A child is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

The table is decorated by guests, and the house is decorated by children.

He does not die who does not leave children.

Be truthful even in relation to a child: keep your promise, otherwise you will teach him to lie.


— L.N. Tolstoy

Children need to be taught to speak, and adults to listen to children.

Let childhood mature in children.

Life must be disturbed more often so that it does not turn sour.

— M. Gorky

Children need to be given not only life, but also the opportunity to live.

Not the father-mother who gave birth, but the one who made him drink, nurtured, and taught good.

The experience of raising children in the Nikitin family

The experience of raising children in the Nikitin family.

Nikitin Boris Pavlovich (01/21/1916, the village of Suvorovskaya, Stavropol Territory - 01/30/1999, Moscow) and Lena Alekseevna (01/31/1930, Bolshevo, Moscow Region) - Russian teachers, practicing teachers, early childhood researchers, parents of seven children, authors of many articles and more than 10 books about his experience of family education. Became famous since the 60s of the 20th century in the USSR, later in Germany, Japan and other countries. During the period of greatest popularity (70s - 80s of the 20th century), the Nikitins' books sold in millions of copies, up to 1000 guests came to their house every year, hundreds of people came to meetings and lectures in different cities of the Soviet Union. Many believe that it was the selfless activity of the Nikitins that drew public attention to the unique opportunities for the early development of children and laid the foundations for what is today called “conscious parenthood”.

How it all started.

When the first-born appeared in the Nikitin family, there was no question of any system of development and education. At that time, Boris and Lena had a rather primitive idea of ​​\u200b\u200bbabies. They simply rejoiced at their son, loved him and took care of his needs.

But soon, they began to notice that the baby cries in different ways, as if talking about something; resists when a cap is put on him, reacts to external stimuli, etc. Then Boris and Lena decided to trust their intuition and, contrary to the standards of education, began to listen to the desires and "tips" of their son, to develop his physical and intellectual capabilities. Now their baby ate and slept not by the clock, but when he wanted and how much he wanted. And he spent his wakefulness doing physical education, hardening, talking with his mother, listening to her songs or independently finding interesting activities for himself.

In a word, the Nikitins trusted nature, or, as Lena Alekseevna believes, “What we were doing was not innovation at all, but just a return to the roots.” And the result was not long in coming - the son began to develop much faster than it was written in popular literature.

An excellent athlete and experienced coach, Boris Pavlovich immediately began to treat the kids, as if training them. So in the house there were turnstiles, rings and other sports equipment. "Hardening" for both parents and children was not introduced on purpose, but was a way of life - the whole family walked barefoot and in light clothes with pleasure. And observing how easily and quickly kids learn everything led to the appearance of cubes with letters, geographical maps on the walls, the availability of real tools, etc. Boris and Lena tried to match the speed of the child's comprehension of the surrounding world and organized the home space in such a way that, without the slightest violence, they would help him as much as possible in this. The results were inspiring: the children got sick an order of magnitude less and quickly developed intellectually. (The “Spartan” atmosphere was not specially created in the family - it was just that the family lived on very modest means, considering this to be quite normal).

Boris Pavlovich and Lena Alekseevna did everything that was then in their power (with extremely modest financial possibilities) in order to create a “creative and healthy environment” for their children in their own home. The Nikitins themselves did not call their way of life a “system of education”. Rather, it is a very great experience that has accumulated over many years of careful observation of not one or two, but seven babies, and then the children of its many supporters. In parallel, Boris Pavlovich continued to constantly study all the literature available to him, folk experience, and the achievements of his followers. As the eldest son Alexei wrote in 2005, “any special system has never existed. There were a number of principles taken from practice and common sense, based to a large extent on traditional approaches to the physical education of children from different nationalities, primarily Russia, and the work of teachers, including Montessori. There was an absolutely wonderful practical experience that proved the vitality and importance of these principles.

The basic principles of education "in Nikitinsky".

According to the Nikitins, adults traditionally allow two extremes in communicating with a child. The first is organization. That is, super-caring care and continuous activities, entertainment, games. The child does not have time for independent activities.

The second extreme is the abandonment of the child. This means that communication with the baby comes down only to its maintenance (feed, drink, put to sleep). Such an approach leads to deprivation (psychological starvation), hospitalism (a delay in emotional and mental development) and, as a result, to mental retardation.

The basis of the Nikitin system is, first of all, labor, naturalness, closeness to nature and creativity. The guys are masters of themselves, their actions and routine. Parents do not force them to anything, they only help to understand complex life and philosophical problems. Adults push, not ahead of children, enter into a dialogue with them. The main task of education, according to the Nikitins, is the maximum development of the creative abilities of a growing person and his preparation for life.

The authors define the main principles of their methods as follows.
First, the freedom of creativity of children in the classroom. No special training, exercises, lessons. Children play as much as they want, combining sports with all other activities.

Secondly, light clothing and a sports environment in the house: sports equipment is included in the daily life of children from early childhood, becomes for them natural environment habitat, along with furniture and other household items.

Thirdly, parental indifference to what and how the kids get, the participation of adults in children's games, competitions, and in general - in the very life of children.

Parents should have only one goal: not to interfere with the development of the child, but to help him, not to put pressure on children in accordance with some of their own plans, but to create conditions for their further development, focusing on the well-being and desire of the children.

How to make a child want to study?

So, the conditions for development should outpace this process. So, they need to be prepared in advance. That is, on the walls of the children's room, you need to hang a map of the hemispheres, tables of hundreds and thousands, printed and capital letters, measuring instruments, books. And first impressions can involuntarily arouse a child's interest in a certain field of knowledge and even develop certain abilities. Common work or work side by side is an obligatory interest both in the labor process and in its results for each other, and at the same time, it is an occasion for conversation, exchange of opinions.

Here you should pay attention to one very important point: you should never do for the baby what he is able to handle himself, and not decide for him what he can decide on his own. In all activities of children, adults should try to encourage creativity without imposing their opinions, and without rushing to necessarily prevent a mistake or point it out right away. And in case of failure - do not blame or shame the child. But success must be celebrated without fail and not skimp on praise. The main thing is that adults should never remain indifferent to what and how the guys do, what they do.

Physical development.

Children should be ready to perceive knowledge not only mentally, but also physically. The child's body is in itself an instrument of knowledge. Not overloaded with superfluous clothes, not weighed down by super-caloric food, it easily and willingly "meets" the requirements of the mental order. Sports equipment almost from infancy should be part of a child's life. Nikitin paid special attention to hardening. And their experience has shown that this is an effective way to protect the child from most colds.

Intellectual games of the Nikitins.

Methodology:
In addition to the advanced conditions for development, which were discussed above, Nikitin developed a number of educational games for children of any age. No specific educational program is imposed on the child. He plunges into the world of the game, in which he is free to choose the field of activity. No one explains the new rules to the kid, he just gets involved in the game with the help of a fairy tale, imitating the elders, participating in collective games. As a rule, the active participation of adults or older brothers and sisters is required at first, but then the child can do it on his own. So naturally, the baby performs a number of tasks that gradually become more difficult. In this case, the baby cannot be prompted. He needs to be allowed to think for himself. If the child cannot cope with the task, you need to return to easy, already mastered tasks, or temporarily leave this game. If it is noticeable that the baby has reached the ceiling of its capabilities or has lost interest in the game, it is better to postpone it for a while.
This technique allows the child to independently seek a solution to unknown problems, create something new, that is, leads to the development of his creative abilities.

Peculiarities:
The main difference is the versatility of games and unlimited scope for creativity. They can interest and captivate all family members. Games teach children, moving from simple to more difficult tasks, to get joy and satisfaction from mental activity, to think, sometimes suffer, but always achieve their goals.

Each game is a set of tasks that a child solves with the help of cubes, bricks, squares, parts of a mechanical constructor. Tasks are offered to the baby in various forms: in the form of a model, a flat drawing, an isometric drawing, a drawing, a written or oral instruction, and thus introduce him to different ways transfer of information. The tasks are arranged from simple to difficult.

There are several levels of difficulty, from accessible to a two-three year old to overwhelming for an average adult, so games can arouse interest for many years. And the gradual increase in the difficulty of tasks allows the child to improve independently, that is, to develop creative abilities.

Using Nikitinsky educational games in classes with a child, certain principles should be followed:

It is impossible to explain to the child the method and order of solving problems and it is impossible to prompt either by word, or gesture, or look. Realizing the solution practically, the baby learns to take everything necessary from the surrounding reality on his own.

It is impossible to demand and achieve that the child solves the problem on the first attempt. He may not have matured yet, and you have to wait a day, a week, a month or even more.

The solution to the problem appears before the baby in the form of a drawing, a pattern or a structure made of cubes, bricks, designer parts, that is, visible and tangible things. This allows the child to check the accuracy of the task.

Most educational games are not limited to the proposed tasks, but allow children and parents to make new options and even come up with new games, that is, engage in creative activities.
So, the main feature of the Nikitins' educational games is that they managed to combine one of the basic principles of learning - from simple to complex - with a very important condition for creative activity - to do everything on your own.

The developing games developed by Boris Nikitin are described by him in a book called "Intellectual Games".

The main task of education is the development of abilities.

The main idea of ​​the Nikitin method is NUVERS - Irreversible Extinguishing of Opportunities for Effective Development of Abilities. Every healthy child, being born, has enormous opportunities for the development of abilities in all types of human activity. But for the most effective development of the mind and body, there is a certain time and certain conditions. If the abilities did not find their realization in time, then their potential fades away. Abilities that have received support in the early stages of life, then develop to a greater extent.

Nikitin believes that parents should have only one goal: not to interfere with the development of the child, but to help him. To do this, it is necessary to create "leading" conditions and a rich development environment. Suppose a child has just begun to speak, and among his toys there are already blocks with letters, a split alphabet, plastic letters and numbers among his toys. It was the same with mathematics (abacus, counting sticks, numbers, measuring instruments, a table: hundreds and thousands, beads on a wire, etc.), design (all kinds of cubes, mosaics, constructors, Construction Materials, tools, etc.), sports (sports equipment in various combinations in the house and in the yard).

Reading at 2-4 years old, an extensive library, various “educational games” created by the Nikitins, geographical maps, the periodic table, mathematical tables, etc. on the walls of the nursery - indeed, intellectually perfectly prepared the Nikitin children for primary and secondary school. This gave the father a reason to bring children to the first grade at the age of five, transfer from the 1st to the 3rd, and from the 2nd to the 4th, and the mother to allow them to constantly skip classes. The emphasis on accelerated "intellectual" development, made in this way, made it difficult for some of the seven children to socialize. It is no coincidence that later none of them sent their children to school earlier, although the developing home environment, early reading, etc. in their own families has become commonplace for everyone.

Many believed that the children of the Nikitins would grow up as geniuses with superpowers. But Lena and Boris themselves have repeatedly emphasized that they did not bring up "wunderkinds", but independent people who are able to stand up for themselves and answer "no". The Nikitin children were gifted, intelligent, brought up in an effort to achieve their goals. All of them took place in adult life- each of them is a specialist in his field. All have strong families and at least two children.

Boris Pavlovich and Lena Alekseevna Nikitin are called by many classics of Russian pedagogy. Using the example of their own large family back in Soviet times, they demonstrated how, by breaking the established stereotypes in education, to help the child turn into an independent, harmoniously developed personality.

It is worth noting that the Nikitin system is one of the basic kindergarten programs in Japan, and the Nikitin Institute has been established in Germany. The Nikitins' books were translated into different languages ​​and are still being reprinted, while being popular.

At one time, they blew up the public with their non-traditional education system, showed the importance of family education and presented the world with an almost universal method for the harmonious development of a child. All their recommendations are sound, and what is important for today's busy parents, they almost do not require separately allocated time for regular classes. Nikitins teach to communicate competently with children and get great pleasure from it. And where there is pleasure, there is the result.

For more than half a century, the system of pedagogical influence on the development of children of the Nikitin family has been popular not only among teachers, but also among parents in the expanses of the former Soviet Union.

The Nikitins' methodology is based on the main principle - this is the early development of the child, both physical and intellectual. It includes all periods of the early age category, from childbirth to preschool age.

Now the main postulates of this system do not cause surprise or misunderstanding among parents, since they already know well or at least have heard about the importance of early development for their baby. And more recently, the basic rules of the methodology caused misunderstanding and mass protests among many. They were based on the fact that its basis is not unique, and that there are not so many children who have been brought up according to it and have reached certain heights in adult life.

But the benefits of such early development speak for themselves. In addition, the methodology of the Nikitin family has been adopted as one of the main children's development programs in a country like Japan. The author's books have been translated into many languages ​​of the world and are actively sold even in our time, and an institute named after the Nikitin family has opened in Germany, which studies earlier development.

From this article you will learn

Who were the authors

Boris and Lena Nikitin are mother and father from a large family. They both had Teacher Education. The idea of ​​raising children new system nurtured by Boris Pavlovich when he was at a young age and worked in the field of aviation. He dreamed of creating his own school, where the younger generation would not be brought up according to the hackneyed methods of the Soviet space.

Lena Alekseevna Nikitina, after meeting with the most beautiful person, according to her, her husband Boris, bore him seven children. Together they decided to introduce a new method of education in their family. They created an atmosphere of creativity in their home and actively raised and educated their children.

Gradually, it was enriched with hypotheses, proofs of the correctness of the theory, and new methods. There were trials and errors, but the result was - education according to the new scheme gives its positive results.

For residents of a village near Moscow, where a large family lived, it was strange to observe the method of raising Nikitin children. It didn’t fit in their heads how a child could be allowed to run barefoot in the snow, and the gymnastic exercises that their children performed with ease were a bewitching sight for them. Starting from the age of three, the guys from the Nikitin family already learned to read and easily counted up to ten.

Agree, such results in the late 50s of the twentieth century surprised anyone.

Yes, the Nikitins found the courage to resist the upbringing system of those times, and today their methodology or its elements are popular among young parents. “The upbringing of a child cannot be the same for everyone and according to certain programs,” said Boris Nikitin, “every baby is an individual, and the task of parents is to encourage his activity” - the basic principles for raising children.

Basic postulates of the methodology

The experience of the Nikitin family speaks of the need to create such an aura and environment for children in which they would have the opportunity to develop in any direction. Therefore, the baby chooses exactly what can develop at the moment and gives high efficiency.

Another important thought is that all classes with a child should take place with the active participation of their parents. But do not impose your opinion or desires on them. The task of parents is to encourage the choice of the child to think independently and to enable him to find a logical solution to the problem.

According to the Nikitin method, such parental manifestations are undesirable:

• excessive care and maintenance;
• continuous activities with the child;
• deprive the baby of the opportunity to independently choose a game, pastime;
• impose their ideas, rules, activities.

According to Boris Nikitin, there are two main mistakes among parents that lead to incorrect all-round development of the child.

• Full organization of the baby's day by parents and excessive custody of him. In this case, the child is deprived of the opportunity to independently develop and choose what is interesting to him in this period of his life. In the future, at an older age, it will be extremely difficult or almost impossible for such people to make an independent decision. They will choose the beaten path or be ruled by others.
• The second mistake is abandonment. At the same time, parents pay all their attention to care and are not involved in the development of the baby. They make sure that the child has something to eat, he is washed and dressed. At the same time, spiritual development fades into the background. In such children, a significant lag in psycho-emotional development will be observed in the future.

The system of education of the Nikitin family is based on naturalness, work, close proximity to nature. Children themselves choose their regimen in nutrition, in play, and in everyday life. The task of parents is to timely help in solving complex life issues and constant participation in the life of the child.

Principles of education

All codes of upbringing according to the methodology of the Nikitin family can be divided into four basic principles, which together give a positive result in the development of the baby.

The Nikitin system assumes:

The first principle is based on the freedom of creativity of children in the classroom. No special lessons are needed, they are all purely educational in nature, and only the child determines what he wants to do, how and how much. Basic rules for parents:

• do not impose a specific training program;
• there is no need to explain the rules, it is better to involve him in a new type of activity with the help of a fairy tale, taking advantage of the interest and desire of the baby to imitate an adult. If this arouses the interest of the child, he will play and develop in this direction;
• the beginning of any new game requires the active participation of an adult, but in the future his presence is not necessary.

The second principle is to let the baby do everything on his own. If a certain task is within the child's power, give him the opportunity to complete it himself. It may not work the first time, but learning new things through trial and error is the right way to educate a person. It is important for parents to remember the following:

• do not rush to solve the problem for the baby, give him the opportunity to think and solve on his own;
• if finding the right path for the child becomes difficult, return to an easier, already done similar task and start again incrementally, not forgetting to praise the baby for his small victories;
• if the inability to find the right solution makes the crumbs leave what they started, postpone the lesson until interest appears again.

The third principle is the harmonious distribution of attention to both the physical and mental abilities of the baby. No need to focus on one of the points. They must complement each other. Only in this case, the technique provides a comprehensive development of the child.

The joint work of an adult and a baby is the fourth postulate of the Nikitin family methodology. Helping their mother or father with the housework, girls and boys learn this work. At the same time, parents do not forget to actively participate in the activities of their kids.

Praise occupies a very important place in the upbringing of a child. Such a statement is natural, because loving parents cannot but praise their child for his achievements in solving a particular problem. Even if the child has failed, find a way to praise him without focusing on his defeat, and he will definitely come back and finish the job.

Educational aspects from the moment of birth

It has already been mentioned that the educational methodology of the Nikitin family originates from the period of labor in a woman. Although the teacher B. Nikitin had advice on the behavior of the expectant mother and during gestation. But still, the basis of education begins with labor activity.

When Lena and Boris Nikitin sent their daughter to the hospital, they made a whole list of requests to the doctors and nurses of the institution.

• Childbirth without medication. The use of anesthesia several times worsens labor activity and adversely affects the health of both the mother and the baby.
• Childbirth in a half-sitting position.
• The umbilical cord is cut only after the blood stops pulsating in it.
• Early breastfeeding. This gives the baby peace of mind, a sense of security and understanding that the mother is nearby.
• The joint presence of the newborn with the mother maintains their bond and soothes the baby to a large extent.
• Feeding on demand. This is the first step towards the independence of the baby. He decides when to eat. By the way, before the process of breastfeeding, Nikitin suggested completely undressing the baby, which involved his body in the ability to thermoregulate.

• Don't swaddle. The lack of movement and contact with the outside world reduces the ability of the crumbs to know it.
• hardening. The use of air baths immediately after birth is the path to successful and good health.

Many of these prerequisites are now used in maternity hospitals and significantly improve the process of the birth of a baby.

If you decide on the method of raising a child according to the principles of the Nikitin family, then with the right approach and fulfillment of all requirements, you guarantee the good physical and mental development of your baby.

Alexey, 1959 . born, live in London, UK

Education: higher, diploma of a teacher of physics and astronomy, graduated from Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Lenin in 1982. The main profession is an engineer-developer of electronic equipment. I am currently working as an electronics design consultant.

He chose the profession out of interest, "early development" had nothing to do with this choice, the workshop in the house and the father's engineering ingenuity had a greater influence. Favorite pastime in childhood - Reading.

We have two children - Natasha (born in 1980) and Alexander (born in 1984). Both graduated from universities, Natasha has a degree in art history and, in addition, the highest translation qualification (Diplomain Translation), she works as a translator in a law firm. Alexander has a degree in information technology, he works as a consultant for a computer company in the City.

Much of what my father did, may his memory be blessed, is still waiting for its time, it is so far ahead of modern child psychology. One of the amazing things that he essentially proved with his research is that the child develops not due to external influences and conditions, but primarily due to the creative principle, essentially the likeness of God, inherent in him. The impulse of development comes from within, not from outside, and what we do as parents can help or hinder development, but cannot create this impulse. Therefore, a necessary condition for development is freedom for this inner creativity and providing it with the right conditions, information, and example.

Our parents never treated anyone with prejudice. Whoever came to us - for many years a huge number of people passed - and there was never an initially bad attitude towards a person. And this is very deeply rooted in us.

Even in our family, independence of thought was respected from the very beginning.

The school of wrestling, which we went through in childhood, made me able to mobilize all my strength at the right time, to fully concentrate. I mean the ability to instantly react, to pull yourself together, regardless of whether you are tired or not. And secondly: to be able to distribute your forces, not to overestimate yourself. And in the physical sense, and in the moral, and in the intellectual.

I will note one important feature, which is generally characteristic of a normal family, and for the family of our parents in particular. This is the same absolutely frank atmosphere within the family. Healthy, honest environment. Trust and good human relations: between parents, between parents and children.

I am very grateful to my parents for the fact that I had such a childhood, for the physical health, psychological strength and ability to think that it gave me. And I think that we should owe a lot to early development: both the saving of time and the opportunity to go through the school path, having suffered relatively little from it, both morally and mentally.

I must say that there are many myths in the information about the Nikitins, and one can only hope that someday a true story will be written about how it all happened.

Anton, born in 1960, live in the Moscow region.

Graduated from school No. 444, Moscow (1974), Shchelkovo Chemical-Mechanical College (with honors, 1977), Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov (1982). Specialty - chemist. I am currently working as a Deputy early production department.

How did you choose your profession? Did “early development” help you with this?

The periodic table on the wall probably contributed :).

What gave you the "early development" of creative and other abilities? And what else did your family “arm” you with as a child?

My family gave me everything:) . But seriously, I think that almost everything related to the development of a child depends on the parents, or rather, on the environment in which he is and what kind of people surround him. So I (I'm talking only about myself now) was very lucky.

Favorite activity as a child? Favorite game (toy)?

Favorite activity (individual) – reading:) . And he always loved any activities and games with dad. Favorite toy is big wooden bricks.

How did you perceive the fame of the family - did it help or hinder you?

Most likely, it interfered.

What do you consider the main thing in the work of BP and LA as practical teachers, innovators? What book (game) by Nikitins do you like the most?

I would like to draw an analogy with poetry:) . A poet is not one who answers questions. A poet is someone who helps us look at the world from a different perspective, from a different perspective, and see what an ordinary person does not see. So is Nikitina. They taught many people (and especially their children) to look at the relationship between adults and children with a new look, very different from the traditional:) . My favorite game is Unicube.

What elements of the “Nikitin education system” did you transfer to your own families? What did you not repeat from the experience of Nikitin Sr. and why?

This approach has been moved. And what they did not repeat was skipping classes at school. Although, of course, this jump cannot be attributed to the “Nikitin education system”.

How many children do you have?

There are two children. Alexey (1983) and Daria (1986).

A website is essential for many reasons. First, as a means of continuing the Nikitins' cause. Secondly, as a place where everyone who considers themselves to be successors of the cause can communicate, who simply read the books of the Nikitins and are trying to take something from there for themselves, who disagree with the Nikitins in some way and want to express their point of view. Thirdly, in order to, if possible, put an end to the huge number of myths, gossip and slander that surrounds our family, the Nikitin family. Fourth, in order to understand the demand for modern society other approaches to education and upbringing (especially in the conditions of degradation of both: ().

Olga, 49 years old, Korolev.

After the 8th grade of the school, she entered the Moscow Pedagogical School at the office management department. She graduated with honors and entered the full-time department of the law faculty of Moscow State University. The school gave me good typing skills and the ability to work with documents, while the university gave me everything else necessary for successful professional activity in my specialty. I have been working as a lawyer for more than 25 years in various fields and quite successfully. Now - deputy head of the legal service in a large joint-stock company.

“Early development” helped rather not in choosing a profession, but in mastering it: the ability to read quickly and meaningfully, a good memory (especially visual), logical thinking skills, literacy (both in oral speech and in writing), the desire to complete the work begun - all this, of course, helped a lot in my studies, and still helps in my work. And I am sure that all this is not due to teaching at school, but precisely as a result of the so-called "early" development and, in general, the whole situation in our house.

And the choice was quite random. Maybe Dean's grandmother, her mother's mother, had an influence. She has always been a model of calmness, confidence, respect for people, enjoyed great respect and indisputable authority among a huge number of residents of our village - Bolshevo. Having worked for more than 50 years at school, being already retired, she was the chairman of the comrades' court, and people came to her in an endless stream for help and advice. And she supported my intention to try to enter the law faculty and was very happy for me.

Of course, the family (parents) gave me health (I still do not complain, although because of laziness I do not make any efforts to maintain it) and the ability to love and appreciate close people. Be confident in the love and support of relatives. It helps a lot in life.

The fame of the family in childhood rather interfered - it’s rather unpleasant when they literally “poke a finger” and speak with surprise and disapproval about both your parents and about you, respectively. With age, I began to take this more calmly, you already begin to understand that people are different and not only not very tactful, but simply not very good. And just then, children's "hardening" helped to learn to more calmly perceive someone else's, even negative, opinion and be able to defend one's own.

I consider this to be the main thing in our family. Both BP and LA were very sincere, thoughtful, open and loving in their lives and relationships with us and people in general. Their personal qualities and characters complemented and balanced each other, which allowed them to strive all their lives "forward and upward", not being distracted by trifles and not succumbing to any pressure - neither public opinion, nor "authorities" (BP), without shifting to others responsibility neither for victories nor for defeats, remaining honest and frank with oneself and others (LA).

Their books, oddly enough, everyone likes. They are different, and I seem to know them well, and have read them more than once, but if it falls into my hands, it’s hard to tear myself away. And not only because you read “about yourself”, but also because you open a lot of really interesting and valuable thoughts and feelings every time.

From the “educational games” - I love “Fold the Pattern” since childhood, probably because I played a lot with my dad, and drew tasks, and painted the cubes myself. Everything was fun with dad.

I tried to “take” a healthy lifestyle into my own family (simple food, light clothes, barefoot at home and in the yard, sports equipment at home), reading before school, a variety of activities in childhood. Well, and common for many, not only our family, probably - reading aloud, joint housework (cleaning, cooking, etc.), traveling with children. And most importantly, again, it seems not from the “system”, but from just a large and friendly (despite everything) family - a great desire to be friends with your children, to earn their trust and sincere attitude.

What I do not repeat: having many children. I think that this is a very big work, even self-sacrifice, and responsibility, which very few people are capable of. I am not capable. I am ready to the best of my ability to help those sisters and brothers who have decided to do this. But herself, no.

I also consider it very controversial, and in our modern school generally a difficult test, jumping through classes (or earlier, by 1-2 years, education). Not in the sense of learning difficulties (everything is quite simple here), but in the light of social and adaptation problems for the child in the school community. Until the education system and public consciousness are rebuilt in such a way that there will be a calm and friendly attitude towards such things, one must be very careful.

I have two daughters: Nadezhda (1982) and Anna (1984) - as many children as I wanted. Daughters are beautiful - beautiful, smart, friendly. Both graduated from college and got married. Nadia manages a department in the administration of a large Moscow hotel, Asya (Anna) is now on parental leave - she has a wonderful son, Savva, who will soon be 2 years old!

Why do we need a website of the Nikitin family? To:

a) experience, reflections, findings, huge information about childhood as the most important period of a person’s life, who collected BP and LA during their life and continued to serve people, i.e. the goal for which they worked, observed, thought, argued, and generally lived. Maybe I'm also a little naive, but people really have nowhere to learn a lot from! And people who think, reflect and are not indifferent should at least know about the experience, thoughts and lives of previous generations. Learn from them, rethink them for yourself and your life.

c) to give reliable "first-hand" information about the Nikitins - both BP and LA, and about ourselves, after all, the stupidity and dirty tricks found on the Internet about their parents and themselves are rather unpleasant. To sue or to refute the allegedly truthful information of supposedly familiar people (realizing that they are obviously dishonorable) people is an extremely thankless task, and for those who want to know the truth, it should be available. And, thank God, thanks to the Internet, it has become much easier.

Anna, 47 years old, I live in the city of Korolev, Moscow Region.

Graduated from the Moscow Medical School No. 3, specialty "children's nurse", diploma with honors. She worked at the Morozov Children's Hospital, as a procedural nurse in the surgical department of a district hospital in the Perm Region, in a medical school office.

Why medical school? Taking care of small children and playing with them has always been a pleasure, as well as taking care of someone in general. I am very grateful to my school: with the exception of one most boring subject - "raising children":) -special subjects were taught to us by good professionals-practitioners. By their profession - sisters of mercy! – I am very pleased: she helped me out more than once in different situations. The fact that I didn’t enter a medical school (in my youth I wanted to be a doctor!), Now I consider it good luck: a nurse is a much more feminine profession. In recent years, I have been working as a logistics manager in an international transport company - I had to earn money when my husband could not work for health reasons.

The rest of the skills and abilities are tools for the main activity as a mother and grandmother (knitting, cutting hair, sewing, beading, baking "branded" cakes and cookies, staging home performances, guitar and piano, writing poems and songs ...)

Early Development certainly helped me a lot in later life. Visually - blind typing: having learned how to type on a typewriter at the age of 12 (about a month without extra effort - the fingers learned the keyboard), constantly doing this (I had to help a lot in this dad, mom, relatives and friends), this profession often rescued and rescued me. In general, I consider it SKILLS (especially the employment of hands), and not knowledge, as a priority.

My preschool Childhood gave me many necessary "tools" for further education and life in general:

Early expressive reading helped to feel the beauty of their native language and gave normal literacy;

Quick mental counting and daddy's games - practically eliminated problems with mathematics; in addition, games (both intellectual and sports:) ) were rewarded with perseverance and the ability to calculate their strengths and capabilities.

The habit from childhood to move a lot - for a long time did not give a reason to even think about your health, but a great desire to work with your hands and an interest in learning something new - on your own! - all the time helps in any study and gives confidence that “here is the recipient!”, as my granddaughter says.

In general, the FAMILY nourished me with the joy of COMMUNICATION with relatives, trust and interest in other people - this was helped by the difference in the characters of all of us and unconditional trust in each other, the ability to take care of small and large.

Very important for my (and not only my) future was the employment of our parents with interesting things IN THE HOUSE. Even just watching HOW they do something was simply breathtaking! Dad owned many locksmith and carpentry tools - all the simple furniture in the house was made by his hands; and my mother often designed exhibition posters for the library at home - she painted with ink. Common activities and games were very important: for example, harvesting firewood for the winter, or our favorite game of "wolf", or mom's reading aloud - everything was great in its own way!

As a child, I loved to count things:) and read fairy tales. Of course, I liked to play various common games (the "wolf", "Indians", "poor people"), to do concerts together for the holidays (to build costumes, read poetry aloud, portray a gypsy or a French singer ...), somewhere after 12 years - she loved to type on a typewriter and play the piano (she mastered it on her own). I always liked helping dad and mom - draw and draw new tasks for games, rewrite library cards, bake pies ... I also really liked it when dad or mom told something from their childhood and quietly kissed on the forehead before going to bed ...

From toys I liked small wooden figures (the game "Magic Bag"), and from dad's games - "Attention-Guess!", "Bricks", "Fractions", "Montessori Frames" (yes, all dad's games are interesting, except for "Constructor ”, which for some reason I did not play).

In childhood, the fame of the family interfered - it prevented you from being yourself, somehow immediately put you on display in front of others, as if giving you the right to be interested in all aspects of your life without any hesitation, and this is unpleasant. And now I increasingly find myself in such a position that when people learn about my involvement in the Nikitin family, usually with joy - sincerely! - they say: “Yes, what are you! And your parents' books helped me a lot!..” And now I already perceive the fame of our parents - no, not fame, but the work they did - as a big credit of trust in me and a kind of "bonus" in front of other people. It is especially pleasant to meet those who were at the meetings with B.P. and L.A. or came to our house: these people's eyes immediately begin to glow and they begin to remember dad and mom with such warmth and gratitude that it's hard to convey...

It is very important that wonderful books are written. In general, I bow to the ability of dad and mom to make short and concise notes (including about us children). Unique, in my opinion, is my father's ability to analyze pedagogical and medical books (he constantly studied both the old - until 1917, and modern literature related to the upbringing and development of children) - made extracts, collected clippings on topics ... The amount of special literature from his notes - just huge.

Of course, both were excellent speakers, and their honesty, sincerity, steadfastness and incorruptibility could not but melt other people at meetings and speeches. Therefore, the fact that they did not refuse these meetings is a real feat. They turned a lot of people towards Childhood.

I love Nikitin's books. I can’t single out any - each is good in its own way, although I want to argue somewhere :).

Almost everything that we had in the family, I tried to bring to my family: mutual help in household chores, early self-care and caring for others (in the family and outside it), general trips and games, staging home performances and sports days, love for movement and sports games, walking barefoot, early learning to read, write, math (everything is “in between”), reading aloud, songs together ... - can you remember everything? ..

The only thing that I did not try to repeat was to send the children to school earlier than expected. I myself (I was 2 years younger than my classmates) was lucky with the class - they treated me with care, although they didn’t let me into my “adult world” much - they regretted it, I think. My class - 10 "B" of the release of 1979 - meets every year, and I often go to these meetings - I feel good with my classmates, and I seem to rediscover myself and open them - something that I could not score at school. On in my opinion, it is much more important not so much to break out intellectually as to be able to build relationships with others - peers, adults. When you are younger than others, it takes a lot of energy, or you will remain lonely - they listen to you little in anything. When you are older than others, you have more opportunity to surround others with care, to be more generous ... - I think so.

I have four children, as I once dreamed of in childhood: sons Peter and Mikhail, daughters Alexander and Tatyana. Although now, when the eldest is married and my daughters are married, I think that four is not enough for me :) Granddaughter is 1.5 years old.

I consider it important to say that the three elders entered universities and studied in them without any patronage, money, etc. I know that all three are high-level specialists in their field. But most of all I am grateful to my children for their readiness to always help others (this was both at school and in universities), the ability to do this - both in word and deed.

Why do we need a website of the Nikitin family?

I have long had the feeling that our family is sitting on the “chests” of treasures that our dad once skillfully disposed of: he generously shared with all these treasures and filled the “chests” as best he could (how much dad had time to read, analyze, generalize ... - material for more than a dozen dissertations!) - the archives of the parents are simply priceless and huge. And so interesting! And how many simple "pedagogical" solutions they have already found, how many elementary laws of health!..

At the same time, meeting with different families, I see that our family is somewhat behind the times: in some areas, people are families! - went much further and found ways to solve many problems that we have not resolved - I want to gain experience from them. This "flow" of experience into each other, mutual enrichment is vital (in some ways it is similar to the life of the Big Family:) ). In this I see one of the tasks of the site.

In addition, we are tired of the libel* spread on the Internet about our family - it is especially painful here for dad and mom. I don't want to let this mold continue to grow.

Under the words “early development”, as the term that was awarded “education according to Nikitin”, I understand the greatest opportunities for all kinds of early ACTIVITIES of the child - independent, interesting, meaningless and responsible. Together and alone. It is this "early development" that I will support.

*“Love and the System” by S. Samodelova in MK 2000 - first of all.

Julia, born in 1966. 45 years. I live in a small town not far from Moscow. Journalist. I work in the press service of a large enterprise.

In our large family, I most of all appreciate the atmosphere of mutual trust and openness, the readiness to immediately come to the aid of each other.

“Early” development was perceived as normal, I never felt any violence against myself in the family. The advantages of the so-called early development: 1. initial and in many ways high school passed easily, on the home baggage of knowledge; 2. good health and good physical development. Right up to the institute, she competed in various competitions in athletics and gymnastics with virtually no additional training; 3. habit to " healthy lifestyle life."

Minuses. 1. knowledge in childhood was given too easily and was not taught to learn. It had to be worked out in adulthood. 2. The age difference with classmates of 2-2.5 years isolated them from their peers and created difficulties in communication. 3. The glory of my parents and the fame of my family had a negative impact on me, an extremely impressionable child and teenager, and prevented me from building my own life.

I have been writing for as long as I can remember, and I have always wanted to write and communicate with people. So, in general, childhood dreams come true.

From the books of BP and LA I like “Are we right”, “We and our children”. Of the “educational games”, I prefer the so-called manuals - tables, geographical maps on the walls, clocks, a thermometer, etc. The games themselves were interesting with dad, with my children I didn’t do them much.

I have two children - daughters born in 1991 and 1995. I wanted a third, but I didn’t “pull” it - neither financially nor psychologically. Children, in my opinion, require a lot of attention, patience and just time. If there are three of them, the woman already needs to forget about herself. Therefore, having many children is the choice of the few, and I think this is normal.

She “transferred” to her family - early breastfeeding; long breast-feeding; early and constant physical education (horizontal bars, etc. in the house), hardening and dousing, walking barefoot, early reading, reading aloud, maps, etc. on the walls of the nursery; various constructors; watching movies together, in general I like to do something “together with the children” - this, of course, comes from my parents. Deliberately gave the children to Kindergarten and to strong schools - after waiting for the required age. The ability to find contact with people seems to me more important than advanced intellectual workloads. Moreover, in a modern school they are outrageous in any class.

The appearance of the Site of the Nikitin family at some point became an urgent need. I am very grateful to the main inspirers, my nieces and young mothers, who were able to take a fresh look at the work of BP and LA, and I help them as much as possible.

Although even today it is difficult for me to assess the real contribution of my parents to the study of childhood and the possibilities of the child. Of course, most of the "innovations" with which we lived in the parental home, each of us naturally transferred to our own families. Most of the seven - because it is organic for us. But many of the proposals of BP and LA, which seemed like a revolution in the 70s of the last century, have now become the norm. Like "early attachment" to the breast, gymnastics for newborns or early reading.

Years later, for me, the main thing in the history of our family was not “innovations”, but still something else. Our whole life in the big house was lit up with creativity, energy, openness, light, the exactingness of these two amazing personalities - our father and mother. For all their many grandchildren, they managed to find even more love in themselves. Everyone could come running to grandfather's office at any time. At the same time, Boris Pavlovich seemed to love every baby he met no less than his own. In all conflicts between adults and children (that is, her own grown children - with her little grandchildren), grandmother Lena always takes the side of the “weak” ...

I believe that today all seven Nikitin brothers and sisters, as accomplished individuals (the youngest Lyubov is already 40), clearly do not reach the level of their parents. Although dad was convinced that he had given us everything possible for further creative flourishing. Why is the potential not fully realized?

All the tools that BP offered really work great. But, in my opinion, - only at some stage, and do not guarantee the solution of most problems. The further fate depends on many factors. And from the fact that the child will be “immersed in a developing environment”, and he will learn to read at the age of three, play music at five and graduate from the university at 12, it is not at all necessary that he will become an Einstein, or simply realize himself as a creator, or simply become happy. Suffice it to recall the tragic fate of Nika Turbina, who beamed early.

Actually, one of the goals of our site is buried here for me. What can parents do for their children? Everything that the Nikitins offered - yes, they can. But the main thing is not the tools, but the essence of the relationship between parents and children. Hundreds of wonderful books have been written about it. And to say this again is one of the tasks of the site.

Ivan, 42 years old, Moscow region, pos. Bolshevo.

Graduated from the Kaliningrad Mechanical College with a degree in Aircrafts"(red diploma); All-Union Institute for Advanced Studies of Television and Radio Broadcasting Workers, specialty "operator". Various courses for safety instructors in several industrial areas (1997-2001). The main specialties are operator, television director. I chose my profession out of love. “Early development” helped in this - in fact, there were no restrictions, physical and intellectual, in any field of activity. The family in childhood armed with confidence that any puzzle is solved (even if the solution is negative). In addition: a complete sense of inferiority :)- self-criticism, lack of vanity, the desire to get to the bottom, to the meaning of phenomena. Favorite pastime in childhood - to find another solution, unwillingness to follow the beaten path, one might say: technical creativity. For as long as I can remember, I spent most of my free time in our home workshop, where there were all the opportunities to implement my ideas (photo-chemo-physics-radio laboratories, carpentry-turning tools, etc.).

In childhood, I remember such a case - in the pioneer camp of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences "Mayak". I was then 8 years old. It was my first pioneer camp. Dad led a circle for the manufacture of educational games. I was wildly offended that of all the guys, I was the only one who signed up for this circle. I was also childishly ashamed of this situation, presenting my entry into this circle as a kind of humiliation of myself, but not enrolling felt like a betrayal in relation to dad ... Less than a week later, I began to overflow with joy and pride for dad and for myself: the room work was in full swing - the guys from other circles began to join us in such numbers that the director of the camp had to ask dad - because of the complaints of other teachers - to send children to their circles. In addition to joy, I experienced real shame at my first cowardly thoughts.

The main thing in the work of BP and LA as teachers-practitioners, I consider:

1) Scientific, research, the most unbiased approach to the subject of research - whether it is a book, one's own or other people's children ...

2) Meticulous recording of these studies in written and photographic form, indicating all objective indicators (dates, names, place of event, references to sources, etc., etc.).

3) The most careful study of all the latest scientific achievements in applied fields and their thoughtful combination with practice. This made it possible to correctly foresee and predict the result (now time has already confirmed this), to be able to single out the main thing, to put forward promising scientific hypotheses.

Of the books of BP and LA, my favorite is The Hypothesis of the Emergence and Development of Abilities.

God sent five children: Pavel, Boris, Ilya, Julia, Alexander. All but the youngest are schoolchildren.

The site is very necessary. I consider it necessary to move on, developing the achievements of BP and LA. As long as the intentions and movements, at least mine, are small and insufficient.

Love, 40 years old, Korolev.

She graduated from a library technical school, worked for three years in children's libraries in Moscow. I think that “early development” did not play a role in choosing a profession, except for early reading and, as a result, love for books in general. She got married and has been a housewife ever since. In the diaries of the parents it is written that "I wanted to become a mother." And so it happened. I have ten children.

The family gave good health, which I hope to share with their children. And it made it possible to treat children, being at home in general - not as "hard labor within four walls", but simply as life, in all its diversity.

For me, the main thing in the family of my parents is the COMMON life of children and parents. They were interested in us, we were interested in them, and this was IN DEED, not just in conversation. And it is also important that there was no feeling that the parents lived “for us” or we “for them”. A lot of things that dad and mom did united, rather than divided (games, competitions, reading, dad's measurements, etc.). This is very relevant now, when both parents and children have most of their interests OUTSIDE the boundaries of the house. Of the educational games, I love "Dice for All" and "Fold the Square", my favorite books by BP and LA are "We, Our Children and Grandchildren" and "Father's House".

In my family, everyone walks barefoot at home and in the yard, the children move a lot, everyone started reading early (the younger ones learned from the older ones), we arrange common readings of our favorite books aloud. We didn’t send the children to school earlier, as well as jumping over classes. Here my negative experience affected: two years of difference with classmates from the very beginning of my studies at school is a lot (I went to the 1st grade at the age of 5). And why save a year or two after school?

I think that the site of the Nikitin family is very necessary: ​​to restore the truth, i.e. an objective approach, memories, communication of good and thinking people (who were among the "followers" - the majority). And as a "maximum program" - steps forward.

Known in the 70s and 80s. the Nikitin family of innovative teachers created a system of education, which they tested on their seven children. Their pedagogy of conscious parenthood was aimed at the comprehensive development of the intellectual, creative, physical and labor abilities of children from an early age. Boris Nikitin developed the RRR system, many educational games, discovered the NUVERS law, put forward the concept of a new labor school, and wrote books on his methodology. He was ahead of his time, leaving behind a lot of research materials, observations and ideas.

Biography of the Nikitins:

• Boris Pavlovich (1916 - 1999).
• Lena Alekseevna (1930 - 2014).

In 1916, in the village of Suvorovskaya (Stavropol Territory), Boris Nikitin was born into the family of a military paramedic and a hereditary Kuban Cossack. In childhood and adolescence, he himself developed extraordinary technical abilities, and was also fond of sports.

In 1934 he graduated from high school with honors and studied for three years at an industrial institute.

In 1937 he entered the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy.

In 1939 he got married. In 1941 he had a daughter, and in 1943 and 1946 sons.

In 1941, he got into early graduation, received the specialty "mechanical engineer for armaments."

From 1941 to 1946, he served as an instructor in a reserve air regiment near Saratov, and then continued his service in Noginsk, near Moscow.

In 1949, he was demobilized and moved with his family to Moscow to live with his mother-in-law, began scientific and pedagogical activities at the Research and Development Institute for labor reserves, and for the first time openly expressed his disagreement with the official methods of educating young people. He was fired, moved to the Research Institute of Theory and History of Pedagogy.

Divorced in 1954. Nikitin changes many jobs, trying himself in the teaching field. As early as 1949, he seriously took up the study of Makarenko's pedagogy and conceived the creation of a commune school for normal children. All the years he has been nurturing this idea, looking for like-minded people, trying to get official permission. His idea was not supported, the school was not allowed, repressions rained down on the innovator.

In 1958 he met at a pedagogical meeting with Lena Litvinova. They begin a long life together.

Lena Litvinova was born in 1930 in the settlement near Moscow. Bolshevo (now the city of Korolev) in the family of a teacher and a military engineer. She graduated with honors from school (1948) and the Moscow library technical school (1950), and in 1954 - the philological faculty of the Moscow Pedagogical Institute.

After graduation, she worked as a literature teacher in Altai (Voevodskoye village) for 2 years. Here she began to work out her methods of teaching the language.

In 1956 she returned to Moscow and taught at the railway school No. 40.

After marriage from 1960 to 1980. worked as a library manager in Bolshevo. From 1960 to 1998 Lena continued her research and teaching practice in kindergartens, schools and her family.

In 1959 she gave birth to her first child. Then every two years a child appeared in the family. By 1971, the Nikitins were already raising 7 children, simultaneously developing their system live and applying it to their family. From the same year, Nikitin entered the Research Institute of Psychology. Here he began the development of the theme "Development of technical creative abilities."

He accumulates material on the rapid early development of the child, gropes for the idea of ​​irreversible fading of abilities, puts forward recommendations "Childhood without diseases." There is already enough material to start publishing it. In 1962, the first publication about a strange large family with its own educational system appeared in the press. The experience was positive. 1965 - the first film "Are We Right?" about the experience and opportunities of RRR (early developmental development) in the Nikitin family.

In 1965, Nikitin was fired from the institute due to non-standard approaches to education. He begins to teach at the school, in parallel making the family a research laboratory for innovative parenting. In the 70s. newspapers began to massively print articles about Nikitin. In the 80s. Boris Pavlovich was in a group of innovative teachers and published in the "Teacher's newspaper", was one of the developers of the pedagogy of cooperation. His family became very famous.

Although the state did not support his family, the popular popularity was enormous: teachers and parents came to Bolshevo on their own. In the 90s. Nikitins actively popularize their pedagogy. In 1992, the Author's Pedagogical Center of the Nikitins (APCN) was opened on the basis of the school in the city of Korolev. It was a creative laboratory for young teachers. Nikitins, due to their age, wrote only the concept of continuous education for her. By 1997, the work of the center had faded.

In 1999 Boris Pavlovich died in Moscow after a transient illness, and in 2014 Lena Nikitina died in Korolyov.

Children of the Nikitins

1. Alexey (1959) - designer, London.

2. Anton (1960) - chemical scientist, Moscow.

3. Olga (1962) - lawyer, Korolev.

4. Anna (1964) - nurse, Korolev.

5. Julia (1966) - librarian, Yaroslavl.

6. Ivan (1969) - television manager, follower of his father, Korolev.

7. Love (1971) - librarian, Korolev.

Now the Nikitins have 27 grandchildren.

Pedagogical ideas of the Nikitins

Boris Nikitin is one of the authors of the pedagogy of cooperation and “parental pedagogy2 (natural development), the founder of the PRR methods. He was the first to write not about how a child develops, but about how a child should develop if parents encourage his activity. His ideas and practical experience have something in common with the pedagogy of Comenius, Makarenko, Korchak,. The main task of Nikitin's upbringing was seen in the development of children's abilities. They believed that if a child is not taught anything before the age of 3, then his subsequent life will be empty and mediocre.

Basic pedagogical principles of Nikitin

• The earliest possible beginning of the development of the child, starting from the intrauterine.
• The most versatile development of the sensory and musculoskeletal systems of the body.
• Careful development of developmental techniques and incentives before application.
• Creating a diverse environment for activities from the birth of a child (taking into account passion).
• Work for the highest final result in the development of the child: physical parameters - for a record, mental - without a limit.
• Complete freedom and independence of children in everything.
• The interest of adults in all children's affairs.

Opening of a new pedagogical law (NUVERS)

accumulating pedagogical experience education of his children, Nikitin groped for a new pedagogical law, which he called NUVERS: the irreversible extinction of the possibilities for effective development of abilities. Boris Pavlovich gave a deep justification for it, relied on the ideas and studies of Amosov, Arshavsky, Grum-Grzhimailo, Descartes, Kapterev, Owen, Pokrovsky, Sarkizov-Serazini, Skripalev, L. Tolstoy, Khiden, Chukovsky, tested and confirmed the practice of raising their own children. Nikitin developed methods that could prevent the negative impact of this law on the level of development of the intellect of future generations.

Basics of the Nikitin technique

In the 1960s-1970s. Nikitin laid the foundations of Russian parent pedagogy. Their main discovery in children's education: PRR - early versatile development of children.

The Nikitins' technique was born not scientifically, but by life. It is based on work, closeness to nature, creativity. The postulate of the methodology: "Tell me - I will forget, show me - I will remember, let me do it myself - I will understand."

Basic principles of the Nikitin method

• The beginning of the development of all functions and abilities, starting with the embryo.
• Minimal intervention in the process of pregnancy and childbirth:
  • no anesthesia;
  • no ligation of the umbilical cord until the end of the pulsation;
  • feeding from the first minutes of life until the appearance of the first tooth, there is no sterility from birth;
  • presence at the birth of the father;
  • no vaccinations, instillations, lubrication;
  • freedom of movement from the first minute.
• Natural physical education of the body (minimum clothing, maximum access to nature).
• Sports, physical education, hardening from birth.
• Modesty in food.
• Creation of a rich developmental environment from birth.
• Help parents as mentors and friends.
• RIR - early intellectual development.
• Minimizing the child's stay in school.
• Involvement from an early age in work (cleaning, washing, gardening, going to the store).

Attitude towards children's health

Nikitin believed that children themselves are able to solve all the problems associated with them from nature (natural upbringing). Experienced parents have developed a rule of attitude to the health of children:

• recommendations of doctors to perceive informatively;
• take as a basis the results of observations of the child, his well-being, reaction;
• keep a diary of observations;
• control the indicators of physical development of children according to their own tests;
• in case of problems, supplement observations with knowledge from different sources, until the essence of the problem and its solution are fully understood.

They believed that health would be strong only when the physical abilities of the child were developed.

Physical and labor development of the child

Nikitins considered the child's body as an instrument of knowledge that requires careful care: hardening, sports, physical education, lack of clothing and food overload, provision of sports equipment.

The physical development of the child is closely related to labor.

Labor is an important component of education. His parents organize through the game and joint actions:

• home workshops;
• children's tools;
• general household chores;
• hikes, trips, travel;
• replacing pocket money with work money.

Early involvement in labor increased physical activity, strengthening the body and immunity. Labor was offered according to age, but was obligatory for all.

Attitude to the abilities of children

There are 2 types of Nikitin abilities:

• performance - the result of the assimilation of previously known;
• creative ones are the result of self-knowledge and self-solving of the problems that have arisen.

Modern official pedagogy develops only performing abilities, while Nikitin sought to develop creative ones by creating special conditions:

• All healthy children have high abilities in all directions.
• These abilities are realized if a developmental environment is created in advance (developing games are part of it), and adults are interested in the achievements of the child.
• In the absence of a developing environment, the child fades away. Opportunities for effective development of abilities.
• How older child, the more difficult it is to develop abilities, up to their complete loss.

The measure of the development of the child's abilities needed to be assessed somehow, and Nikitin developed his own criteria for this:

• Growth testing - equity indices that take into account developmental outcomes correlated with the weight and height of the child (still not recognized).
• Testing of mental development based on evaluating the speed of mental processes according to Einsenck and the productivity of mental activity according to Kos.

The effective development of a child's abilities is possible only through play. Boris Pavlovich created a lot of games for his children, which later became the basis of his system.

Educational games

Nikitin's games are part of the learning and development environment.

Games are aimed at developing intelligence and creative abilities:

• These are sets of tasks that are solved through various objects (cubes, bricks, squares, constructors).
• Tasks are given through models, drawings, instructions.
• The tasks are set from easy to difficult.
• Games are designed for different ages and cause long-term interest.
• A stepwise increase in the difficulty of tasks develops the creative abilities of the child.
• Tasks are solved by the child independently, clues are sought in the surrounding reality.
• There may be several attempts to successfully solve the task, and they are stretched in time.
• Checking the correctness of the decision is done by the child himself on the basis of the surrounding reality.
• You can invent a sequel to the game on your own.
• There are almost no rules in games.

The game becomes an impetus in the development of abilities, if the child is involved in it voluntarily and on the basis of interest.

Algorithm for involving the child in the game

• Full voluntariness.
• Games are not explained to the child, but are attracted to it through a fairy tale, imitation of the elders.
• The game is mastered together with adults, then the child does it himself.
• The adult constantly puts ever more complicated tasks before the child. Hints are excluded.
• On failure, there is a temporary rollback back to an easier task or the game is suspended.
• When you reach the maximum achievements in the game, it is postponed.
• If you lose interest in the game, it is temporarily postponed. The child must return to her independently.
• Winning the game raises the child one step in development, stimulates further knowledge.

The Nikitins have developed several types of games: intellectual, creative and beating.

Intellectual games are aimed at the development of mathematical thinking, spatial imagination, logic. Ability to synthesize and analyze, prepare for drawing, stereometry and descriptive geometry. These games require additional items and aids.

Description of the main intellectual games of the Nikitins:

• fold the pattern— from 1.5 years, mathematical thinking.
• Fold the square- from 9-10 months, spatial imagination, logical thinking, ability to analyze and synthesize.
• Fractions— from 3-5 years old, mathematical thinking.
• Cubes for everyone- from 3 years old, spatial imagination, three-dimensional figures (for drawing, stereometry, descriptive geometry).
• Unicube- from 2-15 years old, spatial imagination, attention, clarity (for drawing, stereometry, descriptive geometry).
• Dots - from the age of 5, mathematical thinking, the study of two-digit numbers (based on this game, Zaitsev's mathematical tables were created).
• Frames and inserts— from 10 months, sensory development.

Creative games do not require additional equipment, but use improvised means (Attention - guess, Monkey, KB CAM). Playing games use models of known objects to gain practical applied skills (clock without filling, model of a thermometer, frames with knots).

The role of parents

For parents, education according to Nikitin is associated with great dedication and a conscious approach. Their role in this system of education, as part of the pedagogy of cooperation, should be reduced to mentoring, intelligent observation, creating a developing and learning environment from everyday life that will push the child to self-development.

But you can’t go to extremes - don’t organize children (takes away independence) and don’t let them take their course (except for feeding, drinking and putting them to bed), because this leads to a developmental delay.

Achievements and advantages of the Nikitin system

The research and experience of the Nikitins is a source of ideas for a new integrated pedagogy: the synthesis of physical and intellectual development, education, and social adaptation.

The activities of the Nikitins laid the foundations of "conscious parenthood". The secret of her success is in the game approach to learning. The merit of the Nikitins is that they managed to create a developing environment (things-educators + games-educators + tools-educators) from ordinary everyday life.

The system has been time-tested and has shown many positive aspects:

• reduction by 1/3 of the time spent at school;
• the use of free time to acquire social and labor skills, engage in creativity;
• effectiveness - confirmed by the health of children;
• development of efficiency, independence, ability to take a hit, solve complex problems at the level of trial and error;
• early development of the mind and body;
• intellectual developing games;
• the concept of laying abilities at an early age (NUVERS) has been developed.

Nikitins' mistakes and system cons

The Nikitins' system, although based on deep research, was created dynamically. Of course, mistakes were inevitable. Visible blunders were promptly corrected by the authors. But time revealed a number of unforeseen, previously invisible mistakes of upbringing in the Nikitin style:

• Great focus on children.
• A family world isolated from society, as a result - the inability to fit into the school, the lack of friends.
• Changing life with a game.
• Excessive enthusiasm for the development of intellectual, creative abilities, physical abilities, work skills.
• Lack of aesthetic and moral education.
• Unwillingness to overcome difficulties and independently acquire knowledge.

Life leveled these mistakes, but the system was not subjected to processing, since there are no more authors, and there are no successors yet.

The fate of the Nikitin system

In 1970-1980. The Nikitins' methodology aroused great interest: the books were sold in millions of copies, more than 1000 guests visited their house a year, meetings and lectures were overflowing with those who wished. supported pedagogical ideas Nikitins:

• Academician N.A. Amosov - cardiac surgeon, gerontologist;
• Professor I.A. Arshavsky - physiologist;

But official pedagogy did not recognize the achievements of the Nikitins, neither in the process of creating the system, nor today. On the contrary, the state placed all sorts of obstacles to the family, the dissemination and popularization of their pedagogy:

• slander was launched in the press and on TV;
• kindergartens and schools were forbidden to use Nikitin's methods;
• Boris Pavlovich repeatedly quit his job for no reason.

So far, neither the APN, nor the Ministry of Education, nor the Ministry of Health have been interested in the Nikitin hypothesis of NUVERS. Official pedagogy forgot about the innovative family system. On the contrary, in Germany books of a teacher are systematically published, the “Institute of B.P. Nikitin”, in Japan, methods are widely used in kindergartens.

Nikitin assumed that others would learn from his living experience and go further and continue his work. But there are no true successors-developers of the Nikitin case (except for his children, who use the system in their families and propagate the system of parents). In Russia, the question of the survival of the Nikitin education system remains open.

Bibliography

Nikitin's books began to be published back in the USSR.

B.P. Nikitin

1. Steps of creativity or educational games. - 1976, 1989, 1990, 1991.
2. Educational games. — 1981, 1985.
3. Letters to Murashkovsky. — 1985-87.
4. The hypothesis of the emergence and development of creative abilities. - 1985 (not published).
5. We, our children and grandchildren. — 1989.
6. The first lessons of natural education or Childhood without diseases. — 1990, 1996.
7. Our lessons. — 1992.
8. The first year is the first day. — 1994.
9. Mind games. — 1994, 1998, 2009.
10. How to measure a child's development. — 1997.
11. Healthy childhood without drugs and vaccinations. — 2001.
12. Chaikovsky. Old and new. — 2001.

L.A. Nikitin

Anna Nikitina

mother of four, grandmother of one granddaughter, aunt of 26 nephews, wife once, mother-in-law once, mother-in-law twice, pediatric nurse and doula

"And what? Where are these "children of the Nikitins"? What have they become? How many children do they have? How do they raise them? - these questions, if not literally in this form, are found on the Internet, then they literally hover between the lines of those who in one way or another speak of the “experience of the Nikitin family”

Well, I can answer briefly. Four families live in Korolev (in two private houses), one in Moscow, one in Yaroslavl and one in London. Four families of my brothers and sisters grew up two children each (from 30 to 15 years old), I have four (from 26 to 13 years old), one brother has five (from 12 to 4 years old), and my younger sister has nine (from 20 to six months). Since 2009, the great-grandchildren of the Nikitins also began to appear - so far three, but all were born at home (for comparison: out of 26 Nikitins' grandchildren, 12 younger ones were born at home).

Alexei, born in 1959, - all his life with electronics (Physics Faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after Lenin);

Anton, born in 1960, is a chemist, has several patents for inventions in this field (Chemistry Faculty of Moscow State University);

Olga, born in 1962, - lawyer of a large firm (law faculty of Moscow State University);

I, Anna, born in 1964, - Nurse (Moscow Medical School No. 3); also a transport dispatcher (I work without special education);

Julia, born in 1966, editor-in-chief of one of the regional newspapers (Moscow Institute of Culture);

Ivan, born in 1969, - mechanical engineer (Royal Mechanical College) and videographer (higher courses of VGIK);

Love, born in 1971, - librarian with little experience (library college); mostly - a housewife, mother of nine children (no one went to kindergarten and does not go).

1976 In the front row: Anton, Anya, Boris Pavlovich, Lena Alekseevna, Lyuba, Olya, Alyosha. Behind - Julia and Vanya

Before universities, everyone received a secondary specialized education (five red diplomas). Lyuba and I didn’t enter universities - she didn’t even try, but I had 4 attempts: two at Moscow State University and two at medical institutes (twice I “failed”, and two more times I took the documents without passing the entrance exams to the end).

According to state diplomas, we can draw some intermediate conclusions about our education. But, as our mother says, it doesn’t matter which of us has become, it’s important which one. And who will determine it? There is our appearance, which can be seen in the photographs, you can list your achievements. It is much more difficult to talk about your inner growth, about your hobbies... Especially since we are all so different! This can be seen in professions, because everyone was looking for his own - according to his character and aspirations. I am sure that all my brothers and sisters are good professionals, but few of us will say that they are completely successful - you have to study all the time.

I do not consider myself entitled to talk in detail about others. I will say one thing: my brothers and sisters are wonderful! But I’ll try to run through my autobiography - what, relatively speaking, professional skills do I have? Even the most interesting - what will happen?

I am 12 years old in the photo. And in my arms I have a newborn daughter of our good friends. Now this girl is already the mother of four wonderful daughters born at home, a talented architect, musician and slender beauty.

So, my education- as the most "average" child from the Nikitin family.

Preschool childhood is a lot of memories, and, apparently, the most important for my future education, but not about them now. I’ll only talk about two points: firstly, I don’t remember at all a time when I didn’t know how to read - the impression that I always knew how to read. And secondly, it turns out that I was 4 years old when I calculated how many weeks “fit” in a year (“52! As old as you are, dad!”). Before school, I can’t remember at all that I was taught something.

I can say about my studies: at the age of 7 I went straight to the 2nd grade, studied for 2 years. Having finished primary school, went to the 4th grade, but six months later she “jumped” into the 5th grade (she studied the 3rd quarter), and then she took exams for the 6th grade, and has already consistently completed 10 grades.

After graduating from the Bolshevo School No. 1 (the average score of the certificate is 4.6), she entered the Moscow Medical School No. 3, and at the age of 17 (1981) she graduated with honors; for two years she worked at the Morozov Children's Hospital (CCH No. 1) in the cardio-rheumatology department. In April 1983 she got married, worked for half a year in the surgical department of the district hospital (Ocher, Perm region) as a procedural nurse (did up to 100 or more injections per day, including up to 10-12 droppers ... - a good "medical practice") , and in March 1984 she went on her first maternity leave.

By the age of 23, there were already three children (born in 1984, 1985 and 1987), whom I did not even think of giving to any nursery gardens. There were no grandmothers or nannies around, my husband worked a lot, and I took care of the children, although I never arranged special classes - there was practically no time for this. All things are done together: whether we cook food, wash, clean, dig and plant in the garden. Play-walk-travel, of course, also together! Doing everything with children is much more interesting than doing it alone (only slower - yes!). Teaching children math, reading, even writing - while doing business. Before school, I didn’t take any additional classes, but by school the children were smarter than after graduation primary school. And they finished school well, and studied at universities for free, but about their children - again, not now ...

I went to work when my youngest daughter was 4 years old, in 1991, as a nurse at the school where our eldest son went to study. At first it was the gymnasium of Alexander Georgievich Ovchinnikov (school "Dialogue" - it was an amazing time and amazing people worked there!), then the gymnasium "Dialogue" became the core of the school of the APCN (Author's Pedagogical Center of the Nikitins) - a separate story about this time. I worked there until 1997, my last maternity leave. In 2001, she went to work in an international transport company - there was a need to earn money, because. her husband, after a serious injury at the end of 2000, was left without work for more than three years.

Now more and more I am “taken away” by another work .... I have been studying this profession - helping women in childbirth - for the 15th year. Since 1996 - 85 births, but 11 of them - after all, with an escort to the hospital. She herself gave birth at home only to the youngest son (now he is 13 years old). As a person with a medical education, I did not immediately come to home birth, and I am very grateful to all the people and circumstances that not only brought me closer to them, but also immersed me. This profession is turning me more and more towards myself: in 10.5 months of 2010 - 19 births (a lot for me! used to be from 3 to 11 per year). This topic is huge for me, and I would not like to talk about it in passing.

Something between work and passion - this is my profession as a typist. At the age of 12, she learned to type on a typewriter using a blind method, and at her best time (about 15 years old) she developed a speed of up to 300 characters per minute on it. In addition to me, my father and sister Olya also printed in the family (both also blindly), but I had to reprint all the manuscripts of future books. Olya had a serious study (law faculty of Moscow State University), and dad, of course, had enough other things to do. For me, printing was quick and enjoyable. Of course, she helped our acquaintances and friends in this (diplomas, term papers, articles), it was especially interesting to print the manuscripts of Zh.S. Sokolova - the book "To the Parents of the 21st Century" and G.P.

There was a short period of time when this work fed me: I sat at home with the children, and my brother Alexei threw up reprinting of texts in electronic form - that's when I felt the difference between a computer and a typewriter (the speed on a PC reached 600 characters per minute!).

Separately, I would like to say about my other hobbies. This is knitting (now it is very rare to knit, and when the children were small, I had time!), which was taught to me by one wonderful woman (about her and her six children - a separate story); and cooking homemade cakes (we love to make “special” cakes for birthdays with our daughters: in the form of a medal or a castle, a laptop or a lake, a window or a stump, up to a cake in the form of a guitar and even a voluminous stroller!).

But I am especially fond of my passion for music. I have always loved to sing and hum. From the age of 12, I took an example from Alyosha, when he studied piano at a pedagogical school: I learned from the notes (knowing only the basics of musical notation) the melodies I liked. I could never play well from sight, let alone sing solfeggio, but I mastered the piano stubbornly and independently. She loved to play waltzes (Strauss, Schubert, Gounod, Chopin, Griboedov), small etudes, polkas, Oginsky's polonaise, the first part of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata - everything is by heart, and everything is not quite right (in terms of hand setting, rhythm). However, such a performance helped me a few years ago to “melt” one person who was convinced that there was no place for art at all in the “Nikitin method” ...

At the age of 28, she went to learn to play the guitar, from scratch she passed a two-year course of classical guitar playing from scratch in six months, and began to compose songs and poems. But I gave “concerts” in front of listeners unfamiliar to me only twice: once - in front of fifth-graders (at the request of their class teacher), and the second time ... in front of professional writers - at the presentation of a book by a writer I knew, who asked me to participate. She performed three songs based on the verses of A.S. Pushkin with a few comments; After the presentation was over, several people approached me and asked where I was speaking. I began to burst with pride (here it is - the opium of success!), It became fun, I wanted to invent something, but I honestly admitted that I was not a professional. In fact, these public appearances are not so much to show off as an attempt to get rid of their shyness in front of an unfamiliar audience.

What else did you study? Three years ago, I honestly went to driving courses - at the age of 42 I got behind the wheel for the first time. Barely, but I got a driver's license, but there is nothing to brag about in this field yet - apparently, NUVERS * affects ... More ... Yes, I would like to learn a lot. For example, I do not speak any foreign language at all. Perhaps, when the need arises, I will.

Everything that I write here about my “education”, in my opinion, does not represent anything special and outstanding. I know that every stubborn person can achieve much more. I just wanted to use my own living example to see how “much” official education gives us and how many professions – without quotes – you can learn on your own.

And again I was amazed at how much my preschool childhood gave me - first of all, the necessary tools for further learning: expressive reading (and hence literacy), quick mental counting, good health and a great desire to work with my hands, as well as perseverance in learning new things together with the ability to calculate their strengths and capabilities. And what I was taught at school was useful in such a minimal amount that one can even say: apart from the experience of communication (which, of course, is necessary and priceless), she gave me nothing more. The medical school taught a lot - both practical skills, and the theory was interesting; working in hospitals is also an experience, but different! In fact, everyone has known for a long time: only practice really teaches. Why is our poor school still ... how to put it right? Dad called it "a dependent school." But this is a separate conversation.

Of course, it's great to know Good to do one or more things, to be a professional in something. The work captivates, sometimes captures with the head - especially creative people! It takes a lot of time to do this kind of work.

But for me, family remains a huge and very important part of life. My whole big family: both my mom and dad, and brothers and sisters with their children, and my children. We continue to consider ourselves one big family - we often celebrate birthdays together, and now weddings; arrange competitions, concerts; We try to get together for a common cause. Sometimes it is possible to prepare performances. Our “artists” are usually all the younger ones, from 13 to 5 years old (for the sake of them, basically, everything is started), we have not so few of them (9 people!), Therefore, the organization is lame, which means that there are a lot of flaws in the output . But the last performance, which, rehearsing in secret, was preparing for the niece's wedding, was a real success. But here the main merit is one of my daughters. Basically, my kids...

They are already adults, I can’t even consider them “children”. They are my friends and permanent teachers** And, by the way, they are quite good professionals, although everyone has different interests: the eldest son is an engineer (MSTU named after Bauman, honors diploma) – works in his specialty; the eldest daughter is a dentist (MGMSU named after Sechenov, one extra four for a red diploma), now a resident of the 2nd year; the youngest daughter is a teacher of history (PSTU - Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University) - works in her specialty at school; younger son- goes to the 7th grade of a regular school, her favorite lessons are work and physical education, she does judo (1st youth category), she loves to cook (for some time she dreamed of being a cook). I can't predict what he will do in the future.

I never demanded excellent grades from the children, but everyone studied well. But I was more happy not with my daughter’s gold medal, but with the fact that she and her friend had prepared a wonderful musical and acrobatic number for their graduation (the costumes were sewn for themselves, and an acrobatics teacher helped them with directing, and, despite the fact that the girls were already two years were not engaged, the number turned out!).

I know that it was skills, and not grades, that their grandfather, our dad, would have been happy about. And for grandmother Lena, our mother, first of all, it is not so much “business qualities” that are important in grandchildren, but their great friendship with each other, the desire and ability to come to the rescue, kindness and generosity. I have not only sons and daughters like that, you would know my wonderful nephews! I'm not talking about my granddaughter and my sisters' grandchildren. Indeed, one can write no less about everyone now than I wrote about myself.

Anna Ermakova (Nikitina) with her granddaughter Varya

* NUVERS - "irreversible fading of opportunities for effective development of abilities" - the hypothesis of B.P. Nikitin, according to which a person loses his ability to develop over the years.

**My mother called us, her children, "my seven universities." I agree: your children are a very good education, unless, of course, you run away from "seminars", do not hire "tutors" and do not avoid constant "trainings".