In 1934, in Moscow, a famous psychologist died of tuberculosis. His name was Lev Viggotskiy. Vygotsky constructed the theory of cognitive development before his death, but he believed that like Moses, he could only see the promised land but could never enter it. Decades after witsky’s death, his thought had little influence in the West. However, in the 1980s, as his works were gradually translated and introduced to the west, his thought had a wide impact on understanding children’s development. Vygotsky believes that play is the key mechanism to help children realize self discovery. He also believes that language is an important way to help children learn to control their emotions and behaviors and establish relationships with others. The more proficient they are in the use of vocabulary, the sooner children can control themselves.
We believe that infants and toddlers do not have the ability to control themselves. When it comes to infants and young children, we often think of cartoon scenes like this: a crying, screaming and angry baby trying to attract the attention of adults; Or a two-year-old with emotional breakdown suddenly loses his temper for no reason. Although in real life, children are rarely as terrible as in cartoons, there are some similarities. In the process of growing up, infants and young children really need to learn to control their emotions and impulses, learn to get along with others, and learn to pay attention and focus. These abilities are executive functions. They also include psychological flexibility, the ability to obtain and preserve information, and willpower - perseverance or perseverance - which are not only beneficial to children’s studies, but also very important for an individual’s life.
Parents often read books to their children when they are young, which is one of the best ways to help infants develop executive function. An academic team once found that “children benefit a lot from establishing a positive parent-child interaction mode through reading”; The main reason is that “reading together can create a warm, interactive and encouraging atmosphere, and children can concentrate on the tasks they are interested in, so as to learn to naturally regulate their attention”. The story book is not a life-saving medicine, but its function is comparable to the vitamins that can strengthen the body. (in contrast, scientists have confirmed that fast-paced TV shows, even if children watch only nine minutes, can significantly damage the executive function of infants and young children.)
Ten years ago, scientists did relevant research in 22 preschool education centers in central Pennsylvania. Through this research, we can understand how picture book stories play a role in children’s emotional regulation. These education centers have set up reading links. Teachers read the letters aloud and ask children a lot of questions. In addition, the teacher will read stories aloud. There will be some annoying scenes in these stories, but the characters in the stories will deal with problems rationally. For example, a little Green Tortoise named tiger will retract into its shell and take a few deep breaths when it is angry, then explain the reason why it is angry, and then speak out its emotions - it gives a good demonstration to the children. Children from low-income families have made significant progress in executive function after participating in this course.
“Reading classes teach them how to pull themselves out of their emotions and avoid impulsivity.” Dr. Karen pilman said she and her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University created the course. “Letting children tell the reasons and feelings of their troubles is the premise to control their emotions and solve problems in a stressful social environment.”
In 2011, David Dickinson of Vanderbilt University and three colleagues wrote a paper entitled “how reading promotes the language development of children around the world”. Based on a large amount of evidence, they concluded that language “seems to make it easier for children to control their thoughts, emotions and behaviors, and improve the abilities that are crucial to children’s social development and academic success”. This conclusion is the same as Vygotsky’s view. “The acquisition of expressive language is associated with less aggressive emotions,” the paper wrote, citing previous studies. “If children lack expressive and receptive language skills in kindergarten, they are prone to behavioral problems in the future.” Moreover, the longer the duration of common attention of 18 month old children, the more productive words they can master by the age of two.
The paper continues, “In order to keep the attention of infants and young children, picture book stories are usually brightly colored and strongly contrasted. They will attract the children’s attention with the things or animals they like. Each page has a clear focus, and the book is different from the ball and toy car. The book is held in the hand and the whole is stationary. If adults pay attention to the children’s reaction, they can easily detect the children You can further explain what you are focusing on. Children can make adults notice interesting pictures through a series of clues such as body language, sound and words. In this way, both children’s attention and adults’ attention are controlled. “
As like as two peas, Phoebe’s first mouth opening words are exactly the same as those described in the paper by Dickinson. At that time, she crowded with her brothers and sisters to listen to me talk about hide and seek. As Phoebe pondered over the pictures in the picture book, she used “body language, sound and words” to attract my attention. To be exact, she took her little hand out of her mouth, pointed to the picture, and then shouted “woof woof”.
We were stunned and couldn’t speak together. It took a while for everyone to react. “That’s right! Phoebe’s right! That’s a puppy!”
“Phoebe can talk!” “Woof, woof!”
Until now, we still call dogs that.