From the author: Written for Mom’s page: There is a story about two monks who decided to grow a tree. They planted the seeds, took care of them, and waited for them to sprout. One monk continued to care for the sprout as usual, and the second not only looked after it, but also pulled the sprout with his hands so that it would grow faster. I think everyone guessed how the experiment ended. Something similar is now happening with the desire of parents to engage in the early development of their child. First, let’s define what is meant by this phrase. Usually this phrase includes the idea that a child needs to be developed, the sooner the better. That the child’s brain needs to be stimulated as much as possible, and the memory needs to be “filled” with information as much as possible. All this must be done before school, and even better before the age of 3, otherwise it will be too late, and catching up on something will be more difficult or impossible. Moreover, the promises of various methods to make a child a genius are fascinating. But personally, the phrase: “Read before you walk” makes me feel uneasy. I am still for harmony and consistency of development. If humanity, for as long as it can remember, first began to walk and only then read, then, apparently, this had its own logic. And, in fact, more and more material is appearing on how the use of untimely activities can have an ambiguous effect on the development of a child. Increasingly, these are negative examples. The examples are very diverse, starting with the fact that the child is simply overexcited from the abundance of information, and ending with the fact that the normal course of development of the child as a whole is disrupted. For example, a child has learned to “read” (and I would say guess and recognize words), but the development of speech is delayed. Of course, not all parents have a strong knowledge of anatomy and psychophysiology in order to know when and how to develop a child so as not to harm him. But to do this, it is enough to take a step “forward into the past.” Humanity has once again become convinced that the experience of past generations, not only in care, but also in development and education, was correct and did not have as many side effects as current ideas. Remember what the child’s development was like before. The presence of the child in all the affairs of the mother. Not the world around the child, but the child in the world. The child was a simple observer of objects, actions, events, traditions. Just by carrying a child with you, you can already develop it. Thanks to this, you can save on a mobile phone and a developmental mat. They are needed if the child is always in bed or in a playpen. The child, being on the mother, develops not only intellectually, but also physically. His vestibular apparatus develops, his muscles become stronger, and he gets a good stretch in the frog pose. A great option to save money on walkers, which, by the way, also have a controversial reputation. Next, nursery rhymes, pesters, finger games (palms), listening to fairy tales. Memory, attention, perseverance are trained. By the way, before fairy tales were perceived exclusively by ear, no pictures and especially cartoons. It is important for a child to learn to understand and perceive speech by ear, before he begins to learn that sound can have a symbol. Is this why many children now have a problem with simply listening to speech without using visual “crutches” in the form of pictures, animations and other things? Of course, there can be pictures and cartoons, but after the child learns to understand and concentrate exclusively on speech. Good development of imagination is important for the full development of thinking. And the development of imagination occurs precisely in the game, and not in a learning game situation. What's better? Or will the child learn the proposed manipulation with objects, or will he be able to solve assigned problems in a non-standard way? If you want the latter, then it is important to let your child play with natural materials and substitute objects. The child will get to this point on his own by grabbing a broom or plastic container; your task is simply not to take it away. It is important that the child has time to play and come up with activities for himself. In early childhood, it is also important to develop the emotional sphere.