The phlegmatic type of character makes the child thoughtful and unhurried, but this is the norm due to scrupulousness and prudence. Problems in the functioning of the nervous system make the child very slow when inhibition causes parental excitement. The cause of slowness is also the negative in the family, constant scandals and quarrels, causing a slowdown in mental activity and a sense of anxiety.
Reasons for slowness
The first reason is congenital slowness, expressed in the physiology of the nervous system, disorders of which are manifested in high school. The backward development is noticeable against the general background of peers.
An unknown game or task that children encounter causes an unusual slowness due to the receipt of new information and the lack of experience in processing it.
The type of temperament affects its reaction rate and activity. A slow-moving child with a melancholy or phlegmatic character is normal from the point of view of psychology, but additional classes with him are not excluded.
Feeling unwell can also affect the speed of interaction with the outside world, but this reason is immediately visible and is associated with infections and other diseases.
Characterization of the pace of life of children
The most striking features of a slow child are slow speech and writing. In everyday life and school, slowness is seen in the difficulties of switching from one task to another, and a misunderstanding of teachers and parents. Slow children constantly lose things, long and hard look for them, delaying fees, the beginning of the lesson, class, other people. A characteristic feature is the slow completion of tasks of varying complexity, to which children approach with all scrupulousness, completing it to the end. The fact that the child is attentive to any business characterizes him on the positive side, but excessive slowness makes him suspect the presence of functional disorders of the nervous system.
Development standards
Norms of development depend on many parameters, mainly on the mental and cultural characteristics of the environment. Psychologists argue that there is no objective concept for this definition, but there are subjective parameters applicable to the family in which the slow child grows. All children are different, so their development takes place separately and depends on the socio-emotional perception of the world. Development occurs non-linearly, as the child spends part of the time at home, and part - at school or kindergarten, receiving various information and incentives.
Determining the degree of development of preschoolers
The development of children of preschool and school age is assessed differently. Those who go to the garden or are in the care of their parents are able to develop through games, which is characterized by the degree of their intelligence. The complexity of the game and the reaction to it show whether the child is inhibited or his nervous system is depressed. The degree of complexity of the questions children ask will also help determine the norm.
The degree of development of the student
What should a slow-moving child do at school if his development is behind the level of his classmates and this difference is noticeable? Indeed, for the student, objective indicators of the development norm do not exist, since the simplest games change to tasks that are more difficult in terms of mental abilities. Participants in olympiads and contests a priori have a developed nervous system, effectively absorb information and also use it to achieve assigned tasks. But two-thirds of children do not participate in such events and have a sufficiently developed intellect to quickly respond to requests from adults. Here, the teacher determines the speed of the reaction, and then reports his observations to parents and participates in determining the level of development of the child.
Temperament addiction
Using special literature, determine the type of temperament by description. A slow child corresponds to a phlegmatic nature, characterized by lethargy and indifference to the outside world. Phlegmatic children are silent, calm, quiet, play a little. They quickly get tired during physical exertion, losing interest in active actions. On the other hand, children with such a temperament are distinguished by the carefulness of folding their own toys and clothes, using only their own dishes for drinking and eating.
Since temperament is a consequence of higher nervous activity, it is used to judge the process of the formation of the psyche, but behavior disorders are more often determined by upbringing, the methods of which conflict with the characteristics of the child.
What to do to parents
If children show sluggishness not out of malicious intent, the cries and rage of their parents will not help. On the contrary, family negativity serves as an impetus for oppression of the nervous system, breaking the character, becoming the nightmare of a very slow child. What to do in this case, parents do not know, gradually turning to the beatings, more and more traumatizing the children's psyche. Wrong actions of adults have a negative effect on the condition of the child as a whole, prompting him to resist specifically, to be capricious.
Slow action always hides a specific meaning, an understanding of which will solve half the problem. Before you start working with children, you should accept the fact that slowness in some cases can be a normal phenomenon that is common to all people, including adults.
Self Exposure Recommendations
If the causes of slowness are not obvious, before visiting a psychologist, you can try to independently act on the slow-moving child. Recommendations for parents are simple and include the following actions:
Teach him to feel the time. Children are unable to sense its course, spending minutes and hours aimlessly. In this case, adjusting the child is pointless until he learns to determine the time. To do this, you need to teach him to use the watch, hang it in the most visible place, so that the child constantly looks at them. Also, as a preventive measure, time games with a stopwatch are used.
Interrupt it when necessary. Young children do not switch well from one thing to another, especially if the game is replaced by housework or another service for parents. In the latter case, they have aversion, resistance to a new occupation, which causes inhibition of reaction and action.
Praise for speed. If the child did something quickly, it is reasonable to point out this to him in the form of praise, to note the effectiveness of his actions, in fact, developing the desire to receive a positive assessment of the parents. This method is applied to a slow-moving child at school and consists not only in high marks for completing the assignment, but also in praise of the whole class. Do not forget that in some cases, the material reward is weighty verbal praise.
Do not give more than one assignment at a time. An adult does several things at once, as his brain is full of experience working with different situations that require attention switching. Moreover, young children are unable to immediately build a chain of sequential actions in the event that the result of the parental instruction is implicit.
When the help of a psychologist is needed
What to do with a slow child if he is stubborn and resists all parental influences? In this case, you can’t do without the help of a psychologist. The doctor prescribes a comprehensive treatment designed for both the child and his parents to bring family relationships back to normal.
The psychologist also helps in a situation where the child cannot begin to follow the instructions of adults at all, constantly postponing the approach to the denouement. Such behavior is caused by an excessive load on the mental state of the child or an exciting future event that causes fear.
Sometimes a child needs the help of a pediatrician if his slowness is not related to the functioning of the nervous system. For example, a child may not respond to parents with tasks from another room because they have hearing problems. Violations of the ability to learn, in the perception of words, their interpretation, are also detected by the doctor.
School development
What to do to the slow child at school, which is out of the attention of parents, the psychologist will tell. These may be pre-explained instructions or the help of a teacher who is actively involved in the development of children. There are many sections where children go after classes for the further specialized development of his abilities.
Basketball, football, military disciplines are suitable for children in whom slowness and fatigue are noticed when performing physical actions, but do not appear when solving intellectual problems. Chess, dancing, drawing, design circles develop in children the ability to use the higher nervous system and concentrate, to find quick ways to solve problems taking into account competition.
Additional recommendations
Parents should participate in the life of a slow child on the recommendations of a psychologist or pediatrician, if its inhibition is not associated with neurology. Adults carry out the first actions in relation to themselves - they choose the rhythm of life that is more suitable for children. The reaction rate in an adult is significantly higher than in children. No need to rush all the time, even the usual walking speed for an adult can become physically impossible for a child.
Outlined events in life that require close attention of children should be discussed with them, and in a sequential order. Children adapt to the tasks leading to the reward. Watching your favorite TV shows after doing your homework encourages them to do homework faster. Ultimately, this leads to proper prioritization. Interest in children's life, questions about future plans encourage interest in future actions.
Instructions issued from afar can develop a kind of immunity. To avoid this, it is necessary to constantly establish eye contact, and not to call, but to approach yourself to voice the instructions.
Following the instructions of the doctor, surrounding with care, to achieve that the slow child will become faster and more active, it is simple. Only rare cases lead to treatment in special institutions when children suffer from serious neurological diseases.