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Do you work with your child in the summer? Or let him relax and forget about the lessons? And if you do, then what and how much? These questions invariably arise before the parents of younger students. Recommendations of the neuropsychologist Evgeny Shvedovsky.
Load or not? Of course, this issue must be addressed in each case individually. But in general, with respect to elementary school students, I would recommend adhering to the following two principles.
Follow the pace of your child’s development
If your son or daughter had an intense load during the school year and he calmly withstood it, then it is completely undesirable to cancel classes. At the beginning of summer, you can take a short break, and then it is better to continue classes, just with less intensity. The fact is that at the age of 7-10 years a child realizes a new leading activity – educational.
Children learn to learn, they develop the ability to act according to a plan, independently perform tasks and many other skills. And it is undesirable to abruptly cut off this process in the summer. Try to support him regularly during the summer – by reading, writing, some kind of developmental activities. Just so that the child does not lose the habit of learning.
Maintain a balance between game and learning components
At primary school age, there is a restructuring between play, familiar to preschoolers, activities and learning. But the game activity remains the leading one for now, so let the child play as much as he wants. It’s good if he masters new sports in the summer, especially game ones – they all develop the skill of volitional regulation, hand-eye coordination, which will help the child learn more successfully in the future.
In my work with children, I use neuropsychological games from the program of sensory-motor correction (“Method of replacement ontogenesis” by A.V. Semenovich). They too can be integrated into your holiday schedule. Here are a few neuropsychological exercises that will come in handy, wherever the child is resting – in the countryside or on the sea.
Non-boring exercises for useful rest:
1. Playing a ball with rules (for example, clapping)
A game for three or more players, preferably with one or two adults. Participants stand in a circle and throw the ball through the air from one player to another – in a circle, it is better to use a large ball first. Then, when the child has mastered the throws with a large ball, you can move on to the tennis ball. First, we explain the rule: “As soon as one of the adults clap their hands, we throw the ball in the opposite direction. When one of the adults claps twice, the players begin to throw the ball in a different way – for example, through the floor, and not through the air. The game can be made more difficult by changing the pace – for example, speeding up, slowing down – you can move all the players in a circle at the same time, and so on.
Benefit. This game develops the skills of volitional regulation of behavior, among which are attention, control, following instructions. The child learns to act voluntarily, to consciously control himself. And most importantly, it happens in a playful, exciting way.
2. Finger game “Ladder”
It is useful to combine this game with learning the verses that your child was probably asked for during the holidays by a literature teacher. First, learn to “run” with your fingers along the “ladder” – let the child imagine that the index and middle fingers need to climb the stairs somewhere up, starting with the index fingers. When the child can easily do this with the fingers of both hands, connect the reading of poetry. The main task is to read poetry not in the rhythm of steps along the ladder. It is necessary that these actions are not synchronized. The next step of the exercise – the fingers go down the stairs.
Benefit. We give the child’s brain a double cognitive load – speech and motor. Different areas of the brain are involved in activity at the same time – this develops interhemispheric interaction and the ability to regulate and control different functions.
3. Exercise “Partisan”
This game will be especially interesting for boys. It is best to play it in the room on the carpet, or on the beach if the child is comfortable crawling on the sand. You can play alone, but two or three is more fun. Explain to the child that he is a partisan, and his task is to save a comrade from captivity. Put the “prisoner” at the far end of the room – it can be any toy. On the way, you can install obstacles – a table, chairs, under which he will crawl.
But the difficulty is that the partisan is allowed to crawl in a special way – only at the same time with his right hand – with his right foot or with his left hand – with his left foot. We throw forward the right leg and arm, at the same time we push off with them and crawl forward. You can’t raise your elbows, otherwise the partisan will be discovered. The kids usually love it. If several children play, they begin to compete, trying to overtake each other, making sure everyone follows the rules.
Benefit. This game also trains volitional regulation, because the child has to keep several tasks in his head at the same time. In addition, she develops a sense of her body, awareness of its boundaries. Crawling in an unusual way, the child reflects on every movement. And the game also develops hand-eye coordination: the child sees what and where he is doing. This affects important learning competencies. For example, it facilitates the task of copying from the board – without “mirroring” letters and numbers.
4. Drawing with two hands “Eyebrows”, “Smiles”
To complete this exercise, you will need a marker / chalk board and the markers themselves or crayons. You can use leaflets attached to a vertical surface, and wax crayons. First, an adult divides the board into 2 equal parts, then draws symmetrical arcs on each part – examples for the child.
The task of the child is first with the right, then with the left hand to draw an arc over the adult’s drawing, first in one direction, then in the other, without taking his hands off, only 10 times (movements from right to left – from left to right). It is important for us to achieve a minimum “fringe”. The line of the child and the adult should match as much as possible. Then another example is drawn on both sides and the child draws – “conducts” with both hands the same thing.
No need to overdo it and do these exercises every day – enough once or twice a week, no more.
About expert
Evgeny Shvedovsky – neuropsychologist, employee of the Center for Health and Development. St. Luke, junior researcher of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Scientific Center for Mental Health”.