Raising a 4-5 year old child. Tasks, features of age and development

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The child’s psyche in such an early period is quite vulnerable. After all, he knows how to perceive the emotions of others, to be offended, ashamed, disappointed, this is exactly what he realizes at this age.

Many people think that if a child has grown up and finds things to do independently, then they should not pay special attention to his upbringing. Parents spend a lot of time on their own affairs, forgetting about him, that he always wants to be paid attention to, wants to know that he is loved.

It is very important at this age to adhere to psychological methods: playing games together, reading books, doing classes, doing housework, because behavior is based on imitation of an adult, spending time together is the most important.

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The child should feel responsible in the task assigned to him, and it is also necessary to praise him if he succeeded in doing something. If he tried, but couldn’t do it, you still need to praise him and say “next time it will definitely work out.”

Important tasks of raising a child

develop communication skills;
instill norms and rules of behavior in society;
promote the development of self-control in behavior;
develop mental abilities and thirst for knowledge;
notice in time the child’s interests and inclinations for one or another activity in order to help him develop his talent;
find a middle ground between playing and time for learning activities;
Raising a 4-year-old child should still be filled with your care and love for him, because he spends a lot of time in kindergarten and clearly does not get enough attention.

Problems in raising a 4-5 year old child

At this age stage, difficulties in parenting may arise due to a prolonged crisis of 3 years. And its resolution is usually hampered by incorrectly chosen methods of interaction with the child, numerous prohibitions and punishments, suppression of the child’s will and inability to understand his needs and the true reasons for his behavior in time.

Some parents do not take into account the needs of their children that have changed with age and continue to communicate with them at the same level, trying to engage them in the same activities as before, although the child may no longer be interested in them. This position is unfavorable for child development and learning new skills. Therefore, adults should be very sensitive to the preferences of their child in order to understand what can interest him.

If parents contributed to the development of the child’s independence and gently guided his actions, then there will be significantly fewer problems in raising a child at the age of 4-5 years and in the future.

Difficulties of age

4-5 years is a period of relative calm after a difficult crisis of 3 years. The child again becomes obedient and flexible.

But even at this age there are difficulties.

A child's rich imagination can give rise to fears - for example, monsters or evil fairy tale characters. Adults do not need to focus attention on them. And even more so, you cannot use a child’s fears for educational purposes by intimidating him.

Also, a four-year-old child is very vulnerable and sensitive. Therefore, it is important for parents to watch their words. After all, an accidentally thrown careless phrase addressed to a child can traumatize him for a long time.

It is very important for children now to hear praise from an adult in order to understand that they are good. If adults do not attach importance to some act or action of the child, he may be seriously offended.

At 4-5 years old, bad habits and character flaws can easily take root. Therefore, it is important to correct them in a timely manner.

Features of development of children 4-5 years old

Fine motor skills develop more actively than before, the child more skillfully uses pencils, brushes, pens and other accessories for creative and educational activities.
The child plays a lot of time with his peers and communicates with them.
Strong cognitive interest develops. The kid strives to find out everything and asks a lot of questions to adults. He actively absorbs new information.
The child controls his body well and coordinates movements.
At this age, children practically no longer need daytime sleep. In kindergarten this remains a necessity, and they obey those requirements. But at home, most children no longer sleep during the day.
A 4-5 year old child knows basic geometric shapes, numbers from 0 to 9, assembles simple puzzles, finds similarities and differences between two objects, names a group of objects with a general word, knows basic professions, knows how to ask questions correctly, can retell the content of a fairy tale or recite it by heart a simple poem, knows how to color pictures neatly.

Physical features of development

The age of 4-5 years is a new and important transitional stage for the child, which can be designated as a period of intensive growth and development. It leads to a change in character, improvement of cognitive and communication abilities.

Physical formation is formed harmoniously and is expressed by rapid growth and development:

Children of any age naturally and need movement.
Children's physical capabilities increase. Moreover, it is significant. In particular, there is a noticeable improvement in coordination. And in general their movements look more confident. These two factors are noticeable even from the outside.
Development of motor skills is observed.
The agility and speed of the majority of children at this age can be envied.
Normally, the increase in height should be from 5 to 7 cm. In weight, up to 2 kg.
The skeleton is very flexible because the ossification process is not yet complete. Therefore, there can be no talk of any strength exercises.
The peculiarity of the heart’s activity is that its rhythm is quickly disrupted. Outwardly, this can be seen by redness or pallor of the face, rapid breathing, movements with poor coordination, etc.
The child’s brain very quickly establishes conditioned reflex connections.
A baby at this age is especially sensitive to noise. The reason is that the eardrum is very delicate and can be easily injured.
The age of 4-5 years is truly the “golden time” for the development of sensory abilities.
Educational measures aimed at nervous processes become more effective.
Such a thing as conditioned inhibition is difficult to form. That is, if some action is prohibited, the child will not be able to understand it immediately. You need to constantly reinforce this with him at this age.

It is from this age that you can explain to your child what a healthy lifestyle is and gradually accustom him to it. It's not that difficult. You can start with your daily routine. That is, just wake up the baby and send him to bed at the same time every day. And then move on to other useful actions.

Differences in the behavior and upbringing of boys and girls

At the age of 5 years, there are some differences in the behavior and upbringing of boys and girls.

During this period, children should already be instilled with characteristic traits for their gender: boys - masculinity, girls - femininity. Diminutive words (“bunny”, “sunny”, etc.) are recommended to be used more often for girls. But when communicating with boys, they should be used as rarely as possible, since they are future defenders. It is better to address them by name or with the words: “son”, “assistant”.
Typically, between the ages of 4 and 5 years, differences in preference for games and toys are observed in most cases. Boys love cars, construction sets, robots, and sports games. Girls like dolls, soft toys, and creative activities. But don’t worry if your children stray from standard situations and prefer toys of the opposite sex. Priorities often change, and this is not uncommon these days.
Most often, girls are already more diligent than boys, so raising a 4-5 year old boy can be somewhat more difficult than raising a girl of the same age.
During this period, different abilities may begin to manifest themselves: girls tend to remember more poems and songs, and boys like to count.
In general, the behavior of boys at the age of 4-5 is characterized by greater physical activity compared to girls and a tendency to play collective sports.

Games

Adults, when working with a 4-5 year old child, should introduce an element of learning into the play process - this is how the child best perceives and remembers information.

Now creative activities will be especially useful - drawing, modeling, creating appliqués. By creating crafts, the baby will learn imaginative thinking and develop fine motor skills.

Children also transfer their vision of the world and social relationships into play. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to how your baby plays with other children. The most popular are role-playing games, where boys and girls try on the roles of adults.

How to properly raise a child at 4-5 years old?

Develop a desire for knowledge: observe what interests your child, tell him about the world around him, answer his questions, watch useful programs together. Under no circumstances should you shy away from communicating with your “why,” no matter how strange his questions may seem. Answer everything in a language he understands. Try not to say “I don’t know”; it is better instead (if the question puzzles you) to say: “Let’s figure it out together” and, after looking at authoritative sources, give an answer.
Praise your child for his desire to explore the world and for his conclusions. If you think he has made the wrong conclusions, do not criticize or ridicule him. It’s better to give him the opportunity to think more and correct his conclusions with the help of leading questions, for example: “Do you really think that...?”, “Do you remember, you and I read that...? So...", etc.
This age is considered favorable for sending a child to some sports section or dance studio based on his preferences. Such activities will help him make up for a possible lack of physical activity, realize his abilities and form useful hobbies.
Monitor how your child learns the rules of behavior. Calmly, without shouting or threats, point out to him situations when he “acted badly” and how he should have behaved.
Help keep your child in a good mood. If you notice that he is sad or silent a lot, do not ignore this behavior, try to find out the reason for it. Don’t forget to voice your feelings (help your child realize and voice them): “I see you’re upset about something (sad, scared...)”, “You’re thoughtful today. Can you share your thoughts?” Play with your child, make him laugh, dance, offer him what he loves. It is important to develop an optimistic view of the world in children.
Don’t ask rhetorical questions and don’t engage in stating the facts of “bad” behavior in the style of “Why do you break everything?” or “You scattered your toys again.” Such statements do not encourage the child to correct his actions. Instead, use specific requests: “Please speak more quietly” or motivating phrases: “Let’s put away the toys, and then we can go for a walk faster.”
It is important to communicate a lot with your child on the topic of friendship, kindness, honesty, generosity and responsiveness, developing these qualities in him. Use, among other things, poems, stories, cartoons and role-playing games.
Give your child tasks and encourage him to complete them carefully and complete them. If you start drawing, then you need to finish drawing; if you put toys or any accessories away, then put them back in their places; if you do some exercises, then without being distracted. It is better to alternate between different types of activities more often, but at the same time perform each of them efficiently and to the end. This develops perseverance.
Introduce your child to cultural life. Go together to performances, exhibitions, children's shows, Christmas trees. Actively discuss all events with him, ask him what he liked, where he would like to go again.
Remember to lead by example. The child understands your actions and habits very well and adopts them. Therefore, do not allow contradictions in what you tell him and how you behave yourself. This is one of the most important principles in the question of how to properly raise a child at any age.

Age standards for child development

Most children achieve some kind of achievement at approximately the same age: milk teeth erupt at 5-7 months, and molar teeth at 5-6 years. Based on these periods, the level of development of the child is assessed. But all children are unique in themselves, each of them has its own characteristics. Sometimes individual parameters in children develop with a delay. If the lag is small (one or two months), there is no need to sound the alarm.

There are critical periods that need attention. It is necessary to check whether the boy has reached developmental milestones. The extreme number of developmental delays for any parameter is 5 months. It is worth contacting a specialist if:

by 15 months the baby still does not understand the functions of simple household appliances;
does not try to adopt the habits and behavior of his parents;
by 18 months did not take the first steps;
knows fewer than 15 words at 18 months;
Having reached 2 years old, he cannot put words into sentences.

The cause of such deviations may be a congenital disease, poor nutrition or lack of communication. But most often it is a simple lack of activities with parents, lack of attention, educational games and spending time with mom.

You need to be prepared that with the birth of a child, the mother will have almost no free time, but all efforts, every minute spent communicating with the child will be beneficial. You will have to invest a colossal amount of time and energy in the child so that he grows up to be a worthy person. And in turn, he thanked his parents with love and care.

Tags:Parenting, Boy

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Games and toys for 4-5 years old

Involve children of this age in outdoor games, including sports, role-playing games and board games at home. Various construction sets, puzzles, blocks for learning to read, dolls and cars of different brands.

Coloring books and art kits, of which there are a lot on sale now, will also delight the child. A bicycle, scooter, skates, skis are very useful acquisitions for active recreation. And, of course, don’t forget to read books together every day, discuss their contents, retell them, and learn poems.

Even though your baby is becoming less impulsive and his learning abilities are increasing every day, he is still a child who needs play, activity and your attention. Remember that you cannot take his childhood away from him ahead of time.

Speech development in children 4 years old

At 4 years old, a child is actively improving phrasal speech; he can speak in sentences of 4 to 8 words. The baby's vocabulary is already about a thousand words. Nouns are used most often, verbs and adjectives are used a little less often. Also, usually at the age of 4 years, children already know how to coordinate parts of speech with each other (for example, a noun and an adjective) and correctly place stress, so their speech sounds more competent than that of younger children. However, complex lexical structures are difficult for four-year-olds, so they often avoid conjunctions “if,” “although,” “otherwise,” etc.

To keep your child’s vocabulary constantly expanding, read books to your child more often, play with him and just talk.

Speech development occurs actively, as children at this age strive to communicate with peers. They ask adults and each other questions, learn to listen and not interrupt the interlocutor. A 4-year-old child can talk about how his day went, share his impressions of a cartoon, or retell the plot of a fairy tale. At the same time, the baby’s intonations can be very diverse, and speech is supported by facial expressions and gestures.

If you notice speech impediments in your four-year-old child, it is recommended that you consult a speech therapist. The specialist will play sounds for the baby, work on articulation and give advice on how to help the child at home.