7.2. FORMING IN CHILDREN REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT LARGE SUBJECTS AND THEIR MEASUREMENT

For the correct and complete characterization of any object, an estimate of the magnitude is no less important than the evaluation of its other attributes. The ability to allocate a value as a property of an object and to give it a name is necessary not only for the knowledge of each object separately, but also for understanding the relations between them. This has a significant impact on the formation of more complete knowledge of the surrounding reality in children.

Awareness of the magnitude of objects has a positive effect on the mental development of the child, since it is associated with the development of the ability to identify, recognize, compare, generalize, leads to an understanding of the value as a mathematical concept and prepares for mastering in school the relevant section of mathematics.

The size of an object is its relative characteristic, which emphasizes the length of individual parts and determines its place among homogeneous objects. Value is a property of the subject.

The reflection of magnitude as a spatial attribute of an object is associated with perception — the most important sensory process, which is aimed at identifying and examining an object, revealing its features. Various analyzers are involved in this process: visual, auditory, musculoskeletal, and the motor analyzer plays a leading role in their mutual work, ensuring an adequate perception of the size of objects.

The problem of the reflection of magnitude cannot be considered only as a problem of perception. Equally, it should be considered as a problem of thinking.

The cognition of magnitude is carried out, on the one hand, on a sensory basis, and on the other, mediated by thinking and speech. Adequate perception of magnitude depends on the experience of practical operating with objects, the development of an eye, the inclusion in the process of word perception, the participation of thinking processes: comparison, analysis and synthesis.

For the formation of the most basic knowledge about the value, it is necessary to form concrete ideas about objects and phenomena of the surrounding world.

The orientation of children in the magnitude of objects is largely determined by the eye, the most important sensory ability. The development of the eye is directly related to the mastery of special ways of comparing objects. First, the comparison of objects in length, width, height by children is carried out by practical overlay and application, and then on the basis of measurement. The eye as it were summarizes the practical actions of the hand.

The word size itself is incomprehensible to children, as they rarely hear it. When children's attention is drawn to the size of the subject, caregivers prefer to use words that are the same, the same, which have many meanings, so they should be supplemented with a word denoting the sign by which objects are matched (find the same in size: length, width, height, etc. ).

Selecting a particular measurement, the child seeks to show it (runs his finger along the length, with divorced hands shows the width, etc.). These survey activities are very important for a more differentiated perception of the size of the subject.

The inability to differentially perceive the size of objects significantly influences the designation by the word of objects of various sizes. Most often, children in relation to any objects use the words "big - small." This is due to the fact that adults around children often use inaccurate words to indicate the size of objects (a large ruler instead of a long one).

The value of perception in the life of a preschooler is very large, as it creates a foundation for the development of thinking, contributes to the development of speech, memory, attention, imagination. A well-developed perception can manifest itself in the form of the observation of a child, his ability to notice the features of objects and phenomena, details that an adult will not notice. In the older preschool age, the child learns to distinguish between the parameters of the quantities, their properties, learns the verbal description, the use of the properties of objects in different activities. At this time, he masters the techniques of perception of more complex phenomena.

The size of the object, i.e. the size of the object, is determined only on the basis of comparison. It’s impossible to say whether it’s a big or a small thing, it can only be compared with others. The perception of magnitude depends on the distance from which the object is perceived, as well as on the size of the object with which it is compared. The farther away the subject is from the one who perceives it, the smaller it seems, and vice versa, the closer - the larger it seems.

The characteristic size of the object also depends on the location in space. The same subject can be characterized as high (low), then as long (short). It depends on whether it is in a horizontal or vertical position.

The value of a particular object is characterized by such properties: comparability, variability and relativity.

The determination of the value is possible only on the basis of comparison, since comparability is the main property of a quantity. Thanks to the comparison, it is possible to come to an understanding of relationships and to new concepts: “more”, “less”, “equal”, which define various qualities, including length, width, height, volume, and many others.

The magnitude is also characterized by variability and relativity. The same object can be defined by us as being larger or smaller depending on which object it is compared with in size.

Comparability, variability, relativity - the basic properties of a quantity can - be comprehended by preschoolers in the most concrete form, in actions with various objects when selecting and comparing their length, width, height, volume.

Children of three years of age perceive the size of objects undifferentiated, that is, they are guided by the total volume of the object, without highlighting its length, width, or height.

Children of four years have a differentiated approach to the choice of objects in length or width, but under the condition that the length of the object exceeds the width. For children of preschool age, a short period is required to master all three dimensions.

The measurement includes two logical operations: the first is the process of separation, which allows the child to understand that the whole can be divided into parts; the second is the substitution operation, which consists in combining individual parts.

The essence of the measurement consists in the quantitative fragmentation of the measured objects and the determination of the magnitude of the given object in relation to the accepted measure. Through the measurement operation, a numerical relationship is established between the quantity being measured and the unit of measurement chosen in advance, scale or reference.

Measurement activities are quite complex. It requires specific skills, familiarity with the system of measures, the use of measuring devices. The use of conditional measures makes measurement available to children. The term "measurement by conventional measures" means the ability to use measurement tools.

In kindergarten, the guys master several types of measurement by conventional measurement. A linear measurement should be attributed to the first type, when children learn to measure the length, width, and height of various objects using strips of paper, sticks, ropes, steps, and other conventional measures. The second type of measurement is the determination with the help of a conditional measure of the volume of bulk substances: children study with a mug, glass, spoon and other containers to measure the amount of cereal, granulated sugar in the package. The third type is the measurement of a conditional measure of liquids in order to find out how many glasses of water are in a decanter, etc.

The use of measures gives the accuracy of the relations “equality - inequality”, “part - whole” established in the process of measurement , allows to reveal their properties more fully and more deeply.

Thus, in a preschool educational institution, measuring activity is of an elementary, propaedeutic nature. The child first learns to measure objects by conventional measures, and only as a result of this, the prerequisites for mastering the “real” dimension are created.