Periods of child development: from 3 to 7 years

Between the ages of 3 and 7, a child learns to manage his feelings, to understand them, to cope with them. And how he does it depends largely on the family. Does he have his own special place in the family hierarchy, is it possible to call relations with parents, brothers and sisters healthy, loving and trusting?

By role

You need to figure out what roles each plays in the family. It is traditionally believed that mom cares, pities, helps, dad sets the rules and monitors their implementation, and siblings show and tell how to communicate with elders and among themselves.

Of course, this division is conditional. Today, each family decides for itself who will play what roles. However, all three components – care, control and communication – are necessary for the first social, emotional experience of the child to form correctly.

What is its role? Is he small and no one hears him, or is he important to everyone and his opinion is taken into account? Does he help, come up with ideas, share his ideas with others, or quietly go to play in his room after dinner?

Relationships in the family affect self-esteem, the ability to be responsible for one’s actions, calculate one’s actions and understand the consequences.

At this age, children often play “real” life: in the store, in the doctor or daughter-mother. Watch these games and understand how a child sees his family, mom and dad, grandmother, brother or sister.

When playing, children are really offended, upset and sad to tears. However, they already know how the game differs from real life. And “pretending” is not as scary as “for real”.

Law is law

Even at this age, the child needs rules. With their help, he understands when it is impossible or when to wait, even if he really wants to. From 3 to 5 years old, a child can act up, fight, cry, trying to achieve what he wants. But if the rules are consistent, clear, and sensible, the child will gradually learn to accept the restrictions, if necessary.

This skill will come in handy at school, where the restrictions will be tougher than at home and in kindergarten, and the requirements are higher.

The ability to behave according to the rules, despite your desires and feelings, is called the management of emotions. But the child should not force himself to feel, but should learn to behave. In the future, we only expand the range of behavioral responses, but the basis is formed by the age of 6.

“Mommy, read!”

Today, many try to teach children to read from the age of 3. They think: the sooner he starts, the smarter he will be when he grows up. But this is a delusion!

In order for a child to understand the meaning of what he read, his brain must learn to translate the image of a letter into an image of a sound, to collect sounds into a word, to combine a word with its meaning. Then – combine a few words into a sentence, into a logical thought, into an image.

Each of these stages is responsible for different parts of the brain. And the bonds between them are formed only by the age of 5. It is clear that from the age of 3 it is almost pointless to teach to read. But this time can be spent on communication, discussion of what the mother will read, on games – everything that helps the child to better understand himself and other people, learn to communicate with them.

This skill will help a future first grader a lot.

Communicate as much as possible

Children from three to seven really need communication. And learning to get along with peers is convenient in kindergarten. Of course, it is not suitable for everyone, but if possible, it is better to go at least half a day. After all, the company of peers is not the same as a grandmother or a nanny.

Children at home are more likely to experience difficulties in school. And instead of learning, the child will experience, adjust, adapt, and this after 7 years is already more difficult than before.

Everything has its time. You can learn to read and count from the age of 6.

Read a series of articles by child neuropsychologist Svetlana Lukka on the periods of child development. The articles “Periods of child development: infancy” and “Periods of child development: from 1 year to 3 years” are already on the site.