Recently, the question of fairy tales for children has increasingly arisen on the net and in personal communication. Such questions are very different from each other and can be directly opposite. For example, I recently came across an article on the net promoting the rejection of fairy tales for children, and clients are increasingly asking what fairy tales to read to children: classic or modern.
On the one hand, one can understand the concern of parents about this, because a fairy tale is the same information that comes to a child as, say, a cartoon or a commercial watched by a child. That is, you need to approach the choice of fairy tales wisely. On the other hand, most of us read various fairy tales in childhood and, most importantly, no one even thought of subjecting them to “filtering”.
So what happened in the modern world that the question of fairy tales came to the fore? In my opinion, there are several reasons for this:
- Availability of an alternative;
- Various newfangled theories of education;
- Hyper-care.
Let's talk about everything in order.
Availability of an alternative.
The alternative appeared not only in the way of presenting the material, that is, we read a book or watch a cartoon, but also in the prose genre itself. There are classic stories and modern ones. Moreover, it seems to me that modern fairy tales are underestimated in vain. Yes, someone will say that modern fairy tales are more realistic and the line between good and evil is erased in them. Proceeding from this, they pass into the category of inadmissible in some cases. On the one hand, everything is correct. A child, reading a fairy tale, associates himself with the main character, and therefore the irreproachable, kind characters of the classics fit here perfectly. On the other hand, the world does not stand still. And our children are not the same as we were. You see, in modern world just blurring the line between good and evil. If we think carefully and cast idealism into the background, we can all notice good and bad things in everyone. bad qualities. Each person in one situation will behave as real hero, and in the other he will run away like the last coward. And this is not an indicator of "badness" or "goodness", it's just the normal course of things.
So is it worth reading modern fairy tales to a child? The answer is unequivocal: It is worth it. Of course, here you need to make an allowance for moderate censorship, but at least for informational purposes, the child will not hurt to diversify the fabulous “menu” contemporary works. It should be noted that many modern fairy tales require a subsequent discussion of their content with the young reader. They often do not offer a “this is good and this is bad” model, and, therefore, as in life, such material should be discussed and a number of conclusions should be reached with the child.
Various newfangled theories of education.
I have acquaintances who are simply obsessed with the so-called "reality education". For those who do not know, this is a parenting method that assumes that the child is faced with the real "life" consequences of his actions and understands the situation himself (to the extent possible, of course). But my friends went further. How much? So much so that all the fairy tales in the house were tabooed.
Judging by the growing volume of literature offering different theories of parenting, I think that my acquaintances, unfortunately, are not the only ones of their kind. Here the matter rests on the correct understanding of the proposed ideas and not "going too far" in any direction.
For example, reality education involves facing the consequences of your actual actions, not your dreams. If a child breaks a vase, then he will not receive pocket money, as his mother will need money to buy a new vase. But, in my opinion, this approach does not deny the development of the imagination and the awakening of good feelings as a result of reading fairy tales. So, before you finally decide whether to read fairy tales to your child, in this case Parents should consider whether to read parenting literature to them.
Hyper-care.
This is generally a separate topic for discussion. Let me just say that in my opinion, in the current fast-paced and sometimes cruel world, some parents, “driven to the edge” by what is happening around, are trying to protect their children more and more from negative external influences. It is correct, but again, if you do not go too far. For example, recently I met a version of Little Red Riding Hood, where the wolf, for the sake of humanistic mothers, seems to be a positive character. And this is just one of many such stories. One must keep in mind here simple thing: Your child is not a fool. He understands everything perfectly, comprehends and draws the right conclusions. Plus, the children's psyche is not as vulnerable as it is commonly believed in the modern world. Children have many different, useful and working psychological defenses. So there is simply no need to consider the original version of Little Red Riding Hood traumatic for a child.
For any parent, the development of the child is one of the main, priority tasks. We buy a lot of educational games and toys, sometimes we even play them ourselves, keeping our little man company. There is just one problem: we often forget about the most accessible, the most traditional method of child development - about reading fairy tales to him. Yes, various developmental techniques are good, the baby must be taught to count, read, etc., but it is fairy tales that contribute to the development of children's imagination, increase vocabulary etc. But the most important thing about them is that they form a child moral values, the Vedas are not always and not all of us can clearly explain "what is good and what is bad."
What do fairy tales give to a child?
Concepts such as ethics and morality are both abstract and tied to a specific action / deed, to a specific situation, to society. It is simply impossible to explain them universally, but the development of the child implies learning, i.e. story and explanation, including these components of life. Adult stories are not suitable for this, because they almost always have a lot of options. Having matured, we ourselves begin to understand that "good" is not always "pure white", and "bad" is "purely black". Our treasure needs an explanation right now. He needs an understanding of the basic concepts, and he will figure out the “halftones” himself when he grows up. And here fairy tales provide invaluable help. They clearly indicate “bad - good”: Ivan is good, well done, Koschey is bad; Vasilisa - good, kind, Serpent Gorynych - bad, evil, terrible.
And let's remember the story of "Kolobok". In fact, not everything is as simple as it seems at once. Yes, Kolobok is good. He does not wish harm to anyone, he just walks, and the Fox is bad, because she ate him. But why did she eat it? Because he didn't listen. He left his grandfather, from his grandmother, he was naughty and trouble happened. It turns out that even such an elementary tale lays in the child's mind an understanding of the importance of obedience, the need to listen to the advice of adults, etc. Although it depends on us (parents), because we can tell this story in the light of the fact that Kolobok was going to be eaten by grandparents. His disobedience was a way to save his life.
Advice! Before you tell this or that tale, think about what exactly he should take out of it, as well as how to explain it to you correctly. The latter is very important, because the baby can listen with enthusiasm and not even ask a question, but he will learn everything he hears, but how he learns depends on the narrator, i.e. from mom/dad. If there is a “doubtful”, “ambiguous” place in the fairy tale, then it is better to omit it or change it with the needs of the child’s development at a particular moment.
There is one story. Once a grown-up daughter (16 years old) asked her mother what kind of lullabies she sang to her in childhood. Mom gave an example of a song about a wolf cub: “... do not lie on the edges, gray will come spinning top ... etc. ”, and at the end they will “drag away”. A few minutes later, the shocked daughter replied:
- It's just a horror movie! A wolf came, dragged the child into the forest, buried it, etc.! Now I understand why I slept so badly as a child and why I had nightmares!
But there is common sense in this story. After all, the kid understands the meaning of "on the forehead." Even with the apparent chaos of thoughts in the child's head, everything is clearly systematized there, everything has its own labels, etc. So it turns out that you need to think not only about the fairy tales that are told for development, but even about the songs that are sung.
In pre-computer times, before the era of universal advancement, the entire educational and developmental process of the child was built on fairy tales, moreover, of his own composition, suitable for a specific moment. If he doesn’t obey, then the grandmother quickly came up with a fairy tale “about a boy from a distant kingdom who did not obey him ... tra-la-la ...”. If he does not eat well, then the story “about a boy who refused to eat magic porridge and became / turned into, etc.” sounded. Yes, now it is much easier to find a book in a store, on the Internet, even on the website of our parents' club there is a separate section with, but will a particular story meet the needs of a particular moment / a particular situation? Moreover, the "factory" fairy tale limits children's imagination. It has a clear plot, after which there are conclusions. All! And if you resort to "own production", then the child himself can take part in the process. He will be able to independently come up with a development of events, and our task is only to direct his imagination in the right direction. Gingerbread man did not obey and in the end he should be punished for this, only the little storyteller should come to this himself.
How else does a fairy tale help in the development of a child?
In addition to explaining moral values, a fairy tale also has a very good effect on the development of children's speech. In the past, stories were told even to babies, over a lullaby. Now we do everything (change diapers, give a toy, feed, etc.) in silence, by and large. And then we are upset that the child speaks little / badly / incorrectly, and is also poorly adapted to society. But in most cases, it’s enough just to tell a child fairy tales and then you won’t have to spend a lot of money on educational toys, visiting child development centers, etc. from the first months of his life, the subconscious little man catches, perceives literally everything. His proper development, the creation of the correct foundations in the subconscious plays more important role for man in general and for his development in particular. 
The choice of fairy tales should always be accurate, conscious. They should teach kindness, morality, ethics and modern cartoons are of little use for this! The fairy tale should give answers to children's questions, and not put additional ones. Only in this case it will positively affect the development of the child.
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Are fairy tales necessary for the development of a child? was last modified: December 22nd, 2016 by Koskin
Let's start with the frontier "storytellers". In Russia, and in Moscow in particular, they publish not only "Harry Potter", but also Madonna's fairy tales. Her latest book, The Adventures of Abdi, tells the story of a little boy who is entrusted with a very important task: to deliver the most precious necklace in the world to the Queen. Abdi constantly gets into trouble: first he is robbed in the desert, then thrown into a dungeon. But the hero of Madonna does not lose heart, he follows the words of his teacher Eli: "Everything that is done is for the better." American publishers note, by the way, that "The Adventures of Abdi" is the most exotic fairy tale of the pop diva. The ancient wisdom about the importance of optimism, no matter what, is conveyed figuratively and with humor. For the younger generation, this idea is very important.
Madonna the writer is becoming more and more popular every day: the list of publishers continues to grow. Her children's books will be published in forty languages, including a Braille edition, in more than 110 countries around the world. The Adventures of Abdi is the fourth of Madonna's five children's books. The previous ones - "English Roses", "Mr. Peabody's Apples", "Jacob and the Seven Thieves" - from the first days of their release took a leading position in the list of children's illustrated bestsellers.
In Russia, the pop diva's books are published by the EKSMO publishing house. Why are Madonna's opuses so attractive? With this question, we turned to the children's editorial department of the publishing house.
“Her fairy tales are built on traditional plots,” explained the employee of the department. “Their main advantage is excellent illustrations, they were made almost best artists. We decided to take on Madonna because that's enough famous name We are interested in this project. Books are very well bought. And already in the spring, her last fairy tale will be released in EKSMO.
Newsinfo: Which fairy tales for children are bought more often and more – modern or classic?
EKSMO: Modern ones are practically not popular. Books are bought by parents, and they have a very conservative attitude towards children's literature. Of modern storytellers, perhaps, Eduard Uspensky is most in demand.
Newsinfo: And from the young ones?
EKSMO: Young people mostly write not fairy tales, but poems.
Newsinfo: What plots prevail in modern fairy tales? Are they different from classic ones?
EKSMO: No, practically one to one. The same goals: good conquers evil, but the action does not take place in a fairy-tale land or fairy world, and in modern city, but the prototype is constantly guessed. I don’t remember anything fresh and interesting, since our publishing house, as a rule, does not print modern fairy tales.
Newsinfo: wait, what about Madonna's tales? Are these contemporary stories?
EKSMO: We made an exception, since people will read and buy it. Just like Harry Potter.
Newsinfo: And who generally decides which fairy tales to publish and which not?
EKSMO: Children's edition. We are guided by how interesting and original the plot is, how the book will be sold. Of course, we focus on what is interesting for children. Fairy tales should not contain anger and bad expressions.
Newsinfo: Are the fairy tales written by order of the publishing house, or do the authors themselves bring finished works?
EKSMO: Basically, the authors themselves bring, because good fairy tale it is difficult to write on order - this is a creative product. And, as a rule, they bring not fairy tales, but fairy tales for teenagers. They mean all sorts of horror stories and so on. For example, Dmitry Yunets is working in this direction. By the way, interestingly, there are practically no Moscow authors - Dmitry is not a Muscovite. What that could be, I don't know. Probably, Moscow is fed up, and fairy tales are not interesting for our writers.
The children's editorial office of the publishing house "OLMA-Press" also deals with fairy tales. There they explained to us that it is not so much the plots of fairy tales that are sold with a bang, but the design. Gift books are the most demanded in the market. And if we talk about plots and authors, then Russians are in the first place folk tales, only then the characters of Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. The works that modern authors bring are rather what they write to their children, grandchildren for entertainment. Manuscripts are carried continuously. Recently, some have posted them on the Internet, where they are more popular.
Ekaterina Korovina
Children's imagination, as you know, has no limits. Kids are firmly convinced that magic exists. They still do not know the basic laws of the universe, and small children do not yet know that human capabilities are very limited. In his fantasies, the child sometimes receives guests from other planets, then, like a brave knight, bravely fights against enemies. Children immediately come up with a story, embedding their fantasies into reality
Fantasizing, the kid identifies himself with some particular hero. Psychologists believe that at this moment the fairy tale begins to play a big role in the upbringing of the child in the process of becoming his character. A fairy tale, as a rule, models a story based on the concepts of good and evil, where a good and just hero wins, armed only with courage and ingenuity. After listening to the story told to him at night, the child experiences various emotions, and he mentally forms a certain rating of his own, giving preference to the characters he likes. At this time, the child's brain is working intensively, adding the missing details. Having tried on the actions of the heroes, the kid forms his personal position in relation to life values.
A fairy tale is an additional, extremely important form of communication between a mother and a baby. The fairy tale shows how the heroes adequately cope with various difficult situations. Fairy tales develop the emotional and strong-willed components of the child's character, and remain in his memory for a long time. Research carried out by scientists in different countries, led to the conclusion that in children who were told fairy tales from the first days of life, there is a clear relationship between the accumulated information and the level of development of learning abilities, which manifests itself as the child grows. Reading fairy tales (even for very small crumbs) instills in the child the ability to listen and learn, contributes to the development of attention and imagination. But such a result can be achieved only when the child is interested. Therefore, choose fairy tales.
It is necessary, focusing on the age of the baby. For example, one year old child will be interesting mainly lullabies and simple rhymes. At the age of two, kids can already listen to “real” fairy tales. by this age they are already able to speculatively imagine the events described. By the age of three, the child has already experienced emotions such as fear, anger, joy. But so far, his momentary desires are in conflict with the requirements for their behavior. Therefore, children three years I like fairy tales that would be explained to them. How to behave in any situation, and what not to do.
However, it is well known that children brought up in greenhouse conditions experience simple human emotions, including negative ones. Fairy tales help kids get rid of fears. The main idea of most fairy tales is that evil will eventually be defeated. In an accessible form, children are instilled with the idea that they will have to fight injustice in life and, perhaps, more than once, but you should not be afraid of this.
Cartoon versions famous fairy tales, of course, have their own attractiveness, but nothing can replace live reading. A kid listening to reading a fairy tale mentally creates his own film, in which different events and images replace each other, and this is very important for the development of imagination and fantasy.
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Why do children need fairy tales? The question is certainly interesting. There is a suspicion that everyone needs fairy tales, even adults, because a fairy tale is an invitation to plunge into another world, meet interesting characters, fall in love with positive characters and experience resentment towards negative ones.
A fairy tale is all the more beautiful because it always has a happy ending. And this, in turn, gives us unshakable confidence that good always triumphs over evil, that bad deeds are punishable, one way or another, and you never need to give up before the difficulties that have arisen in life. But still, is it children need fairy tales?
The most traditional are folk tales passing from generation to generation, but remained virtually unchanged.
A child through a fairy tale lives fragments of the life of his favorite characters. Thus, as if programmed for certain actions in similar situations in his life.
Through a fairy tale, it is easier and more clearly to explain to the child the common truths: do not offend the weak, do not deceive, be kind and responsive to the sorrows of others, not be a simpleton and be able to recognize deceit, intentions to harm you.
No matter how full of showcases of bookstores with publications contemporary authors, one should not be lazy to find for the youngest listeners precisely folk tales, tales of the classics of Russian literature, and tales of the peoples of the world should not be bypassed. Moreover, these books are reprinted regularly, more vivid illustrations are added to their design.
listening to fairy tales, the child experiences pleasure, this is such a kind of entertainment, besides this, the fairy tale makes the child think, connect imagination and fantasy. At the same time, there is no direct moralizing in the fairy tale, the fairy tale teaches, but not intrusively.
For older kids you can regularly use this game: read a fairy tale, we stop before the denouement and invite the child to come up with an ending himself.
You can play in this way with the same fairy tale as many times as you like, until the child's interest in the process runs out. This method is widely used in fairy tale therapy In addition, psychologists often recommend giving the child the opportunity to come up with a fairy tale on his own, in which the characters can sometimes perform very illogical, somewhere wrong, according to their parents, actions.
You can start reading fairy tales to your child in the womb. After discharge from the hospital, you can start reading as soon as life is established with the advent of a new family member, from about two weeks of age.
In addition to fairy tales, you can sing lullabies to your child. The child will immediately fall in love with them, and as they grow up, the parents will begin to notice the moment when the child begins to recognize them by the first sounds by the reaction of the baby.
Reading for the hundredth time...
Parents who practice fairy tale reading overnight, have probably already encountered such a phenomenon as the requirement of a child to read the same fairy tale for many evenings in a row. At the same time, no persuasion, luring with brighter illustrations of other books, for some reason, does not help, the child persists and requires only one book.
What is the reason for this and is it necessary to deal with it?
Psychologists explain it's two factors. Firstly, the brain of a child is arranged in such a way that at first he remembers information, learns it from memory, and then comes understanding, awareness of this information. As a rule, a fairy tale contains a chain of events, while it seems to us, adults, that everything is clearly stated in the book. But in reality, it is difficult for a child to digest the entire fairy tale in a single listening, so there is a need to listen to it and listen.
In addition, the child has a need for stability, for rituals. He has already listened to the fairy tale, he remembers the ending, and thus, the child has a feeling of confidence, protection, he, as it were, secured himself from unexpected events. And, of course, there is no need to fight this, but rather, on the contrary, by all actions to support the child's attachment to a particular fairy tale.
Discussion of the read fairy tale
We should not forget about the need to discuss the read fairy tale. Even if it seems that the child understands everything, it is better to discuss the fairy tale once again, making sure that the child understood everything correctly, did not distort the attitude towards the actions of the characters, managed to figure out where they did the right thing and what was an example of negative actions. Through discussion, it is possible to reveal the child's hidden fears of some characters from a fairy tale or from the child's everyday life.
Choosing the right fairy tales for your child
The fairy tale must be selected depending on the age of the child, the possible features of psychological development.
From the age of two children prefer fairy tales with cyclical events, as, for example, in the fairy tales "Teremok", "Kolobok", "Turnip". Fairy tales with animal characters are best absorbed, the child loves to repeat sounds that imitate the characters of a fairy tale.
Two to five years old the child is actively developing the ability to fantasy. During this period, it is favorable to use the game mentioned above - the child himself comes up with the ending of the fairy tale. During this period, the child should buy fairy tales about magic, which he will definitely like.
From five to seven years, as a rule, the child is interested fairy tales with a dynamic plot, adventure literature. At this age, one should be interested in the child himself in his preferences in literature, choose heroes close to his liking, there is no need to impose your preferences.
Even after the child has mastered the skills independent reading should not be denied to a child reading before bed. After all, sometimes the curiosity of the child is stronger than the speed of reading. And refusal can harm and discourage a child's interest in books for a long time.
A child who regularly listens to or fairy tale reader, grows up more mature, filled with sensuality, emotionally, comprehensively developed. Somewhere even more self-confident, clearly distinguishing between good and evil, which in the future helps him build full-fledged relationships with others.
Childhood is fertile ground for sowing parental attention. good fairy tales you and your children!
The article uses drawings by V. Suteev (as a pleasant nostalgia for childhood)
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