Example 1
Serezha’s dad complains about him: “The son seems to be not from this world. His peer Ruslan is already an excellent chess player, beating even adults. Seryoga barely learned to walk a knight and a pawn. Seryozha’s sister Anechka plays the piano for hours and has already performed three times at a concert in the district library. Sergei left music school two months after the start of the school year … In general, he does not want to do anything serious, but is only ready to fiddle with wires for hours.
The father stated these claims to his son for an hour and a half, having come to an appointment with a psychologist. “My son is the worst of all” — this thought ran like a red thread through the entire fiery speech of the “loving” father.
Dad did not want to agree with the psychologist’s opinion that the requirements for Serezha were too high, but he decided to try to change his attitude towards the child. First of all, he began to take his son’s research activities seriously, encouraging his passion. True, dad still continued to compare Serezha with other children, but more and more often he noticed with surprise that his son had a number of positive qualities that his peers did not have: purposefulness, perseverance, curiosity … As a result, dad began to treat Serezha with respect, and this contributed to the increase in the child’s self-esteem, his faith in success.
If a child has anxiety when performing educational tasks, it is not recommended to carry out any type of work that takes into account speed. Such children should not be asked at the beginning or at the end of the lesson, but in the middle. You can’t push or rush them.
When addressing an anxious child with a request or question, it is advisable to establish eye contact with him: either you lean towards him, or raise the child to the level of your eyes.
Writing fairy tales and stories together with an adult will teach the child to express his anxiety and fear in words. And even if he ascribes them not to himself, but to a fictional character, this will help to remove the emotional burden of inner experience and to some extent calm the child.
It is possible and necessary to teach a child to manage himself in specific, most exciting situations in his daily work with him.
Example 2
The teacher, turning to a psychologist, reported with surprise and annoyance that Galya, a capable and smart girl, could not recite a poem at the Autumn Festival, which she knew very well.
The psychologist became interested in how the rehearsals went. It turned out that the girl told the poem to the teacher three times in a row (one on one), and in the hall she managed to rehearse only once. During the holiday, Galya was supposed to go to the middle of the hall and read a poem, but she burst into tears and ran away to her mother.
Mom, talking with a psychologist, said that such situations happen to Galya all the time. For example, she refused to go to Santa Claus on New Year’s Eve and sing him a song. On her mother’s birthday, for some reason, she did not want to sit down at the table with the guests.
Knowing this feature of her daughter, a week before the holiday, her mother began to set the girl up for a successful performance. She repeated: “Be smart. You must perform very well. Are you promising me this?» And Galya every evening was forced to make a promise to her mother, and in order to justify her hopes, the girl repeated and repeated the poem several dozen times a day.
During a joint meeting of the educator, psychologist and parents, the following strategy for working with the girl was developed. Galya was very fond of listening to fairy tales, especially she liked The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio, Thumbelina and Puss in Boots. She could listen to them for hours and talk about the heroes of fairy tales. Adults decided to use this interest of the girl. In individual lessons (first with a psychologist, and then with a teacher), the girl was asked to imagine and show how her favorite characters would tell a poem to their friends.
Galya gladly recited a poem (which she knew by heart) on behalf of the wooden Pinocchio, the little timid Thumbelina, the resilient Puss in Boots. Each time the adults were interested in what this or that hero felt during the performance: did he like to tell poems to his comrades, did he like how attentively everyone listened to him, was it pleasant to bow to the audience. A few weeks later, Galya chose the role of the fearless Gerda from the fairy tale «The Snow Queen». With the change of role, the posture and movements of the girl changed, she began to act more confidently and decisively. Galya liked playing this role so much that she repeated it many times in a row, and even at home it became her favorite pastime.
After such long, purposeful training, the teacher brought the girl to the hall and asked which character she would like to play. Galya decided to show all her heroes in turn. She again and again went to the middle of the hall, recited a poem, bowed to the «spectators». The fear of performing gradually decreased, and Galya felt quite confident at the New Year’s holiday.
In addition to the above, other methods of work were also used: psycho-gymnastic exercises, drawing one’s own fear and other emotions. The girl’s mother, instead of daily edifications, every evening told her fairy tales invented together with a psychologist and
stories with a happy ending. The hero of the fairy tale necessarily achieved success, although sometimes there were obstacles in his way.
Example 3
In the locker room, on the locker of each child, you can fix the «Flower-seven-flower» (or «Flower of achievements»), cut out of colored cardboard. In the center of the flower is a photograph of a child. And on the petals corresponding to the days of the week — information about the results of the child, which he is proud of. Positive information is very important for both adults and children to establish mutual understanding between them. And it is necessary for parents of children of any age.
Mitina’s mother, like all parents of children in the nursery group, every day with pleasure got acquainted with the records of educators about what she did, how she ate, what her two-year-old son played. During the illness of the teacher, information about the pastime of children in the group became inaccessible to parents. After 10 days, the worried mother came to the methodologist and asked them not to stop such useful work for them. Mom explained that since she is only 21 years old and has very little experience with children, caregivers’ notes help her understand her child and learn how and what to do with him.
Thus, the use of a visual form of work (designing stands, informational «Flowers-seven-flowers», etc.) helps to solve several pedagogical tasks at once, one of which is to increase the level of self-esteem of children, especially those who have high anxiety.