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Background. Storytelling skills are essential for people in general and for analyzing the formation of child speech in particular. Oration, coherent speech, monologue, narrative, storytelling are all special names for the ability to generate oral texts, which precedes the written skills both in phylogenesis and in ontogenesis. Without analyzing the dynamics of storytelling, it is difficult to analyze the course of linguistic development in children, specifically in bilinguals.

The purpose of the study is to show on specific examples of mini-longitudinal research how the ability to create a narrative in Russian develops among bilingual preschoolers aged 5–7 years, whether this process has features that distinguish it from a similar process in monolingual children; to summarize the experience of narration training methods used abroad and to offer important didactic techniques for teaching how to create a coherent story.

Design. The features of monologue speech, methods of eliciting and evaluating narratives, their significance in pedagogy, linguistics, and psychology are highlighted. In the experimental part, Russian language stories of two bilingual Russian-Finnish bilinguals collected between the ages of five and seven years with an average time interval of six months are compared. Methods of teaching storytelling offered by foreign teachers are analyzed.

Results. It is demonstrated that the reference material is created for specific research purposes and can reflect more or less accurately the search for a solution to a certain linguistic, psychological, cultural, etc. problem. Adults do not expect logic from a small child but try to extract from what they hear the scheme of ideas that she/he has formed about the relationship of events in reality (if she / he says so, then she/he thinks so). The criteria for evaluating narratives are considered. As a result, it is reported that it is difficult to evaluate stories as an indicator of the verbal ability development. The techniques of storytelling supporting the development of coherent speech, and the dynamics of narrative ability are discussed. The article systematizes teaching methods of storytelling and suggests ways to support the development of the verbal ability.

Conclusion. At the end, it is concluded that in order to be able to tell stories, children need to be at a sufficient level of cognitive development, find relationships between the elements of a fragment of reality, know how the environment is arranged (they must have, to some extent, an established picture of the world), be equipped with sufficient phonetic, lexical and grammatical means, possess a suitable narrative genre and its components, select the right type of narration for the listener.

Background. The study of the regional historical and pedagogical heritage in the area of pre-school education enables to take into account the experience gained in implementing modern types of further training and developing programmes to improve the quality of teaching staff. The problem of analysis consists in recreating the practice that meets the internal needs of teachers to change the educational situation, get professional reflection, and comprehend the productivity of self-development.

The Objective of the research was the historical and pedagogical analysis of the main types of self-education of pre-school specialists in the second half of the 20th century, implemented in Perm territory educational institutions.

Design. In the research the types of pedagogical self-education of the Ural pre-school education specialists in the second half of the 20th century and their updating for regional professional development programmes were studies. The analyzed sources were normative documents regulating the activities of pre-school institutions in the 1950 – 1990s, documents from the archival funds of Perm Territory, memories of the oldest pre-school education specialists, the authors’ expeditionary and pedagogical materials. To solve the tasks, a set of methods of historical and pedagogical research, generalization of pedagogical practice, and the actualization method were used.

Results. The result of the research is the analysis of types of pedagogical self-education in the regarded period and identification of the most valuable ideas with the potential to develop modern regional programmes aimed at improving excellence and practices of pre-school education specialists.

Conditions for the dynamic development of types of self-education in the second half of the 20th century were created by the rapidly developing theory and practice of pre-school pedagogics, organized self-education activities directed by heads of institutions, methodological offices, pedagogical educational institutions, innovative search of master teachers and model kindergartens. The prospects for integrating the described forms with self-education technologies at the present stage are seen in strengthening such approaches as inviting well-known teachers for course training and creative meetings, conducting open classes and seminars online, organizing research groups to study alternative methods, creating experimental platforms to integrate preschool and school education. To develop the regional concept for improving pedagogical excellence, the idea that all participants of the educational process take an active part in the asceticism remains relevant.

The article discusses the development of coherent oral speech in preschool age and possible ways to improve it. The author analyzes the terminological variants of the connective oral speech designation, and put forward the terms “narrative” and “text”, that are considered to be synonyms. On the basis of the psycholinguistic data on the peculiarities of the child language acquisition, the authors describe methods for evaluating children’s retelling and narratives, as well as methodological principles for the formation and development of storytelling skills in senior preschool age. It is proposed to evaluate the parameters of their micro- and macrostructure in children’s narratives. The microstructure is traditionally referred to lexical and grammatical indicators: the number of lexical and grammatical errors, the richness of the dictionary, syntactic complexity, the absence of omissions of major parts of the sentence, pronominalizations index, and others. The macrostructure includes the correspondence to the simplest narrative structure “goal – action – result” and the degree of development of the narrative (complete, simplified or distorted narrative). When learning to create narratives, child needs to move from simpler, personal narratives to more complex, invented ones. Personal narratives include children’s stories about repeated actions or events, and at a later stage – about a bright, memorable event for the child. Fictional narratives are often created using one or a series of images. A story is usually created based on a series of images, and a description is created based on a single image. Among the fictional narratives, stories will be simpler for children than descriptions. Work on creating texts with children should be based on a series of colorful, interesting images, where you can trace temporary and cause-and-effect relationships. It is concluded that learning vocabulary and grammar is not enough for the development of coherent oral speech; special techniques are needed to develop children’s ability to generate text as an integral and coherent unity.

Introduction. The article presents the results of a retrospective study devoted to the formation and development of the cooperation of the Herzen State University with the kindergartens of St. Petersburg, the historically established traditions of scientific and methodological support of pre-school education and current trends in the development of this direction are described. The aim of the study was to study key ideas and directions of scientific and methodological support of kindergartens in the process of integral historical development.

A comprehensive research methodology was used, including a theoretical analysis of the contents of archival materials, publications, periodicals, a retrospective method showing the process of cooperation of the Herzen State University in terms of its development dynamics and historical continuity, scientific interpretation and synthesis of specific factual materials.

The results show unique experience of the “Child’s life of the child” museum, which served as the basis for the formation of the practice of scientific and methodological support of the innovative, experimental activities of the city’s kindergartens.

Conclusion. The study makes it possible to determine the tendencies in the development of the process of scientific and methodological support of the practice of pre-school education in St. Petersburg, highlight the historically established traditions of such cooperation, identify current rends, and key directions of the development of this process.

The article presents correctional methods for forming storytelling ability in preschool children with mental retardation. This skill is developed by implementing an educational program called Speech Development. Preschool pedagogy offers a variety of methods to teach how to tell stories, but those tend to disregard the specifics of speech and cognitive development in such a preschool group as mentally retarded children. The proposed method is based on P. Galperin’s principle of gradual formation of mental actions and suggests dividing the storytelling learning process into steps and sub-steps by providing each child with assistance he or she needs at each stage (sub-stage). This approach to the skills formation may have a positive effect on correctional and pedagogical work. The method involves teaching storytelling based on picture stories and descriptive stories.

The last few years have seen Monster High dolls become one of the most popular and controversial toys. Based on the results of a specific empirical study the authors of the article attempt to find out why these dolls are so popular and what children see and what they fail to see in them and how preschool and younger school age girls play with these dolls. The study involved 245 parents and 50 girls in two age groups: 6-7 and 8-9 years. The adults completed the questionnaire which evaluated these dolls’ basic qualities. The children were involved in individual conversations in which each of the girls was asked the same questions. The children’s drawings depicting these dolls and the way they played with them were analyzed. The children’s and adults’ assessment of the dolls’ different qualities made it possible to register an obvious generational gap: what children perceive as being perfect is regarded by adults as being ugly and revolting. The children’s drawings suggest that Monster High dolls are perceived by them as “standards of beauty.” Most of the girls prefer these dolls to traditional ones. Watching the children play with these girls showed its essential part to be defined not so much by the toys’ image as by the general context of a child’s life: when using these dolls children play out most varied stories that reflect their personal experience. The article concludes by discussing the results of the study and possible risks these toys carry for preschoolers.

The article is devoted to the feasibility of using visual aids to enhance the efficiency of the pedagogical process. The authors emphasize the efficient use of visual aids, such as story pictures as means aimed at the development of higher mental functions. The authors note that for correction of children with mental and speech delays the program of the complex neuropsychological correction is used. A case-study of treatment of a child with insufficient formation of a number of mental functions (motor, spatial, verbal, mnemonic) is described. To achieve the goals of the correctional methods of work are connected with play and story pictures. Based on the results of re-examination the authors note positive dynamics in the formation of a number of mental functions: the motor sphere, hemispheric interaction, spatial representations, regulatory and mnemonic functions. It is concluded that work with story pictures has greatly contributed to the emergence of positive dynamics.

In the article the history of dolls from the time of ancient Greece to the present is traced. Analogies of the historical time and an image of a doll and its value in the society are presented. The most significant features of doll’s production and stages of development of the iconography of the dolls are described. The most fully represented periods of greatest prosperity in the history of doll production are the XIX century, referred to as “the golden age of dolls” when dolls were mainly made of porcelain; the XX century – a phenomenon of Barbie doll; and the return of the best traditions of the XIX century expressed in communicative features of author’s dolls in present time.

Relevance. Currently, in most preschool groups there is a minimum level of quality conditions for supporting play. The task is to improve the quality of play support. The article examines the developing potential of regular practice of storytelling as a part of indirect play support in preschool setting.

The aim of the study: to analyze the influence of regular storytelling experience on the development of pretend play.

Methods. 38 children aged 6-7 years from two preschool groups took part in a pedagogical experiment (duration – 7 months). For the initial and repeated assessment of the level of play development we used E.O. Smirnova’s diagnostic tool and the “challenge-response” parameter (L.I. Elkoninova); to assess the level of imagination development – the tool “Where is whose place?” (E.E. Kravtsova). In the experimental group, conditions were created for regular practice of storytelling based on children’s drawings. The results of the pedagogical experiment were assessed by the presence of a shift in the level of development of play and imagination in the experimental and control groups before and after the pedagogical experiment.

Results. Based on the analysis of more than 600 children’s stories, 3 types of children’s stories were identified and 5 trajectories of development of children’s storytelling were described. During the experiment, children moved from a description and sequence of actions to more complex structure with culmination. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the level of development of play and imagination before and after the pedagogical experiment (p<0.01) only in the experimental group.

Conclusions. Regular storytelling is a significant condition for the development of the cognitive aspect of the play associated with substitution, symbolic actions of the child, plot features, as well as the affective side of play associated with the creation of a situation of challenge and response. Storytelling can be seen not as the only necessary condition for the development of play, but as an additional condition (part of indirect support) that expands the capabilities of children playing. The results can be used in developing a strategy for complex play support in preschool organizations.

Background. Storytelling and play with an imaginary situation are important components of a high-quality preschool education, but in the scientific field there are very few studies that analyze the nature of their relationship in preschool age.

Objective: to analyze the interrelation between pretend play of preschoolers and the key features of individual storytelling.

Methods. The study involved 56 children aged 6-7 years. To study the features of the development of play in preschoolers, we used the play diagnostic tool of E.O. Smirnova and the “challenge-response” parameter of L.I. Elkoninova. To study the characteristics of children’s narratives (stories invented based on their own drawings) – the method by O.A. Shiyan «Three Stories».

Results. The sample included children with both high and low levels of development of pretend play (mean= 19.55, sd= 5.34, min=6, max=30), 26.7% of children were found to have “challenge-response” play. Most often, when creating narratives, children used normative (mean=3.86, sd=2.21) and symbolic means (mean=1.48, sd=1.9). A significant interrelation was found between the level of development of play and symbolic and normative means in children’s narratives (p<0.01).

Conclusion. Overall score according to the method of E.O. Smirnova, as well as such parameters of play as play substitution and play idea, turned out to be associated with both symbolic and normative means in children’s narratives. The ability to create a symbolic character in storytelling and action from a role in play, spatial and subject substitution have a similar mechanism and imply the ability not only to create, but to deploy and maintain one’s image. The interrelation indicates a similarity in the use of normative means when constructing play plots and creating individual stories. The results can be used in developing a strategy for complex play support in preschool organizations, as well as in professional development programs for preschool teachers.

Background. The development of creative thinking is one of the important tasks of early childhood education. It is important to understand the role children’s activities, particularly story-telling, can play in this development. Of particular interest are narrative practices that create a social situation that supports children’s writing.

Objective: to analyze the influence of the narrative practice of “fairy tales with provocations” on the development of creative (dialectical) thinking of older preschoolers and individual parameters of fairy tale stories that children create.

Methods. The study involved 60 children aged 6-7 years. To diagnose creative (dialectical) thinking, the “What can happen at the same time?” (Veraksa N.E.) technique was used; to diagnose creative thinking and the ability to create symbolic images, the “Fire” subtest was used (the “Three Stories” method by Shiyan O.A.). We proposed the narrative practice “Fairy Tales with Provocations” as a way to activate children’s creative thinking.

Results. According to the results of the initial diagnostics, no significant differences were found; the results of the children in the experimental and control groups did not have any of the study parameters. The final diagnostics showed that in the control group no significant positive changes were found compared to the initial diagnosis in any of the studied parameters, while in the experimental group significant positive changes were found at a significant level in everyone according to all measurable parameters: creative (dialectical) thinking, creative transformations and artistic (symbolic) image in narratives, as well as the structure of narratives.

Conclusion. The study showed that the narrative practice “Fairy Tales with Provocations” is an adequate way to develop creative (dialectical) thinking, and also has a positive effect on the stories that children create: they become more complex and structured, they contain more creative transformations and artistic (symbolic) images. All this suggests that such symbolic activities as writing fairy tales are an important space for the development of children’s creativity. The results can be used to build educational work with children based on the resource of children’s activities.