Relevance (context) of the subject of the article. The system of Russian preschool education occupies a leading position in the world. It began to take shape in the last century. The article discusses the views on the development and education of preschoolers by researchers of child psychology and preschool pedagogy who worked at the Institute of Preschool Education of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, created by A.V. Zaporozhets. Zaporozhets attached particular importance to the upbringing of a child in the first years of life, when the foundations of a future personality are laid, when, under favorable pedagogical conditions, various practical, mental and artistic abilities develop most intensively; moral ideas, feelings and habits begin to form, which later develop into a person’s character.
Description of the research progress. The author examines the activities of various laboratories of the Institute, which investigated the problems of education, development and upbringing of children of early and preschool age. Pedagogical, psychological and physiological studies conducted at the Institute of Preschool Education in collaboration with other scientific institutions of the country were aimed at solving these problems.
Research results. Zaporozhets created a theory of sensory and mental development of a child recognized in world science, which is the basis for solving the problems of preschool education. Under the leadership of Zaporozhets, the concept of preschool education was developed and studies of the upbringing and education of children of early and preschool age were carried out, which proved that every normal child has enormous potential psychophysiological capabilities. The task of teachers, in opinion of Zaporozhets, is to create optimal pedagogical conditions for the realization of these opportunities, and in the course of assimilation of social experience, not only the child is enriched with known knowledge and skills, but also the formation of his/her abilities and personality qualities are carried out. The staff of the Institute prepared a “Kindergarten Education Program”, on the basis of which the upbringing and education of children in all preschool institutions of the country was conducted.