3.15. THEORETICAL BASES OF SENSORY DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The process of mastering the world in early and preschool years takes place through sensory cognition. Direct sensory perception of the surrounding world forms the basis of ideas. The completeness and accuracy of these ideas depends on the degree of development of sensory processes that provide a reflection of reality, that is, the development of sensation and perception. Preschool age is the age when sensory processes develop and develop. Sensory development is the process of improving sensation and perception. It is a prerequisite for the successful mastery of any practical activity; therefore, sensory education in this period occupies an important place.

Under the sensory education in pedagogy is understood the system of pedagogical influences aimed at the formation of methods of sensory cognition and improvement of sensations and perceptions.

The goal of sensory education is the formation of sensory abilities in preschool children. Sensory abilities develop in the process of perception development, which is determined by the condition and use of perceptual action systems and sensory reference systems in activity.

On this basis, the following tasks of sensory education can be defined :

1) the formation of children's systems of survey (perceptual) actions;

2) the formation of children's systems of sensory standards - generalized ideas about the properties, qualities and relations of objects;

3) the formation of children's skills to independently apply the system of perceptual actions and the system of standards in practical and cognitive activity.

The content of sensory education is a range of properties and qualities, relationships of objects and phenomena that must be mastered by a child of preschool age. This volume is determined, on the one hand, by the diversity of the features of the world around the child, and on the other hand, by the variety of activities that begin to take shape at preschool age and have different sensory bases.

Sensory education is carried out in close connection with the various activities of children. Of particular importance in sensory development are productive activities: drawing, modeling, designing. Successful mastery of a particular activity depends on the improvement and development of sensory processes, i.e. from perception and analysis of what needs to be done. Therefore, the educator organizes a survey - a specially organized perception of objects in order to use its results in a particular content activity. Rules for general types of examination: perception of the overall appearance of the subject; mental division into main parts and the selection of their signs (shape, size, color, material); spatial correlation of parts with each other (left, right, above, above, etc.); the isolation of small parts, the establishment of their spatial location with respect to the main parts; repeated holistic perception of the subject.

To enrich the sensory experience of children, you can use didactic toys and objects, productive activities (visual activity, designing, modeling). An effective means of sensory education is nature, since the cognition of the natural environment is accomplished through the senses: by sight, hearing, touch, smell. Games with natural material, with sand and water, as well as the organization of work in nature enrich the child’s sensory experience.

Thus, the more sense organs are “involved” in cognition, the more signs and properties are distinguished by the child in the object under study, therefore, the sensory education and development of the preschooler is intensively carried out. This allows you to form a variety of ideas about the world, on the basis of which thinking processes, imagination, aesthetic feelings of the child are formed.

For sensory education requires compliance with a number of conditions. One of the important conditions for sensory education is its implementation in the process of the substantive activity of children. It is in terms of meaningful, productive activity that there are opportunities to make the features, relationships, properties the subject of children's attention, the subject of development.

Thus, as a result of sensory upbringing, the child masters the ways of sensory cognition of the world, visual-figurative thinking; there is a further improvement of all types of children's activities, the formation of a relative independence in cognitive and practical activities. The success of sensory education is determined by the substantial activity of the children and the learning influence of the adult.