Rapid changes in the modern world did not pass by and preschool education. Every day it is updated and improved. This is the essence of the concepts of preschool education. They bring fresh ideas and plans to the masses. This article reveals modern concepts of preschool education and touches on current issues.
What is pre-school education?
Unlike attending school, going to kindergarten is optional. There is a category of parents who prefer not to take their child to kindergarten. A visit to a pre-school institution is only a recommendation for the child to receive development and learning opportunities. It also serves as a kind of starting program for first graders.
However, pre-school education is not all good. Unified rules for such training currently do not exist. Therefore, we can observe that, despite the presence of reading and writing skills, the vast majority of first-graders do not have fine motor skills, and more than half have spoken language. About 70% of students are unable to organize their activities. That is why the question arose of revising the focus and goals of preschool education, as well as compiling the GEF of preschool education.
Preschool education is the foundation of the entire educational system. During this period, children are more likely to be brought up and absorb information like a sponge. At this time, the child has a personality bookmark, which will further determine his character. Therefore, it is extremely unreasonable to ignore this age period and preschool education.
Goals and objectives of preschool education
GEF of preschool education defines the goals and objectives of the educational process in preschool age. Initially, this is the creation of conditions for the maximum disclosure of the individual abilities of the child. These conditions should also provide the opportunity for the development of a competent person, that is, one that is able to solve any life situations or problems that arise through the application of acquired knowledge, skills. It is obvious that the essence of knowledge is not in their quantity, but in their quality. Those skills that are not used by the child in life become a dead weight and can kill his desire to learn something new.
It is important to let the child believe in themselves, see their capabilities, become a full-fledged subject of their own activities. This is an important point in the transition from preschool to school. It is necessary to maintain the child’s interest in learning and develop his desire to improve.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks are highlighted:
- organization of the developmental environment in which the child is;
- the development of motor culture and physical activity, health promotion;
- development of personal qualities and cognitive processes during training;
- self-education training.
Ultimately, we must get a person who is able to organize his activities, ready to master the school curriculum, self-aware ("I am"), his abilities and personality ("I am"), able to communicate and collaborate with adults and peers.
Preschool Education Development
Preschool education, like other branches of education, is affected by social, economic and ideological changes in society. Recently, the entire education system has been saturated with the idea of prioritizing the rights of the child. All international documents, in particular the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959), express a humanistic orientation, urging all participants in the learning process to give children all the best that is in this world.
It is these moods that permeate the concept of the development of preschool education. It expresses the desire of the authorities, parents and the whole public to provide children with conditions for full and harmonious development.
It is also important that the concept of preschool education implies the rejection of any form of violence (both moral and physical). That is, the education and upbringing of children should be carried out only with their consent and if they have a desire to develop. That is why the main requirement for preschool education is its variability, flexibility.
The implemented principle of dynamism leads to the emergence of more educational institutions for children and countless various pedagogical services.
Modern tendencies
Back in the Soviet Union, namely in 1989, the State Committee for Public Education approved the Concept of Preschool Education. Its compilers are V.V. Davydov, V.A. Petrovsky and others. This document condemned the educational and disciplinary model of teacher education in kindergartens. In other words, raising children came down to cramming them with the necessary knowledge, skills. The specificity of the development of children in the period of preschool childhood was not taken into account.
The main idea of updating preschool education at that time was considered the humanization and deideologization of the preschool education process. The direction was chosen to increase the self-worth of preschool age. Human values were put at the head of the upbringing, and not a dry set of knowledge, skills.
Nevertheless, this concept existed only in theoretical terms. It did not set out specific programs to achieve the intended goals.
The “Provisional Institutional Regulations”, issued in 1991, abolished the use of the educational program as a single binding document. It was spelled out that, guided by this program in the learning process, they do not take into account the individual characteristics of children.
Today, the concept of preschool education in the Russian Federation implies the use of a variety of programs created by scientific teams and research teachers.
Educational program
The implementation of the main educational program of preschool education must necessarily include a personality-oriented interaction of children with adults. Only in this case is it possible to implement an individual approach to teaching a child.
Modern educational programs do not set themselves the goal of “shoving” more knowledge into the child. Their main focus is to interest the child, make him want to learn more new things on his own. The basis of cognitive activity is considered to be curiosity, creative imagination and communicativeness. It is on their development that programs are based.
In addition, programs should include physical development and health promotion, ensuring psychological and emotional well-being. However, the intellectual development has not been canceled. Interaction with parents is also important . They also need to induce a desire for development. In this case, the child will receive round-the-clock development.
Since the child spends most of the time in kindergarten, time planning is an important component of the educational process. It is important to ensure the continuous development and improvement of the child. To do this, use 3 forms of time organization:
- classes (specially organized form of training);
- non-traditional activities;
- free time.
Program Classification
Depending on the classification criterion, the following programs are distinguished:
- variative and alternative;
- basic, federal, regional, municipal;
- basic and additional;
- approximate;
- comprehensive and partial programs.
The difference between variable and alternative programs among themselves lies in the philosophical-conceptual basis. That is, how the author relates to the child, what aspects of his development he considers first of all, what conditions he considers for the formation of personality.
Variable programs can be presented both basic and additional.
The main program covers all aspects of a child’s life and includes the following educational sections:
- physical development;
- cognitive and speech development;
- social and personal;
- artistic and aesthetic.
The implementation of these sections provides the development of mental, communicative, regulatory, motor, creative abilities. It also develops various types of children's activities (subject, play, theatrical, visual, musical, construction, etc.). We can conclude that the main program affects all areas of the child’s life and implements the principle of complexity. Such a program is also called comprehensive.
Additional educational programs allow you to develop any aspect of life in addition to the main program. They are more narrowly focused, since they implement fewer tasks. The use of such programs is allowed only with the consent of the parents. You can rely only on an additional program in sections, circles, and studios. As part of preschool education, the main comprehensive programs are still more popular.
A sample educational program is a kind of plan for creating a more comprehensive program. The daily work of the educator is not spelled out in it, but the approximate volumes of each specific block are presented. In addition, the sample program includes a forecast of the results of its application and evaluation criteria for pupils. They are based on normative indicators of the physical and mental development of children at each age stage.
Program selection
The correct selection of a program for teaching children in kindergarten is the most urgent problem of preschool education. It is important that it fully implements the tasks set and takes into account all the nuances of the educational process of each specific preschool institution.
Each training program is subject to examination by the Federal Expert Council for General Education of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. To make it possible to use, you need to get a positive assessment. Local authorities can create expert commissions to evaluate educational programs for each individual region or city.
The choice of program depends on the type of preschool institution. It can be:
- regular kindergarten;
- kindergarten with a certain bias;
- kindergartens of compensating and combined type, for the implementation of the correction of deviations of psychophysical development;
- kindergarten of sanatorium;
- child development centers.
The educational program cannot be implemented if it has not passed the relevant expertise at the city and federal levels. The decision to introduce one or another certified program in the educational process of a preschool institution is discussed and decided on by the pedagogical council or the council of the labor collective. The selected program should be spelled out in the Charter of the kindergarten.
Educational program implementation
The concept of preschool education involves not only the selection and verification of programs, but also their correct introduction to the educational process. For the most effective implementation, it is necessary to fulfill a number of the following conditions:
- get acquainted with the program for all age groups;
- provide an optimal subject-development environment;
- select didactic and visual material according to the program;
- carry out a diagnostic examination in each age group;
- hold theoretical and practical seminars with teachers on the implementation of the program;
- consult with parents;
- start introducing the program at a young preschool age (or take into account the age period specified in it).
Kindergarten + family = full development
The modern concept of preschool education pays great attention to the continuity of the preschool institution and the family. The family has a significant impact on the formation of the personality of the child. This is the very first social institution that affects human development. A child, by virtue of his age, is very dependent on his family. His independence is only superficial, in fact, without the help of adults, the child can not yet do. It is interaction with adults at this age that is the motivator for development and mental health.
Each family is individual. Both the way and the relationships in it are special for every child. However, several common features can be distinguished. They distinguish between a "democratic" family and an "authoritarian" one.
In a "democratic" family, the attitude towards children is very loyal. Here, the child is allowed a lot, but at the same time, close contact with parents is observed. They always answer children's questions, prompt their interest and curiosity. Children are considered full members of the family and, regardless of age, participate in the discussion and resolution of family issues. In such a family, children are not just forced to brush their teeth at night, but they will certainly explain that this is necessary to maintain healthy teeth.
The "authoritarian" family functions on a different principle. There is reliance on the unquestioning fulfillment of the requirements of parents, whose authority is considered the most important in the family. The opinion of children is not taken into account. In addition, with respect to them there are countless prohibitions and restrictions, which narrows the amount of knowledge about the world around.
In particular, preschool education includes compulsory work with parents, especially with the "authoritarian" type of relationship. After all, all the work done in the kindergarten to develop the child (especially his personality) will be reduced to zero if the knowledge gained is not reinforced in the family. In addition, the child gets dissonance. He does not understand whom to listen to: in the kindergarten they say one thing and at home another. This, in turn, is very harmful to the mental health of the child.
Preschool Education Issues
Recently, much attention has been paid to creating a comfortable developing environment for the child. All teachers are aimed at improving the equipment of their group rooms. More and more multifunctional games are being invented that are capable of modifying and developing several functions at the same time. Focusing on the game activity, we allow the child in an unobtrusive way to receive knowledge about the surrounding reality. This principle ensures a smooth transition from preschool to school.
However, for parents, the quality and amount of knowledge that the child received in the kindergarten classes is still more important. That is why the concept of preschool education until 2020 stipulates the use of didactic and visual material in the course of classes.
Neglecting the principle described above and relying solely on the acquisition of dry knowledge, we risk raising a child who does not want to go to school or who seeks to study for a good grade or praise from his parents. But when the child has already gone to school with such moods, it is almost impossible to correct the situation. Therefore, this issue must be resolved at the stage of preschool education.
Another problem of preschool education is moral and moral education. In the modern world, it is quite difficult to put the right attitude towards the world into the child’s head. Indeed, teachers themselves often do not have such high moral qualities that a child needs to be taught. The themes of preschool education should be in line with today's events. The isolation of learning from real life (which is another problem of preschool education) makes it difficult to master such abstract concepts as hard work, respect, honesty, modesty, self-criticism, conscience, courage, compassion, selflessness, love of the motherland and patriotism.