Child 6 years old: what a child should be able and know, readiness for school

A 6-year-old child is on the verge of important changes in his life. Yesterday's kid, a kindergarten student will soon become a schoolboy. You will get acquainted with classmates, teachers, school rules. Game time is shortened, new responsibilities appear. The task of parents is to support the child during this period, to create favorable conditions for his development. Prepare the child for the role of a first grader. What a child should know by school — about this later in the article.

What a child should know and be able to do at 6 years old

What skills should parents pay attention to before school? 

Mind

The child complements the knowledge gained in classes with parents and other adults with his own comments and conclusions.

The preschooler is well oriented: knows the way to the kindergarten, shop, bus stop. Knows how to determine the time on the clock with hands. Successfully performs tasks to identify minor differences in two drawings, to compare objects in height, depth, length, width. Reproduces printed letters, holds the pen correctly.

The logic of the reasoning of six-year-olds surprises, makes parents proud. Yesterday's baby clearly and consistently expresses his thoughts. "Clicks" puzzles: finds the unifying word to the chain of objects, reveals the terms with words that are appropriate in meaning. Understands cause-and-effect relationships: "I refused to wear a hat for a walk and that's why I got sick."

By the age of six, thinking through images develops. The child draws, sculpts, lays out mosaic patterns no longer according to the example offered by an adult, but according to his imagination. He composes plots for games, adds fictional details or remakes familiar fairy tales.

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What else should a child know at 6 years old. For example, basic knowledge of mathematics. Easily counts to ten and vice versa, can count objects and write numbers. Adds, subtracts, understands the concepts of more-less. Depicts simple and complex geometric shapes on paper, knows their names.

A preschooler draws knowledge about the world from walks, cartoons, books, communication with peers and adults. He knows the names and purpose of the surrounding objects, knows how to describe their features. Distinguishes between domestic and wild animals, migratory and wintering birds. Knows the names of trees and shrubs, shows them on a walk.

Attention and memory

Attention and memory in six-year-olds are formed almost completely. The child is able to focus on an interesting case for up to 20 minutes and bring it to the end after a short break.

Arbitrary memory begins to prevail over involuntary memory. The child purposefully makes efforts to memorize: repeats a line of a poem several times, an unfamiliar word. He can retell a cartoon series or a story read before going to bed.

Speech and reading skills

The surrounding people understand what the child is saying. His active vocabulary is extensive and diverse: the child uses all parts of speech, participial phrases, complex sentences. Replaces repeated words with synonyms and pronouns.

Clearly pronounces all sounds, is able to change the intonation and strength of the voice. Practiced in monologue speech.

What should a 6-year-old child be able to do? Know the letters, distinguish them from sounds, pronounce and reproduce on the letter. Name words with a given letter. Some children learn syllabic reading at the age of 6. There are a lot of educational materials on this issue, so parents can easily figure out how to teach a child to read at 6 years old.

Social adaptation

Social skills are important skills of a child before school. They are formed in the process of communication of a child with peers on the playground, in kindergarten, in circles and sections. A preschooler learns to negotiate, compromise, defend his own boundaries and feel the boundaries of others.

Self-service skills are developed: self-dressing, taking care of cleanliness, the ability to warm up and put food on a plate, set the table, carrying out hygiene procedures without constant parental control and reminders. The child performs feasible household chores.

A six-year-old does not stew among strangers, feels confident in herself if her parents are nearby. Communicates with adults and children, answers questions, makes new acquaintances.

Relationships with peers and parents

Children 6 years old begin to move away from their parents. This is a normal, natural process that adults should accept as the next stage in the development of the child. Support, hugs, unobtrusive control, mom and dad's help, and confidential communication with them are still very important.

Preschoolers strive to communicate with their peers, they have real friends. Joint activities are no longer limited only to toys.

The guys have topics for conversation, they exchange impressions about books and cartoons, tell each other about important events in life, about plans. They learn to negotiate among themselves, discuss the rules of joint games, resolve conflicts without the help of adults.

Children begin to show sympathy for the opposite sex, which can be expressed both in frank adoration and signs of attention, and in assumed indifference to the object of love.

What difficulties can a child face and how to help him

At the age of 6-7 years, there is a stage of another psychological crisis. The child grows up, learns to control his emotions and desires. In his life, educational activity appears as a stage of preparation for school. The behavior of the child (to a greater or lesser extent) manifests disobedience, the desire to argue with parents and other adults, to defend their point of view. The preschooler becomes more reasonable, attentive to appearance. Reacts sharply to criticism.

The requirements for preschoolers are increasing. Parents, kindergarten teachers are waiting for more independence, responsibility: "You're going to school soon, urgently learn to read / tie your shoelaces / make friends." A child, finding himself on the threshold of serious changes, may experience difficulties. The task of parents is to calm, support, and help.

Communication problems

He is too shy to speak first, to ask to be accepted into the game. He worries that he has no friends. He sticks to children, imposes himself, even if they don't want to play with him. He considers everyone his friends, even those who offend him.

Tips for parents:Do not ridicule or devalue the child's experiences, do not dismiss them if he/she complains about communication problems.

• Organize a game in the yard, invite other children to keep your child company. Invite the guys that the child likes to visit. Have a picnic together. Strengthen the preschooler's self-esteem, work on mitigating shyness.

• Patiently explain that friendship is possible only by mutual desire. Let the child try not to rush to be friends with everyone in a row, but try to find a person with similar interests: call to play football or ride a carousel. Teach a preschooler to adequately perceive rejection, respect their own and others' borders.

Self-service skills are lame.

The child dresses only with the prodding and prompting of adults, does not know how to tie shoelaces, does not monitor hygiene and neatness of clothes.

Tips for parents:Continue to teach your child self-service skills, improve and complicate them.

• Teach preschoolers self-control: "Did I brush my teeth thoroughly enough/put away the toys/washed the dishes?".

• Gently insist on bringing the matter to an end, ask to redo it with poor-quality execution.

• Teach them to take care of things.

• Praise them for their success. Do not leave the child alone with failure, if necessary, explain again what result you are waiting for and how to achieve it.

Gaps in knowledge.

The six-year-old does not count well, does not know the letters, holds the pen incorrectly and does not know how to retell.

Tips for parents:Determine what knowledge the child lacks

• . This can be done with the help of an educator, a psychologist, and home testing.

• Try to fill in the gaps in training. Organize classes in a playful way, start with 5 minutes, gradually increase the time. Let's do feasible tasks.

• Do not scold the child for failure, do not compare with other children.

Restlessness.

A preschooler gets up during class, jumps up, tries to get under the table.

Tips for parents:Observe the motor regime, create conditions for physical activity of the child during the day.

• Arrange a physical culture minute in between classes.

How to prepare a child for school

For a successful and easy adaptation to the school day routine and academic load, the child needs preparation for the first grade.

Parents give their child knowledge about the world around them gradually, through an explanation of their actions, everyday events and phenomena. A preschooler learns to memorize and convey information.

In preparation for school, it is important to communicate with the child, replenish his knowledge by reading encyclopedias by age, observing nature during walks, visiting the zoo or farm, discussing the plots of books and cartoons.

The child will gain initial knowledge of geography from traveling, viewing the globe with comments from parents, educational programs.

Thinking is trained in games with visual aids (cards, toys) when building logical chains, searching for an extra element, searching for differences in paired pictures.

A preschooler will learn to solve examples faster if you show him the meaning of addition and subtraction on counting materials: sticks, buttons, sweets, berries. Gradually, the child will switch to counting in his mind.

Finger exercises, modeling, drawing on dots will prepare the hand for writing.

Do not strive to teach a 6-year-old child to read at all costs. Knowledge of letters and the ability to represent them graphically is quite enough. Proceed to syllabic reading gradually, consistently, using high-quality didactic materials. Excessive persistence, forcing events can lead to the fact that the child will hate reading.

It is important that the child is ready for school not only intellectually, but also emotionally and psychologically.

Children should be able to communicate with others: teachers, classmates. Socialization is promoted by playing on the playground, attending kindergarten, clubs, sections.

Teach a six-year-old to daily classes to train perseverance and attention.

Six years is a turning point in a child's life, difficult, interesting and exciting for both him and his parents. Unconditional acceptance, support, trusting and warm relations with mom and dad will help the six-year-old to master the necessary knowledge and skills, prepare well for the first grade and easily integrate into school life.