2022, 6
Relevance and purpose of the study. Studying the impact of digital technologies on the development of preschool children is one of the topical areas of modern psychology. Digital devices become part of the microenvironment of a child’s development from the first years of their life. However, their impact on a preschooler, is associated, on the one hand, with the discovery of new opportunities, and, on the other hand, with the emergence of risks and difficulties, is a great challenge for parents, teachers, and psychologists. In this regard, the study was aimed at identifying the features of the use of digital devices (tablet / computer) as components of the family educational microenvironment and studying their influence on the intellectual development of older preschoolers.
Sample consisted of 200 preschoolers aged 6-7 years, their parents (mainly mothers) from Moscow city.
Methods. Methods of express diagnostics of intellectual abilities /MEDIS, (E.I.Scheblanova, I.S.Averina, E.N.Zadorina); expert evaluation of intellectual and creative activity, creative thinking of preschoolers in a specially designed game lesson; the survey of the parents about the use of a tablet / computer at home for the development of a child (frequency, time, programs / games); and methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis (statistical package SPSS Statistics 22).
Results. It was revealed that in the families of the majority of preschoolers (96%) digital devices (tablet / computer) are used for their development, but the intensity (time) of use was different: 20-30 minutes for almost half of the older preschoolers, and 30-60 minutes for a little fewer children; but for individual preschoolers, the time exceeded one hour. The analysis of the number of children’s interactions with digital devices (as part of the family educational environment) during the week showed that a significant part of the children were divided into two approximately equal groups (about 40% in each): the frequency of using a tablet / computer in the first group was 1-2 times a week, in the second – 3-4 times a week. There were significantly fewer preschoolers who used a tablet/computer 5-7 times a week – about a fifth. Among the computer programs / games used at home for the development of older preschoolers, those that develop logical thinking turned out to be the most in demand: three quarters of children use them. Approximately half of the children learn programs/games that develop memory, counting and reading skills. The comparison of the children’s intellectual indicators, taking into account the frequency of using a digital device, showed that preschoolers who spend at a tablet/computer 1-2 times a week have a higher level of the development of intellectual abilities than their peers who use this digital device more often.
Conclusion. The peculiarities of the use of a tablet/computer by preschoolers as a component of the family educational microenvironment may determine the variability of the indicators of children’s intellectual development. These features must be taken into account when developing recommendations for parents on the digitalization of the family microenvironment.
The relevance of the article is determined by the attention to the role of reading by the younger generation from the state, the importance of reading in the transfer of culture from generation to generation. The method of organizing reading in preschool educational organizations has remained unchanged for several decades, reading is episodic in the daily routine of kindergarten, and the children’s interest in reading is steadily decreasing. The question arose about updating approaches to the organization of reading in kindergarten conditions: the repertoire of children’s reading, reader communications, ways to attract children to reading. The solution of these questions unites the design of the infrastructure of children’s reading in a preschool educational organization.
The aim of the article is to present the results of a theoretical study of approaches to designing the infrastructure of children’s reading in a preschool educational organization, to substantiate its content as a system of components, whose interaction ensures the formation of a child’s reading competence, taking into account the peculiarities of his development during preschool childhood.
Description of the research progress. At the initial stage of the study, the role of reading in the development of preschool children was determined and the focus of this type of activity on the development of the child’s reading competence was determined as the goal of designing the reading infrastructure; the relationship between the child’s literary development and reading competence is shown. Further, the study was built around finding answers to the questions: how can the repertoire of children’s reading be changed taking into account the characteristics of a child of the 21st century? Is it possible to have a mandatory reading circle (canon) in kindergarten, taking into account the current socio-cultural situation? What motivates children to read, what ways can a teacher use to motivate children to read? What changes can reader communications with preschool children undergo? The study was conducted on the basis of an analysis of a wide range of sources, significant both from a historical and modern point of view, conclusions were drawn about the design of components of the children’s reading infrastructure. In the course of the study, materials obtained in the work of the pedagogical laboratory on the topic “Designing the infrastructure of children’s reading in preschool educational institutions” on the basis of the Department of Preschool Pedagogy of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A.I. Herzen and Kindergarten No. 143 of the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg, as well as the previous pilot empirical study on this issue (2020-2022) were used.
Conclusions. The infrastructure of children’s reading acts as a dynamic education, which is designed and implemented by teachers. In the conditions of saturation of the children’s literature market with new books, the role of the teacher’s reading culture, ability to understand the concept of a children’s book and the choice of reading repertoire increases. Designing a children’s reading repertoire requires identifying and formulating problems that are significant for a child of a given age. For the development of the child’s reading competence, it is necessary for the teacher to combine external stimuli that encourage reading and actualize the child’s internal motives in accordance with an age-appropriate approach, use the practice of slow reading and the child’s play practices in organizing reader communications. Optimal support for children’s reading and the development of a child’s reading competence requires further empirical research of the infrastructure of children’s reading in a preschool educational organization.
The relevance of the article. The problem of ‘Paying It Forward’, or the notion that people, children and young persons, carry out acts of kindness to strangers without expecting a return or ‘being paid’ back, is so important that, without exaggeration, the future of mankind depends on it. ‘Pay it Forward’ is not a new way of behaving; as else, people would have ceased to exist a long time ago. The term “Paying it Forward“ is tentatively described as ‘the process of somebody doing something good for another without having the intention to have the favour returned or being “paid back”, but instead with the expectation that the recipients pass it on to another person’.
Description of the research progress. After a brief elaboration on the notion of ‘paying it back’, the first part seeks to explore the phenomenon of ‘living in the now’ and how this affects this ‘paying it forward’, as it can be assumed that their concern about the wellbeing of those who may live in the future may be affected by a limited feeling of being connected with times to come. The trend that pushes children to increasingly living in the now is fed by numerous processes, the most important being that spending time at their leisure is becoming rarer, and the other that they expect near immediate responses to their needs.
Conclusions. If people get tired of communicating with the present, they have no energy left for the future. Will children and young people to think about the wellbeing and well becoming of prospective generations? Where and how could they possibly muster the motivation, energy, and above all the time, to ‘pay it forward’? What future lies in waiting for the young generations and for those who come after them? This question gives rise to daunting scenarios, whose consequences could only be approximated, if at all. An effort to this effect will be attempted in the future studies.