is associated with the works of J. Piaget, A. Wallon, and others. In these works, the age boundaries (stages) of the formation of logical structures are determined, reflecting a spontaneous process based on spontaneous mechanisms of development of children's intelligence. These mechanisms are the main factor determining the successful mastery of logic. Piaget limits the role of learning, believing that it is subject to the laws of development. Piaget believed that learning takes on different meanings depending on the period of development during which it occurs. To be successful and not remain formal, training must adapt to the current level of development.

J. Piaget does not completely deny the possibility of teaching logical structures, but at the same time points out two limitations that actually reduce its role to zero. The first is associated with the difference between two types of human experience: empirical and logical-mathematical. Through the first, the child learns the physical properties of objects, without going beyond a simple statement of facts. He can make a logical generalization only on the basis of the second experience. The nature of these two experiences is different, so teaching logic is fundamentally different from any other training. The second limitation is the recognition that teaching logical structures is ineffective because the resulting patterns cannot be applied to different situations.

From the above it follows that training should not begin until the corresponding logical structures are ready for this.

J. Piaget established the main genetic stages of mental development. The period from 2 to 4 years is characterized by the development of symbolic and conceptual thinking. From 4 to 7-8 years, intuitive (visual) thinking is formed, which leads closely to operations. From 7-8 years to 11-12 years, specific operations are formed. The means of cognition at the child’s disposal at this stage are not “formal” enough, not yet sufficiently purified and separated from the matter for which they are intended to act, and therefore do not allow the subject to produce structuring that is independent of the content of what is being structured and is equally suitable for any content. .

The second direction is related to the research of P.P. Blonsky, L.S. Vygotsky, S.L. Rubinshteina, A.N. Leontyeva, P.Ya. Galperina, D.B. Elkonina, V.V. Davydova and others. These authors believe that the appearance of logical operations in an individual’s experience is determined by the transfer of knowledge and logical experience in communication and learning. Intellectual activity should appear in the learning process as a subject of special assimilation.

In Russia in the 1920-30s, the principles of the psychological theory of the relationship between learning and development were formulated. This theory was originally developed by P.P. Blonsky and L.S. Vygotsky, and then in the 1940-50s, concretized and clarified by S.L. Rubinstein, A.N. Leontyev, P.Ya. Galperin, D.B. Elkonin, A.V. Zaporozhets and others. The main provision of this theory is the recognition of the fact that human development is determined by his assimilation of samples of socio-historical experience. In the course of history, the role of purposeful influences of upbringing and education increases.

Research conducted under the direction of PYa. Galperin, revealed that for preschool age the gradual formation of concepts opens up greater opportunities than previously imagined. It has been proven that using the method of gradual formation of mental actions, the development of logical operations is possible already at preschool age.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the psychological aspect of the development of logical thinking involves purposeful activity to identify motivations, goals, individual characteristics of logical thinking, as well as analysis of mental operations from the position of the subject’s awareness of the underlying logical techniques.

With the name K.D. Ushinsky is associated with the formation and development of educational psychology as a branch of psychological science that studies the laws of teaching and upbringing. His works showed the importance of memory, attention, speech, feelings, and thinking in educational activities. In particular, he noted the importance of developing logical thinking in children. K.D. Ushinsky argued that “development of logical thinking means accustoming children to consistency, evidence, clarity, certainty, independence and accuracy of expression.”

In psychology, there are a number of works devoted to the “development of comparison” (I.M. Solovyov), “development of generalization” (V.V. Davydov), “development of analytical-synthetic activity”, “development of classification”, etc., note also the “insufficient level of development” of these operations in individual students and the need for pedagogical and methodological work to develop logical thinking techniques in schoolchildren. However, for the period of preschool childhood this problem remains poorly studied.

An analysis of psychological research allows us to come to the conclusion that the development of logical thinking techniques also has a certain sequence. It is clear that it is impossible to start work with an arbitrary operation, since within the system of logical methods of thinking there is a strict relationship, one method is built on another.

A.A. Lyublinskaya proved that preschoolers already master all the operations of thinking, albeit in the most elementary form. Particular attention, in her opinion, should be paid to the order of formation of logical operations.

The movement of knowledge from the sensory-concrete through the abstract to the concrete in thinking is the general law of the development of theoretical knowledge. However, this method only sets the general direction of theoretical research. The method fully realizes its capabilities only in unity with the organization of cognitive activity.

Because of this, one of the central tasks is to determine such types of cognitive activity, the assimilation of which effectively influences development.

It should be noted that labor training plays a special role in solving the problem of developing students’ logical thinking. This is predetermined by the fact that the basis of all human knowledge is objective-practical activity - work.

In recent decades, a number of scientific experiments have been carried out aimed at developing the logical and creative thinking of children (M.A. Danilov, M.N. Skatkin, V. Okon, etc.). The mental development of children, in their opinion, presupposes a high level of mental operations (analysis, synthesis, generalization and abstraction), economy and independence of thinking, its flexibility, the nature of the connection between visual-figurative and abstract components of mental activity. Ya.A. Ponomarev, A.M. Matyushkin, T.I. Shamov, teaching is brought to the fore, mainly focusing on the organization of search activities in the classroom.

Thus, from the above we can conclude that thinking is a process of cognitive activity, characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection

reality. The adequacy of the mental reflection of reality is achieved with a harmonious combination and unity of concrete sensory and logical thinking. Each mental act of reflection includes two moments: an object and understanding, attitude towards it. Comprehension, understanding of what is happening around, discovery of significant aspects, connections and phenomena of the surrounding world - the result

logical thinking. Logical thinking includes a number of components: the ability to determine the composition, structure and organization of elements and parts of the whole and focus on the essential features of objects and phenomena; the ability to determine the relationship between a subject and objects, to see their changes over time; the ability to obey the laws of logic, discover patterns and development trends on this basis, build hypotheses and draw consequences from these premises; the ability to perform logical operations, consciously justifying them.

The development of a child’s logical thinking represents the process of forming logical thinking techniques at the empirical level of cognition (visual-effective thinking) and improvement to the scientific-theoretical level of cognition (logical thinking), which occurs in activity.


1.2 Features of the manifestation and development of thinking preschool age


Considering thinking as a process that covers the entire life course of a person, it can be noted that at each age stage this process has a number of features. Analyzing the thinking process of preschool age, many authors agree that, based on the specificity and significance of this stage in an individual’s life, thinking must be considered during this period in connection with the mental development of the preschooler. This approach is due to a number of objective reasons. This problem was dealt with by N.N. Poddyakov, E.L. Yakovleva, V.V. Davydov

Preschool age, according to psychologists, is a stage of intensive mental development. At the same time, a feature of this period is that progressive changes are noted in all areas, ranging from

improvement of psychophysiological functions and ending with the emergence of complex personal neoplasms. Based on research materials from the Moscow Brain Institute, a number of scientists agreed that the most complex frontal areas mature completely by 6-7 years of age. In these parts of the brain, there is a rapid development of associative zones in which brain processes are formed that determine the manifestations of complex intellectual actions associated with logical thinking. A significant morphological restructuring of the brain structures of a six-year-old child is accompanied by even more significant changes in brain activity and is reflected in its mental functions.

According to J. Piaget, one can distinguish two simple functions of thought: the function of explanation and the function of inclusion, which constitute the unity of all thought activity rather than two closed areas.

The tendency of children's thought is not only to put in the foreground the intention of explaining what happens, but also to find the reasons for everything. This is where the inclusion function comes from. The direction of the explanatory function is centrifugal, in the sense that thought tries to isolate from intentions the material result, action or event that follows from there. And the direction of the inclusion function is centripetal, since from intention the thought tries to get to the motive that guides it, to the idea. The function of explanation is to strive for objects, the function of inclusion is to strive for ideas or judgments. At first, the child’s thought is equally distant from both ideas and objects—it occupies an intermediate position.

In recent years, the question has arisen of studying the so-called “potentials,” that is, those changes in the electrical activity of the brain that occur in response to the action of any stimulus.

The complication and development of the early form of mental activity leads to the emergence of figurative thinking, which intensively develops during preschool childhood. Its simplest manifestations are already present in early childhood, however, the tasks solved by the baby in terms of ideas and images are to a greater extent primitive. During the period of preschool childhood, the child faces the problem of solving problems that require establishing dependencies between several properties and phenomena.

According to V.V. Zenkovsky, children begin to look for solutions to such problems primarily in terms of ideas. However, in preschool age, figurative thinking is characterized by the concreteness of images. This is especially clearly manifested in preschoolers’ understanding of allegorical speech.

If we talk about understanding, then its characteristic feature in preschool age in the case of unformed methods of logical thinking, according to G.D. Chistyakova, is the actual absence of searching for connections in the material. The main transformation of information consists of translating individual semantic elements of the material into the language of one’s experience. Thus, the wider this experience, the more connections have to be worked out, the more opportunities there are to move to the level of higher mental operations.

An important prerequisite for mastering scientific knowledge is a gradual transition from egocentrism to decentration, the ability to see objects and phenomena from different positions. In other words, a preschooler, performing different types of activities, begins to understand that his point of view is not the only one.

Further development of imaginative thinking brings the child to the threshold of logic. However, the role of emotions in the regulation of activity is still so significant that “emotional-imaginative thinking” remains dominant in the structure of the intellect for a long time. This point of view was shared by L.S. Vygotsky, saying that the unity of affect and intelligence is not a lack of thinking, but its specific feature, which allows solving a wide range of problems that require a high level of generalization, without resorting to logical formalization. At the same time, the decision process itself is emotionally charged, which makes it interesting and meaningful for the child.

According to Ya.L. Kolomensky, the specificity of a child’s thinking is generalization, however, as the age stages progress, the structure of generalization changes. This explains the transition from one type of thinking to another. However, classically the generalization procedure is a logical category.

As shown by N.N. Poddyakov, at the age of 4-6 years there is an intensive formation and development of skills and abilities that facilitate children’s study of the external environment, analysis of the properties of objects, and influence on them in order to change them. This level of mental development - visual and effective thinking - is preparatory, it contributes to the accumulation of facts, information about the world around us, creating the basis for the formation of ideas and concepts, i.e. precedes abstract, logical thinking.

In addition, a preschool child is sure that “everything depends on everything and that everything can be explained to everyone.” This type of thinking indicates that children are drawn to proof, to justification, to finding reasons. It is this feature of thinking, according to J. Piaget, that is the reason for the emergence of a huge number of children's questions.

In the process of visual-effective thinking, prerequisites appear for the formation of a more complex form of thinking - visual-figurative, which is characterized by the fact that the child can resolve a problem situation only in terms of ideas, without the use of practical actions.

The end of the preschool period is characterized by the predominance of the highest form of visual-figurative thinking - visual-schematic. The advantage of this form of thinking is the ability to reflect significant connections and dependencies between objects in the external world. A behavioral reflection of a child’s achievement of this level of mental development is the schematism of a child’s drawing and the child’s ability to use a schematic image when solving problems. In itself, visual-schematic thinking provides great opportunities in mastering the external environment, being a means for the child to create a generalized model of various objects and phenomena. Acquiring the features of the generalized, this form of thinking remains figurative, based on real actions with objects or their substitutes. At the same time, it is the basis for the formation of logical thinking associated with the use and transformation of concepts.

There is no consensus among psychologists about when children develop the ability to prove themselves. Some (V. Stern, P.P. Blonsky) believe that this ability arises in preschool age. Others (M.D. Gromov, M.N. Shardakov) attribute the emergence of evidence in children to 9-10 years. J. Piaget dates their appearance to the ages of 12-14, when adolescents move to the stage of formal operations.

There is a point of view that the early development of logical thinking can have negative consequences, since it is carried out to the detriment of the formation of higher forms of imaginative thinking. Therefore, a number of authors believe that senior preschool age should be considered only as a period when the intensive formation of logical thinking should begin, as if thereby determining the immediate prospects of mental development. However, many teachers and psychologists note that the basic foundation of logic and basic logical operations can be formed precisely in preschool age.

Experimental study by N.B. Krylova revealed that under favorable learning conditions for preschoolers, deduction can be considered a completely accessible form of thinking, at least within the first figures of a categorical syllogism.

One of the conditions for the formation of logical thinking in preschoolers is taking into account the characteristics of the mental development of children of this age. All psychological neoplasms of children of this period are characterized by incompleteness. This determines the peculiarities of their learning, which should combine the features of play and directed learning, while focusing on established forms of thinking, visual-effective and visual-figurative development of new formations: sign-symbolic function, elements of logical thinking.

A very important prerequisite for the formation of logical thinking is the ability to independently find ways to solve problems. In this case, the ability to control and verify the correctness of one’s actions becomes of great importance.

N.P.’s position seems interesting. Anikeeva about the ways of forming logical thinking. After conducting a series of experiments, the author proves that the type of thinking in question can be formed through a less abstract form, through imaginative thinking. In relation to the preschool period, the proposed strategy is most fully feasible within the framework of gaming activities; thus, when analyzing a gaming situation, the child must resort to logic, using figurative models.

One of the most important elements in the formation of logical thinking is the child’s acceptance of goals consisting of mastering a generalized method of action. For a child of senior preschool age, the identification of goals is not yet typical: in his actions, as a rule, the method turns out to be merged with the result and is learned in the process of achieving this result (obtaining a given product).

In addition, a necessary condition for the development of logical thinking is the inclusion of children in activities during which their activity could clearly manifest itself within the framework of a non-standard, ambiguous situation.

N.N. Poddyakov points out that “the central point in the formation of the mental activity of preschoolers is the reorientation of the child’s consciousness from the final result that must be obtained during a particular task to the ways of performing this task.” Reorientation to methods of action prepares the child for awareness of his actions, leads to the development of volition and control of his activities, which is one of the premises for the formation of logical thinking. However, such reorientation itself is a very complex process.

In traditional pedagogy, the main attention is paid to the formation of certain knowledge. However, this position is not optimal. On the one hand, the knowledge base on which school education will be built is strengthened; on the other hand, the transition of developing diffuse knowledge into stable knowledge leads to a decrease in mental activity. Therefore, along with the formation of a knowledge base, it is necessary to ensure the continuous growth of uncertain, unclear knowledge with the help of specially organized actions.

D.B. Elkonin suggested that an intermediate link between role-playing (in a game situation) and sign-symbolic (in a practical and cognitive situation) mediation can serve as a conditional-dynamic position, taking which the child changes his attitude towards the task, begins to approach it as if from the point of view of another participant in the situation. A conditionally dynamic position differs from a gaming role in its relevance to the task at hand. What unites them is that in both cases the child “reincarnates” into another person.

The conditional dynamic position becomes a means of ensuring internalization—the transition of joint action into individual action. L.S. Vygotsky viewed interiorization as a general mechanical mechanism for the formation of higher (that is, conscious and voluntary) mental functions, in particular logical thinking. The conditional-dynamic position ensures that the child, taking the point of view of his partner in performing an action, can “appropriate” this action. Consequently, the condition for the formation of psychological new formations is the child’s ability to accept and maintain the position of another person acquired in play activities.

Analysis of scientific works allowed us to highlight the following provisions:

The problem of developing a child’s logical thinking is one of the most important tasks, the solution of which determines the improvement of the entire educational process of the school, aimed at the formation of productive thinking, internal needs and the ability to independently acquire knowledge, the ability to apply the existing knowledge in practice, in creative transformation reality.

On the other hand, the ability to actively process information in the mind and use logical thinking techniques allows a child to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of educational material, unlike those who, having a low level of logic development, comprehend an educational course relying only on memory.

In modern conditions, no expansion of program material can cover all the accumulated experience of modern society that children need in their future lives. In this regard, the educational process should be structured in such a way as to help the child master a high level of logic, i.e. methods of mental activity that allow you to independently obtain the necessary information, understand it, apply it in practice, etc. independently advance in your chosen field of knowledge.

The introduction of targeted development of logical thinking into preschool practice is far from a solved problem. It requires a thorough analysis of scientific literature on the problem of the development of thinking, the foundations of modern sciences, and on this basis the development of programmatic, methodological, didactic and psychological support for the entire preschool education system.

The entire set of methods for the formation and development of logical thinking in preschool children can be divided into two groups: methods that form logical thinking in preschool age when visiting kindergarten, and methods of intellectual training that contribute to the complex development of thinking, including logical, in children of senior preschool age, increase their level of readiness for learning in primary school.


1.3 Features of the developmental environment in the middle group of preschoolers. Game as a leading activity


One of the most important factors in the development of a child’s personality is the environment in which he lives, plays, studies and relaxes. The space organized for children in an educational institution can be both a powerful stimulus for their development and an obstacle that prevents the manifestation of individual creative abilities. It is important to remember that the child does not remain in the environment, but overcomes, “outgrows” it, is constantly changing, and therefore his perception of him and his environment changes. The developmental environment is always changing: it is created for a long time - the design of offices, music and physical education halls, or more dynamically - when decorating a hall, a group room, a lobby for a specific holiday, an entertainment event, or during the production of a fairy tale. Even more dynamic is the developmental environment of many activities. The microenvironment, including the design of a particular lesson, is determined by its content and is specific to each of them. It, of course, should be aesthetic, developing and versatile, encouraging children to meaningful spiritual communication. The principle of semi-functionality of the objective world is implemented with the help of various modular equipment, which is equipped in all premises of the kindergarten. The use of modules along with construction sets, mosaics, physical education equipment (hoops, balls, jump ropes), objects and games that do not carry specific semantic information contributes to the development of imagination and the sign-symbolic function of preschoolers’ thinking. When organizing a subject-spatial environment in a kindergarten, complex, multifaceted and highly creative activities of all preschool teachers are required. After all, a variety of toys is not the main condition for a child’s development. A purposefully organized subject-development environment in a preschool institution plays a big role in the harmonious development and upbringing of a child. The created aesthetic environment evokes in children a feeling of joy, an emotionally positive attitude towards kindergarten, a desire to attend it, enriches them with new impressions and knowledge, encourages active creative activity, and promotes the intellectual development of preschool children.

If we talk about the most effective forms and methods of developing the thinking of preschoolers, then in modern scientific literature this issue remains controversial. Research by A.G. Khripkova, E.V. Subbotsky et al., confirm that the process of socialization goes through the transformation of existing activities, the emergence of new types of activities: play, elements of educational and labor, as well as productive activities.

This forced theorists and practitioners of preschool education to remember the game. However, the place of play in learning has not been clearly defined. The practice of introducing toys in the classroom does not solve the problem: toys can distract children from classes and may not be taken into account by them, but they cannot turn lessons into games. In kindergarten, there has been a tendency to reduce play to organized mass actions: the teacher “conducts” the game with the children, as they conduct classes, - he directs, regulates, prescribes actions, evaluates them, etc. In other words, a game is a means of developing knowledge. It must be collective in nature. Moreover, each child is not only obliged to obey this game, but also to “want” to play what the whole group is playing.

In order to carry out adequate psychological and pedagogical influences in relation to the game, it is necessary to clearly understand its specifics, have an idea of ​​its developmental significance, what it should be like at each age stage, and also be able to play appropriately with children of different ages and in different types of games.

An attempt to select games containing situations similar to the content of the classes was also unsuccessful.

To solve the problem of the relationship between learning and play, a theoretical study of the concept of play and the play form of activity is necessary. In the context of our work, we will use the definition given by N.P. Anikeeva, understanding by game a type of activity in situations aimed at recreating and assimilating social experience in which self-government of behavior is formed and improved.

Materials from Yu.P. Azarova, N.P. Anikeeva, O.S. Gazmana, S.F. Zanko, B.P. Nikitina and others are devoted to the problem of gaming activity. The following functions of gaming activities can be distinguished: entertaining - to entertain, give pleasure, inspire, stimulate interest; communicative - mastering communication skills; self-realization - to demonstrate and realize personal capabilities; game-therapeutic - overcoming various difficulties that arise in other types of activities; diagnostic - identifying deviations from normative behavior, self-knowledge during the game; correction - making positive changes to the structure of personal indicators; interethnic communication - the assimilation of socio-cultural values ​​common to all people; socialization - inclusion in the system of social relations.

The structure of the game as an activity organically includes goal setting, planning, goal implementation, as well as analysis of the results in which the individual realizes himself. The structure of the game as a process includes:

Roles taken on by the players;

Game actions as a means of realizing these roles;

Playful use of objects (substitution);

Real relationships between the players;

Games should be distinguished according to the type of their activity: physical (motor), intellectual (mental), labor, social and psychological.

According to the nature of the educational process, they are distinguished: educational, training, controlling and generalizing, cognitive, educational, developmental, reproductive, productive, creative, communicative, diagnostic, psychotherapeutic.

The typology is extensive, based on the nature of the gaming methodology: subject, plot, role-playing, business, simulation, dramatization games. By subject area, games in all branches of science and technology are distinguished.

The specifics of gaming technology are also largely determined by the gaming environment: there are games with and without objects, tabletop and indoor, outdoor, outdoor, computer, and also with various means of transportation.

Play is one of the main attributes of childhood. Both three-year-old children and thirteen-year-old teenagers are interested in it, but it literally becomes a lifestyle for a preschool child. According to famous teachers and psychologists, gaming activity reveals the peculiarities of thinking, imagination, and emotional state of each participant and, thus, is an indispensable condition for the healthy development of the child’s psyche.


2. Characteristics of the formation of logical thinking in children of primary preschool age through play activities.


1 Organization and conduct of experimental work on the program for the formation of logical thinking in younger preschoolers


It is advisable to start the process of forming logical thinking techniques at an earlier age - from 3-4 years old, which is justified by several reasons:

Some children are significantly ahead of their peers. They are curious, inquisitive, show great interest in the new, unknown, while possessing a good amount of knowledge. These are children who receive a lot of attention from adults at home. Such children, upon entering kindergarten, must rise to a higher level, training their intellect in play activities. To do this, the teacher needs to create a good developmental environment that best meets the child’s needs.

Taking into account the psychological characteristics of young children (the beginning of the formation of children's relationships), play is given a large role - the role of bringing children closer together when working in pairs and groups. The result should be the receipt of joint results of activities, a feeling of joy for yourself and your peers.

STEPS OF WORK: 1. Get acquainted with the experience of fellow teachers.

Study the scientific literature characterizing the mental characteristics of the development of children in the fifth year of life.

Prepare a developmental environment taking into account the age characteristics of children.

Specifically identify the types of games through which the teacher’s purposeful work will be carried out (games that activate the child’s thinking and contribute to his mastering of individual logical operations).

Make a plan - a scheme for using games in joint and independent activities.

Over the entire period of time, observe the peculiarities of the formation of logical thinking skills (visual and figurative) in each individual child.

The goal of the work being carried out is for children to master at an elementary level some techniques of logical thinking.

Objectives: 1. Teaching children operations: analysis - synthesis; comparisons; using the negation particle “not”; classification; orderliness of actions; orientation in space.

Development in children: speech (ability to reason, prove); arbitrariness of attention; cognitive interests; creative imagination.

Upbringing : communication skills; desire to overcome difficulties; self-confidence; desire to come to the aid of peers in a timely manner.

As a means of achieving the set goal and objectives, it is advisable to choose games for the development of logical thinking, creative and spatial imagination; they can be divided as follows:

1. Subject:didactic - (desktop-printed) - to find size, color, shape, to classify objects, etc. Developmental: DYENES blocks, Cuyser sticks, etc.

Working with this material is described in detail in the book “Logic and Mathematics for Preschoolers.” The didactic material “Logic blocks” consists of 48 three-dimensional geometric shapes, differing in shape, color, size and thickness. In the process of various actions with logical blocks (dividing, laying out according to certain rules, rebuilding, etc.), children master various thinking skills that are important both in terms of preparation and from the point of view of general intellectual development. In specially designed games and exercises with blocks, children develop basic algorithmic thinking skills and the ability to perform actions in their minds. With the help of logic blocks, children train attention, memory, and perception.

Cuisenaire sticks. This is a universal teaching material. Its main features are abstractness and high efficiency. Their role is great in implementing the principle of clarity, presenting complex abstract mathematical concepts in a form accessible to children. Working with sticks allows you to translate practical, external actions into an internal plan. Children can work with them individually or in subgroups. The use of sticks in individual correctional work with children lagging behind in development is quite effective. Sticks can be used to perform diagnostic tasks. Operations: comparison, analysis, synthesis, generalization, classification act not only as cognitive processes, operations, mental actions, but also as methodological techniques that determine the path along which the child’s thought moves when performing exercises.

Games for the development of spatial imagination: these games develop spatial imagination, teach children to analyze a model of a building, and a little later - to act according to the simplest scheme (drawing). The creative process includes logical operations - comparison, synthesis (recreation of an object).

Games with counting sticks develop not only fine hand movements and spatial concepts, but also creative imagination. During these games, you can develop the child’s ideas about shape, quantity, and color. The following tasks are offered (for children 3-4 years old): lay out; count the number of sticks in each figure; name the geometric shapes that make up the figure; count the geometric shapes that make up the overall figure (how many triangles? squares?); count the angles included in the figure; build a figure according to the model; come up with and put together the figure yourself.

Games with sticks can be accompanied by reading riddles, poems, nursery rhymes, and counting rhymes that match the theme.

2. Verbal:- puzzles.

Children of the fourth year of life are offered a wide range of riddles: about domestic and wild animals, household items, clothing, food, natural phenomena, and means of transportation. The characteristics of the subject of the riddle can be given in full, in detail; the riddle can act as a story about the subject. The characteristics of objects in riddles must be defined specifically and clearly, expressed in words in their direct meanings. They should reflect the original appearance and distinctive properties of the subject of the riddle. For children of the younger group, riddles with simple comparisons and transparent metamorphoses are recommended. A rhyming answer also makes the task easier. Teaching children the ability to solve riddles begins not with asking them, but with developing the ability to observe life, perceive objects and phenomena from different angles, and see the world in diverse connections and dependencies. The development of a general sensory culture, the development of a child’s attention, memory, and observation skills is the basis for the mental work that he does when solving riddles. The main conditions that ensure correct understanding of riddles and their correct guessing:

Preliminary familiarization of children with the objects and phenomena that will be discussed in the riddle (through observation)

Additional knowledge that specifically guides children to guessing

Knowledge of language, ability to understand the figurative meaning of words

Reading fiction.

Finding guessing techniques and using them means understanding the logical mechanism of the riddle and mastering it. To solve the riddle, you need to carry out the following operations in the following sequence: identify the signs of an unknown object indicated in the riddle, i.e. perform analysis; compare and combine these features in order to identify possible connections between them, i.e. produce synthesis; based on the correlated features and identified connections, draw a conclusion (inference), i.e. solve the riddle.

The thematic selection of riddles makes it possible to form elementary logical concepts in children. To do this, after solving riddles, it is advisable to offer children generalization tasks, for example: “What is the name of the forest inhabitants in one word: hare, hedgehog, fox? (animals), etc.

3. Finger games:These games activate brain activity, develop fine motor skills, promote speech development and creative activity. “Finger games” are the staging of any rhymed stories or fairy tales using the fingers. Many games require the participation of both hands, which allows children to navigate the concepts of “right”, “up”, “down”, etc.

For children to successfully master logical operations, work in the system is necessary. Considering the educational function of classes, thematic planning is preferable. Each week contains information material on each topic (“clothing”, “toys”, “transport”, etc.). This makes it easier for children to learn the classification operation.

Class work in the first week is planned as follows: :

Cognitive development - enter: or 1 object for detailed study (story, explanation by the teacher, examination of the object, its external signs, functions - detailed analysis); or 2 objects at once, having common and distinctive features.

During the development of speech, there is a process of synthesis - compiling a short story about an object based on the knowledge gained. Supporting diagrams are used effectively to facilitate storytelling.

In a visual arts class, knowledge is consolidated on the basis of synthesis - first mental, then practical combination of parts into one whole.

In the second week, to consolidate the material, they take : Puzzles; using the games “What’s extra?”, “Guess by the description”; verbal games, including those for developing imagination (using the TRIZ method).

Appropriate didactic and developmental material is introduced into joint activities. Classes are conducted as a whole group or in subgroups. Working in pairs is very effective. Classes are divided into: educational; classes - observations; research; securing. Visual material is used - paintings, cards with images of objects, the objects themselves. In classes on mathematical development, DYENES Blocks, Cuisenaire sticks, tangrams, and counting sticks are introduced. Construction kits are taken for construction - tabletop, floor-mounted. The simplest diagrams are included - drawings of buildings. We are working with the designer. Material can be borrowed from the experimental corner for research activities. The properties of objects can be studied - on cognitive development, mixing paints and obtaining shades - on drawing.

During the lessons the following gaming techniques are used:

Game motivation, motivation to action (including mental activity);

Finger gymnastics (stimulating brain activity, in addition, it is an excellent speech material). Every week a new game is learned.

Elements of dramatization - to increase children’s interest in the material presented by the teacher, creating an emotional background for the lesson.

The preliminary error method is also effective, especially when securing material.

When planning teaching activities for a week, the following plan is included - a scheme for organizing joint and independent play activities (it can be adjusted by the teacher throughout the school year).


Table 1. Plan for organizing joint and independent gaming activities

JOINT ACTIVITYINDEPENDENT ACTIVITYMonday · Board/printed didactic games; · Riddles (to reinforce a previously studied topic) Games for the development of fine motor skills: · Mosaic; · Lacing; · Games with loose material. Tuesday GYENESHAN blocks tabletop/printed - didactic games Wednesday Cuisenaire sticks - GYENESHA blocks; - Games in the experimental corner Thursday - work with building materials (according to the scheme and without); - work with counting sticks. - Cuisenaire sticks; - cubes “Fold the pattern”, “Unicube”. Friday - games for the development of creative imagination (elements of the TRIZ methodology); - introducing a new didactic game (developmental) - working with building materials (with and without a diagram); - work with counting sticks.

Joint activities are carried out frontally, but more often - in groups (3 - 5 people) and in pairs. The competitive nature of the games is used. Thus, the knowledge acquired by the child in class is consolidated in joint activities, after which it passes into independent and, after that, into everyday activities. It should be noted that elements of mental activity can be developed in all types of activities.

The development of logical thinking in children is a long and very labor-intensive process; First of all, for the children themselves - the level of thinking of each is very specific. A special approach is necessary for “weak” children. Taking into account their mental and physical characteristics, it is necessary to instill in them self-confidence and lead them to independently solve simple problems. In case of rapid fatigue, the type of activity is changed. “Strong” children play a special role: having coped well with a specific task, at the request of the teacher (or on their own) they “connect” to those who are experiencing serious difficulties. Extensive consultation work is carried out with parents. This form of interaction between teacher and students is very effective. It helps to unite the team, gives the opportunity for high-achieving children to assert themselves and for weaker ones to feel confident in their abilities.


2 Characteristics of the experimental program for the formation of logical thinking in children of primary preschool age


Games made it possible to organize activities in a form that was interesting for the child, giving mental activity a fascinating, entertaining character.

However, one cannot but agree that, along with play, work and educational activities are no less significant for a preschool child. Therefore, the condition for achieving a successful result in training should be their harmonious combination.

The idea of ​​combining elements of work, study and play in teaching preschoolers formed the basis for the development of didactic games held in kindergartens. To ensure that the games are interesting and accessible to children with different levels of development, and that the tasks stimulate the mental activity of each child and bring him to a new conceptual level, the following organizational requirements form the basis:

a differentiated approach in terms of presenting game material - each level had its own degree of difficulty;

complexity and variability of game tasks - the same game material required several game options. In addition, the teacher himself could develop a number of additional exercises arising from a specific task;

In order to improve the process of consolidating knowledge, the games were designed to activate various senses, as well as to attract sensory motor skills.

Being in the group most of the time, the child could at a convenient moment take the material he was interested in and work with it without the help of an adult, and then make sure that the task was completed correctly on his own.

Since the sensory development of a child in didactic play occurs in inextricable connection with the development of his logical thinking and the ability to express his thoughts in words, in this regard, the instructions presented tasks in which it was necessary to compare the characteristics of objects, establish similarities and differences, generalize, draw conclusions.

Thus, the ability to reason, think, and be able to apply one’s knowledge in different conditions developed. This became possible because the children had specific knowledge about the objects and phenomena that made up the content of the game. This knowledge was acquired in an interesting and accessible form during game classes.

During the age period under consideration, the final task in the game consists of three: gaming, didactic and developmental. The effectiveness of the game is ensured by a rational combination of three tasks, when the child learns and develops while playing. After all, if the first of them predominates, then the activity loses its educational and developmental significance. If the second game turns into an exercise. Moreover, it is worth noting that the tasks of learning and development in the game can be combined into a single psychological and didactic one, since we can only talk about “training” preschoolers in a specific sense. This is explained by the fact that educational activity is not dominant, moreover, sufficiently developed, in the age period under consideration. However, educational programs designed for preschool children, like no other, require a psychological basis, since “learning” here can only be considered in the context of development. Therefore, the games offered in the educational process for preschoolers can be called psychological and didactic.

Another feature of the proposed games was that the cognitive task was posed to the children not directly, but indirectly, through the game. Therefore, we designated the tasks solved in the process of using games as psychological and didactic and classified them from the point of view of cognitive processes, methods and means of cognition.

A system of developmental tasks was created, taking into account central and auxiliary tasks, which stimulated the child’s mental development. Thus, we understand the educational tasks of psychological-didactic games not only as the development of sensory systems, but also the formation of observation, arbitrariness of mental processes, moral-volitional sphere, which ensures continuity between sensory cognition and thinking.

We emphasize that the specificity of the games used is the unity of gaming and educational tasks, through the solution of which a complex effect is exerted on the child’s psyche. It is aimed at stimulating the main areas of cognitive development. The first is represented by the development of arbitrariness of cognitive processes. The second direction is associated with the formation of methods of mental activity - mental operations and means of mental activity. The latter include voluntary attention, coherent speech and self-control. The third direction involves the formation of mental actions that are formed on the basis of external practical actions in the process of their internalization.

The main functions that the rules in the games we use must perform:

They direct the game along a given path, combining a gaming and didactic task, gaming and didactic actions.

They determine the sequence of game actions, since without rules the game develops spontaneously, and the main tasks are not solved.

They make the game more entertaining and help children develop interest in it.

They allow you to influence children, to direct the game, but directly, but indirectly.

They regulate the relationships between the participants in the game, form interpersonal relationships, and develop the moral and volitional sphere of the child’s personality.

Based on this, when determining the rules in didactic games, we were guided by the following: the rules must correspond to the age of the children. In early and early preschool age, they are specific, associated with objects or pictures, consist of 1-2 elements, directly follow from the activities of children, and are often common to all children. There are usually no additional rules. The function of distributing roles and determining priority is performed by an adult. The competition element can only be used with children 4-7 years old. This is due to the fact that children of primary preschool age do not understand what it means to win, do not know how to evaluate themselves, and their actions are often aimed at results. Younger preschoolers prefer to act together; it is difficult for them to resist giving a hint, which is due to deficiencies in the development of arbitrary behavior and imitation. In addition, we took into account the fact that in early and early preschool age, play actions should be objective and specific.

At 3-4 years old, children are more attracted to action and material. The result is not considered significant unless it is presented visually, for example, in the form of a assembled nesting doll. It is achieved primarily individually, since children do not know how to coordinate actions. And their behavior is situational. A more general result - the formation of logical thinking - is achieved only with the systematic use of didactic games. Typically, children are not aware of this overall result, the achievement of which is expected by an adult. Younger preschoolers are aware of the game result, while older preschoolers are aware of the game result and partly didactic. The goal we set during the research related to a series of games was to develop logical thinking, therefore it was assumed that by the end of it children should be able to determine the composition, structure and organization of elements and parts of the whole and focus on the essential features of objects and phenomena; determine the relationship between the subject and objects, see their changes over time; obey the laws of logic, discover patterns and development trends on this basis, build hypotheses and draw consequences from these premises; perform logical operations, consciously arguing them, that is, be aware of the process and essence of logical thinking.


2.3 Methods for diagnosing the formation of logical thinking in children of primary preschool age


Of the three types of thinking: verbal-logical, figurative-logical and visual-actional, the last two types are sufficiently developed and predominate in preschool children. As for the first - verbal-logical, this type of thinking is only just beginning to develop in preschool childhood. Therefore, when diagnosing the intelligence of preschool children, it is first necessary to pay attention to figurative-logical and visual-effective thinking.

The main principle that the developers of diagnostic methods adhere to is the principle of natural behavior of the child, which provides for minimal intervention by the experimenter in the usual everyday forms of behavior of children; often to implement this principle, various methods are used to encourage the child to play, during which different age-related characteristics of the development of children are manifested. Since preschoolers are already mastering speech and reacting to the personality of the experimenter, it becomes possible to communicate with the child and, in the course of it, to diagnose logical development. However, a preschooler’s speech is still in its infancy, and sometimes this limits the possibilities of using verbal tests, so researchers give preference to nonverbal methods. When conducting and evaluating the results of diagnostics of the development of a preschooler, one should take into account the characteristics of personal development at this age. Lack of motivation and interest in tasks can reduce all the efforts of the experimenter to nothing, since the child will not accept them. This feature of preschoolers was pointed out, for example, by A.V. Zaporozhets, who wrote: ... even when a child accepts a cognitive task and tries to solve it, those practical or playful moments that encourage him to act in a certain way transform the task and give a unique character to the direction of the child’s thinking. This point must be taken into account in order to correctly assess the capabilities of children's intelligence (10, p. 204). And further: ...differences in solving similar intellectual problems of younger and older preschoolers are determined not only by the level of development of intellectual operations, but also by the originality of motivation. If younger children are motivated to solve a practical problem by the desire to get a picture, a toy, etc., then among older children the motives of competition, the desire to show intelligence to the experimenter, etc. become decisive. (10, pp. 214-215). These features should be taken into account both when conducting tests and when interpreting the results obtained.

The time it will take to complete the test should also be taken into account. For preschoolers, a period of time for testing of up to an hour is recommended, taking into account the establishment of contact with the child (J. Shvancara).

When conducting examinations of preschoolers, ESTABLISHING CONTACT between the subject and the experimenter turns into a special task, the successful solution of which will determine the reliability of the data obtained. As a rule, to establish such contact, the examination is carried out in an environment familiar to the child. It is necessary to create conditions under which the child will feel comfortable, for which work with the child can begin with play and only gradually, imperceptibly for the child, include the tasks required by the test. Of particular importance is constant monitoring of the child’s behavior during the examination - his functional and emotional state, manifestations of interest or indifference to the proposed activity, etc. These observations can provide valuable material for judging the child’s level of development and the maturity of his cognitive and motivational spheres. Much in the child’s behavior can be explained by the explanations of the mother and psychologist, so it is important to organize the cooperation of all three parties in the process of interpreting the results of the child’s examination.

All diagnostic methods developed for preschoolers should be presented individually or to small groups of children attending kindergarten and having experience in group work. As a rule, tests for preschoolers are presented orally or in the form of practical tests. Sometimes a pencil and paper can be used to complete tasks (provided they are simple to operate).

Methods for assessing figurative and logical thinking

“Nonsense” technique

Using this technique, the child’s elementary figurative ideas about the world around him and about the logical connections and relationships that exist between some objects of this world: animals, their way of life, nature are assessed. Using the same technique, the child’s ability to reason logically and express his thoughts grammatically correctly is determined.

The procedure for carrying out the technique is as follows. First, the child is shown a picture in which there are several rather ridiculous situations with animals. While looking at the picture, the child receives instructions approximately as follows: “Look carefully at this picture and tell me if everything is in its place and drawn correctly. If something seems wrong to you, out of place or drawn incorrectly, then point it out and explain why it is wrong. Next you have to say how it really should be.”

Both parts of the instruction are executed sequentially. First, the child simply names all the absurdities and points them out in the picture, and then explains how it really should be. The time for exposing the picture and completing the task is limited to three minutes. During this time, the child should notice as many absurd situations as possible and explain what is wrong, why it is not so and how it really should be. Evaluation of results:

10 points- this assessment is given to the child if, within the allotted time (3 minutes), he noticed all 7 absurdities in the picture, managed to satisfactorily explain what was wrong, and, in addition, say how it really should be.

8-9 points- the child noticed and noted all the existing absurdities, but from one to three of them he was not able to fully explain or say how it really should be.

6-7 points- the child noticed and noted all the existing absurdities, but three or four of them did not have time to fully explain and say how it really should be.

4-5 points- the child noticed all the existing absurdities, but did not have time to fully explain 5-7 of them in the allotted time and say how it really should be.

2-3 points- in the allotted time, the child did not have time to notice 1 - 4 of the 7 absurdities in the picture, and the matter did not come to an explanation.

0-1 point- in the allotted time, the child managed to discover less than four of the seven available absurdities.

Comment. A child can score 4 or higher in this task only if, within the allotted time, he has completely completed the first part of the task, as defined by the instructions, i.e. I discovered all 7 absurdities in the picture, but did not have time to either name them or explain how it really should be.

Conclusions about the level of development:

points - very high. 8-9 points - high. 4-7 points - average. 2-3 points - low. 0-1 point - very low.

Methodology "Seasons"

This technique is intended for children aged 3 to 4 years. The child is shown a drawing and asked, after carefully looking at this drawing, to say what season is depicted in each part of this drawing. In the time allotted for completing this task (2 minutes), the child will have to not only name the corresponding season, but also justify his opinion about it, i.e. explain why he thinks so, indicate those signs that, in his opinion, indicate that this part of the picture shows exactly this, and not any other time of year.

Evaluation of results:

10 points- within the allotted time, the child correctly named and associated all the pictures with the seasons, indicating on each of them at least two signs indicating that the picture depicts this particular season (in total, at least 8 signs for all pictures).

8-9 points- the child correctly named and associated all the pictures with the right seasons, indicating 5 signs confirming his opinion in all the pictures taken together.

6-7 points- the child correctly identified the seasons in all the pictures, but indicated only 3-4 signs confirming his opinion.

4-5 points- the child correctly identified the time of year in only one or two pictures out of four, named only 1-2 signs to confirm his opinion.

0-3 points- the child was unable to correctly identify any season and did not accurately name a single sign. A different number of points, from 0 to 3, is given depending on whether the child tried or did not try to do this.

Conclusions about the level of development:

points - very high. 8-9 points - high. 6-7 points - average. 4-5 points - low. 0-3 points - very low.

Carrying out any diagnostics is always associated with questions: for what purpose is it carried out? How will its results be used? Diagnostic data allows teachers and parents to monitor the progress of the child’s development and provide an individual approach. This is the positive role of diagnostics in the preschool education system.

The use of diagnostic techniques allows the teacher to take a reflexive position and analyze the effectiveness of both his teaching activities and the implemented educational program of preschool education.

Diagnostics is of great importance for the targeted and effective implementation of the educational process. It allows, through control (monitoring) and correction of the entire system of education and training and its components, to improve the process of education, training and development of children.


Conclusion


As a result of studying psychological and pedagogical literature, we have established that thinking is a function of the brain, the result of its analytical and synthetic activity. The objective material form of thinking is language. Through words, people communicate with each other, passing on cultural and historical experience. Thanks to thinking, a person learns about objects and phenomena, as well as connections and relationships between them.

Numerous researchers have established (L.S. Vygotsky, A.V. Zaporozhets, A.N. Leontyev, D.B. Elkonin, Yu.T. Matasov, etc.) that thinking is inextricably linked with sensory cognition, since the sensory basis is the main source of thought. That is, with the help of such mental processes as sensation and perception, a person receives information about the surrounding reality. At the same time, human thinking is aimed at knowing the unknown, and for this the sensory basis of thinking is too narrow.

The formation of thinking is important in the mental development of a child. It is in the preschool period that not only the main forms of visual thinking arise - visual-effective and visual-figurative, but also the foundations of logical thinking are laid - the ability to transfer one property of an object to others (the first types of generalization), causal thinking, the ability to analyze, synthesize, etc. .

In didactic games that promote the formation of thinking, two directions are distinguished: from perception to thinking and from visual-effective to visual-figurative and logical thinking.

An important condition for the effective use of didactic games in teaching is consistency in the selection of games. First of all, the following didactic principles should be taken into account: accessibility, repetition, gradual completion of tasks.

The results of the ascertaining experiment confirmed the need to carry out targeted pedagogical work on organizing a system of game classes using didactic games aimed at developing logical thinking.

Thus, the formation of logical thinking in children of primary preschool age with the help of didactic games included in educational work is possible if the following conditions are met:

Creation of a specially selected system of exercise games with didactic content.

Purposeful development of logical thinking should be carried out throughout the entire preschool period.

The joint activities of the teacher, music worker, physical education director, and parents should be aimed at developing logical thinking.

Games aimed at developing logical thinking should be varied.

The system of play activities should be included in all types of children's activities.

With the correct organization of children's activities in a preschool institution, intellectual, emotional and personal development occurs. Children gain self-confidence and learn to express their thoughts and feelings. All this will be a good help in preparing them for school.


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I. A. Burlakova

Development of logical thinking in preschoolers

The development of mental abilities (psychological qualities that allow children to easily and quickly absorb new knowledge and use them in solving various problems) is of particular importance for preparing children for school. It is not so important what knowledge a child has by the time he enters school; what is much more important is his readiness to acquire new knowledge, the ability to reason, fantasize, draw independent conclusions, and create ideas for drawings and designs. The book “Children, get ready for school” (M.: Mozaika-Sintez, 2008) contains tasks that are directly aimed at developing mental abilities and imagination. They represent problem-play situations, by solving which children master a new way of working with material and use new means to complete a task. An adult only organizes the creation of problematic situations, creates conditions for preschoolers’ own active search and creative activity.

Let us dwell in more detail on problems of the logical type.

Burlakova Irina Anatolyevna - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Head of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy and Psychology, Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University

Before school, children are trained quite a lot in solving logical problems so that they can reason logically, analyze, generalize, draw correct conclusions, etc. And in most cases, if children make mistakes, adults do not understand how they do not “see the obvious.” If we recall one of the facts first described by the psychologist J. Piaget, we can understand the bewilderment of adults. Children are shown a picture in which, for example, three apples and six pears are drawn, and they are asked whether the depicted objects can be called in one word and what. The children recognized both apples and pears, were able to give a common name (fruit), and determined that there are more pears. However, if you ask what is more: pears or fruits, most preschoolers will say that there are more pears. What's the problem? Children of preschool age are guided, first of all, by what they see, because at this age they develop imaginative thinking. Preschoolers do not yet master reasoning leading to the correct conclusion. How would the reasoning be structured when solving the above problem? Approximately

like this: “Pears and apples are fruits. There are more fruits than pears, because fruits are both pears and apples.” But to make such a conclusion, children need to navigate complex conceptual relationships.

Child psychologist L. Wenger said that imaginative thinking does not necessarily dwell on the random, external properties of things. It gives the child the opportunity to assimilate generalized knowledge that reflects essential connections and relationships, if these connections and relationships are not simply given in the form of verbal reasoning, but are presented in a visual form. With the right help from adults, the development of figurative cognition can lead a preschool child to master the laws of logic. Complex relationships between concepts become accessible

In preschool age, the development of the ability to solve logical type problems is influenced by the development of visual modeling.

children of this age, if presented in a visual form. Thus, in preschool age, the development of visual modeling influences the development of the ability to solve logical type problems.

Logical relations are diverse, and the most common type of conceptual relations is classification (or genus-species). Just such relationships exist between the concepts “pears”, “apples”, “fruits”. In order to present them visually, conditionally symbolic models are used, one of which is a model in the form of circles. In it, concepts (words) are designated by circles of different sizes, which depend on the degree of generalization. So, for example, the concept “fruit” will correspond to a larger circle than the concept “apples”. And the relationships themselves will be conveyed using the spatial arrangement of circles (Fig. 1).

Invite the children to look at the pictures (for example, 5-6 cards depicting dishes: cups, pans, kettles, plates, glasses, frying pans, etc. and a card depicting any animal, for example a dog), then ask if there is a word that can be used name all the pictures. If there is no such word, find out why it is not there.

The first step in mastering the action of visual modeling of conceptual relationships is mastering substitution.

If the children do not see the “extra” picture on their own (which makes it difficult to find a common word for most of the pictures), invite them to find it together. Then put the picture with the image of the animal aside.

Take them aside and explain why it is superfluous, and for the remaining cards, choose a generalizing word. After this, lay out the pictures and ask the children to draw two identical circles. Ask the children to put cards with a picture of a dish in one of the circles, and with a picture of an animal in the other (Fig. 2).

Animals

Thus, together with the children, you not only designated the concepts with circles, conditional substituents, and performed the action of substitution, but also built a model that clearly shows the relationships between these concepts.

Additionally, children can be given two more cards with images of dishes (for example, a spoon and saucer) and 4-5 cards with images of animals (cat, elephant, horse, bear, etc.) and asked to place them in the same circles. After the children have laid out the pictures, help them explain why they put the card in a particular circle.

Tasks aimed at mastering the action of substitution can be carried out in a similar way several times, changing the themes of the pictures: furniture and clothing; toys and flowers; cars and trucks; insects and birds, etc. You can increase the number of allocated groups to three.

Having mastered substitution, children will easily name the words that designate this or that circle. Now you can invite children to independently divide pictures into groups and sketch models on a piece of paper or a board. (For proper execution, the “evenness” of the circles and the accuracy of the sizes are not important.) In order to arouse interest in such tasks among preschoolers, complete them with the children, and then compare the results and, if there are errors, discuss and correct them.

After this, you can move on to mastering the actions of using models. To do this, you will need pictures depicting various objects. For example, having selected 10-11 cards with images of animals (4-5 with images of insects and 5-6 with images of birds), invite the children to tell and name in one word who is depicted in the pictures, and then try to divide them into two groups. After the children lay out the cards, draw the same size

circles and ask the children to say what they mean. (Insects and birds.) There is no need to put the pictures in circles. If children find it difficult, you can help them by using a gesture to match two groups of cards and two circles.

Then ask the children if there is a word that can be used to name all the pictures (Animals.); how to show in a drawing that insects and birds are animals. If necessary, help children answer this question by circling the two groups of cards. Then ask the children who is more numerous: insects or animals, birds or animals; how to show this in a picture (Fig. 3).

" __---Animals

Insects

Such tasks can be carried out using different groups of pictures, for example, transport - water transport - air transport; people - adults - children, etc.

Gradually, the number of groups into which pictures can be divided must be increased (up to four). For example, animals - birds, animals (mammals), insects and fish. However, the number of pictures in a group may differ. But in the model, these groups of animals will be designated by circles of equal size (Fig. 4).

Insects

Animals Fig. 4

In the process of working with this model, find out from the children what is more: animals or fish, animals or animals, etc. and why, how you can show it. At the same time, it is advisable not to lose sight of the characteristics by which animals were united into one group or another (for example, how a swallow, a sparrow and a crow are similar).

At the next stage of work, offer children tasks that require independent

detailed construction of the model and its use. To do this, select pictures with objects that can be divided into 3 or 4 groups, and their names can be attributed to one concept. Invite your child to ask you a riddle. To do this, he must, after looking at the pictures, decide whether everything depicted on them can be called in one word, then divide them into groups and sketch what happened using circles. You must guess the generalizing word and into which groups the child divided the pictures.

This task can be made a little more complicated - after guessing, enter an additional picture and place it on the model. At the same time, you can make a deliberate mistake so that the child explains it and corrects it. For such tasks, you can use a set that includes cards, for example, with the image of girls and boys (2-3 pieces each) and with the image of a doll or soldier (one picture). Then the mistake will be to place a picture of a doll (or a soldier) in a circle representing girls (or boys) (Fig. 5a). It would also be a mistake to include an additional card (a doll or a soldier) in a large circle (Fig. 5b).

People (children)

Boys

Girls People (children)

When navigating classification relations, it is important to be able to identify various features that define a particular concept. Therefore, tasks in which you need to classify material on different grounds will be useful. To do this, select the pictures in such a way that they can be

divided into groups in different ways. For example, invite the children to arrange into groups a set of cards with images of animals (wolf, squirrel, elephant, zebra, reindeer, polar bear, cuckoo, crow, parrot, ostrich). There are several options for classifying such a set of pictures: animals - beasts - birds; animals - animals of the South - animals of the middle zone - animals of the North (Fig. 6).

Mammals

Animals

For such tasks, you can select cards with images of transport (water, air, land; cargo and passenger), plants (trees and shrubs; garden plants and forest plants), etc.

These sets of pictures can then be used in tasks without building a graphic model. One of the players puts the pictures laid out in disorder into groups, and the other guesses what these groups are and names the feature on the basis of which they were identified. Then the players change roles.

Complex classification relationships presented in a visual form give children the opportunity to successfully navigate them. Under your guidance, preschoolers learn a way that allows them to analyze relationships between concepts and build their own reasoning. The child’s ability to independently represent graphically conceptual relationships allows him to classify objects without relying on a visual model.

The game “Guess” just involves the classification of objects without relying on a graphical model. Select pictures that include several groups of objects and arrange them

they are in disarray. Then make a wish for one of the pictures, and let the child, asking leading questions, try to guess it. (You need to try to guess the picture as quickly as possible, that is, in fewer questions.) In this case, you need to ask questions about what is shown in the picture, and not name all the objects in order. Questions should be such that they can only be answered with “yes” or “no”.

In order to quickly guess the picture, the player needs to independently identify groups of objects and include essential features of concepts in the questions asked.

The degree of difficulty of the game can be different and determined by the proposed set of pictures. The simplest option is a game version in which the selected groups of objects are independent. The number of groups can be gradually increased from two to four. For example, a set may include 2-3 pictures of furniture, musical instruments, clothes and birds. The relationships between concepts could be visually represented in the form of circles of equal size (Fig. 7).

A more complex version of the game is determined by more complex relationships, including concepts of two levels of generality. For example, you can offer pictures depicting animals (birds and mammals - 2-3 pieces each) and dishes (kitchen and tea - 2-3 pieces each). The relationships between these concepts are clearly presented in Figure 8.

Correctly posed questions narrow the search area and quickly lead to a solution (in 3-4 questions). For example, after making a picture of a cup, you can ask the children the following questions: “Is this alive? (No.) Is this where they cook food? (Yes.) Next, you should ask 1-2 questions about the distinctive features of the items shown in the pictures.

Playing the game again, invite your child to make pictures. By guessing the object, you give your child the opportunity to compare both tactics for finding the answer.

At the initial stages, you can help the child by offering him a partial definition of the hidden object, which should not include its description, but the naming of some essential features. For example, if the hidden item is included in the “tea utensils” group, then the definition may look like this: “This is inanimate” or “This is needed when drinking tea.” This technique helps the child to identify a group of objects based on the named characteristic and to attribute the object to a particular concept.

The method of analyzing conceptual relationships mastered by children allows them to gain new experience and knowledge. At first, the child will be able to do this only with your help, but subsequently the preschooler will not be confused in front of information containing, for example, new unfamiliar words or concepts. But first it is necessary to create conditions that are close to real ones, when the child will be able to use the means he has mastered.

Invite the children to listen to a short story, for example, about a finch and guess who the “finch” is:

“The finch lives near human habitation. It builds nests in trees, often on conifers. In the summer he has children. And diligent finches parents tirelessly provide them with food, clearing the forest of harmful insects. Finches feed on seeds and green parts of plants. At the end of summer, finches gather in flocks and go to warmer climes.”

The above passage contains signs by which the finch can be classified as a bird. Discuss with the children why the finch, in their opinion, is a bird. Then show in the picture what this bird looks like. If the children are interested, offer them some more information about the finch.

When children hear unfamiliar words while listening to any works, do not rush to immediately explain them. Draw their attention to the part of the text in which a new concept appears. As a rule, it contains some information according to which this concept can be classified into one category or another. By discussing this passage with you, children will learn the new word more firmly. They will immediately integrate it into the system of generalizations that has developed by the end of preschool age.

Thus, with your sensitive and competent participation, preschoolers will be able to master visual means with which they will navigate complex conceptual relationships. The development of imaginative thinking can also lead to mastery of the laws of logic. Thanks to the visual form in which conceptual relationships can be presented, preschoolers are not only able to reason consistently and draw conclusions, but also systematize and effectively use acquired experience and knowledge, which is certainly necessary for a successful transition to school education. ■

In order to understand how a little person perceives the reality around him, you need to have an idea of ​​how a child comprehends and systematizes information received from the outside world.

Therefore, understanding the patterns of development of thought processes in preschool children will make communication between parents and a small child more productive and enjoyable.

Thinking of preschoolers: stages and features

Visual-effective thinking

In the earliest period of his life, at the age of one and a half to two years, the baby “thinks” with his hands - disassembles, explores, sometimes breaks, thus trying to explore in an accessible form and form his own idea of ​​​​what surrounds him.

Therefore, we can talk about a visually effective way of thinking. That is, the child’s thinking is completely determined by his active actions aimed at researching and changing the objects around him.

Ways to develop visually effective thinking

At this stage, the main task of parents is not to interfere with the desire of the little explorer to try everything with his own hands.

Despite the fact that, undoubtedly, in the process of his actions, the baby can break something, break something, damage it, and even injure himself. Therefore, it is important to encourage his desire to learn, while not forgetting about safety measures.

This type of thinking is well trained by toys, the elements of which somehow reflect the result of the child’s actions - sorters, sets for applied activities, activities with different materials - loose sand, cereals, water, snow.

Try to ensure that your child forms a clear connection during the game - “action-result of action”, this will be useful for future lessons in logic and mathematics.

At the next stage, from three to four years old to first grade, the child actively develops a visual-figurative type of thinking. This does not mean that the previous, visually effective one is being supplanted, no. It’s just that, in addition to the already existing skills of mastering surrounding objects by actively perceiving them with “hands,” the baby begins to think using a system of images. This type of thinking is reflected especially clearly in the child’s emerging ability to draw.

When drawing any object, for example, a house, children rely on their idea of ​​it, on those of its characteristic features (roof, walls, window) that are imprinted in their memory. In this case, the resulting image is not individualized - it is only an image formed in the baby’s mind at a given moment in time.

It is very important that the child enjoys visualizing and embodying in reality the images that arise in his mind.

This is well facilitated by drawing, modeling, design, and appliqué classes.

Verbal - logical thinking

At the age of 5-7 years, preschoolers begin to actively develop the following type of thinking - verbal-logical. The ability not only to report facts, but also to subject them to detailed analysis in verbal form speaks of well-developed verbal and logical thinking.

For example, if you ask a child of three or four years old, “What is a cat?”, he will say: “The cat is Fluff, and he lives in his grandmother’s yard.” A five- to six-year-old child will most likely answer this question like this: “A cat is an animal that catches mice and loves milk.” This answer demonstrates the child’s visual ability to analyze - one of the most important mental operations, which is a kind of “engine” for the development of thinking in preschool children.

Creative thinking

This type of thinking characterizes the ability to be creative – that is, to create new, non-standard solutions. The successful development of a child’s creative abilities will largely depend on the parents’ desire to develop creativity in him.

Unlike previous types of thinking, the creative type is not determined by the factors of growth and formation of the child’s intellectual abilities.

Such forms of mental activity as fantasies and imagination are characteristic of any child and are an essential condition for the emergence of the creative process. It is only important to create an environment in which a little person can develop his creative impulses. Absolutely all types of creativity will help with this: literary, visual, choreographic, musical.

There are no children incapable of creativity; parents of preschoolers should remember this. Even children who are lagging behind in development are able to find original creative solutions to the proposed problems if classes with parents and teachers contribute to this.

Mental operations and their role in the development of thinking in preschoolers

Universal mental operations inherent in human thinking are analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization and classification. It is the ability to use these operations that determines the development of thinking in preschool children.

Comparison

In order for a child to fully be able to use this category, it is necessary to teach him the skill of seeing the same in different, and different in the same. Starting from the age of two, teach your child to compare and analyze objects by comparing homogeneous features, for example: shape, color, taste, consistency, set of functions, etc.

It is necessary that the child understands the importance of analysis based on homogeneous features and is able to identify and name them.

Expand the horizons of the concepts being compared - let it be not only objects, but also natural phenomena, seasons, sounds, properties of materials.

Generalization

This mental operation becomes available to a preschooler at the age of 6-7 years. A child aged three to four years old can use the words “cup”, “spoon”, “plate”, “glass” very well, but if you ask him to name this entire group of objects in one word, he will not be able to do it.

However, as the vocabulary and coherent speech are filled, the use of generalizing concepts will become accessible to preschoolers, and they will be able to operate with them, expanding their thinking abilities.

Analysis

This way of thinking makes it possible to “dismember” the analyzed object or phenomenon into its constituent components or to identify a number of individual signs and traits characteristic of it.

Ask your child to describe the plant. At the age of 3-4 years, he will most likely point out and name its parts without difficulty: stem, leaves, flower, thus demonstrating his ability to analyze. Analysis can be aimed not only at “dismembering” a concept, but also at identifying exceptional features unique to it.

A mental operation that is the opposite of analysis. If, while analyzing, a child “dismembers” an object, a concept, a phenomenon, then synthesis, as a result of the analysis, will allow him to combine the characteristics obtained separately. This operation is illustrated very well by a preschooler’s mastery of coherent reading skills. From individual elements (letters and sounds) he learns to form syllables, from syllables - words, words form sentences and text.

Classification

Mastering this method of mental action will allow the child to identify the similarities or differences of certain objects, concepts and phenomena. By highlighting one, but, as a rule, essential feature, the baby can classify a group of objects under consideration.

For example, toys can be classified according to the material from which they are made - these are toys made of wood, plastic, soft toys, natural materials, etc.

Exercises to develop analysis, synthesis and classification skills

"What's extra?"

Place in front of your child several pictures depicting objects that he understands. You can use children's lotto cards, or you can make pictures yourself.

For example, the pictures show the following objects: an apple, candy and a book. The child must analyze and correctly classify these objects. An apple and a candy can be eaten, but a book cannot. This means that the picture with the book in this row will be superfluous.

“Pig in a poke” (we train analysis and synthesis skills)

One of the players (if the child is still small and does not speak very well, let it be an adult) takes a picture from the children's lotto and describes what is depicted on it, without showing it to the other player. However, the object itself cannot be named! The other player must guess, based on the description, what is shown in the picture. Over time, when the child grows up (starting from 4-5 years), you can change roles - let the child describe what is shown in the picture, and the adult player guesses. In this case, not only thinking abilities are trained, but also coherent speech skills.

“Pick a pair” (we train analysis, comparison)

You need two sets of children's lotto with the same cards. One child (player) takes a card and, without showing it, explains to the other players what is written on it. Other players, analyzing, offer their own version of the card, which, in their opinion, depicts what the first child described. If the description and the answer match, two identical cards are removed from the game, and the game continues further with the remaining cards.

"What is this?" (analysis, comparison, generalization)

Invite your child to characterize the following vocabulary lines using a generalizing word.

  • glass, plate, fork, knife; /dishes/;
  • plum, apple, orange, banana; /fruits/;
  • sparrow, stork, goose, dove; /birds/;
  • cat, pig, rabbit, sheep; /animals, pets/;
  • rose, tulip, lily of the valley, poppy; /flowers/.

Come up with vocabulary lines on your own, complicate the tasks over time, move from simple objects to concepts and phenomena (seasons, human feelings, natural phenomena, etc.).

The development of thinking in preschool children is a task, the solution of which directly depends on how successfully the child has mastered and can use the above mental operations.

Activities and games aimed at training them will ensure not only the intellectual development of the preschooler, but the harmonious formation of the personality of the growing child as a whole, because it is developed thinking that distinguishes a person from other living beings.

Teacher, child development center specialist
Druzhinina Elena

Useful video about the development of creative thinking in children:



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