7.4. FORMATION OF SPATIAL-TEMPORARY REPRESENTATIONS IN CHILDREN OF PRESCHOOL AGE

Spatial representations, although they appear very early, are a more complex process than the ability to distinguish between the qualities of objects.

Orientation in space requires the ability to use any reference system. In the early childhood period, the child is oriented in space on the basis of the so-called sensory frame of reference, that is, along the sides of his own body.

At preschool age, the child masters the verbal reference system in the main spatial directions: forward - backward, upward - downward, to the right - to the left. During school years, children master a new frame of reference - on the sides of the horizon: north, south, west, east.

Mastering each next frame of reference is based on solid knowledge of the previous one. Differentiation of the main spatial directions is due to the level of orientation of the child “on itself”, the degree of development of the “scheme of his own body” by him, which, in fact, is a “sensory reference system”.

Later another system of reference is imposed on it - the verbal one. This happens as a result of assigning the directions of the names relating to them to the child’s sensually distinguished names: up, down, forward, back, left and right.

Thus, the preschool age is the period of mastering the verbal frame of reference in the main spatial directions. Distinct directions the child correlates, first of all, with certain parts of his own body. So, links are ordered like: above - where is the head. Below - where the legs, in front - where the face. Behind is where the back is. To the right - where the right hand is, to the left - where the left is.

Of the three paired groups of the main directions, corresponding to the main axes of the human body, the upper one stands out first, which is caused, apparently, by the predominantly vertical position of the child’s body. Allocation of the lower direction, as the opposite side of the vertical axis, and the differentiation of paired groups of directions characteristic of the horizontal plane (forward - backward, left - left), occurs later.

Having mastered, basically, groups of pair-opposite directions, a small child is still mistaken in the accuracy of discrimination within each group. Consequently, the child only gradually masters an understanding of the pairing of spatial directions, an adequate designation and practical distinction.

In each of the pairs of spatial designations, one is highlighted first, for example: under, right, above, behind. On the basis of comparison with the first, the opposite are also realized: above, on the left, below, in front.

Children master the ability to apply or use the reference system they have mastered when orienteering in the surrounding space in stages.

The first stage begins with a “practical try on”.

At the second stage , a visual assessment of the location of objects located at a certain distance from the initial point appears.

With the development of spatial orientation, the character of reflection of the perceived space is changing, improving. The perception of the external world is spatially dismembered. The perceived space is divided into various zones front (right-sided, left-sided) and back (also right-sided and left-sided). At first, the child considers only objects that are directly in front of, or as close as possible to, the objects in front, behind, to the right or to the left of him. Consequently, the area on which the child focuses, initially extremely limited. In this case, the orientation itself is carried out in contact, that is, in the literal sense of the word, on oneself and from oneself.

The stages of spatial orientation "on oneself", from oneself "and" from objects "," from another person "do not replace each other, but coexist, entering into complex dialectical relationships. It has already been indicated above that orientation “on oneself” is not only a certain degree, but also an indispensable condition when oriented in the arrangement of objects both “from oneself” and “from objects”. Determining the location of objects, a person constantly correlates the surrounding objects with their own coordinates. This is especially clearly done by the child in order to determine the right and left of the person standing opposite, the child first of all determines these sides "on himself", then makes a mental turn by 180 degrees and, standing in a position opposite to the standing person, determines his right and left side. Only after that the child will be able to determine the spatial location to the right and left of the other person. Consequently, the orientation “on oneself” is the initial one.

Orientation “from oneself” implies the ability to use the system when the subject is the origin, and the orientation “from objects” requires that the reference point is the object in relation to which the spatial arrangement of other objects is determined, for this it is necessary to be able to isolate various aspects of this object: front, back, right, left, top, bottom.

The perception and reflection of spatial relationships between objects in children in preschool age occurs gradually.

At the first stage, spatial relationships are not yet distinguished by the child. Surrounding objects he perceives as separate, without being aware of the spatial relationships that exist between them. Thus, many children in the middle preschool age define various spatial groups of objects as adequate on the basis of only a sign of the generality of their constituent objects.

The second stage is characterized by the first attempts at perception of spatial relationships. However, the accuracy of the assessment of these relationships is still relative. For example, the distance of the object from the accepted point of reference makes the child more difficult, the spatial relationships of relatively closely located objects are perceived as "continuity".

The third stage is characterized by further improvement of the perception of the spatial location of objects. In place of the definition of spatial relations by the reception of contact proximity comes a distant, visual assessment of these relations. A big role in the correct assessment of relations between objects is played by the word, which contributes to their more accurate differentiation. The assimilation by children of the meaning of spatial prepositions and adverbs makes it possible to more accurately comprehend and evaluate the location of objects and the relations between them.

Thus, a child’s knowledge of space and orientation in it is a complex and long process, and the development of spatial representations in children requires special training. Its basis should be, first of all, the accumulation of knowledge about the objects of the world in their spatial relationships. The perception of space is not limited to the accumulation of sensory experience. With age, the desire for a more accurate definition of spatial relationships, their numerical expression, develops. Purely sensory experience of perception of space is reorganized into its logical cognition through measurement. Of great importance for the formation of the mechanism of the second-signal regulation of spatial discrimination is the vocabulary work and education of the culture of speech, both in special classes and in children's games, in their daily lives.

The world around us exists in time. Time is the universal form of existence of matter. From this it follows that the temporal characteristics of the phenomena — their duration, frequency, rhythm, and other

- universal in their applicability to describe any kind of processes.

Characteristic features of the time are:

- its fluidity; time is associated with movement;

- its irreversibility;

- lack of visual forms;

- "it is not visible and not heard."

The word "time" comes from the Old Russian "time", which means "rotation". Past, present and future are interconnected in such a way that they cannot be swapped. The property of the irreversibility of time, the passage of time in one direction is the expression of the eternal in nature and society along the ascending line, from the old to the new.

The basis of time perception is sensory perception. The complex of various analyzers contribute to the sensory perception of the flow of time. I. Sechenov attached special importance to the auditory and muscular sensations: “Only sound and muscular sensation give a person an idea of ​​time, and not all with its content, but only on one side, the soundness of a muscular feeling”.

IP Pavlov pointed out that the physiological basis of the perception of time is the change of arousal and inhibition, which allows “to count down time”.

In humans, the orientation in time has two different, mutually complementary forms of reflection. One of them is a direct sensation of duration, on the basis of which conditioned reflexes are formed. The other is the perception of time itself, the most complex and perfect form of reflection, which, developing on a common organic basis, is closely connected with the generalizing function of the second signal system.

Direct perception of temporal duration is expressed in our ability to feel it, evaluate and navigate in time without any aids. This ability is called the "sense of time." In different activities, the sense of time acts as a sense of tempo, or a sense of rhythm, or a sense of speed or duration. The accumulated experience of time differentiation based on the activity of many analyzers plays a certain role in the formation of this feeling. But the “sense of time”, along with sensory perception, also includes logical components — knowledge of the measures of time. It can be at different stages of development. And it is improved in the process of specially organized exercises and learning how to estimate time.

Factors shaping the sense of time:

- knowledge of time standards;

- experiencing - children feeling the duration of time intervals in the activity;

- development in children of the ability to assess time intervals without hours, based on the sense of time.

Stages of work organization:

- to learn to determine the end of the deadline for the implementation of activities on sandglasses (task, make a boat in 1 minute);

- learn to evaluate, by presentation, the duration of the time interval in the process of activity (3 minutes);

- teach to pre-plan the amount of activity for a specified period of time based on the available idea of ​​its duration (checking the planned amount of work on an hourglass);

- learn to transfer the ability to assess the duration of time periods in life.

Along with the development of the “feeling of time”, it is necessary to form in children ideas about the features of time, giving an idea about the lengths of days, days of the week as a reflection of the shift of days, about the seasons, their sequence and turnover.

F. Bleher recommends organizing this formation on the basis of familiarizing children with the calendar. Calendar time is defined time intervals, the duration of which is fixed by public experience in generally accepted measures of time.

BG Ananyev said that, like the general nature of the reflection of the surrounding world in the human brain, the reflection of space appears in 2 basic forms, which are at the same time the stages of cognition: direct (sensual-figurative) and mediated (logical-conceptual). The interrelation and unity of these basic forms of reflection is also revealed in the field of reflection of the space-time relations of objective reality. So, on the basis of the sensuality of reflection and orientation in time, the child begins to form the highest form of orientation and reflection of time - “logical-conceptual” or “theoretical”.

Thus, the preschool age can be characterized as the initial stage of the formation of a “theoretical” child’s knowledge of time orientations and the formation of the unity of sensory and logical reflection in time. The free operation of temporary categories is the fundamental skill that combines different activities. It is considered as one of the professionally important qualities.