In order for a child to grow up independent, it is very important to develop his self-care skills in a timely manner. This includes the ability to drink and eat independently, hygiene skills, cleaning toys and much more. At what age can you start teaching your child to take care of himself? What skills should a child learn first? How to properly develop self-care skills? What to do if a child resists independence? We will talk about this in today's article.
How to develop independence in a child: basic principles
Despite their small age, children can do a lot on their own if they are given the opportunity. But in order to develop self-service skills in a child, you will have to be patient. At first, when your baby is just beginning to master a skill, be prepared for the fact that actions that were previously performed easily and quickly with your help will take much more time. And a child who learns to use a spoon on his own will most likely get himself and everything around him dirty. But, believe me, the effort and nerves expended will definitely pay off for you a hundredfold. Gradually, the baby will do better and better, and, in the end, he will completely refuse your help. So, if you want to develop independence in your child, adhere to the following rules:
- Allow your baby to act independently;
- Praise your child for his desire to do something himself;
- Don't scold him if he does something for a long time and clumsily;
- If your child asks for help, do not refuse him.
“Help me do it myself” is a fundamental principle of the Maria Montessori system. And our task, as adults, is to create a space for the baby that meets his needs.
In order for a child to have the opportunity to express himself independently, appropriate conditions must be created at home. Things that do not pose a danger to the baby should be freely available. There are several types of independent activity of a child, the implementation of which adults can ensure through the organization of space:
- Quenching thirst (a jug and a glass of water should be freely available to the baby);
- Cleaning (let the baby have his own broom, dustpan, bucket, brush, rag, sponge);
- Caring for plants (for this you only need a small watering can and a spray bottle);
- Changing clothes (it is advisable that the baby has access to some of his clothes and shoes);
- Maintaining hygiene (so that the child can wash his hands or wash himself, place a special attack under the sink);
- Setting the table (the child needs to know where his dishes are kept);
- Cooking (your baby will be happy to help you prepare food);
Remember that by organizing a developmental space for your baby, you open up many opportunities for him to demonstrate independence, but do not oblige him to do anything.
“Formation of self-care skills in young children” Consultation for parents
«Formation of self-care skills in young children
»
Consultation for parents
Dear parents, we draw your attention to important points when developing your child’s self-care skills. Self-care skills for children aged 1.5 to 3 years include:
1. Neatness skills:
1. With a little help from adults, be able to use: a handkerchief, a towel, a pot, a comb, a napkin.
2. Notice the disorder in clothes, eliminate it with a little help from adults.
2. Eating skills:
1. Chew with your mouth closed.
2. Use a spoon (ability to hold a spoon, scoop it into food, bring it to your mouth)
.
3. Drink from a cup, holding it with both hands.
4. Take it yourself, bite off pieces of bread.
3. Dressing and undressing skills:
1. Ability to put on (take off)
various items of clothing in a certain sequence with a little help from adults.
2. Unfastening and fastening buttons, Velcro, straps, snaps, zippers on clothes and shoes with a little help from adults.
The formation of these skills does not happen on its own; they must be developed in a child from an early age. All parents understand the need to develop these skills, but do not always know how to develop these skills. We bring to your attention the simplest and most accessible techniques for interacting with a child to develop his self-care skills.
Techniques for developing neatness skills, cultural and hygienic skills
1) Show adults how to perform each action and their sequence. For example: “Look, baby, how I wipe my hands. I'll grab a towel first..."
It is very important when teaching washing techniques and cleaning toys to keep the same method, the same sequence of actions unchanged. There is no need to be afraid to show and explain to the child several times what and how to do.
2) Reading works of art, looking at illustrations for them: Chukovsky K.I. “Fedorino’s Mountain”
, V. Mayakovsky
“What is good and what is bad”
, S. Kaputikyan
“Who will finish drinking sooner”
, Z. Alexandrova
“What did you put in place”
,
“Topotushka”
, I. Muraveyka
“I myself”
, stories by L. Voronkova
"Masha the Confused
" Talk to your child about positive and negative examples, the actions of the characters in the works you read, and educate them using positive examples.
3) Reading nursery rhymes. They make children want to carry out the actions described in them. For example: “Okay, okay, wash your little hands with soap. Clean palms, here’s bread and spoons for you!” “Water is gurgling in the tap, It’s very cool! Mashenka Egorova herself washes herself” (child’s name)
.
“We know, we know, yes, yes, yes! Where is the water hiding here? Come out, water, we came to wash ourselves! Place your knife on your palm! No, not a little - be bolder, we’ll wash ourselves more cheerfully!” “The handkerchief is in the pocket (we take the handkerchief out of the pocket, we will wipe our nose with it (we show actions with the handkerchief so that our nose, our snub nose, is clean again (we put the handkerchief in our pocket)
"
How to teach a child to use a spoon?
One of the first self-care skills that a baby can learn is the ability to use a spoon independently. At about the age of 1 year, the child develops a desire to perform instrumental actions (for example, digging sand with a shovel). This moment is perfect for giving your baby a spoon. Here are some tips on how to teach your child to feed himself:
- Eat with your baby. Sit next to her and show her how to use a spoon. Soon the child will begin to repeat after you.
- Surely, at first the baby will not be able to bring the spoon to his mouth. If the child does not mind, hold the baby's hand and guide it.
- To make it easier for your child, use a special curved baby spoon.
- If your baby tries to hold a spoon, but quickly loses interest, don’t insist. Over time, the number of “independent spoons” will increase.
The main conditions for successfully teaching a child to use a spoon are a positive attitude and patience of parents. You should not put pressure on your child if he refuses to eat on his own. The time will come when he himself will try to take the spoon from you.
What schemes exist?
Practice has made it possible to develop certain schemes for including children in the nursery group. Each parent must decide on the appropriate option, based on the personal characteristics of their baby.
Preliminary preparation
Many parents begin to live according to the kindergarten regime long before the first day of their stay:
- early rise;
- similar menu;
- lunchtime nap;
- familiarization with different types of activities;
- organizing interaction with peers (for example, on the playground);
- leaving the child with other relatives or close friends.
The advantage of this approach is that the child gradually gets used to the alternative reality in advance. He understands that home and mother, familiar toys are not the only thing in this world. The baby readily begins to show cognitive interest in an unobtrusive environment .
The disadvantage of this adaptation scheme is expressed in the confusion of concepts - the baby will not see the difference between being at home and in a nursery if he begins to live according to a 24-hour schedule. Psychophysical relaxation after visiting kindergarten is also important and necessary.
Visiting mode
Some parents prefer to introduce their baby to a new environment gradually - going a couple of times a week for several hours . On the one hand, the child will feel comfortable this way, on the other hand, there will be capriciousness, unwillingness to follow the rules, regime, and any requirements that contradict their own wishes.
Other adults prefer to place the child in a nursery for the whole day and take him to preschool systematically, without absences or absenteeism for a good reason.
Of course, such actions will shorten the adaptation period, but they can also cause irreparable harm to the child’s mental health.
Escort
Some parents prefer to be nearby. Thus, children, seeing the presence of an adult in close proximity, certainly experience being in a new territory more easily. However , this does not exclude the aggravation of the situation when joint attendance at kindergarten naturally stops.
When choosing a particular behavior strategy, you should rely on the individual characteristics of the baby. If a child is energetic and active, explores the world around him with enthusiasm, and has experience communicating with peers, there is no need for overprotection.
If the baby is reserved, avoids everything new, and is overly attached to the mother, then the adaptation process should be approached with understanding and everything should be done to make the baby as comfortable and calm as possible.
Teaching a child to wash his hands independently
After a year, you can teach your baby to wash his hands on his own. Children usually love water procedures, so this skill is formed quite quickly. Show your child how to soap his hands and how to rinse them. If necessary, help your child do this more carefully. Let the baby have his own towel available so he can dry his hands.
How to teach your child to clean up after themselves?
The age from 2 to 4 years is the ideal time to teach a child to be neat and tidy. During this period, children are usually real conservatives: children's need for constancy and predictability in the world becomes more acute than ever.
Early teaching of order to a child will help to avoid problems with the development of independence and responsibility in older preschool age.
Introduce a rule: take a new toy only after the child puts away the things with which he has already played enough. Cleaning should not be a punishment for the baby; let it become a natural end to the game for him. Don't force your baby to clean if he's naughty. Offer your help or even do it for him. Sooner or later, the baby will definitely begin to imitate you.
The main activity of young children is play.
The gaming method consists of the following principles:
1. use of fiction. To make children want to wash themselves and make this process easy and enjoyable for them, you can use songs, poems, and nursery rhymes.
2. examination of various illustrations aimed at developing self-service skills (“Children wash their hands”, “Children have lunch”, etc.);
3. game method. The use of toys and organization of games with them (dressing a doll, undressing it, putting it to bed, feeding it) increases children’s interest in independent activities. A question-answer game that encourages children to solve a specific problem (“Katya’s doll is dirty, what should I do?”).
Teaching children to dress and undress independently correctly requires a lot of effort. It is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of each child, think through the available rules of action and their sequence for children. When teaching children self-service skills, you need to remember such an effective technique as encouragement.
Encourage and praise your child even for small achievements. Support your child's desire for independence. There is no need to rush him into performing any action; you need to give him the opportunity to do everything calmly. If a child can’t do something, don’t tell him to help him until he asks for it.
Self-care is associated with simple operations, which makes it easier to perform the actions of washing, dressing, and eating.
The development of self-care skills in a preschool educational institution is carried out in two forms:
- individual, when individual operations are worked out;
- group, when conditions are created for the need to implement this skill: the child’s behavior obeys a rule common to the entire group of children; At the same time, the imitation mechanism works.
Children coming from home lack not only basic self-care skills, but also the desire to do anything on their own. This is justified by the fact that parents overprotect their children, do everything for them themselves, so the children’s desire for independence, not supported in a timely manner, is lost.
When learning to dress and wash, it is very important to keep the same method, the same sequence of actions, unchanged. This makes it possible to present the same requirement to all children when performing a similar self-care task and at the same time ensures the rapid formation of a lasting skill.
Objectives for developing cultural and hygienic skills in children:
- consolidate knowledge and skills to independently serve oneself;
- teach how to use individual personal hygiene items (towel, handkerchief, comb);
- continue to teach how to use cutlery correctly and observe table etiquette when eating.
Mastering self-care skills (the ability to dress and undress, take care of oneself, use the toilet, eat independently, bathe, wash, etc.) directly affects the child’s self-esteem and is an important step towards his independence.
