Surely many have heard at least something about such a thing as “sensory”. What is this, however, not everyone can explain. Even fewer are those who are fully aware of the enormous role that it plays in the life of every person, and especially a child. Moms and dads who are very responsible for the problem of upbringing should be aware that sensory development is one of the main components of the harmonious and full-fledged formation of the baby’s personality.
Sensorics - what is it?
Each loving parent is insanely happy when his precious child achieves a small, but still success. Everything is important: the first clumsy step, the long-awaited first word, clumsily painted picture. Any achievement is the result of the baby’s enormous efforts. However, did you know that the abilities of babies largely depend on how developed his sensory skills are. Probably everyone knows what it is, but only a few really understand its significance. The term "sensory" comes from the Latin word "sensus", which translates as feeling or sensation. In simple words, we can say that this is a certain sensor of human perception of the world around him. The basis for the formation of this perception is the synthesis of various sensations of the individual. It is about knowing reality with the help of hearing, sight, smell, tactile contact, etc.
The sensory system of the individual
It’s not enough just to memorize the definition of “sensory”. What is it, it is better to ask a specialist who in the smallest details can give answers, if not all, then most of the questions that interest you. Any pros will start their monologue with an explanation of what constitutes the sensory system of the individual. Without abusing scientific terms, he notes that the following subsystems form the human sensory system:
- visual - a subsystem due to which a person is able to distinguish objects of the surrounding world depending on their color, shape, size, direction of movement;
- vestibular - a subsystem responsible for the ability of a person to maintain balance and navigate in space;
- auditory - a subsystem in the absence of which people would never learn to talk, and speech, as you know, is one of the main means of interpersonal communication;
- proprioceptive - a subsystem through which a person is able to control his body movements;
- tactile - a subsystem of skin sensitivity, including tactile, tactile, temperature, and vibrational sensations.
What is sensory education?
A newborn can be compared to a white blank sheet of paper. From the first days of life, the baby needs parental care and help, because it is surrounded by a completely unexplored, but such a beautiful and interesting world. Children absorb information like a sponge, but if they absorb it intuitively, without the participation of adults, then the knowledge they acquire is often superficial. What kind of person the child will become in the future depends in many respects on the education he has received, including the sensory one. It helps to streamline the ideas of the kids about the world around them, develop their attention and observation, develop their communication and self-care skills, instill a sense of respect and love for their neighbors. Thus, we can conclude that sensory education is nothing more than a process of consistent and phased introduction of a child to sensory culture.
The need for sensory education of babies
Since sensory development is an integral part of pre-school education, its importance in the formation of the child’s intellectual abilities cannot be underestimated. The role of sensory education is that it:
- contributes to the development of the child's intelligence;
- helps the baby to systematize the knowledge that he receives from the external environment;
- prepares children for perceiving the world as it is;
- has a positive effect on the formation of aesthetic feelings;
- develops imagination, observation and attentiveness;
- prepares children for future educational activities;
- favorably affects the enrichment of the vocabulary of boys and girls;
- develops various types of memory (visual, figurative, auditory, motor).
How to develop a sensory perception of the baby?
The knowledge that the baby received once must be reinforced throughout the period preceding school. This is because the child learned the colors of the rainbow, various geometric shapes , etc. without periodic repetition are forgotten. Sometimes it happens that in a preschool child of five years (the older group) the sensor, or rather its development, remains at the level of a two-year-old baby. He is not able to distinguish the signs of objects, confuses colors, cannot concentrate on fulfilling the task assigned to him. In order not to encounter such a problem, you should regularly engage with the child, constantly voicing the names of objects that surround him on the street and indoors, as well as paying attention to his clothes. Best of all boys and girls master the information received in a game form. Therefore, it would be ideal to turn an ordinary daily walk into a fascinating and informative journey, thought out in advance by a caring parent.
How to organize classes with kids?
Usually, children who regularly attend DOW have a fairly well-developed sensory system. The youngest group of the kindergarten, middle or senior - does not matter, since the qualified teachers are constantly engaged with the children. But what about parents who prefer to raise their children at home? How not to harm the child, but rather contribute to the development of his abilities? The rule remains the same - sensory training should take place in a playful way. For example, visual perception is well taught in mosaics. However, remember that children under the age of three should be encouraged to collect various figures using only the primary colors. Preschool children may well be able to cope with a more difficult task - to assemble figures from the mosaic, in which not only several basic colors will be present, but also their shades.
Do not interfere, but rather encourage the noisy games of the child. This contributes to the development of his auditory perception. Do not impede the desire of your fidget to organize concerts or theater performances. Who knows, maybe in the future he will have a big scene?
Get toys of different shapes, sizes and colors. They should differ in texture. In this way, tactile sensations of the unconscious will develop. You can make bags yourself and fill them with various cereals. Feeling them, the baby will develop fine motor skills.
A few rules regarding the organization of work with children
When teaching children something, one should always remember that the psyche of the baby is not yet formed, and he perceives the information differently than an adult. Therefore, sensory games, like any other activity, must be carefully thought out. In order to prevent mistakes that will subsequently necessarily occur, parents need to remember a few simple rules:
- During the game, you must be calm, not raise your voice, do not insult the child if he does not succeed. Children tend to imitate adults, so parental restraint and aggressiveness will almost certainly become a character trait of his beloved child in the future.
- An adult should find an approach to the child and establish emotional contact with him.
- At each lesson, it is necessary to combine training with the game.
- So that the baby remembers the material well, it must be repeated many times.
- The complexity of the material should correspond to the level of intellectual development of the preschool child.
- The ideal duration of one lesson is 15-20 minutes.
Didactic game for kids “Decorate a butterfly”
Didactic sensory games are different and all kids like it. For example, one of them, called “Decorate a Butterfly,” is very interesting. Its main goal is to teach future first-graders to group different objects depending on their color, as well as to consolidate the knowledge of preschool children about such a geometric figure as a ball, about the concepts of "one" and "many." Cardboard butterflies and circles of different sizes and colors should be prepared in advance. The course of the game is as follows:
- Boys and girls are shown butterflies, saying that they came to stay and ask for a favor. The fact is that the insects were presented with circles of different colors, with which you can decorate their wings. However, without outside help they can not cope with this task.
- An adult invites children to assist the butterflies and fulfill their insignificant request.
- At first, the children are told that they need to choose mugs of the same color. After they do this, it remains to give them the silhouettes of butterflies, whose wings need to be decorated.
At the end of the game, it is important to praise the kids for their diligence and responsiveness.