Environmental education of preschoolers is one of the areas of activity under the GEF. The formation in the younger generation of a caring attitude to the nature of the native land, the development of skills to save water resources - all this is included in the system of additional education in our country.
Tasks and concepts
The environmental education of preschool children according to GEF should help prevent the destruction of our planet. A special program designed for toddlers is used in the work of many preschool teachers.
What is she like? Its main goal is to educate the ecological culture of preschool children on understandable examples.
A tolerant attitude towards nature contributes to the development of a culture of behavior among preschoolers and their socialization.
Environmental education of preschoolers allows you to change their attitude to nature. Carers must be persistent and use a clear program of action to cope with the tasks set for them by new educational standards.
Work specifics
Ecological education of preschoolers involves the formation of a sense of responsibility for the committed acts, the ability to recognize the results of activities.
In order to get the maximum effect, educators use a variety of illustrative examples. With skillful placement of emphasis, a combination of different pedagogical technologies, active physical activity, we can talk about creating a system of values in the minds of preschoolers.
History
The environmental education of preschoolers through a combination of different methods originated in the middle of the last century. Soviet psychologists talked about the need to develop a system of interconnection between different fields of knowledge, aimed at identifying the laws of processes occurring in nature. At that time, there was not enough base: textbooks, books, illustration materials that would contribute to the implementation of the idea.
After the modernization of the preschool educational institution, a methodology for the environmental education of preschool children was created, which managed to confirm its effectiveness and expediency.
Activity specifics
Consider the basic methods of environmental education of preschool children:
- Visibility. It involves observing, looking at various illustrations, watching transparencies, movies. It is the visual methods that psychologists recognize as the most effective in working with children of primary preschool age.
- Practical methods: simple experiments, games, modeling. Children are aware of the connection between individual natural phenomena and objects, systematize knowledge, learn to apply them in practice.
- Verbal methods: preparing stories, memorizing poems, reading books contribute to the expansion of knowledge about natural phenomena, the formation of a positive attitude towards the living world.
Observation
The full-fledged environmental education of preschool children involves the large-scale application of various teaching methods.
A prerequisite is to take into account the age characteristics of children. For example, for the smallest, it is suitable to observe natural objects, accompanied by the stories of the educator.
Similar methods of ecological education of preschoolers are called types of sensory cognition, they are associated with direct contact of the child with the studied objects of wildlife.
In an educational children's institution, the teacher organizes a long and systematic perception by children of natural objects in the process of considering certain topics of the lesson.
The role of environmental education of preschool children is also important for the self-education of their parents, since interest in introducing such programs has appeared recently, many fathers and mothers do not have a clear idea of the essence of such education.
The expansion of knowledge about nature in a baby leads to a huge number of questions, which is a great incentive for parents to replenish their knowledge of natural objects and phenomena. That is why we can talk about the indirect impact of environmental education on the parents of preschool children.
Forms of work
What means of environmental education of preschool children can be considered the most effective? The teacher selects such didactic forms for work that allow you to consider the topic comprehensively, contribute to consolidating the information received:
- classes;
- hiking, excursions;
- environmental holidays;
- daily walks.
Let us dwell on each form of activity. Classes can be considered a leading form of work. They contribute to the comprehensive development of preschoolers, their familiarity with the features of natural processes and phenomena.
Recently, the development of environmental education of preschool children has been observed. In the classroom, the teacher systematizes the knowledge of the kids about the world. Primary, introductory, generalizing, informative, comprehensive classes aimed at environmental education of preschoolers are organized at the preschool educational institution.
Hiking and excursions
It is difficult to imagine the environmental education of older preschoolers without using this form of activity. During trips, thematic excursions, health improvement, education, training, as well as the development of new aesthetic and moral qualities take place. It is during the hikes and excursions that children acquire planning skills, since before leaving for nature, the educator and parents carefully think over the upcoming event.
In order for preschoolers to have a complete picture of the changes taking place in nature, the environmental education program involves guided tours at different times of the year. During such observations, the kids learn to compare, analyze, generalize the changes that occur with ponds, trees, flowers, shrubs.
In this situation, observation is the main method of environmental education in this situation, and the task of the teacher is to correct the conclusions made by preschoolers.
Ecological holidays
This form of leisure activity helps to form a positive response in children to various natural phenomena. With the systematic organization of unusual contests, contests, a positive effect on the formation of the personality of a preschooler takes place.
Holidays can be dedicated, for example, to changing seasons. We offer a variant of an unusual scenario dedicated to the meeting of spring.
Holiday "Spring is coming!"
This event is aimed at creating a positive attitude of preschoolers to perceive information about the changing seasons. The event is timed to the celebration of March 8th, involves serious preliminary work on the part of children and the teacher.
For example, in art classes, kids get to know different colors and create applications from colored paper.
The kids will then hand over the finished work to their beloved mothers, congratulating them on International Women's Day. At a music lesson, together with the teacher, preschoolers learn songs that mention female names associated with names of various colors.
In a living corner, babies grow indoor flowers for their mothers, at the same time they learn the rules for caring for them, get acquainted with the features of watering, plant transplantation. To develop fine motor skills from plasticine, preschoolers create original floral compositions that will become the basis for the exhibition before the festive event.
In addition to the formation of ideas about plants, babies develop skills of caring for wildlife. They will not only help children adapt in the social environment, but they will also become an excellent way for self-education and self-development. The only nuance that is important to consider when organizing the holiday will be building a program in which different forms will be used, taking into account the age characteristics of the kids.
An excellent end to the event will be a joint tea party, at which the results will be summed up.
Daily walks
They can also be attributed to environmental education, accessible even to kids from younger groups of kindergarten. Children like this type of activity, they are happy to contact with leaves, water, sand, pets, fruits, berries. With the correct construction of the walk, preschoolers accumulate some experience and develop observation. They experience true pleasure from direct communication with objects of wildlife. For example, a useful and entertaining way of working for children from senior groups will be to work in a flower garden or in a small experimental plot.
Modern technologies
Among the innovative methods used for environmental education of children in preschool educational institutions, let us single out an elementary search. It is understood as a joint activity of the teacher and children, which is aimed at solving cognitive problems that appear in children in everyday life.
Elementary search not only gives the educator the opportunity to form the basis of logical thinking in their wards, but also contributes to the self-development of the younger generation. Among the most interesting elementary search options, quests have been increasingly used recently.
When selecting tasks, the teacher takes into account the individual characteristics of the kids, tries to form a humane attitude towards nature, that is, carries out the moral education of the younger generation of Russians.
The focus of environmental education
It implies the following consequences:
- the creation of a certain system of knowledge and ideas about ecology among preschoolers;
- focusing on the ability to understand and see natural beauty, admire it, aesthetically perceive reality;
- involvement of children in activities aimed at the conservation and protection of natural objects.
All the components of an integrated approach to environmental education of the younger generation in a preschool educational institution give the expected result only if they are closely related.
Without awareness of the understanding and originality of the world around us, it is impossible to talk about the education in children of a humane attitude to objects of inanimate and living nature. The consolidation of theoretical information is carried out in the DOW during daily walks, during morning parties and holidays, caring for animals and plants in a living corner.
Teachers and parents should become for children a standard of harmonious relationships with nature, only then they can develop a caring attitude towards fragile flowers and plants in children.
Conclusion
Features of environmental education in preschool educational institutions are determined by the specifics of development of babies. This period is the most favorable for laying the basic personality traits, including the ecological culture of behavior. At preschool age, the process of forming a positive attitude towards nature and the world around is going on.
Showing a certain emotional and value attitude to living objects, the baby begins to realize himself as part of it. That is why knowledge of the rules and norms of interaction with nature, empathy with it, and the manifestation of a genuine interest in resolving some environmental situations that are relevant for preschoolers are so important.
As the basis for the practical activities of kindergarten teachers within the framework of environmental education, we can consider the preparation of equipment and material for the full implementation of all forms and methods of the created program.
If all the nuances are thought out when developing a program for such an enlightenment, you can count on the formation of a humane-reasonable attitude of babies to objects and natural phenomena. Recognizing the importance and timeliness of such work, educators and psychologists are developing special materials for conducting theoretical and practical classes in different groups of the kindergarten, which help to form a careful attitude of children to wildlife.