Unconventional drawing for kids. Non-traditional drawing techniques for children
As a result of the analysis of domestic and foreign psychological and pedagogical research, it was found that it is during preschool childhood that all children living in different countries of the world adopt a gender role:
by the age of 2-3 years, children begin to understand that they are either a girl or a boy, and designate themselves accordingly;
at the age of 4 to 7 years, gender stability is formed: children become clear that gender does not change: boys become men, and girls become women, and this gender will not change depending on the situation or personal desires of the child.
An analysis of the literature shows that in the world of psychological and pedagogical science there are many works devoted to the study of the sexual characteristics of preschool children. Most Western European and American studies claim that girls and boys perceive the surrounding reality, learn, remember, think, etc. differently... Girls are superior to boys in verbal abilities, and boys are stronger than girls in visual-spatial abilities. Boys have higher math skills than girls, but they are also more aggressive than girls.
Girls of preschool age are “more social” and more suggestible than boys. Girls are better at simple, routine tasks, while boys are better at more complex cognitive processes. Girls are more influenced by heredity, while boys are more influenced by environment. Girls have more developed auditory perception, and boys have more developed visual perception and much more. However, according to scientists, there is also a lot that is controversial, problematic, and unclear.
Scientists are unanimous in only one thing - the formation of gender stability is determined by sociocultural norms and depends primarily on the attitude of parents to the child, the nature of parental attitudes and the attachment of both mother to child and child to mother, as well as on his upbringing in a preschool educational institution.
Let's consider the problems associated with gender education of children in a preschool educational institution. In many parameters of a child’s social and emotional development, a decisive role is played not only by parents, but also by peers, who record violations of the unwritten gender code and severely punish its violators. Children do not accept behavioral deprivations and violations of gender role identification in their society. Moreover, feminine boys are rejected by boys, but willingly accepted by girls, and vice versa - masculine girls are rejected by girls, but accepted by boys.
Some researchers believe that the decisive role in the formation of an image, an ideal model of behavior, is played not by identification or the desire to become like a certain model, but by deprivation, an emotional deficit: a child is attracted by the gender of that significant person from whom he was alienated in childhood. Children whose behavior corresponds to gender expectations feel different from peers of the opposite sex, whom they perceive as different, exotic compared to peers of their own sex.
Although nonconformity with gender stereotypes creates psychological difficulties for all children, boys, regardless of their future sexual orientation, are much more likely to experience such problems:
1) for boys, at all stages of the formation of gender stability, additional efforts are required, without which development automatically follows the female type;
2) masculine qualities are traditionally valued higher than feminine ones, and the pressure on boys in the direction of defeminization is much stronger than on girls in the direction of demasculinization; (a feminine boy causes disapproval and ridicule, while a masculine girl is perceived calmly and even positively);
3) in early childhood, boys and girls are under the influence of mothers and women in general, therefore, with age, boys need to be reoriented to male patterns of behavior, since atypical gender behavior in childhood has many negative consequences for men, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Teaching strategy, forms and methods of working with children used in kindergarten, most often designed for girls. At the same time, both girls and boys are most often raised by women: at home - by mother or grandmother, and in kindergarten - by female teachers. As a result, for many boys, gender stability is developed without the participation of men. But women, according to scientists, cannot raise boys correctly, for only one simple reason: they have a different type of brain and a different type of thinking. In addition, a female teacher, naturally, does not have childhood experience of the experiences that preschool boys encounter when communicating with adults and children. Therefore, when communicating with boys, many educators are guided only by the idea that if he is a boy, then, therefore, he is the embodiment of will, strength, and endurance. As a result of this, boys who are not at all courageous, but rather fearful, physically weak and very vulnerable, are systematically exposed to traumatic influences from their teachers. For example, when a teacher asks children a question during a lesson, the girls are always the first to raise their hands. When answering a question, they try to make sure their answer is complete, look the teacher in the eye, etc. Boys take their time with their answer because they think it through more carefully. Boys' speech is less developed than girls', so they are forced to spend more time finding the right words and expressing them. As a result of all this, in the eyes of the teacher, girls look more knowledgeable and capable and receive more positive assessments and praise. And against this background, boys develop low self-esteem, they lose confidence in themselves and their capabilities. In this regard, the primary task is to train educators to implement a differentiated approach to girls and boys, both when communicating with them and when organizing and leading various activities in the classroom and in Everyday life.
As a result of numerous studies conducted in our country and abroad, the following was established. When teaching children, it is important for the teacher to take into account that girls need stimuli that are more based on auditory perception. Boys do not readily perceive the teacher’s explanations by ear and it is preferable for them to use visual means based on visual perception.
In art classes, it is important to create conditions so that girls and boys can express what is interesting or emotionally significant for each of them. But when selecting content for teaching children in drawing, modeling and appliqué classes, it is important to remember that a boy’s hand in its development lags behind a girl’s hand by 1.5 years.
When assessing the behavior of children and the results of their activities (drawing, modeling, appliqué, crafts, designs, etc.), the teacher must remember that girls are extremely sensitive to intonation, to the form of assessment, and its publicity. It is very important for girls to be admired in the presence of other children, parents, etc. For boys, the most significant is the indication that he has achieved results in this very area: he has learned to say hello, brush his teeth, design something, etc. Every acquired skill and result that the boy managed to achieve has a positive effect on his personal growth, allows him to be proud of himself and strive for new achievements. But it is precisely among boys that there is a tendency that, having achieved results in some type of activity, they are so happy with this that they are ready to design or draw the same thing, which allows them to establish themselves in their achievements, but requires correct understanding on the part of the teacher.
Boys are very fond of friendly fights, which is not a manifestation of aggression and creates a positive emotional background in children. Educators do not always correctly understand the boys’ need for these fights and abruptly interrupt them, depriving the children of the joy they experience. Obviously, the time has come for educators to form the correct attitude towards this kind of boys’ activities and teach them how to manage them.
The differences between girls and boys of preschool age in play activities are especially noticeable. Scientists note different content and play styles, which often cannot be realized by children due to the fact that female educators are closer to girls’ quiet games on family and everyday topics. Boys' noisy, movement-filled games irritate teachers and create inconvenience, since they believe that this kind of games are just meaningless running around and can lead to injury, and, therefore, they have no place in the life of the group and should be stopped. As a result, boys are deprived of truly “manly games,” which negatively affects their personal development.
When raising boys and girls together, a very important pedagogical task is to overcome the disunity between them and organize joint games, during which children could act together, but in accordance with gender characteristics. Boys take on masculine roles, and girls take on feminine roles. Theatrical activities can be structured in a similar way.
Problems related to the organization of the subject-spatial environment require special attention from teachers. It is well known that the environment is one of the main means of development of a child’s personality, the source of his individual knowledge and social experience. The subject-spatial environment not only provides different types of activity for preschoolers (physical, play, mental, etc.), but is also the basis for their independent activity, taking into account gender characteristics. The role of an adult in in this case is to open up the full range of environmental opportunities to boys and girls and direct their efforts to use individual elements of it, taking into account the gender and individual characteristics and needs of each child.
At the same time, an imbalance in the subject environment towards the predominance of “girly” materials and aids is rooted in the psychological characteristics of education, since they are closer to a female educator and also create a feeling of security, in contrast to the toys that boys would prefer.
It becomes obvious that when raising a preschool child in a family and an educational institution, there are many problems associated with the formation of gender identity in children, the solution of which becomes quite realistic if we approach them taking into account modern achievements of psychology and pedagogy.
Work on the formation of gender-role behavior is aimed at familiarizing children with the qualities of masculinity and femininity, the manifestations and preferences of men and women in various types of activities, their roles in the family, developing skills and behavioral abilities, as well as developing children’s attitudes to the concepts of beauty and love , friendly relationships and the formation of these relationships between girls and boys in the group. This direction is associated with the creation of conditions for children to express and experience certain feelings that are more characteristic of one or another gender, for example: pride, courage, bravery in boys; care, sympathy, affection - for girls.
According to scientists, the most favorable age period for starting this work is the fourth year of life. Let us consider the features of this age period in more detail. From the fourth year of life, the child becomes aware of his capabilities and recognizes himself as an individual. How a child at this age shows himself – timid or confident – is how he will be in life. There is a powerful development of intelligence. During this period, it is very important to cultivate politeness, restraint, and modesty. A child must know not only his rights, but also his responsibilities. At this age, the child is aware of the difference between people by gender; he relies on external signs (clothing, hair length, etc.). Ideas about one's own gender are not yet stable, and 4-year-old children often believe that gender can be changed. Some children, while clearly aware of their gender, at the same time express a preference for the other gender. For example, a girl in the game “Mothers and Daughters” wants to portray a father or a son.
At the age of 5, an intensive process of formation of the child as an individual takes place socially, intellectually, emotionally and physically. The initial basic acquisition of speech is completed. By understanding the “I”, self-esteem, level of speech development, orientation in the environment, one can predict success in school and life. At this age, fine motor skills improve, which stimulates the development of speech, thinking and the psyche in general. Therefore, it is necessary to provide children with the opportunity to play with construction sets, draw more, and teach them how to play a musical instrument. Drawing should be especially encouraged, because... The drawing is a kind of childish speech. Drawing promotes gender self-identification, controls the emotional and semantic behavior of the child and helps him free himself from the possible consequences of traumatic situations. The themes of children's drawings are determined by many factors. One of them is the child’s belonging to a certain gender. The general focus on identification with one’s gender gives a certain content to the child’s drawings: boys draw the construction of houses and cities, roads with racing cars, planes in the sky, ships at sea, as well as wars, fights, brawls. Girls gravitate toward female roles, drawing “pretty girls” and princesses, flowers, gardens, all kinds of ornaments, as well as mothers walking with their daughters.
In some cases, an exceptional commitment to value orientations of the other sex, when suddenly boys begin to get carried away with drawing princesses and flowers, and girls draw battle scenes. Such identification with the other sex is due to the fact that the child chooses his idol among representatives of the other sex (usually an older brother or sister) and unconsciously follows all his manifestations. Gradually, under conditions of normal family relations, the dominant influence of the idol gives way to the social expectations that have developed in the subculture.
It is of great importance to introduce a child to fairy tales. They arouse curiosity, inquisitiveness, enrich the child’s life, develop intelligence, and help to know themselves in the future. Children often imagine themselves as heroes of fairy tales (bride and groom).
In older preschool age, girls and somewhat later boys experience a phenomenon called “children’s romanticism”—a tendency toward romantic adoration and true love. Coquetry appears in the girls' behavior - she spins around in front of the mirror, tries on different dresses, etc.
Modern researchers believe that between the ages of 5 and 8 years, a person’s “love map” is created, which can be considered as a program of individual psychological and physiological characteristics of love and eroticism recorded in the brain (the ideal image of a lover), i.e., sexual orientation is formed. According to parents, the majority of both boys and girls experienced their first love at the age of 5-6.
Researchers believe that children's developing understanding of gender-related concepts—gender schemas—helps determine what attitudes and behaviors they will adopt. These gender-related ideas and concepts naturally develop throughout the preschool period. The first level of understanding, achieved between 2 and 5 years of age, is called gender identity. At this age, children, despite the fact that they can classify people into the appropriate gender category (boy - girl, uncle - aunt), do not fully understand what the differences between them are. Children of this age believe that gender can be changed by changing appearance, such as changing clothes. They may not understand that only boys are capable of becoming fathers, and girls are capable of becoming mothers. Between 5 and 7 years, children reach an understanding of gender constancy, i.e. understanding that boys certainly become men, and girls become women, and that gender is constant, non-situational and stable over time.
Thus, by the senior preschool age, the child already firmly identifies himself with one gender or another and realizes the irreversibility of the gender role. It is no longer possible to “change” gender at this age, and it is difficult to correct errors in gender role education after this age. Gender identity (according to V. E. Kagan) as a unity of experience and sex-role behavior has already been formed.
Gender is the social sex of a person, formed in the process of upbringing. Gender represents the cultural, social and psychological differences between women and men.
Gender education is aimed at:
· mastering female and male roles that are accepted in society,
· mastering the culture of relationships with one’s own and the opposite sex,
· mastery of skills and abilities necessary for the implementation of gender.
This is clearly visible in the games of preschool children: girls play daughter-mother, put dolls to bed, prepare dinner, and treat. Boys race with toy cars, build towers and garages, and shoot with pistols.
Gender education is inseparable from general process raising a child is an integral part of it.
Of course, first of all, parents and educators should focus on the inherent characteristics of the nervous system and character traits of the child. For example, a girl can be a restless ringleader and a daredevil, while a boy can be calm, quiet and timid.
These psychological characteristics should be considered. But at the same time, develop those qualities that will be necessary in the future to fulfill the gender role. It will be wonderful if a girl, growing up, can be soft, sweet, gentle in the family and ambitious, persistent in her career. Or the boy will be purposeful, active, but at the same time with a calm, kind and sympathetic disposition.
Gender education of preschool children Awareness of one’s gender and identification with it arises between 2 and 3 years of age. Gradually, the child understands that gender is always constant and does not change over time. The approach to the sexual development of children is based on differences in external characteristics and the need to take into account socio-biological characteristics. The upbringing of preschool children in kindergarten and family involves a special organization of educational work. This is due to differences in the structure of the brain and its activity, as well as differences in the temperaments of girls and boys. In young female representatives, the left hemisphere develops earlier, so they begin to speak faster, and up to a certain age, rational and logical thinking is closer to them. Boys are subject to violent manifestations of emotions, their mood often changes. Girls prefer classes in small groups, and little men like competitions, joint, and active games.
Gender children's types Sexual difference includes the following components: cognitive self-awareness, emotional identity, specific behavior. On the basis of these components, gender types are born, which are classified. Which of them the child will be closer to depends on the parents. Let's look at the characteristics of children by gender type: Masculine child. He strives for independent behavior and respects authority. More often needs to communicate with significant man. Basically, such children are focused on achieving high results in certain areas, strive for leadership, and love competition. When communicating with peers, they tend to be authoritarian and do not tolerate objections. Feminine child. Boys of this type have problems communicating with their gender. They do not show independence, initiative, are cautious and are characterized by dependent behavior. The child must be supported and have faith in his capabilities. Often does not want to communicate with the masculine type. Androgynous child. The type is highly active in communicating with children of any gender. He is independent and often achieves high results. Tries to overcome difficulties without the help of others. Masculine qualities manifest themselves in helping the weak and protecting them. Undifferentiated type. The child is passive, avoids contacts, and does not strive for achievements. There is no clearly defined behavior style. Moms and dads have the main influence on the formation of gender type. Incorrect perception of the characteristics of one's gender often occurs in single-parent or dysfunctional families. Basically, the education system is carried out by mothers, nannies, and female educators. Work with children in preschool institutions should be based on gender differences. So, in educational process It is necessary to take into account the different perception of information in boys and girls. For the former, it is preferable to rely on visual means, and for the latter, on auditory ones. When doing creative work, you need to remember that boys’ hand movements lag behind babies by a year and a half. Small men need to be given jobs easier or carry out individual approach. When a teacher evaluates children’s activities, gender differences are taken into account in this case as well. For example, the intonation of speech, the form of assessment, the presence of people are most important for girls. For a boy, this is an assessment of the result itself, and not the method of achievement. He is also able to improve his work. Gender education for preschool children is not complete without play. Boys are characterized by active, noisy activities, and girls are characterized by quiet ones, most often role-playing on family and everyday topics. Of course, educators feel more comfortable when children engage in sedentary games, but this limits the development of the personality of little men. A good way to spend your time would be gender role-playing activities or theater games. - Read more at.
Musical development When conducting classes of this kind, boys need to pay attention to learning the elements of dance that require dexterity and strength, and girls - softness and smoothness. A gender approach to the education of children of senior preschool age takes into account training in the skills of a leading dance partner. Songs that make reference to gender differences also help to shape the desired behavior.
The upbringing of preschool children in kindergarten and family should be interconnected. Therefore, it is very important to instill in children knowledge about the characteristics of their gender from an early age. This implies increased demands on the parents themselves, on their behavior and lifestyle.
Elena Pozdnyakova
Features of gender education of preschool children
Pozdnyakova Elena Sergeevna, physical instructor education of MADOU"Kindergarten No. 83" Berezniki, Perm region.
Features of gender socialization of preschool children.
Research into practice suggests that currently preschool education, there are serious problems gender socialization. T. N. Doronova points out that software and methodological support preschool educational institutions in Russia are not taken into account gender aspects. As a result, the content education and training is aimed at age and psychological characteristics of children, and not on boys and girls of a given age, which, according to scientists differ:
In physical development and social behavior;
In mental and visuospatial abilities and level of achievements;
In displaying aggression and many other things.
Period preschool childhood is a stage, during which teachers and parents must understand the child and help him discover the unique opportunities that his gender gives him if we want boys and girls to grow into real men and women. During an important period of formation gender sustainability, children preschool age for a long time, are in preschool educational institution (8-12 hours, and are exposed only to female influence.
Analysis of practice revealed that currently teachers and educators in circulation is limited to the word "children", this is not promotes image identification - the child has a self with a certain social role. Thus, the main priority is to implement preschool educational institutions gendered-oriented appeals to children in situations where this is necessary.
Features of education and training, forms and methods of working with children used in children's preschool institutions, mainly intended for girls. In the same time education boys and girls in kindergartens are engaged women: at home these are mothers, grandmothers, and in children’s preschool Institutions are more likely to have female teachers. As a result, most boys gender resilience is built without the participation of men. According to scientists, women cannot properly bring up boys because they have a different type of brain and type of thinking. In addition, women teachers do not have experience of the experiences that children face that boys face. preschool age when communicating with adults and children. Thus, when working with boys, many teachers are guided only by the fact that if he is a boy, then he is the embodiment of will, strength, and endurance. As a result, timid, cowardly, physically weak and very vulnerable boys are systematically exposed to psychological stress from educators. For example, when a teacher asks children questions, the girls usually raise their hands first. When answering the teacher’s question, the girls try to give a more complete, detailed answer, looking directly at the teacher. Boys are hesitant to answer because they need to think about their answer more carefully. As a rule, boys have worse speech and a smaller vocabulary than girls in preschool age, so the boys are forced to spend more time finding Right words and express them. It follows from this that girls look more knowledgeable compared to boys, and therefore receive praise and appreciation more often. Against this background, boys develop low self-esteem, their confidence in themselves and their abilities and capabilities. Based on this, the main priority is the training of teachers who will implement a differentiated approach to girls and boys, both in communicating with them and in organizing and managing various types activities in preschool institution and in everyday life.
There are some differences between children of different sexes. Girls need stimuli that are largely auditory perception. Boys do not respond well to the teacher’s explanation; when listening to them, it is preferable for them to use visual benefits, built on visual perception. Girls are very sensitive to tone of voice, intonation, and form of assessment. For them, it is important that they are admired in the presence of other children, parents, etc. For boys, the most significant sign is that they have achieved results in one or another activities: learn to dress independently, brush your teeth, design something or draw, etc. Any acquired skill in boys has a positive effect on his personal growth, allows him to be proud of himself and strive for new achievements. But boys, as a rule, are satisfied with the results achieved in any activity, they rejoice at them, therefore they are ready to design, or do, the same thing that allows them to establish themselves in their achievements, but at the same time they want correct understanding and approval from teacher
Boys like friendly fights; this is not a manifestation of aggression, but the creation of a positive emotional background. Teachers do not always correctly understand the boys’ need for these fights and abruptly interrupt their games, depriving the boys of the joy they experience in this game.
Boys, as a rule, need space in games, they like to play in large spaces in order to run, jump, jump, but girls, on the contrary, need secluded corners, small "houses". Boys and girls have different attitudes towards dolls. Girls show their feelings more emotionally and actively than boys. When describing their toy, girls use the words “beautiful”, “kind”, “dear”, “good”, and try to note the details of the toy and its appearance. Boys more often point out the capabilities of their toys: “how to shoot”, “not afraid of anyone.”
In the play activities of boys and girls preschool There are significant differences in age. Research has revealed that different content and play styles sometimes cannot be implemented in children, because the teacher is a woman and, as a rule, quiet, calm games for girls are closer to her. Noisy, active games of boys usually irritate teachers, since it seems to them that such games are simply meaningless and sometimes dangerous for other children, can lead to injury, and, therefore, they are not important in the development of children, and they should be stopped. Thus, boys find themselves deprived of “manly games,” which have a negative impact on their personal development.
The study of children's behavior leads to an unambiguous conclusion: boys are interested in things, their structure, how they work, and girls are interested in people and their relationships. Check scientific definition, measure differences between the sexes, allow us to record how the same world is seen, depending on the inclinations of the brain. For children preschool age were asked to be tested using a binocular device, with which an object is visible with one eye and its face with the other. Using this device, it was revealed that girls more often remember a face and its expression, while boys fix the shape of an object.
When designing and playing with building materials, girls usually build low, compact houses and buildings, since the main thing for them is the imaginary people who will live in them. The boys are always trying to build bigger and taller structures. They try to do it for the sake of competition. Boys run a lot, jump, wrestle, pretend to be a car or some other piece of equipment, girls talk a lot, discuss their outfits and toys. Usually, girls always know the name of someone in their group or even in kindergarten; boys may not remember the name of a new boy in the group or the guys in the team, but they remember it capabilities, for example, deftly throws the ball, shoots accurately, how good he is in the game. Girls are open friends while boys love to plot against others. The girl group is more friendly, they sympathize with the weaker, boys can make fun of the weaknesses and shortcomings of others.
In a group of girls there is always cooperation, they can interact together, so in this group it is difficult to determine at first glance who is the leader. The girls have intimate conversations with each other; each, as a rule, has a best friend with whom she shares her secrets. In a group of boys, a hierarchy is usually formed in which a leader is immediately determined. A leader is always distinguished by an authoritative and confident voice, confident actions and gestures. Every boy in the group strives to become a leader. Authority status is of great importance in a group of boys. It is usually achieved through skill and boy's ability or knowledge, willingness to talk harshly with offenders. Girls strive to earn the approval of teachers and friends, boys prefer to explore the surrounding space on their own. Girls discuss actions others: whether they did good or bad, the boys discuss things and activity: who was able to cope with something and how this or that device works.
In cooperative learning and education for children of different sexes, the main pedagogical goal is to overcome the disunity between them. When organizing cooperative games in which children can cooperate together, these should be taken into account gender characteristics. Boys should be assigned to perform a male role, therefore girls - a female one. Other areas of activity of children of different sexes in nurseries can be structured in a similar way. preschool institutions.
In children aged 5-6 years, understanding of sexual consciousness is very limited, but should be included in educational-educational process new methods taking into account their gender characteristics. During this period of childhood, awareness of one’s capabilities occurs, awareness of oneself as an individual. During observations of children, a certain pattern: what qualities of a child’s character turn out to be leading, for example, shyness or confidence, those qualities will be inherent in his character throughout his life. At this age, it is important to instill in children such qualities How: politeness, restraint, modesty, respect, tolerance, etc. It is also necessary to continue to acquaint children with their rights and responsibilities.
By the age of 5-6 years, a child clearly understands his gender identity. At this age, based on external signs, the child easily distinguishes the people around him by gender. Adults call children by names that correspond to their gender; use intonation inherent in male and female speech, and thereby contribute formation of a child’s gender identity. Children's understanding of their male or female gender is not yet stable, and children often believe that gender can be changed. In this regard, it is important to draw the attention of parents to the emergence of false stereotypes and subjective views regarding the gender of the child; when communicating with children, it is necessary to point out attractiveness gender images for boys and girls.
Sexual and gender identity is formed especially intense in preschoolers gaming and visual activities. Drawing promotes gender identity of the child, controls his emotional behavior and helps him get rid of the possible consequences of stressful situations. At this age, the themes of children's drawings are influenced by many factors. One of them is the child’s specific gender and the degree of his sensitivity to gender differences. The content of a child's drawing largely depends on the child's recognition of his gender. TO example: boys draw cars, and girls draw dolls.
Children of this age are internally ready to accept the values, interests and behavior of their gender. This process is called self-socialization. Thus, children reveal stereotypical ideas about the behavior of boys and the behavior of girls. For example, boys never cry, but girls like to be capricious.
At a time when concepts about the stability of gender and its constancy over time are revealed, children, as a rule, are very strict about stereotypical ideas about the behavior of one or another gender. These norms and concepts are a means of organizing the child’s behavior and emotions. At the end preschool As children age, they must be aware of the irreversibility of gender roles and the fact that gender will not change. If this is not formed, then it will be difficult to correct errors in the future. gender education. That's why, gender Identity and sexual behavior must be developed before the age of 7, educational work with children must be carried out in a timely manner.
Psychologists have identified the main mechanisms gender socialization - as conscious or unconscious playback and assimilation of social experience. In cooperation with people, first of all, imitation of a parent of the same sex, modeling his behavior. The effect of this mechanism can be clearly observed in games preschoolers: the child builds relationships in the game (for example, “Daughters-Mothers”; by his behavior you can understand what he saw in the family. There is also a mechanism gender identity, the essence of which is to identify yourself with a child of a certain gender, focus on the ideal gender behavior, which corresponds to his system of ideas about positive features specific representative (most often this is the mother or father). The child's identity is also clearly visible in the children's "My Family" drawings.
Children adopt masculine and feminine characteristics, under the influence of culture, social status, and the historical time in which they grow up. Failure of this mechanism gender socialization is expressed in the absence of manifestations of masculinity or femininity, or non-compliance with manifestations of biological sex. Such problems usually arise when the education, for example, when expecting the birth of a girl, a boy is born and her parents transferred their expectations and methods to him education, and vice versa. Sometimes this happens when education children by a parent who exhibits only feminine or only masculine behavior. Psychologists say that changes in gender identities occur under the influence of social phenomena such as fashion, if it is aimed at eliminating differences in clothing style, manners, and characteristic social manifestations for men and women.
Gender education is a pedagogical activity aimed at the personal development of boys and girls, various fields their individuality (intellectual, motivational, emotional self-regulation activities aimed at mastering children gender skills, culture gender relations, promoting positive gender socialization of children.
Taking note, gender and age individual characteristics of preschool children age, tasks can be determined gender education, aimed at creating gender identity of preschool children age in progress gender socialization:
1) develop capabilities identify with people of the same sex;
2) develop skills gender behavior with others, adequately evaluate gender your own behavior and that of your peers;
3) create conditions for the implementation of knowledge about the pattern of “male” and “female” behavior in gaming and everyday life;
4) teach and develop skills to take care of your health, body (at accessible level, taking into account age, about a neat appearance;
5) form ideas about “female” and “male” professions;
6) Develop an understanding of partnership in the family and preschool educational institution, children's group;
7) lay the foundations of a humane attitude towards adults and their peers, regardless of gender.
PEDAGOGICAL COUNCIL
“GENDER DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN”
Event plan:
- REPORT OF THE HEAD OF THE PRESIDENTIAL INSTITUTION “Relevance of gender development of children” (Appendix No. 1)
- SENIOR TEACHER'S REPORT
preschool age" (Appendix No. 2)
- REPORT BY A PSYCHOLOGIST TEACHER
“Formation of one’s own gender identity
Preschoolers" (Appendix No. 3)
4. TEACHER'S REPORT
“The influence of socialization on gender development
Preschoolers" (Appendix No. 4).
5. SENIOR TEACHER'S REPORT
“The role of the family in the formation of gender ideas
Child" (Appendix No. 5).
6. REPORT OF A TEACHER - PSYCHOLOGIST
(gender and age identification)” (Appendix No. 6).
7. CONCLUSIONS OF THE TEACHING COUNCIL (Appendix No. 7)
8. DECISION OF THE TEACHING COUNCIL (Appendix No. 8)
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Appendix No. 1
REPORT of the head of the preschool educational institution
“The relevance of gender development of children”
This teaching council is dedicated to the study of gender development of preschool children.
The goal of child development psychology is the formation of a comprehensively and harmoniously developed personality, the creation of the necessary conditions for mental, moral, emotional, physical development personality, development of the child’s individuality, taking into account his age characteristics. In modern Russian society One of the urgent tasks of psychology is the development of male/female individuality. The solution to this problem is carried out in the process of a gender approach to the formation of children’s personality, various approaches to which were developed in domestic psychology and pedagogy (I. S. Kon, D. N. Isaev, Ya. L. Kolominsky, V. E. Kagan, D. V. Kolesov, V. S. Ageev, T. A. Repina, A. G. Khripkova, L. I. Stolyarchuk, etc.).
From birth, an opinion begins to form in a person’s mind about what a man should be and what a woman should be. Thus, a person gradually forms an opinion about the proper and inappropriate behavior of men and women, assimilates stable images of the moral character of men and women, as well as moral stereotypical norms. A person begins to navigate the sphere of relations between the sexes, he develops stable ideas not only about the images of a man and a woman (characteristic moral qualities, etc.), but also about the roles that a man and a woman should play in society.
In psychology, there are different opinions regarding how gender ideas develop. Adherents of psychoanalysis believe that the differences between men and women are predetermined by innate, instinctive programs. Characteristic of male behavior creative activity, determination, rationality, desire to compete and achieve goals. For women - passivity, indecisiveness, dependent behavior, lack of logical thinking, as well as greater emotionality and social balance than men. The founder of this psychological school, Sigmund Freud, believed that personality then develops harmoniously when it follows these models.
As Professor P. S. Gurevich notes, “to these conclusions we can add Freud’s observation that a person is predisposed to bisexuality, which is why mental disorders are possible associated with the development of readiness to perform a specific gender role.”
The social changes that have occurred in society over the past hundred years, the destruction of traditional stereotypes of female behavior, the entry of women into the business arena, and her suddenly obvious competition with men in science, business, and art have forced many scientists to doubt the usual, seemingly irrefutable , ideas about the nature of masculinity and femininity. These views have been sharply criticized by proponents of the "new psychology", who argue that traditional models of masculinity and femininity are not ideal models of the modern man and modern woman.
Until recently, domestic scientists were of little interest in the question of gender differences in the mental sphere, despite the fact that back in the 1960s. it was staged by B. G. Ananyev with his students, and later in sociology by I. S. Kon. Currently, gender differences have begun to be studied quite intensively, including within the framework of preschool psychology.
This problem is studied not only by psychologists, but also by neurophysiologists, sociologists, philosophers, ethnographers, and cultural scientists. As V.D. Eremeeva and T.P. Khrizman (2001) note: “We are not given the opportunity to visit the world of a different sex ourselves, live with its problems, suffer from its diseases, penetrate into the world of its thoughts, concepts, relationships, unspoken rules. And that’s why sometimes it seems to us that this second world does not exist... Unfortunately, we have no other model than ourselves. It is with this model (is it a model?) that we compare our children: both boys and girls.”
IN domestic research dedicated to the gender development of preschool children (V.B. Kagan, D.N. Isaev, D.V. Kolesov, V.S. Mukhina, T.A. Repina, I.S. Kon, A.G. Khripkova, E. P. Ilyin and others), the personality development features of preschool girls/boys were studied, the gender-age, psychosexual characteristics of preschool children, and the nature of relationships between children were studied.
Today, an acute problem in our society is family breakdown, which is why psychologists pay so much attention to children growing up in single-parent families. And there is every reason to believe that the very specific living conditions of a child without a father, since a child in modern Russian society is raised mainly by his mother, will affect the characteristics of his personal development, in particular, the formation and development of his self-concept. In general, the role of the father in preschool childhood increases, and it is during this period that the formation of gender identification of preschool children occurs (Z. Freud, E. Erikson, I. I. Raku, D. N. Isaev, V. E. Kagan, V. A. Averin and others).
The first five years of life play a decisive role in the development of masculinity traits in a boy and in the establishment of future heterosexual relationships in girls. And the longer during this period the child has to live without a father (due to the death or divorce of parents), the more serious the difficulties of gender identification may become if no other man serves as an effective protection (R. Evans, M. Scofield, I.S. Kon and others). There is also a deformation of children’s ideas about parental functions.
Masculinity is traditionally associated with power and the male gender role (A. Adler, 1998). In traditional patriarchal societies, the adult man was the head of the family, and his gender role identity was formed with a clear orientation towards masculinity associated with the male gender role.
In Russia, by the beginning of the 20th century, in the process of gender socialization, there was an increase in masculine tendencies in both boys and girls (V.V. Abramenkova, 2003). V.V. Abramenkova connects it with historically harsh times, when the male model of behavior turned out to be more preferable for people of both sexes. This, in turn, led to the inverse nature of gender formation - masculine for girls and feminine for boys, which was also noted in the studies of V. E. Kagan (2000), I. V. Romanov (2000) and N. K. Radina (1999).
As is known, the primary social group in which the process of gender orientation occurs are parents, brothers and sisters, and closest relatives - the family. With the help of the mechanism of identification with significant others, mainly with the mother and father, the child’s psychological gender is formed through his mastery of norms and stereotypes of behavior in accordance with gender. The identification mechanism for developing one’s own gender role position works not only in relation to the adults and children around the child, but also in relation to cultural bearers of gender differentiation, for example, literary and film characters, and fairy-tale characters.
The formation of a child as a person, as a future parent, depends on how much a child determines his gender role.
“Parents are not raising a child in general, but a boy or girl with their inherent psychological differences in worldview, attitude towards the environment, acquisition of skills and abilities, development of the cognitive sphere, and emotionality. Knowledge of gender differences that manifest themselves from a very early age will help adults select such influences that would contribute to the formation of the child’s psychological gender with forms of behavior inherent to this gender.”
The solution to the issues of forming an adequate gender culture for children is associated not only with the family, with the media, but also, to a large extent, with preschool institutions.
The problem of children's gender development is limited and determined by the process of changing normative ideas about male and female gender roles in modern society. Forming a child’s personality taking into account gender differences allows us to see the specifics differently psychological work with preschool children. The problem of gender development sets the prospects for a person’s further participation in public life and prepares him to fulfill social roles in society and family.
APPENDIX No. 2
Senior teacher's report
“Features of children’s gender identity
preschool age."
A person can go out into society... only, one way or another, by classifying himself as female or male.
V.E. Kagan
The term “gender” comes from the English “gender” - gender. There are many definitions of the concept of gender, but in short, gender differs from sex in that sex is a biological phenomenon and practically unchangeable, while gender is sociocultural and different for different eras and peoples. Gender is the norms and rules that our society – through the media, books, textbooks and more – addresses to us, men and women. And it tells us what a “real” man and a “true” woman are, and what we need to be to achieve these honorary titles. Currently this concept acquired more broad meaning and is used when describing a wide variety of phenomena and categories of social life.
However, the distinction between the concepts of biological sex and social sex (gender) arose in the period of postmodernism. At first, the term “gender” was used in history, sociology, psychology, and then in linguistic research. Masculinity traits are associated with nature, activity, power, logic. And the traits of femininity are associated with culture, passivity, subordination, and emotions.
In modern society there are significant changes in the gender order, the nature of the relationship between men and women is changing. The main subjects and agents of change are women, whose social status, activities and psyche are now changing faster and more radically than men’s. There is a weakening of the polarization of gender differences.
Many traditional differences between men and women do not so much disappear as transform and cease to be a mandatory social norm. Preschool age is the period when the most significant and important features, properties and qualities of a person are formed. And already at preschool age, children develop an idea of gender characteristics. Gender is the first category in which a person recognizes himself as an individual.
With age, children begin to identify themselves with the ideas of one gender or another. Gender self-identification of an individual is closely related to social stereotypes. All cultures have gender stereotypes. The family is the first environment of gender socialization. Non-family sources also contribute to this.
The importance of the process of gender socialization is rightfully emphasized by I. S. Kon. He notes that not only the family, but also the peer society have a significant influence on the sexual socialization of the child, being “an extremely important agent of sexual socialization.”
Peers, older children, relatives, parents of other children, television, etc. From all these sources, the child learns about behavior that is regarded by society as corresponding to one or another gender. After parents, educators and teachers are the most influential adults in children's lives. IN Lately Quite alarming manifestations have emerged. Boys, in the course of a typical feminized upbringing, go from being... female hands to others. They are brought up, first of all, to be “comfortable” for women.
Children understand gender stereotypes in preschool, and their understanding grows throughout their schooling. primary school. By the time they enter the middle classes, the content of their gender stereotypes is almost similar to those of adults. Thus, preschool age can be considered the most important and significant period for gender socialization.
According to M. Uskembaeva, gender self-awareness is an integral characteristic of a person, including “I-image”, “I-concept”, gender stereotypes, gender attitudes (attitudes), gender behavior, gender self-esteem and gender (socio-gender) roles.
One of the main components of personality is the awareness of “I” - identity, i.e. a sense of one’s integrity and continuity over time, as well as the understanding that other people also recognize this. Identity characterizes precisely that which remains constant, despite all the changes and development of a given person throughout his life. Starting from the age of 1 - 1.5 years, children identify themselves with their name, respond to it and call themselves by it, and by the age of three they begin to correctly use the pronoun “I”, as well as other personal pronouns. The boundary between the Self and the non-Self initially runs along physical boundaries own body. It is the awareness of one’s body that is the leading factor in the structure of children’s self-awareness. Identity is an actual state, the current experience of Self-integrity on a cross-section life path, while identification is the process of its formation.
The formation of gender identification is associated with the development of a child’s self-awareness. Normally, primary gender identity is formed in children between the ages of one and a half to three years. During this period, children learn to correctly identify themselves as a certain gender, determine the gender of their peers, and distinguish between men and women. By the age of 3-4 years, a gender-related conscious preference for toys arises. In their daily contacts with children, adults constantly link the child's behavior to his gender. Formal and informal children's groups are organized based on gender and age. The most important way to learn gender-typical behavior is through observation and imitation. Identification implies a strong emotional connection with a person whose “role” the child accepts, putting himself in his place. A striking example this is a role playing game. In the process of role-playing, children learn socially acceptable norms of gender behavior and value orientations corresponding to their gender.
Gradually, preschool children develop certain ideas about the change in a person’s physical appearance, his gender and social roles in connection with age. This knowledge is based on the appropriation of social experience and the development of self-awareness. Gender-age identification is based on the individual’s ability to abstract thinking, necessary to distinguish between the appearance and behavior of another person, conceptual description of other people and self-description based on stable ideas. Thus, the formation of identity in children depends on both the intellectual level and personal characteristics.
APPENDIX No. 3
REPORT BY A PSYCHOLOGIST TEACHER
“Formation of your own gender
Preschool supplies."
An amazing fact - the gender of the child is usually the pride of the parents. And it doesn’t matter at all whether it’s a boy or a girl, adults are equally proud of their child.
And of course, all parents want to see their baby in the future as a real man or a real woman, linking both a successful career and a happy family life with these concepts.
The baby is taken from the maternity hospital, carefully selecting pink or blue ribbons, and they try to prepare other components of the child’s dowry in accordance with their gender! It is very important for us to emphasize who was born to us! This is what we are happy to tell others. And if passers-by, looking into the stroller, say to our son: “What a pretty baby,” we remark with offense: “What are you talking about, it’s a boy!”
The child is growing up - and parents are looking forward to when he begins to behave in accordance with his gender. And often in their experiences and assessment of what is happening they run ahead, anticipating the development of events. We have all heard more than once how proud mothers are when they talk about their infant daughters: “Oh, such a baby, and she’s already flirting with her uncle!”
In psychology, there are a number of concepts to describe the process of a child’s awareness of his gender, one of them is gender identity. This is awareness and acceptance of one's gender. A person’s behavior and interests begin to correspond to his ideas about masculinity and femininity.
For the first time this happens to a child between the ages of one and a half to three years. During this period, they learn to correctly classify themselves and others as one gender or another, but their understanding of gender differences remains limited. For example, a three-year-old boy greatly upsets his parents by the fact that he plans to be a mother when he grows up, and a little girl dreams of being an officer. Thus, it is necessary to emphasize that in early preschool age, gender is not perceived by children as something constant over time. A girl may want to be a boy for a while and vice versa.
Interestingly, a very significant indicator at this age is what toys the child chooses. There is a generally accepted opinion: a boy should play with cars, and a girl should play with dolls. This means that gender identification is formed correctly. And if a child behaves differently, it upsets and frightens adults.
However, there are several theories in psychology regarding how gender stereotypes develop. Attempts to uncover the mechanism of its occurrence were made by representatives of several scientific schools.
Thus, adherents of psychoanalysis believe that children perceive a gender stereotype through the process of identifying themselves with parents of the same sex, which begins at the age of four or five years.
Identification is equated with imitation and it is believed that imitation of parents is only one of several possible ways of accepting social stereotypes of masculinity or femininity. Careful observation in preschools and at home supports the view that parents, teachers, and companions facilitate the expression of different types of behavior in children. Parents of children aged 20-24 months were more likely to approve of behavior consistent with the child's gender. So, they liked it when girls played with dolls, asked for help, were near an adult and helped him; expressed approval when the boys played with blocks, manipulated various objects, and were physically active. However, parents often do not assume that they treat boys and girls differently.
Proponents of cognitive development theory believe that early gender role learning is due to the fact that children learn about gender stereotypes very early. They then begin to actively seek information about activities, values, and behaviors that differentiate boys from girls. Since the thinking of young children is categorical, their stereotypes are rather inflexible. Naturally, they begin to prefer patterns associated with their biological sex. Finally, the boy says, “I am a boy. So I want to act like a boy." And this desire is reinforced when the baby understands that being a boy or a girl is “forever.” Having received the concept of masculinity and femininity, children take this knowledge into account and use it in communicating with the outside world.
However, this theory does not explain the fact that boys are more likely to accept the behavior prescribed to them than girls. It also does not explain individual differences in the strength and nature of the manifestation of gender-typical behavior. For example, why do some girls at a certain age enter into open competition with boys. Do they want to be bolder, stronger, more courageous than boys? At the same time, they begin to “despise” typical female characteristics. Other girls develop without this kind of “deviation.” They don’t mind being weaker, more fearful, quieter. It should be noted that boys are less likely to be “dissatisfied” with their gender than girls. They are less likely to compete with the opposite sex.
Children may internalize gender stereotypes through the media, peers, teachers, and other adults. Unfortunately, in addition to positive qualities, the child easily accepts negative ones. Boys get the impression that shouting, using foul language and fighting is very masculine, while girls are happy to demonstrate capriciousness, touchiness, sneaking, affectation, and so on.
So, a child at the moment of birth and even before birth is a social being. His social development means an increase in the degree of social maturity. A necessary condition for such development is the social environment.
The most important means of communication between people - speech - develops as a result of communication between a child and an adult and can be regarded as the result of this communication. A child’s speech is directly related to his activities, to the situations in which communication occurs. First of all, the child begins to name those objects that he touches most often with his hands. The word-name of an object becomes a word-concept only after a significant number of motor conditioned connections have been developed for it.
The classification of most objects into one of two main groups, corresponding to male and female, is a fact that should be assessed in terms of not only the development of speech, but also the development of thinking.
Naturally, the model of this two-elementary nature of speech and thinking can be precisely the division of people into two sexes, since communication between male and female people is the most elementary and at the same time the most fundamental phenomenon of human communication, its elementary unit.
For the normal development of a child, it is necessary not only the constant influence of an adult, but also the presence of a stable small group (primarily a full-fledged family), where he occupies a certain place and is well oriented - learns from the elders, takes care of the younger ones, etc.
“And self-awareness, and then self-awareness,” according to I.M. Sechenov, “are gradually formed on the basis of the child’s perception of the external world and impressions of his own body.”
An important and one of the earliest elements of this self-awareness and self-awareness is the feeling of one’s own gender identity, the belief in belonging to the male or female sex. This is not just a feeling or knowledge, but a belief, and it is formed in the first two and a half to three years of life.
The child perceives himself as a member of a certain social group, collective, in accordance with his awareness of his gender social role, the role of a boy or a girl. This awareness occurs following the formation of a sense of one’s own gender identity and conviction of a certain character. First, the child isolates himself as an individual, and then more and more consciously begins to compare himself with other people. One of the manifestations of this comparison is what is usually called sexual curiosity: the child shows interest in the genitals. This is a completely legitimate and natural interest, since by this age the child has already studied himself well enough, learned to compare himself with others, and here he discovers that if, according to most signs, people are similar to each other - they have a head, arms and legs, eyes, ears , nose, etc., then they differ in some ways. First, the child becomes convinced that there is a difference between him and some other children, and only then that according to these characteristics, all boys, any of them, are different from all girls, from any of them. Interest in the structural features of the genital organs is a natural manifestation of this stage of social development of a normal child.
As Professor P. S. Gurevich notes: “The game covers the entire human life to the very foundation.” But for children, games are the main source of knowledge. The stage of social development is characterized by so-called role-playing games. According to the definition of D.B. Elkonin “role-playing game” is an activity in which children take on the roles (functions) of adults and in a generalized form in specially created gaming conditions reproduce the activities of adults and the relationships between them.
The role of play in the social development of a child is very great. The game contributes to the formation of control over one’s behavior; relationships are formed within the playing group of children that support and control the fulfillment of each of their roles.
Role-playing games also include games of “father and mother,” “mother and daughter,” and “doctor.” During such games, children often show interest in the structure of the genital organs, undress, can examine each other, performing certain roles (mothers, daughters, doctors), and at the same time satisfying their curiosity. Such games, which are correctly called games with sexual elements, should not cause any concern, much less decisive parental intervention, with the exception of certain cases.
The problem of gender development and gender self-determination of a child worries parents, psychologists and people directly involved in raising children from an early age. Competent assistance to a child in determining his gender will help him develop the correct attitude towards gender issues, mastery of them, moral culture in gender relations, preparation for marriage and family life.
Thus, the first five to six years of a child’s life is the period when the deepest layers of the psyche and personality are laid and formed and affect subsequent development. The development of a child from the first days of life is the development of a specific boy or a specific girl. Most begin to become interested in gender issues in preschool age. It is very important that at this time there is an experienced and sensitive adult nearby who would help the little person understand what is happening to him and answer his many “why?”
At five or six years old, the future adult is already clearly visible in the child. This is the path of the first biological needs to spiritual interests, from the ability to communicate to the need for it and the ability to build it, from elementary reactions of pleasure (displeasure) to feelings of joy, fear, anger, surprise, curiosity, and then to experiences of love, compassion, jealousy, shame, friendship.
The child understands that he is a boy (or girl). For the first time, he notices anatomical differences between himself and peers of the other sex, as well as between his parents. He begins to identify himself as a certain gender and begins to learn to behave according to his gender.
The child gradually grows up, discovers the world around him, his natural curiosity and inquisitiveness force him to ask his parents endless questions. No matter what age they are asked, this is a normal and natural interest, without which the harmonious development of a person and the continuation of his family would be impossible.
At first completely dependent on the environment, the child gradually separates himself from it, becomes aware of his mental and physical “I”, and begins to comprehend his own sensations and emotions. Parents play an important role in this, because they are the only role models. The child correlates the entire world around them with them.
Gender development begins long before the birth of a child, as paradoxical as it may sound. Sometimes we think that newborn boys and girls can be distinguished just by looking at their gender characteristics. The biological and social dissimilarity of men and women is obvious, and the psychological paths to the formation of different-sex individuals are just as different.
Already in infancy, boys behave more straightforwardly, definitely; they seem easier to understand. When everything is fine, boys are calmer than girls. If suddenly something is wrong, they raise a cry of demand. Girls, for the most part, are less mobile and may cry not only from hunger, but also from other physical discomfort. Their reactions are initially more varied. They, earlier than boys, begin to “object” to the removal of their mother from their sight.
Individual psychophysiological functions develop differently in boys and girls. It is known that girls see better, distinguish smells more subtly, have more developed hearing for high-frequency sounds, are more attentive to the taste of food, and are sensitive to touch. These and other features from an early age influence the success of mastering different types activities, area of interest.
“Boys and girls come into different worlds,” writes Elena Gianini Belotti, director of the special center named after. M. Montessori in Rome, leading work on psychological preparation and practical training of parents.
Girls begin to be taught to be independent earlier, however, only within the domestic sphere. Girls are usually more caring than boys; they tend to care for animals and take care of children. The tendency towards caring activities, which can be considered as a manifestation of the maternal instinct, is expressed in the choice of toys and in the nature of the games. As the German psychologist W. Stern noted: “Already little girls of three or four years old often reveal in their attitude towards a doll such sincerity of expression and tone, such devotion and care, such a subtle feeling for the substantive details of care that they seem to be surrounded by a genuine aura of motherhood . It is often said that boys also play with dolls and that the nature of their games depends on their upbringing. However, a boy treats a doll completely differently than a girl; only in exceptional cases is touching, caring courtship observed; the boy makes his doll jump and march, does all sorts of tricks, puts it as a rider in a cart, rides on toy animals, witnesses it as a doctor to a patient and soon abandons it.”
Girls are more diligent; often it is enough to convince them that “this is how it should be.” Boys must convince themselves of the need for certain actions. When going somewhere, girls have a specific goal, while boys find something to do along the way, navigate an unfamiliar environment more easily and perceive it positively. Girls are more proud and touchy, and more sensitive to criticism than boys. Girls are more likely to have an increased interest in their appearance, and they are more sensitive to how other people evaluate it.
Thus, I believe that it is important to correctly understand the nature of the differences between boys and girls, men and women, that is, to understand the basic characteristics of the male and female sexes.
What is psychological gender? At what age does it begin to develop? Why is it so important to know about the ways of its formation? Gender is not a given when it comes to psychology. A child’s awareness of his belonging occurs gradually, not from birth, and depends on many sociocultural factors. “It turns out that socially gender-typical behavior is determined more by upbringing than by genetic factors.”
Realizing oneself as a boy or a girl does not happen immediately. Gender formation begins as early as six to eight months, when babies learn to distinguish between men and women. At the age of one and a half years, there is usually already primary gender identification, that is, knowledge of one’s gender identity. At this time, according to experts, in 90% of cases children correctly distinguish between male and female representatives. Two-year-olds prefer to look at pictures depicting children of the same gender: boys - boys, girls - girls. If a two-year-old child knows his gender, but does not know how to demonstrate or justify his knowledge, then after six months 75% of children already prove that they are boys or girls and are offended when adults jokingly “confuse” their gender identity. For three- to four-year-old children, even atypical clothing or an adult’s hairstyle does not raise doubts and does not interfere with recognizing their uncle or aunt. At six or seven years old, the irreversibility of gender becomes final in the child’s mind; he understands that he will grow up as a boy or a girl forever.
The adoption of gender-typical behavior is a consequence of a whole complex of reasons, including such “frivolous” ones as the choice of clothes, toys, name for a newborn, and much more significant ones – different expectations of parents, dissimilar forms of communication with children of different sexes, and different requirements.
As the authors of many works on issues of gender development point out, A.G. Kripkova and D.V. Kolesov, the child very clearly grasps the normal or abnormal nature of the gender characteristics of his peers, perceiving them comprehensively. It is no coincidence that children with gender ambiguity traits cause ridicule, hostility, and negative evaluations. Perhaps the inability to clearly answer the question of whether the person in front of you is a boy or a girl, and if it is a boy, then why he behaves like a girl, causes a state of mental tension, which, in turn, gives rise to hostility.
If a child thinks that the color of his jacket or the buckle instead of buttons indicates the opposite gender of the new item, he will be adamant. It turns out that this is not trivial stubbornness, not a whim. Thus, the child fights for recognition in the peer group and does not want to be rejected. This must be taken into account, because self-esteem and attitude towards oneself depend on the assessments of others.
Gender is a fundamental, social property of individuality. This is the very first category in which the child comprehends his own “I”. Even the attitude of the expectant mother towards her unborn baby to a certain extent affects his future path in life. And undisguised grief over the appearance of a girl instead of a boy, or vice versa, turns out to be a trauma, the consequences of which for the comprehensive development of a future individuality are difficult to predict.
It very often happens that a child of the “wrong gender” is born, and the parents seem to resign themselves, calm down, however, subconsciously they still remain tuned in to the baby they dreamed of. In such cases, upbringing involuntarily develops in such a way that the girl grows up to be more like a boy in character, loves to jump, run, fight, take risks, prefers trousers to dresses, turns out to be much more independent and self-confident than her peers, calls only boys comrades, claiming that she is not interested in being with girls .
In those families where they waited a long time for the appearance of a daughter, and instead received a son, the baby is more tender and caressed. They touchingly emphasize that he supposedly looks more like a girl because he has such long eyelashes, big eyes, curly hair. In children's society, this child experiences difficulties in contacts with peers, does not enjoy authority, and receives offensive nicknames: “nurse”, “mama’s boy”. Of course, this does not always happen, not in all families, but since this phenomenon is not uncommon, it is advisable for parents to think about their attitude towards children, taking into account the stereotypes accepted in society.
Every adult individually and the entire family needs to be able to accept the emergence of a new person as an intrinsic value and, from the very beginning, treat a girl as a future woman, and a boy as a growing man. Attempts to realize in a daughter all the hopes associated with an unborn son, or vice versa, will entail great difficulties in further socialization, may have a negative impact on the formation of the child’s relationships with peers, and will interfere with harmonious and comprehensive development personality.
I would like to note that if a boy has a father, but the mother has a negative attitude towards him (the father), this, in my opinion, also affects the son’s gender development, because normal gender development of both girls and boys requires the presence of both feminine and masculine sample. The simultaneous perception of both parental roles presupposes their comparison, awareness not only of the inconsistency of each of them, but also of the need for unity, the existence of one for the sake of the other and thanks to the other.
The psychology of gender differences in children is clearly manifested in activities: play, study, work. If girls grow up to be very feminine, their attitudes and reactions maximally correspond to the gender role stereotype, they experience increased anxiety and low self-esteem.
By adolescence, boys who develop a highly masculine type feel more self-confident and are satisfied with their status in the peer group. “Children whose behavior is most consistent with their gender role may have lower intelligence and less creative abilities. On the contrary, individuals who are relatively free from rigid gender typing have a richer behavioral repertoire and are psychologically better off.”
Thus, in the process of his mental development, the child masters forms of behavior characteristic of humans among other people. It is the holistic mental development of a child that contains the potential of universal and individual properties.
APPENDIX No. 4
TEACHER'S REPORT
“The influence of socialization on the gender development of preschool children.”
The problem of gender socialization, which includes issues of the formation of the child’s mental gender, mental gender differences and gender differentiation and lies at the intersection of a number of sciences (sociology, biology, medicine, etc.), is one of the most important and pressing problems of psychology. Without solving it, it is impossible to develop methods for a differentiated approach to the formation of the personality of children of different sexes in order to develop in them the foundations of such qualities as masculinity and femininity, which they need to successfully perform their functions in the family in the future.
The beginnings of differential socialization can be seen even before the child is born. An example is the desire of parents and others to know who will be born a boy or a girl, because a lot depends on this: what they will call him, what clothes and toys they will buy, how they will raise him. Gender is a very important social variable, and parents would not like it if others made mistakes about the sex of the child.
Already at 3 years old, children confidently identify themselves as male or female (this is called gender identification). During this time, children begin to notice that men and women try to look different, engage in different activities, and be interested in different things. Once a child begins to notice differences between men and women, he usually develops increased attention to role models of the same gender as oneself, driven by the desire to be the best boy or girl. Differential imitation explains why women tend to enjoy shopping and preparing for the holidays, while men often avoid it. While the child grows, he sees that it is the woman who is involved in such matters, and if the child is a girl, then this will interest her much more than if there was a boy in her place. We must not forget that gender role socialization is a process that continues throughout human life, it reflects changing circumstances and new experiences.
Throughout life, the material for constructing gender is the entire system of what is associated with masculinity and femininity in a given culture.
Teachers, other children, parents of other children, relatives, toys and television - from all these sources a child learns about behavior that is regarded by society as corresponding to a particular gender.
In the process of gender role socialization, psychologists assign an important role to the family.
Thus, the authors of psychoanalytic orientationThey consider the main thing in gender socialization to be the identification of a child with a parent of the same sex, as well as the overcoming of specific conflicts, the main of which is the Oedipus conflict. They believe that it is more difficult for boys to resolve the Oedipal conflict, since this involves the destruction of the boy's primary identification with his mother, a destruction that occurs with the help of the father, who supports the son's tendency to devalue everything feminine.
Numerous studies by neobehavioristsshow that from the very birth of a child, adults treat him differently depending on his gender, which is reflected in the names given to children of different genders, in clothing, in the tone of an adult’s voice, in the toys offered to the child, in the nature of rewards and punishments .
A number of studies have shown that the father’s attitude towards children of different sexes differs from the mother’s attitude. Fathers treat their children more differently depending on their gender. Unlike mothers, they hardly interact with either sons or daughters during the first year of their lives, and subsequently show twice as much activity in interacting with sons as with daughters. At the same time, fathers console girls more when they are upset and approve of them more often than boys, and mothers are more lenient and tolerant of their sons and allow them to show more aggression towards their parents and other children than girls.
A number of works are devoted to the influence of the absence of a father in the family (physical or mental) on the development of aggression in boys and on the gender socialization of children of both sexes. It was shown that in families where there is no father, the foundations of masculine traits in sons emerged more slowly and boys were less aggressive and more dependent; on the other hand, the absence of a father before the age of four affects gender orientation more than at an older age.
F. Parsons, a neobehaviorist psychologist, sees the role of the father in the fact that he can significantly help both sons and daughters in the process of their gender identification to overcome dependence on the mother, which is established in early childhood.
The process of shaping a child's gender is also influenced by brothers and sisters. At the same time, the older child, whether he is a girl or a boy, more often acts as a leader among his peers, while a girl who has an older brother often develops according to the “tomboy” model and in the company of her peers may choose the company of boys.
The role of the second, no less important factor in the process of gender socialization of a child than the family, the peer group, is given much less attention in psychological research. This question is raised only in a few works, where identification with peers of the same sex as the child is considered as an important mechanism for the formation of ideas about gender and gender-role behavior.
At the same time, the fact that in childhood boys and girls tend to play separately and give preference to representatives of their own sex in sociometric experiments is recognized by most psychologists. This was clearly confirmed by the research I conducted in kindergarten groups. The child strives to be accepted not only by his parents, but also by his peers and avoids their rejection, and this acceptance is achieved largely by his behavior in accordance with gender role standards.
Gender socialization has historically been carried out primarily in the “child - adult” system, however, gender and age associations of the “child - child” system, which were included in this process much later, are also the most important institution of gender socialization. The children's community, as a carrier of its own subculture, has specific functions in the formation of the child’s psychological gender: in joint activities and communication “on equal terms”, the child’s behavior is clarified and practiced in accordance with his gender position, psychological differences in the gender behavior of boys and girls are established. It was here that the child usually received a significant share of information (up to 90%!) about gender relations.
Many authors believe that for boys, peers are more important, since boys are less attracted to adults, to family, and they are more sensitive to social pressure from peers when they behave inappropriately for their gender.
Experiments show that reading books containing gender stereotyping leads to an increase in the proportion of gender-typical behavior in children's games. Although recent studies have shown that descriptions of gender in books published after 1980. have changed quite a bit, but libraries are still full of books published before this period. And in them, male characters usually predominate and women are depicted exclusively in the role of homemakers, while men are given all the opportunities.
The media play an important role in gender role socialization, because they constantly show us stereotypical images of women and men.
In the process of differential socialization, the role of children's toys is very important. Toys and games help girls practice activities that prepare them for motherhood and housekeeping, and develop communication and collaboration skills. For boys, toys encourage invention, transformation of the world around them, help develop skills that will later form the basis of spatial and mathematical abilities, and encourage independent, competitive and leadership behavior. When you walk into a store, you can immediately see that most of the toys are specifically designed for either boys or girls. The gender identity of a toy is often indicated by its name or packaging. According to statistics, adults buy young children more toys that are typical for the child’s gender. It would be natural to assume that this is a consequence of the fact that boys and girls prefer different toys and therefore ask to buy them. But is this preference “natural” or created by the social environment? There are several hypotheses about this, one of which suggests that boys and girls initially have different innate predispositions, due to which they begin to give preference to different toys over time. But, unfortunately, we cannot exclude the possibility that by the time a child begins to give preference to toys typical of his gender, differential socialization has already occurred to some extent.
By the age of three or four, the child clearly distinguishes the gender of the people around him, but often associates him with random external signs, like clothing, and allows for fundamental reversibility, the possibility of changing gender. At six or seven years of age, the child finally realizes the irreversibility of gender, and this coincides with the rapid increase in gender differentiation of behavior and attitudes: boys and girls own initiative choose different games and partners in them, show different interests, styles of behavior, etc. Boys strive for independence, girls for interdependence. Boys are more likely to play games in which the more people the better. Girls prefer to gather in small groups, their games are less aggressive, more complicit, they often have confidential conversations and imitate relationships between adults. This spontaneous gender segregation (association in companies based on gender - P.A. ) promotes awareness of gender differences.
Awareness of one’s gender identity is based, on the one hand, on somatic signs (body image), and on the other, on behavioral and characterological properties, assessed by the degree of their compliance or non-compliance with normative stereotypes of masculinity (masculinity) and femininity (femininity). Like all other children's self-esteem, they are derived from the assessment of the child by others, are multidimensional and often ambiguous. Already preschoolers often have a problem with the relationship between assessing the degree of their masculinity or femininity and gender-role preferences.
Knowing one's own body helps a child establish his/her gender identity. Getting to know the body is only one side of the formation of masculinity (masculinity) and femininity (femininity). The other side is recognition and mastery of behavior that is considered masculine and feminine. In psychology I call this mastering the gender role. It happens in many ways at once.
Firstly, the child tends to model the behavior of a parent of the same gender as himself. The question arises, why does this happen? Probably, some unconsciously captured features of a somewhat similar organization of mental activity and the style of communication of a child in the first year of life have an effect. But be that as it may, as a rule, boys usually imitate their father, and girls imitate their mother.
Secondly, in the process of upbringing, parents stimulate the child’s behavior to conform to his gender role, explaining, for example: “You are a boy, and boys don’t cry,” “You are a girl, and girls don’t fight.”
Thirdly, children themselves perceive what their elders like best in their behavior and try to match it.
Observations of children's groups show that the majority of reactions of rejection from peers occur among children whose behavior does not correspond to the gender role.
It takes several years to fully master gender roles. Even in the fourth year of life, children do not perceive their gender identity as an obligatory and permanent characteristic. At this age, they still cannot always realize that a boy in the future will be a man, husband, father, and a girl will be a woman, wife, mother. Only at the age of five or six do children learn that they belong to one gender or another forever.
By this time, they can correlate gender with future professions, games, relationships: firefighters - uncles. Girls cry, it’s no fun being a girl... “Chauffeurs are uncles and soldiers are uncles, I want to try everything...”, “Boys play at being men.”
The period between the second and sixth years of life is of particular importance for gender development. Gender behavior is mastered and assimilated in it, and if the child is somehow forced during this period to play a role opposite to his passport gender, he can learn it. Thus, in a family where the only child is a boy, an abundance of affection and overprotection can create conditions for the feminization of behavior. But the risk is especially great when parents cannot come to terms with the real gender of the child and think that while he is small, everything is possible.
The greater the risk of feminization of boys and masculinization of girls, the greater the child’s “natural” inclination toward an imposed style of behavior.
Thus, there are a huge number of factors that influence a person’s gender role socialization, starting from birth and throughout life.
As can be seen, there is a wide variety of views on psychological gender differences in children and on the factors that form them, as well as on understanding the basic mechanisms that determine the gender socialization of a child.
APPENDIX No. 5
TEACHER'S REPORT
“The role of the family in the formation of a child’s gender ideas.”
Family is one of the greatest values created by humanity in the entire history of its existence. Not a single nation, not a single cultural community can do without family. In her positive development Society and the state are interested in preserving and strengthening; every person, regardless of age, needs a strong, reliable family.
What kind of men and women will our children grow up to be? The moment will come when they too will become parents. Everything positive that they will carry throughout their lives is laid down already in childhood, in the family.
The family forms an intimate, private world of a person; it is a social environment that directly touches a person. In it a person begins his life, in it he shares it with other people, in it he continues himself in children.
In the family, all possible emotions, passions, and affects converge and focus. “My home is my fortress” - it’s not easy to look into it, much less see it in all the small details and control it from the outside. But there is no family outside society. We are used to saying that what the family is like, so is the society. It is no less fair to say that as society is, so is the family.
However, family life is not an entertaining stroll; there are no families without difficulties and problems. This is good: by overcoming them, a person changes, improves his personality, improves his relationships with loved ones.
Children in a family are an addition and enrichment to the lives of two people who have tied the knot. They bring joy and care, which expand love for each other, making the love between husband and wife deeper, more meaningful, more human.
There is no doubt that a child needs both parents - a loving father and mother. The responsibility of parents for the gender development of children is very great, because only they can teach their children mutual respect and love. The love and mutual respect of parents is the main educational factor influencing the child. “When a father and mother love each other, the child receives the most from their love.”
To serve as an example of a gender role, parents, first of all, themselves, must correspond to this role and the concepts of masculinity (masculinity) and femininity (femininity) accepted in society. However, the decades-long life of two emotionally separated people for the sake of a child is often a futile attempt to create an illusory façade of family well-being. Unresolved marital problems, although hidden under nine locks, affect the child through psychological mechanisms.
In many families, from time to time, friction that arises between spouses contributes to the emergence of psychological problems The child has. It is often simply impossible to solve these problems and thus help the child without correction marital relations. A family is a single organism. Violation of the child’s emotional state, his “bad” behavior, as a rule, is a symptom of other family “diseases”.
Family crises always make a difficult impression on children, especially if they are hidden from the child. In the real life of a family, it is almost impossible for conflicts or simply the bad mood of one person to be experienced only by him alone. It is known that even a newborn, if his mother is anxious, also begins to get nervous. Even a preschooler, without fully understanding the essence of parental disagreements, gives them a unique meaning. However, often he simply perceives that when mom and dad are like this, he feels bad, he wants to cry, run somewhere, or do something evil.
“The child feels psychological discomfort, but does not see what the cause is, and does not know the means of how to avoid such negative experiences. In this sense, children are blind and unarmed. At the same time, they are extremely sensitive to changes in the emotional atmosphere in the family and tend to associate its changes either with ongoing external events or with their own behavior.”
A child in a divorced, single-parent family hears the conversations of adults, the complaints of the mother and her friends about their ex-husbands, which affects the development of his own, black-colored ideas about his father as the source of injustice, betrayal, and all sorts of troubles. This may have a negative impact on his gender perceptions.
A child may ask parents questions about the physical difference between the sexes, the origin of children, etc. Many children discuss these issues among themselves. This natural curiosity about gender issues should be properly satisfied by adults. It is useful to formulate answers to possible questions from children in advance.
If parents realize this, then they need to notice that not only are they raising the child, but the child, in turn, is raising them, and then the parents can find pleasure and satisfaction in this interdependent relationship. After all, unfortunately, there is no universal “technology” for raising children, and we cannot get advice for all occasions even from a person who has complete knowledge scientific knowledge about family.
In the process of natural gender identification in the family, children often try different models of gender behavior, learning to correctly differentiate between masculine and female role. Some boys sometimes engage in behaviors that are traditionally considered feminine in our culture, such as wearing dresses, wearing makeup, or engaging in child-bearing play. Also, many girls can sometimes take on a male role - becoming a “daddy” when playing with houses, or temporarily taking on models of male behavior, as a result of which they look like “boy women” in the eyes of society. This type of temporary and episodic behavior is common among many boys and girls and usually forms part of the learning experience of normal gender socialization.
The traditional system of gender relations and the associated differentiation of gender roles are undoubtedly experiencing a crisis. On the one hand, there are complaints about discrimination against women. On the other hand, there is concern about the growing “feminization” of the male character, the undermining of the “masculine” principle in the family and society. The discrepancy between gender preferences and gender identity usually manifests itself in one way or another in the child’s behavior and becomes the subject of discussion and evaluation by adults and peers.
According to the traditional stereotype - the standard of masculinity, a man should be active, strong, confident, powerful, emotionally restrained, and enterprising. Women are expected to be soft, weak, passive, dependent, emotional, and submissive. However, the emancipation of women, the struggle for gender equality, and the increasing participation of women in social labor led to the oppression of feminine qualities and the strengthening of masculine qualities in women. strengths- efficiency, determination, will. Along with such courageous women, men also changed, having partially lost their traditional features, but acquired the ability to a certain extent to share her household chores with a woman.
This confusion of gender roles reflects the realities of modern society. If previously the distribution of roles and the set of desirable qualities of men and women were polar, now mutual understanding, interchangeability, and interaction play an increasingly important role. This situation has led to a flexible distribution of roles and the emergence of a more diverse set of qualities, which does not mean a complete blurring of the lines between the sexes.
It is completely natural to raise a girl as a future woman, a mother, and raise a boy as a future man, a father. For this purpose, there are models of motherhood and fatherhood in society. The mother must nurse the child, take care of him, wash diapers, love the baby, play with him. Nature provides: the mother must take care of the baby. Lack of care for a child is very dangerous for the baby’s health and even for his life.
The main virtues of a woman are tenderness, caring, affection, and hard work. Motherhood is the only area where a woman is irreplaceable, and this is her main purpose in life. The role of a warrior has been and will remain masculine - a defender of the Motherland, a defender of the lives of women and children. In family life, a man’s authority, based on intelligence, erudition, and the ability to calmly weigh circumstances and make a decision in a difficult situation, will never depreciate. In raising children, he defines the “general line”, since he is less susceptible to fluctuations in feelings and changes in moods than a mother, and is more impartial and demanding. If a woman is the emotional leader in the family, then the man is strong-willed. He is confident in himself, and this is ensured by responsibility in all matters, independence in life, and the ability to take on difficulties. He is seasoned, he has skillful hands that can cope with any task.
Often fathers play the role of absolute monarch in the family. However, in all cases, no one can replace the father in the family. The masculinity of a father is a model for a son, and a daughter also needs it. No amount of lectures will help develop masculinity. It can only be perceived in the process of everyday life. But, as a rule, it is still the mother who has to raise and raise children.
“A father, refusing to care for his baby, deprives both him and himself of many wonderful moments. The emotional relationship between a child and a father is the result of frequent mutual communication; it develops in small matters that seem insignificant. And from these everyday, unnoticed little things, something very important grows - the relationship between father and son, father and daughter; relationships are more important for the fate and future of children than relationships with their mother.”
It is believed that fathers, to a greater extent than mothers, structure their behavior depending on the gender of the child, and, therefore, play a greater role in the formation of gender identity. Mothers treat their sons and daughters with equal care as children in general, regardless of their gender, although even in the preschool period, the masculinity of the father and the femininity of the mother seem to be equally important for the formation of gender identity in a child of the same sex.
Both boys and girls need help to understand their different gender roles. Parents should not hold boys and girls to the same standards of behavior. It must match the gender of the child. Life in a family shows children that men and women, despite their differences and different roles, are necessary for each other and should take care of each other.
Of particular importance is the erroneous parental tactics regarding the manifestation of gender qualities in their children. Some psychologists, dwelling on the mistakes of a father in relation to his daughter, point out the harmfulness for the development of gender identification of both encouraging boyish behavior in daughters and “openly seductive” behavior. It is optimal if the father, starting from preschool age, shows respect for his daughter as a little woman. Modern parents can help their children create a future happy, harmonious family by wisely and delicately encouraging feminine traits in a girl, and masculinity in a boy.
The writer Simon Soloveitchik wrote interestingly and subtly about the difference between maternal and paternal influence on children. “A motherly attitude,” he says, “means: I accept (love) you for what you are. Fatherly: I accept you for who you are. With this combination, the child feels that he is needed, that he is loved, good, and at the same time knows that he is expected to become better.”
The father knows how to criticize without affecting the relationship with the child, but the mother’s every word concerns relationships and love. Father's criticism is just criticism, mother's is a refusal of love (so it seems to the child). If my father turns away, I will live; if my mother, I will disappear.
Yes, gender orientation is needed, let the father buy his son toy cars, pistols, invite him to help in the yard, garage, and buy his daughter dolls and compliment her on a new dress or a cooked dish. Properly guiding a girl means dressing and raising her in accordance with her gender, developing interest in women’s activities and games, teaching her to do housework, instilling feminine skills, encouraging the responsiveness and caring nature of the expectant mother, and also developing such qualities as gentleness and fairness ( girls are especially sensitive to it), sensitivity to beauty, sincerity.
It is very important that the father and older brother emphasize the feminine side of the girl and be especially attentive to her.
The formation of boys’ gender ideas has its own specifics and nuances. In order to form a sense of responsibility and independence in a future man, it is necessary to develop them in him, to give the child the opportunity (tactfully guiding) to make decisions himself. Here, both the complete suppression of his will and the mother’s excessive tenderness and ingratiation are harmful. In such cases, the boy, as a rule, grows up weak-willed, passive, and dependent.
Parents, caring about the future of their children, want them to be bearers of all the best, see them as having everything that is good in themselves, and without their shortcomings. Such a desire is understandable and natural, but it often leads to unrealistic, inflated demands on children and the parents themselves.
It is very important for children to develop a sense of responsibility and independence. If a caressed boy is not captivated by some male activity (sport), he will not be able to become an authoritative person in the male team in the future.
In my opinion, the sons of domineering mothers - family leaders - face the same misfortune. The image of the father as a man playing a subordinate, passive role is fixed in their minds. In the future, this will also affect the formation of male character traits and behavior. It is known that boys whose parents completely block the stubbornness and negativism of a three- to four-year-old child, that is, block the manifestation of the emerging “I,” later turn out to be femininely soft and dependent. In the personal development of boys, in their assimilation of the male gender role, the father has a special place. Boys who are deprived of sufficient communication with their father, as adults, as a rule, experience difficulties in fulfilling their paternal responsibilities. Raised without a father, they can adopt a feminine type of behavior, but consider rudeness, aggressiveness, and cruelty to be the norm for male behavior. In a word, what you often encounter on the street and, sadly, in the movies. It is more difficult for such children to develop the ability to sympathize, empathize, as well as the ability to control themselves and manage their behavior.
Manifestations parental love to children are diverse and multifaceted. However, good intentions do not always reach the recipient – the child. The fact is that he does not know how to read the thoughts and feelings of his parents, and what they do is not always perceived by him as a manifestation of love.
Parental care sometimes has an intrusive taste for a child and looks like interference in his affairs. Feeling his freedom of action and choice infringed, he experiences irritation instead of gratitude. But the case when parents spend a lot of time with their children does not mean that children perceive this as an expression of warm feelings. It is not the quantity, but the quality of time spent together that is decisive.
The formation of gender ideas in the family is not just the sum of the influences of adults on a preschool child, but a complex system of mutual influences of adults and children on each other. This system has its own internal contradictions, but their meaning is not necessarily negative, both because they can balance and compensate for each other, and because they encourage the child at the stage of intensive gender formation to be active and search behavior.
Joining the opinion of authoritative psychologists, I would like to conclude that the presence of both parents in the family sets the patterns and conditions for gender formation of personality, mental and emotional development determine the rhythm of the process, providing mechanisms for processing information from the field of human gender formation. Thus, gender behavior is formed as a result of the close interaction of biological, psychological factors, as well as the social environment in which the child grows up.
APPENDIX No. 6
Report by an educational psychologist
"Research into children's self-awareness
(gender and age identification).”
107 children took part in the study of different ages, namely: junior groups I “A” and I “B” - 29 people (3 - 4 years old), middle group I "A" - 18 people (4 - 5 years old), senior groups I "A" and II "B" - 34 people (5 - 6 years old) and preparatory groups II "A" and II "B" - 26 people ( 6 – 7 years old). The study included children from complete (87 people - 81%) and single-parent (20 people - 19%) families.
The study showed that children aged 3–4 years most often (in 80% of cases) identified themselves with the baby and did not accept further instructions. However, by the age of 4–5 years, almost all children were able to identify themselves with a picture depicting a preschooler of the corresponding gender. Approximately 80% of the examined children of this age were able to identify their past image with the image of a baby in the picture. As an “image of the future,” children chose different pictures: from a picture of a schoolboy (72%) to a picture of a man (woman): “then I will be big, then I will be mom (dad), then I will be like Olya (elder sister )".
Diagram No. 1.
The part of the study that dealt with identifying attractive and unattractive images was difficult for children of this age to understand. The question “what would you like to be?” caused bewilderment, and in general the children were satisfied with their gender and age role.
Starting from the age of 5, children no longer made mistakes when identifying their current gender and age status (Diagram No. 1). All examined children of this age were able to correctly construct the identification sequence: infant – preschooler – schoolchild. About half of them continued building the sequence and identified themselves with the future roles of a young man (girl), man (woman), although calling the latter “dad” and “mom.” Thus, 80% of 5-year-old children build the sequence:
Baby | Preschooler | Schoolboy | young man | Man | Old man |
and 20% of children of this age - a shorter sequence:
Baby | Preschooler | Schoolboy | young man | Man | Old man |
Here I should note that these are 7 children, 4 of which are from single-parent families (in this age group there are 5 of them).
These children most often pointed to images of youth as an attractive image, while often being embarrassed and laughing. Some children, about 30%, cited images of schoolchildren as an attractive image. Children considered images of old age to be unattractive images.
Almost all children aged 6–7 years correctly established the identification sequence from infant to adult (pictures 1 to 5), but many had difficulty identifying themselves with the image of “old age.” Therefore, only half of them identified themselves with this image.
The most attractive image for children of this age group turned out to be the image of a schoolboy (≈90%), and the unattractive were the images of old age and a baby, and the image of old age was indicated first, but when children were asked: “What else would you like to be?” - many pointed to the "baby".
A common characteristic feature for all children's ages was, in my opinion, an important tendency to choose the image of the next age role as attractive. This feature reflects the child’s often unconscious desire for growth and development, readiness to accept a new age and social role.
Analyzing the results of this study by group - children from single-parent families and children from single-parent families - I found that, basically, all children 4 - 7 years old living in single-parent families coped with the task assigned to them. As for children of younger groups, the difference in indicators with children from intact families turned out to be insignificant (≈1 - 1.5%).
2. Questionnaire for parents.
29 parents took part in the survey (of which 2 were single mothers, 5 were representatives of single-parent families (all mothers)). Unfortunately, most of the respondents are mothers (≈ 97%), dads cited being too busy. The age of the respondents ranged from 19 to 44 years (average – 27).
Goal: to identify how significant and relevant the problem of gender education and sex-role development of a child in the family is for parents. Clarify the education of parents on this issue.
Based on the results of the questionnaire, it was revealed that the number of interviewed parents involved in raising a child in the family (Diagram No. 2) is:
- 63% - mom and dad;
- 27% - only mother.
Diagram No. 2.
Data on greater child attachment (Diagram No. 3) are:
- 66% - to the mother;
- 7% - to the father;
- 27% - to both.
Diagram No. 3.
Parents who pay attention to gender education and affirm the significance of this problem, according to research results, make up≈ 77 %.
To questions: why, how, where, what a girl should be like, what a boy should be like, are able to talk with children≈ 94% of those surveyed. In addition, 26% of parents can and do read literature to their children regarding issues of gender education, and≈ 74% believe that there is no need to read literature and that everything can be explained by oneself in an accessible form.
Based on the final results, the parents’ story about the fact of the child’s birth in the form interpreted for him is≈ 74%. There were also those who narrate the story in a scientific and journalistic form; the number of such parents is 26%.
Of 100% of all respondents, the number of those for whom the sex of the child at birth did not matter, according to the survey, is 22%. They wanted a boy, but a girl was born - 11%. They wanted a boy, and a boy was born -≈ 41%. They wanted a girl, and a girl was born - 26% (Diagram No. 4).
Diagram No. 4.
An important point in this questionnaire was the question about manifestations of behavior that do not correspond to the child’s gender. 18% found it difficult to remember such moments. 63% of parents noted that their child has ever behaved in a way that is not typical for their gender. Mostly, of course, it was in the game. Of these, 91% are under the age of 3 - 4 years, 6% are 4 - 5 years old, and 3% are one child - at the age of 6 years (a two-parent family, but with a stepfather), put on their mother’s makeup and put on shoes. Mom didn’t focus on this and, according to her, turned it into a game. This did not happen again (4 months have passed since then).
As for toys, 85% of respondents answered that the child prefers toys that correspond to his gender or toys intended for both sexes. 12% - involves various toys in their games, both for boys and girls, and, accordingly, general toys. It should be noted that almost all parents try to buy toys that match the child’s gender. 3% (one boy) - according to the father, he prefers mainly educational games (constructors, puzzles, electronic games) and is absolutely not interested in “traditionally boyish” things – cars and pistols. But, it must be said that he is also not interested in “girlish” games.
All parents noted that gender education needs to be done, and through the joint efforts of parents, educators and psychologists of the preschool institution.
Thus, to summarize, we can say that the problem of gender education and gender-role development of a child in the family is quite relevant for parents (95%), and a large percentage of parents are able and willing to pass on their knowledge to their children.
Diagram No. 5.
All children aged 6–7 years correctly established the sequence of identification from infant to adult (pictures 1 to 5); many still had difficulty identifying themselves with the image of “old age.” About 55% of them identified themselves with this image. The most attractive image for children in this age group was the image of a schoolboy (98%), while the unattractive were the images of old age (89%) and a baby (75%).
9. Drawing technique “Kinetic drawing of a family” [P. S. Nosov, D. Yu. Khodyrev].
The study involved children of preparatory groups II “A” and II “B” in the amount of 20 people (6 – 7 years old), including 3 people from single-parent families.
A repeated study showed that 95% of children indicate formal signs of gender (bows, braids, clothes). In 100% of the drawings, it was clearly conveyed who actually performs the traditional male/female roles - cooking, doing repairs, cleaning and laundry. There is clearly a positive trend here. Almost all children aged 6–7 years have already developed certain ideas about the gender and age characteristics of a person. In the pictures, male ones are easily distinguishable, female figures, images of boys and girls, there is a clearthe similarity of the image of the child’s own figure to the parent of the same sex.
In this age group, three children from single-parent families (one has a single mother, the other has divorced parents) still draw both parents.
10. “Draw a person” test (F. Goodenough, standardized by D. Carris).
This test was carried out with children of senior groups I “A” and II “B” in the amount of 27 people (5 – 6 years old).
Purpose: to study the level of correction of the formation of those aspects of self-awareness that are associated with gender self-awareness, the child’s perception of himself, belonging to one or another gender.
After a corrective course of games and activities, analyzing the children’s drawings, we can conclude that at this age children have a sufficiently formed idea of the external differences between people based on gender. The drawings clearly conveyed the characteristics of the gender of the person drawn.
Self-perception and identification with their gender out of 100% of children is 97%. 3% of children are one boy from complete family– depicted people schematically, without indicating formal or informal characteristics of gender. One could point out that his gender self-awareness is unformed, despite the corrective methodology carried out. But here it should be noted that this child did not experience difficulties and did not show inadequacy in the study of children's self-awareness (gender and age identification) according to the method of N. L. Belopolskaya.
APPENDIX No. 7
CONCLUSIONS OF THE PEDAGOGICAL COUNCIL
1. The formation of adequate gender self-awareness of preschool children, the primary feature of which is gender-role identification, is not affected by the absence of one of the parents in the family, in this case, the father, since in all the single-parent families examined, children live with their mothers.
2. When identifying the cause of inadequate gender self-awareness in preschool children, which causes difficulties in communication and activity, it is possible to correct the child’s behavior using various methods. This indicates comparative analysis some research.
Table No. 1.
Study of gender identification according to the method of N. L. Belopolskaya | |||
Age | |||
34 years | before | ||
after | |||
45 years | before | ||
Time of implementation relative to the corrective technique | identify with their gender | do not identify with their gender |
|
before | |||
after |
Since play is one of the most important factors in children’s development, including gender development, for correction I developed and tested a cycle of correctional activities in the form of a game, which can be used in preschool educational institutions and families.
3. By the age of 6–7 years, children have already fully formed gender identity.
4. Among the specific features of gender behavior, gender segregation clearly stands out, observed from the age of 3, but clearly pronounced by the age of 6–7 years.
5. Work at GBOU TsRR d/s No. 1090 convinces us that very little attention is paid to the approach to forming a child’s personality, taking into account gender differences in preschool institutions and in the family. And therefore, the results obtained during the study have their own practical significance. The application of the presented methods and the creation of conditions for the development of gender development in preschool educational institutions and at home will help parents, teachers and psychologists of preschool institutions to contribute to the most complete mental development children.
APPENDIX No. 8
Decision of the pedagogical council:
- Conduct Parent meeting“The importance of gender development in preschool children”
- Design folders “Recommendations for the genetic development of preschool children”
- For a teacher-psychologist to conduct a workshop “Games for gender self-awareness”
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APPLICATIONS
Appendix No. 1.
Questionnaire for parents.
Goal: to identify how significant and relevant the problem of the child’s gender development in the family is for parents. Clarify the education of parents on this issue. Identify the peculiarities of gender behavior of children in the family.
Questionnaire for parents
|
Appendix No. 2.
Conversation with children.
Goal: to form children’s ideas about their gender identity, signs of similarity with their parents. The child’s understanding and awareness of the sense of femininity (for girls), and for boys - of masculinity.
1. Have you noticed that all people in the world are different, differ from each other in different ways? According to what?
2. How do you think a boy is different from a girl?
3. Is it important to look attractive? Who would you like to be like, a beautiful mother or handsome dad? Why?
5. When you grow up, what will you become: a boy or a girl, an uncle or an aunt, a man or a woman, a mother or a father?
6. Boys and girls, men and women have a lot in common. Can you tell me what boys and girls have the same thing about? (Eyes, nose, ears, hands, feet and so on)
7. But do a person have organs that can immediately determine whether you are a boy or a girl?
These organs are located below our navel and are called genital organs because they determine the gender of a person: male or female.
8. Which girl would you like to be friends with: rude, pugnacious, loud or kind, gentle, attentive?
Girls care about creating beauty and comfort. Girls and women are said to be feminine. They take care of babies and animals, learn to be caring and attentive.
9. What do you think it means to be a courageous boy, a man?
Masculinity is a respectful attitude towards a girl as a to the expectant mother, this is courage, the ability to be responsible for one’s actions, to protect the weak. Boys take on complex, difficult, not always interesting, but necessary responsibilities and assignments.
Appendix No. 3.
Writing stories.
Goal: girls’ understanding of boys’ masculine traits, clarification about boys’ masculinity. Boys’ understanding of girls’ feminine traits, clarification of the concept of femininity.
Boys' story about girls.
The girls have long hair and earrings. They wear dresses. Girls paint their lips and eyelashes. They have shoes with heels. Girls love to play with dolls and draw. They always draw dolls, flowers and dogs, and the boys draw motorcycles, tanks, planes, robots, houses.
Girls are future aunts. The girls play mommy in their doll corner. They rock the dolls, feed them and play as if they were our teacher. And we boys love to play cars, football, fight like Jackie Chan, and invent racing tracks. Boys treat girls politely, because girls are sissies. Their eyes are beautiful, unlike us, they are... different.
Girls are more obedient than boys; they cook, look after, and become teachers. The boys work, they need to earn money. They should be like dad. In general, boys help mom, and girls help dad. (Many boys would really like to be like their mom, “because I don’t want to be like dad, he drinks, smokes, and is strict”; “dad makes me wear slippers all the time”; “because mom is kind, they love me”; “mom Allows me everything").
Our girls often cry and squeal when someone offends them. All the girls are beautiful, they have bows and hairpins.
Girls' stories about boys.
Boys are future men. They do not wear dresses, but dress in trousers and shirts, they have short hair. Boys do not wear shoes, beautiful earrings, long braids and bows. When we have a holiday, boys wear a jacket with a tie or bow tie. Unlike girls, boys do not wear skirts. Naked, they are completely different from us. Always play boy games, in cars, construction sets, pistols. We don't like it when boys fight among themselves and can offend a girl.
In general, boys treat girls well. They live together. When asked, they help mom and dad (repair the car, toys). It would be nice if there were no boys in the group.
Girls are more obedient than boys because boys always misbehave. They love to fight. The boys are very beautiful. They should protect girls, give way and not hurt girls.
Appendix No. 4.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that there is no need to make girls or women more like boys or men, or vice versa. The goal of all efforts is to help both of them become happy people, that is, competent people who most fully realize their individual characteristics and abilities, receiving satisfaction from family and work, confident in themselves and their future. |
When we talk about girls and boys, we - whether we like it or not - constantly mean that there are differences in their psychology and behavior. The presence of such differences was identified and substantiated in empirical studies by scientists V.V. Abramenkova (1987), R. Baron, D. Richardson (1997), V.E. Kagan (1987, 1989), A.V. Libin (1999) , I.I. Lunina (1986), T.I. Yuferova (1985). There are two areas in which differences were identified: the cognitive sphere of personal development and the sphere social behavior. In the cognitive domain, it is well established that there are gender differences in verbal, spatial and mathematical abilities. Women have better developed verbal abilities, while men have better spatial and mathematical abilities. In social behavior, men are characterized by a higher level of development of such traits as aggressiveness and dominance, and women are characterized by friendliness and sociability.
The difference is evident already from childhood. Boys strive for independence, girls for interdependence. Boys are more likely to play games in which the more people the better. Girls prefer to gather in small groups, their games are less aggressive, more complicit, they often have confidential conversations and imitate relationships between adults. Gender stereotypes of behavior are formed already in childhood. In adulthood, gender differences become even wider.
In every human society, boys and girls behave differently, and in every human society, children of different sexes are expected to behave differently and are treated differently. But how great and universal are these differences, and what is the relationship between the laws of sexual differentiation (sexual characteristics) and the style of gender socialization characteristic of a given culture or of humanity as a whole?
The differences in the socialization of boys and girls in content and in their tasks depend, on the one hand, on gender role differentiation, on what activities children are prepared for, and on the other hand, on gender symbolism: what moral and psychological qualities they try to instill in them. Who is the main agent of gender socialization - parents or other children, persons of the same or opposite sex. How gender socialization is carried out, what are the methods of teaching a child a sex/gender role and the psychological mechanisms of its assimilation by a child at different stages of individual development. What are the age limits and stages of this process.
The formation of masculine and feminine principles is carried out with the help of words, feelings and actions. It has been experimentally proven that boys and girls have different archetypes, images on the basis of which their emotional sphere works and their thinking is formed. Their imagination, dreams and fantasies are different. And different mosaics, brain architecture. This has also been proven by foreign experts.
There are other fundamental differences in the psychology of boys and girls. In the subconscious of any person there are so-called archetypes - fundamental images dating back to ancient times, common to a wide variety of peoples, but different between the two sexes. Similar archetypal symbols appear in children's dreams and drawings. For boys, these are symbols of freedom and travel (wind, window, mountains, bridges, horizon, space flights, cars, planes, rockets, bicycles, ships), symbols of the enemy (dragons, robots, monsters, snakes), symbols of strength and struggle (sword , spear, bow, arrows, fortress), symbols of victory (flag, bugle, shouts of “Hurray!”). And for girls, a completely different system of symbols appears in their dreams and drawings: symbols of motherhood (dolls, brides, cribs or strollers), symbols of femininity, grace, lightness, tenderness (balloons, birds, princesses), symbols of the hearth and home comfort (home , table, curtains, dishes), symbols of prosperity in the house (berries, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms), symbols of female beauty (flowers, bright lips, eyes, outfits).
Boys first of all look for meaning and, having grasped it, are ready to act. And girls are more emotional, they feel more subtly, but they “read” the meaning worse.
If a boy constantly experiences girlish emotions, then he is being brought up according to the female type.
“There is no disagreement in psychology that the brains of boys and girls are wired differently,” says psychiatrist Michael Carr-Gregg. “Girls, when asked to draw a picture, use a large number of bright colors. And they always draw nouns. The boys use dark colors, gray and black, and draw verbs.”
Based on this symbolism, it is easy to find an emotional response in the child’s soul, to interest him, to explain some things that are difficult for him to understand. And vice versa, if the information a child receives does not affect emotions, it passes by: it flies into one ear and flies out of the other.
Girls' games are more often based on near vision: girls lay out their wealth in front of them - dolls, rags, beads, buttons - and play in a limited space; a small corner is enough for them. Boys' games are more often based on distant vision: boys run after each other, throw objects and shoot at a target, using all the space around them. Boys generally require more space for their full mental development than girls. If the horizontal plane is not enough for them, they master the vertical one: they climb onto cabinets, run along the backs of sofas, and hang on door frames. The mastered space is reflected in different ways in children's drawings. Boys, when drawing the surroundings of their home, show more courtyards, squares, streets, and houses than girls.
The drawings of boys and girls differ from the very first years of life. Girls fill albums with “princesses” and self-portraits, and boys with cars and military battles, and never vice versa.
Girls' drawings are brighter and with more small parts. Everything the teacher talked about is present: figured windows, fountains, trees, and unusual color schemes. For boys, almost every drawing is a new, unexpected fundamental solution: a house is a spaceship, a house standing on three elephants, a house entwined with a huge vine with huge beautiful flowers (and these are boys too!) and so on.
In girls, already at an early age, the “maternal instinct” manifests itself, expressed in interest in other children, in games, in caring attitude to the dolls. Their attention is attracted primarily by the person, his relationships with other people. The older they get, the stronger their interest in the inner world of a person, his experiences, and behavior increases. It is also typical for girls to show a predominant interest in what directly surrounds them (furnishings, utensils, clothing, etc.).
Girls communicate more with their mother and are more attached to home. They are usually more diligent and efficient than boys; they are more careful, thrifty, and conscientious. They tend to be more inclined to show concern for others, to care for them, as well as to teach and criticize. The increased emotionality of female representatives is often the reason for their lack of objectivity. The sensitivity of the female psyche is higher than that of the male; girls are more touchy, proud, they react more sharply to both encouragement and reprimand.
Girls have more developed involuntary attention; they are more attracted to concrete visualization. They are more easily suggestible, adapt quickly to a new environment, and feel more confident in unusual conditions.
Qualitatively, the processes of perception, thinking, and memory in children of different sexes also differ quite strongly. Girls use speech supports when solving spatial problems, and figurative and emotional ones when solving speech and logical problems. It is easier for boys to solve spatial problems using purely spatial methods (mental rotation, overlap, and so on).
In preschool and primary school age, girls “beat” boys in terms of speech. Their speech is better developed, but their thinking is more uniform. Boys think outside the box and in interesting ways, but since they are silent, their inner world is often hidden from us.
Girls have more fluent speech, they read faster and write more beautifully, but the side of speech that is associated with search: the selection of word associations, solving crossword puzzles - boys are better at it. Boys have a stronger spatial understanding because performing spatial-visual tasks requires searching. Special studies of the brains of children have shown that spatial orientation is not difficult for six-year-old boys, but is often beyond the capabilities of girls at 13 years old. Therefore, boys more often solve geometric problems using spatial methods: they mentally rotate the figures and superimpose them on one another.
Males have greater physical strength compared to women, but are inferior to them in endurance. Boys are more mobile, relaxed, less patient and disciplined, they are less diligent and diligent.
Boys are usually interested in a wide variety of questions and problems, sometimes far beyond the scope of the surrounding reality (distant countries, mysterious phenomena, unusual incidents, etc.). They prefer exact sciences, are fond of technology, physical education and sports, love outdoor games, many willingly engage in physical labor, and are more inclined to transformative activities. At the same time, they are often less willing to engage in self-care, often show helplessness in simple everyday matters, and they are more likely to experience all sorts of injuries. Under the influence of the bad example of adults, some boys develop a false sense of superiority over girls, which negatively affects their relationships, and subsequently their marital life.
Having conducted a theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature, we believe that it is very important to draw the attention of educators to gender differences in upbringing, training, and perception. Seminars are held for educators to familiarize themselves with the gender characteristics of preschool children. A parent handout “The Greatness of Small Differences” has been created for parents.
The Greatness of Small Differences
(memo for parents)
Recognize your child's right to individuality, the right to be different.
Do not accuse children of inability, but help them find ways to solve the problem. Do not compare your child with others, praise him for his successes and achievements. Never compare boys and girls, do not set one as an example to the other: they are different even in biological age - girls are usually older than their peers.
Study with your child, unite with him against objective difficulties, become an ally, not an adversary or an outside observer.
When giving tasks to boys, both in kindergarten, at school, and at home, try to include in them the element of searching, which requires intelligence. There is no need to tell and suggest in advance what and how to do. The child should be encouraged to discover the principle of the solution himself, even if he makes mistakes.
With girls, if it’s difficult for them, together, before starting work, we need to figure out the principle of completing the task, what should be done and how. At the same time, girls must be gradually taught to act independently, and not just according to pre-known patterns (do housework exactly like mother, solve standard problems at school as taught in class), and be encouraged to find their own solutions to unfamiliar, atypical tasks.
Don’t forget to not only tell, but also show. This is especially important for boys.
At the first failures, do not be nervous yourself and do not make your child nervous. Try to find objective reasons for difficulties and look into the future with optimism. Do not forget that your assessment of the child’s behavior or some results of the child’s activities is always subjective. And there can always be someone else who will see the good in this child that you did not notice.
We often love the results of our labors in a child. And if there are no results, it is not the child who is to blame, but us, because we failed to teach him. Be afraid to blame your incompetence and your failures on your child. You are the teacher or parent, not him. Unfortunately, we love those we know how to teach.
Try to make sure that the main thing for you is not so much to teach something, but to make sure that the child wants to learn, does not lose interest in learning, and feels a taste for learning something new, unknown, incomprehensible.
Remember: for a child not to be able to do something, not to know something – this is a normal state of affairs, that’s why he is a child. This cannot be reproached. It is a shame to smugly demonstrate your superiority in knowledge to a child.
A child should not be terrified of making a mistake. It is impossible to learn something without making mistakes. Try not to develop a fear of making mistakes in your child. The feeling of fear is a bad advisor. It suppresses initiative, the desire to learn, and simply the joy of life and the joy of learning.
Do not flatter yourself - you are not an ideal, and therefore not a role model in everything and always. So don't force your child to be like you.
Remember: little children are not lazy. A child’s “laziness” is a signal of trouble in your teaching activities, in the methodology you have chosen to work with him.
Try not to teach children the truth, but teach them to find it. In every possible way stimulate, support, and nurture the child’s independent search.
For harmonious development, it is necessary that the child learns to comprehend educational material in different ways (logically, figuratively, intuitively).
Before scolding your child for his inability, try to understand the nature of the difficulties.
Never scold a child with hurtful words for his inability to understand or do something, while looking at him from the height of your authority. Now he knows and knows how to do it worse than you. The time will come, and at least in some areas he will know and be able to do more than you. And if then he repeats the same words to you that you are now saying to him?
Remember that we often underestimate the emotional sensitivity and anxiety of boys.
If you need to scold a girl, do not rush to show your attitude towards her - a violent emotional reaction will prevent her from understanding why she is being scolded. First figure out what her mistake is.
When scolding a boy, state briefly and precisely what you are unhappy with, since he cannot maintain emotional tension for long. His brain will seem to turn off the auditory canal, and the child will stop listening and hearing you.
Know that girls can be capricious, seemingly for no reason or for minor reasons due to fatigue (depletion of the right “emotional” hemisphere of the brain). In this case, boys become depleted intellectually (decreased activity of the left “rational-logical” hemisphere). Scolding them for this is not only useless, but also immoral.
If your son masters literacy much more slowly than his older sister did, retells words poorly and writes letters carelessly, do not be upset, this is a feature of the male mind. In addition, boys lag behind girls in development. Their childhood lasts longer. By the age of seven, boys are biologically younger than girls of the same age by whole year. Boys have their own path of growing up, but since they are more focused on assimilating information (unlike girls who are more interested in relationships between people), for their intellectual development you don't have to worry.
Boys, even very young ones, are less likely to be picked up by their parents and scolded more often than girls. In relation to them, the speech of adults contains mainly direct instructions: “Go away, bring it, give it, do it, stop...”. And with girls, even one-year-olds, parents talk about sensory states: “I like... Do you love? Who is this sad guy?...”
When a woman teaches a boy, she has little use for her own childhood experience, comparing yourself as a child with him is wrong and useless.
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