School "Opening" L. Bereslavskiy's - method of early intellectual education of children from 1,5 years

NEWS

PUBLICATIONS

METHOD

SCHOOL

SCHOOL

About school

The school for early intellectual development “Otkrytie” (“Discovery”) works according to the method of Academician Leonid Y. Bereslavsky. The method is known among professionals as “The Bereslavsky method”. The first unexpected thing: the school does not intend to teach in the ordinary sense of the word. Neither read, nor write, nor count. It does not even aim to teach to play chess – even though chess have become a distinctive feature of the method. Instead it teaches something different, but very important. It teaches to think. Think logically, rationally. Take decisions after evaluating possible scenarios. Quickly evaluate given circumstances and make conclusions. Achieve goals with minimal costs. Understand how to approach a situation (not necessarily a game situation, but often a real-life one). Search for original ideas. Something a child before his school age is not expected to be able to do and (it is generally thought) does not need to do.

It is true that in children before school age the right part of the brain (which is responsible for humanitarian skills – imagination, creativity) is better developed than the left part of the brain (logic, concrete thinking). But exactly because the left part of the brain is “lagging behind”, it needs special attention. If the child’s dislike of “too complicated” logic is affirmed, he is led to believe this is not his area of strength – the door to the world of rational decisions may lock forever. The style of thinking which is alien in early childhood will most probably never be accepted later. If the child does not learn to think and be sensitive to what is going on around him, he will face serious problems.

If you do not develop your child in his pre-school years, hoping that he will be taught everything at school, you may easily achieve the reverse effect. The child who is not motivated to learn may be scared of learning. He will be asked to concentrate, to learn in class, to memorize, and this may lead to learning being the “worst game” for the child. He may be scared to achieve bad results, he may have low self-confidence. A 30-45 minute lesson during the first years at school may seem enormous because the child will not have the experience of finding and memorizing new information. Thus, going to school becomes a “bad necessity”. Without proper learning skills the child gets either a visible or hidden psychological trauma. Only smooth transition from one period of life to another will not damage the child and produce good results. Abrupt changes in moral or mental load may cause neurosis. Physical and mental conditions of children are greatly affected by unknown environments (like school). The same, in a less obvious fashion, is true of pre-school programs for children of 5-6 years of age. The child is taken out of his regular environment and has to spend 20-30 minutes behind the desk engaging in a specific task. This is a cause of many health problems according to pediatricians and psychologists.

The child must be ready psychologically for his first lesson at a school, or at a pre-school gymnasium, or at one of other pre-school educational establishments, where the lesson is conducted by a teacher and where the number of pupils exceeds 15. He does not have to be ready to study “like the other children”, but to continue to learn and understand new and interesting facts. Only this time new and interesting facts are being offered by a teacher (not parent).

Even the laziest parents devote their time to their child’s homework in his or her first and second grade. But later the child hears: “did they not explain it in class”, “what were you doing at the lesson”, etc. No sooner has the parent become satisfied at his child’s results in the third through sixth grade, than in the seventh grade new sciences began – geometry, physics, chemistry – sciences which require certain logical skill, associative, abstract, geometrical thinking. And again the child finds himself in a difficult situation, not being able to absorb the subjects. The parent is again in outrage: “why did you miss this explanation”, “it is so simple”, “why does it take you so long to understand”, etc. It seems easier to prepare the child not only to his study in primary school but in senior school as well, and also to complicated real-life problems, through education in pre-school years, when the child learns to solve problems easily and efficiently. This does not require a lot of effort or time. You only need a system of education which teaches a child from 1.5-2 years onwards the most important intellectual skills.

Children, infants possess a huge desire and a talent to learn. If these talents are not in demand, they may be lost in future years. This statement flows from works by modern psychologists Piaget (France), Suzuki (Japan), I.K. Skvortsov (Russia). The above authors created the theory of “age levels”, or “floors”, which each child travels through as he grows. These levels are called “learning windows”, which open for a limited time during early years. Each level is meant to develop a specific subject, a specific psychological function. Thus, at the age 1-2.5 years the window for the development of hand motor functions is open, while at 2.5-3.5 years certain logical skills may be acquired most efficiently.