Chapter 1: The Importance of Conceptual Thinking

Marina Nikulina has addressed a crucial issue in her writings: the development of conceptual thinking among children. This topic resonates deeply with me, given my extensive experience teaching specialized subjects in psychological and pedagogical fields across various educational institutions. Despite my efforts, I've witnessed a concerning trend where students consistently display a decline in cognitive abilities over the years. Simultaneously, I actively engage in enhancing child development in both preschool and primary education, striving to guide parents and educators towards a more optimistic perspective on this journey.

The challenge of cultivating conceptual thinking represents a significant void in contemporary pedagogical practices. Its emergence stems from various factors, and setbacks occur at every developmental stage. For instance, consider a scenario where you're helping to set the table. If you ask, “Where is the tablecloth?” and receive directions such as, “Check the drawer,” you recognize that both the verbal cue and the physical object serve as signals to achieve the task.

The formation of the verbal signaling system begins in early childhood, peaking when children develop the ability to categorize and generalize objects based on certain criteria. Early losses in this domain often result from an underdeveloped vocabulary and challenges in forming visual-figurative thinking—grasping metaphorical meanings like “golden hands” or “the sunset is burning.”

Consequently, difficulties arise in text comprehension, completing educational assignments, and processing information effectively. Ideally, educational practices should facilitate the structured and systematic development of essential cognitive skills such as analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, analogy, and concretization.

However, the reality in classrooms often falls short of these ideals. While students may enter school with similar readiness levels, they frequently diverge significantly in their learning progress by the end of the academic year. One particularly daunting task for many students was creating a logical and structured diagram of the material they studied. It seems straightforward—identifying key concepts and illustrating their interconnections. Individuality and creativity were encouraged, and whenever students struggled, we would meticulously analyze unclear aspects and propose a possible structure, either from specific details to general ideas or vice versa. Yet, I often encountered responses like, “I don’t really understand what’s expected of me!”

This predicament reflects a broader issue, as adults frequently express frustration, saying, “I don’t know what can be done to improve this situation.”

Nevertheless, I have two effective recommendations that can work wonders:

1. Encourage Independence: Allow your child to tackle challenges on their own. Offer assistance when necessary, but step back once they begin to succeed. Guide them without taking over the task.
2. Foster Curiosity: Nurture your child's curiosity and initiative. Engage in discussions, explore questions together, analyze, compare, experiment, and motivate them to formulate hypotheses and draw conclusions.