In the conditions of modern reality, the form of educational activity, called project-based learning, is one of the most advanced and effectively established in the field of child development and education. This type of training is based on the implementation of a certain sequence of training projects that are complex in nature, between which there are pauses in order to better assimilate and consolidate the knowledge gained. The founder of the idea of learning through projects was John Dewey, an American scientist.
What is this form?
The main task of the educational process, he put a direct study of the conditions surrounding the child. Accompanied by a teacher, pupils travel a long and fruitful journey, traveling from one project to another. Each of them is a complex of increasingly complex practical tasks that children will have to develop and fulfill.
The method is based on a person’s distinctive ability to search activity. Each of the projects must be fascinating, be recognized by children as an interesting and useful activity, arouse enthusiasm. Solving the tasks, children learn such necessary skills as setting goals, choosing the means necessary to achieve it, and assessing the consequences. They learn to think and begin to feel responsible for decisions that stimulate mental development. The child’s knowledge and experience is constantly growing, skills are being improved, initiative, curiosity and many other necessary traits are developing.
Highlights
The basis of the theory of learning with the help of projects formed several basic postulates, namely:
1. The center of all pedagogical activity is the personality of the pupil.
2. The logic of the project activity should carry a meaning that is clear to the child, without which the motivation for cognition will be reduced.
3. Each of the pupils works on the project at an individual pace according to their own level of development.
4. The use of acquired knowledge in various situations should be encouraged, which contributes to their deep and informed assimilation.
What are they
Projects may vary - by the prevailing activity, be research, creative, practice-oriented or play (in the plot role form), by the nature of the coverage of the subject-content area, monoprojects (implemented within the framework of a certain theoretical section) or intersubject, covering immediately a complex of various areas.
The projects differ in the nature of mass participation. For example, environmental classes with children can be held both among pupils of one group, or several at once, and can also include the entire composition of a preschool institution or even a whole district. The number of participants can also be different.
There are projects that are individual in nature, as well as paired, for a small group or collective. Depending on the duration of the event, they are divided into short-term (the time of which is laid out in one or several classes and takes a total of one to two weeks), medium-term (up to a month) and long-term (the duration of which is from a month to six months or even more).
What to consider
When implementing the technology of this type of training, it is necessary to adhere to certain requirements.
1. The task posed to children should be significant for them in terms of creativity and research interest.
2. The results obtained are required to carry both cognitive and practical value.
3. Orientation to the independent activities of students should prevail.
4. The content should be clearly structured.
5. It is necessary to introduce different types and methods of research - from observations and experiments to brainstorming.
Of course, you should always remember the age of the pupils. According to this criterion, the design activities of preschoolers exist at three different levels.
Environmental project in the younger group of kindergarten
For babies aged 3.5 to 5 years, it can be called imitative and performing. Children at this age do not have life experience, their level of development of intelligence and creative abilities is still quite low. Therefore, the environmental project in the younger group of the kindergarten relies mainly on the actions of the teacher - conscious decisions for the kids are not yet possible.
The pupil, expressing needs and showing interest in a certain area of life, can only become a “customer” of a particular project. Carrying it out, children try to fulfill the tasks of the educator at the level of imitation. Together with the teacher, the kids try to analyze the results.
Even the most modest attempts of independent actions should be encouraged, praise children for manifestations of the initiative and note all the positive aspects in their development.
When older kids
Another thing is an environmental project in the middle group of kindergarten. At the age of five or more years, children already have a certain certain experience of social life. Preschoolers at this age know what communication with peers and joint activities are, they have the rudiments of arbitrariness of action, self-control and the ability to evaluate themselves and others. The level of adequacy in interaction with peers is already quite high.
Children can understand the problem, clarify and formulate the goal and choose the means necessary for its achievement. Adult help is required to a much lesser extent. An environmental project in the middle group of kindergarten can be safely called developing.
Further - even more interesting
By the end of the sixth year of life, as well as in the seventh, the child’s personality is being formed at an accelerated pace, and the environmental project in the kindergarten is becoming more complicated. The older group of preschool children is characterized by high growth rates of both intellectual and personal. The adult's task is to support creative activity and create an environment that stimulates independent creativity, movement towards a chosen goal and the implementation of the practical actions that an environmental project in a kindergarten requires. The older group of pupils is able to develop and implement a truly creative event.
Where to begin?
Each environmental project in kindergarten is carried out in compliance with the desired sequence. What stages can it consist of? First of all, this is the choice of its topic and type, as well as the number and composition of the participants. Then you should identify the problem and set a specific goal. Next is the process of planning the steps that will lead to it, as well as the choice of methods for working on the project with the distribution of functions among the participants.
After that, each of those who are involved in it works independently, solving the task given to him. In between, the data obtained are verified and discussed, after which each of the participants will have to protect their own individually obtained result. It ends with a collective discussion with the necessary conclusions.
Who should formulate the topic and problem? This is either the task of the teacher, taking into account the interests of children, or the students' own initiative, and from the side of the adult leading questions are possible.
It should be noted that the technology of project training, with all its enormous advantages, is not easy and generally available. This form of work requires considerable time expenditures, as well as the teacher having creative abilities, great patience and respect for each of the children. Educators of preschool institutions should not be forced to organize work with children in this particular form - the decision is made solely by the teacher.
Environmental project in kindergarten: preparatory group
Let's move on from theory to practice. As an example, consider the project of environmental content on the theme "We are friends with nature, we do not need garbage." It focuses on children aged about 6-7 years and suggests a number of participants from 10 people.
Making an event, the teacher starts a so-called project passport, which will list all its main characteristics. We’ll clarify the parameters of our project: by its type it refers to information and research, its content involves the disclosure of the topic “Children and Nature Protection”, the participants that make up our environmental project in kindergarten are a preparatory group of pupils, teachers and parents.
This is a collective project; it is short-term in duration. The main issue raised is the concept of environmental protection and attempts to focus on "garbage" issues. Projects “Take care of native nature” in the preschool educational institution are quite popular due to the relevance of the topic and accessibility for children's understanding.
Home concept
The idea put forward by the teacher sounds like this: if the rubbish that we throw away daily is sorted, then each individual pile can be recycled so that nature does not suffer. Or maybe the waste will make crafts on an environmental theme?
In the theoretical part of the project, it is important to justify the relevance of the problem being raised. In this case, we are talking about the ability of a child of this age to consciously analyze his own actions and move to a new level of emotional and value relationships. A personality is formed not only intellectually, but also morally. The child is already able to realize the majority of environmental problems facing the world. The task of specialists is precisely at this time to find the necessary means of environmental education. The training course "The World" in the DOE will be a good help to the teacher.
Watching reality
Children in kindergarten go for a walk every day, where they have to take part in cleaning the territory and observe a considerable amount of garbage each time. You should prompt the students to ask themselves simple questions - where the garbage comes from, where it is taken out, what happens to him next.
The main meaning of such an event on an environmental topic is the formation of an environmental culture and orientation towards a position of respect for the environment. The practical tasks of the project can be called getting children ideas about the types and properties of household waste, their danger to human and animal health.
The environmental theme in kindergarten today is very, very relevant. Children should find out what are the main sources of pollution of the water and air environment, as well as other natural resources, what consequences human activities can lead to, and what needs to be done to prevent them. Together with the teacher, they should try to discover ways to reuse certain types of waste material.
The work of the teacher
The environmental project in the kindergarten consists of separate stages. The first of them is preparatory. The task is to analyze the situation and determine the main goals. At this stage, the educator should familiarize themselves with the literature and experience of colleagues, as well as determine the theoretical concept of the event. Then he develops a long-term plan of the proposed activity, according to which he draws up and systematizes the selected didactic materials.
The second stage can be called organizational. It should be given the ecological focus of the group with the involvement of parents in future work. One of the blocks involves the actions of children to recognize the properties of most of the objects and materials surrounding them - plastic, glass, paper, metal, rubber and so on.
Discussions should be held on the topic of environmental pollution by household waste. In the course of work, the skills of competent ecological behavior of babies are gently formed. The teacher creates the necessary presentation on the topic, advises parents and issues a home-made newspaper for them.
The third stage is practical. His task is to form the simplest environmental knowledge by introducing certain forms. Working at this stage, parents can be given out questionnaires in order to find out the level of their competence in this matter, as well as how relevant the topic is to a particular family.
To help the teacher
What questions should the questionnaire for parents contain? An approximate list of them can be as follows:
1. What type of waste does your family throw away the most during the week?
2. Is it customary for you to sort the garbage?
3. What do you do with the waste - burn it, send it to the trash can, etc.?
4. Do you have the habit of making crafts with children from bargain material of crafts on an environmental theme, as well as decorating the yard?
5. Do you have an idea about the dangers of household waste?
6. Does your family talk with children about the dangers of household waste?
7. What do you do with the waste while walking in the yard or in the park?
8. Do you read books to children about this? Can you quickly come up with and draw a drawing on an environmental theme?
9. Do you take part in cleaning the territory of your yard and do you introduce children to it?
10. Do your children always get rid of trash after any activity?
11. Are you satisfied with the level of organization of waste collection in your area?
12. What suggestions could you make to city services on this topic?
Monitor household waste and kindergarten. How is garbage accumulated, where is it dumped, how is it taken out, where are the bins and garbage bins located exactly? How often do parents get rid of waste?
Practical activities with children
Children should be introduced to the types and properties of different materials that surround them in everyday life, for example, consider paper for a variety of purposes - cardboard, wrapping, newspaper, corrugated. Let the kids pay attention to the differences in its qualities and properties - because the paper can be transparent or not, thin or thick, rough or glossy, it can tear, wrinkle, get wet or burn.
In the same way, children need to be given the opportunity to explore all the available plastic, wood and glass items, while paying attention to the physical characteristics and consumer properties of these materials. They should be able to tell about each subject with a listing of its most important qualities.
An environmental project in a kindergarten provides for the organization of a creative workshop where samples of waste material will be collected. Children should be shown what beautiful and original crafts they can make with their own hands. The work also includes slide shows and presentations, as well as reading cognitive literature, an environmental newspaper, and a laboratory device for experiments.
Everything is in nature!
The same stage may include practical observations, walks and excursions of an ecological orientation to the streets and parks closest to the institution. On walks, children should be given the opportunity to carefully sort the garbage and draw their attention to how uncleaned waste can be carried by the wind.
Ecological orientation excursion can be carried out in the nearest park or at the edge of the forest. Check to see if there is garbage and where it is most. If children find a cluttered clearing left by careless vacationers, pay attention to how ugly it looks and how unpleasant it is for people to visit such places.
If there is a spring or a small body of water in the vicinity of the preschool institution, it is worthwhile to organize an excursion to it and along the way explain what people should do to prevent water pollution.
In the forest and at the pond
Children should be introduced to environmental signs, their meaning and purpose should be explained. Kids can collectively engage in the release of the poster “Take Care of Nature”.
Having studied the main environmental signs, in a separate lesson, kids can engage in their manufacture. Having made several such signs, you should take them with you for a walk or an ecological excursion and place them near a reservoir, in a forest, etc.
In kindergarten, a rule for sorting garbage should be introduced - broken plastic parts of toys are collected in one basket, and paper cuttings in another after training sessions. .
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A separate day can be devoted to the topic of ecology with the organization of a thematic exhibition, didactic and outdoor games. The exhibition may contain samples of recycled products. If most of the exhibits will be created by the hands of kids, this practical lesson can be invaluable and arouse the interest of all little creators. Even the youngest participant is able to make a contribution - a drawing on an environmental topic.
What at the end?
At the final, fourth stage, it is necessary to take stock, summarize the experience gained. This can be done in the form of a round table. An environmental project in a kindergarten implies results that include the active participation of children together with their parents in environmental activities, expanding the knowledge of pupils and family members about nature conservation, the ecology of their native city and territory, landscaping together with pupils of the territory for walks decorated with its “garbage” "objects, for example, crafts made from plastic bottles, etc. Visual practical results are recorded in the form of photo albums and wall newspapers created during the course of the project.
The newspaper may contain photographs of littered corners of nature, episodes of unsanitary conditions in individual yards and the like. Everything is published in a home-made wall newspaper or made out in the form of a presentation under the motto: "This should not be!"
One of the most interesting events can be an environmental quiz on the environment. It should be carried out closer to the completion of the project. In answering questions, children will be able to use all the knowledge gained.