Methodological development “Methods of environmental education of preschool children”

Methodological development “Methods of environmental education of preschool children”

The next verbal method is reading works of fiction.

In the hands of a teacher, a children's book about nature has great educational value. It expands children's understanding and introduces them to phenomena that are impossible to directly perceive. A natural history book reveals to children the phenomena of inanimate nature, helps to establish connections and relationships that exist in nature.

The founders of Soviet children's natural history books are V.V. Bianchi, M.M. Prishvin, Paustovsky, Sladkov. Pavlova introduced a new genre - environmental fairy tales, which in a fascinating way introduce the creatures inhabiting planet Earth, teach us to understand their needs and relationships, and reveal the secrets of complex phenomena and miraculous transformations in nature. The ecological fairy tale was further developed by Shorygina and Ryzhova.

Practical methods.

One of the practical methods of environmental education is play.

While playing, children learn about the natural environment, their knowledge about objects, objects, and natural phenomena noticeably expands and becomes more specific.

Play activities also have an impact on the development of children’s humane feelings towards nature and their cognitive attitude towards it.

A special place and importance in the system of environmental education for preschoolers is occupied by didactic, that is, educational games.

Didactic games are games with ready-made content and rules. In the process of didactic play, children clarify, specify, consolidate, expand, and systematize their ideas about nature. At the same time, the didactic game influences the development of preschoolers’ mental operations (such as analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, classification, etc.)

In the process of environmental education of preschoolers, the following types of didactic games are used:

subject;

desktop-printed;

verbal;

creative.

Didactic games should be used starting from the younger age group.

Creative games are of great importance in the system of classes with children on environmental topics.

Construction games with natural materials

(sand, water, clay, cones, pebbles, etc.). They have a positive impact on the process of children learning specific properties and qualities of natural objects. In the process of these games, children’s sensory experience is enriched, improved, and cognitive abilities are developed. Construction games can also be used to prepare children for practical research activities, since during these games children often learn problem situations related to the physical properties of materials (for example, why dry sand crumbles, but wet sand can be used to make Easter cakes).

Theory and methodology of environmental education; methodological development on the topic

Features of environmental education of preschool children.

Currently, the problem of environmental education is relevant. In modern society, environmental consciousness has not been formed. To solve this problem, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation requires that the formation of environmental knowledge in preschoolers be included in the educational process, starting from a young age.

Environmental education in preschool age is primarily aimed at developing the child’s humane feelings and accumulating emotionally positive experiences with nature.

Environmental education for preschoolers involves creating a system of work in kindergarten that would become an interesting, exciting process for both children and adults.

Ecology is the science of the interactions of living organisms with each other and the environment.

Environmental education is the formation of a consciously correct attitude of children towards an object of nature. It is advisable to engage in environmental education of children from the first years of life.

Environmental education includes intellectual, emotional, aesthetic and effective aspects. All three aspects are interconnected and form a moral basis, which is manifested in the child’s behavior.

Environmental education of a child involves:

• Fostering a humane attitude towards nature (moral education);
• Formation of a system of environmental knowledge and ideas (intellectual development);
• Development of aesthetic feelings (the ability to see and feel the beauty of nature, admire it, the desire to preserve it);
• Participation of children in activities feasible for them to care for plants and animals.

A child’s consciously correct attitude towards nature is based on basic knowledge of an ecological nature.

Ecological knowledge is information about the relationship of specific plants and animals with their environment, about their adaptability to it.

The process of introducing children to environmental culture occurs from early preschool age. As a rule, all areas of preschool childhood play a fundamental role in the environmental education of a child: family, peers, various types of educational institutions. The influence of a preschool institution on the formation of environmental knowledge can be decisive.

The environment, its proper organization in a preschool educational institution and the skillful inclusion of the child in active interaction with the surrounding objective and natural world are one of the conditions for the effectiveness of the formation of environmental knowledge in a preschool institution. The effective influence of the environment on the personality of a child in a preschool educational institution largely depends on the ability of teachers to organize such an environment.

The experience of many educators at Russian preschool educational institutions shows that in the process of environmental education and upbringing of preschool children, it is necessary to form a structure of holistic knowledge about the unity of earth, air, flora and fauna, the relationship and interdependence of man with the natural world.

For environmental education in preschool educational institutions, the following conditions are necessary:

1. creating a corner of living and inanimate nature in the group;
2. creation of external natural areas on the territory of the preschool institution - garden, vegetable garden, ecological trail, recreation area, “bird canteen”, etc.;
3. interaction with parents to integrate environmental education with family education;
4. organization of research and environmental activities of children based on a combination of feasible child labor with play situations.

This form of organizing children's research and environmental activities solves the problem of developing in children an understanding of the interconnections of all living and nonliving things in nature.

The objectives of environmental education are:

1. developing children's skills and abilities to care for plants and animals;
2. education of children’s sensory-emotional reactions to the environment;
3. nurturing in children a caring attitude towards nature through targeted communication with the environment;
4. education of aesthetic and patriotic feelings by means of nature.

Currently, there are a number of environmental programs for preschool educational institutions. Most of them are based on the formation in preschoolers of a cognitive attitude towards nature, labor skills and abilities, an understanding of the meaning of work as an activity to satisfy the needs of living beings; on cultivating an interest in work and nature, a careful and caring attitude towards nature, a humane and active attitude towards all living things; on the development of an ecological and aesthetic vision of nature, an aesthetic attitude towards it; to educate environmentally appropriate behavior in nature.

When working with children to develop an environmental culture, it is important to know the following principles of environmental education and education of preschool children:

1. the principle of the developing and educational nature of knowledge about nature (the selection of knowledge about nature should be made taking into account the goals and objectives of environmental education of preschool children, their age capabilities);
2. the principle of scientificity in the selection of knowledge content. It is necessary to proceed from the leading goals of modern natural science (the idea of ​​the diversity of nature, the unity of the living and the nonliving, the relationship between the organism and the environment, the adaptability of the living to the conditions of existence, the variability of nature, the essence of the interaction between man and nature) and scientific concepts (plants and animals - living beings; living and inanimate; growth and development; biocenosis, etc.);
3. the principle of encyclopedicity in the selection of knowledge content;
4. the principle of taking into account the systematic character of knowledge about nature at different age stages;
5. principle of accessibility;
6. local history principle in the selection of material;
7. ecological approach to the selection of knowledge about nature;
8. the principle of concentricity in the presentation and assimilation of natural history knowledge in preschool age (complicating the material from group to group).

An important feature in the environmental education of preschool children is the organization of an ecological-developmental environment, which should contribute to the emergence and development of the child’s cognitive interests, the development of his volitional qualities, emotions and feelings, and promote interpenetration with the child’s natural environment.

When organizing the ecological and developmental environment, it is necessary to take into account:

• requirements for the selection and placement of plants and animals of a corner of nature in accordance with their biological characteristics;
• the ability to maintain objects in conditions close to natural;
• age characteristics of children (originality of perception, level of development and cognitive activity, accessibility for observation and work);
• safety of objects for the life and health of children, didactic and educational significance, etc.

When organizing work on environmental education of preschoolers, it is necessary to take into account the following methods:

1. Observation is the leading method of environmental education for children. Observation enriches sensory experience, forms realistic ideas and concepts about nature, the foundations of ecological consciousness, an aesthetic vision of the natural world, a careful and caring attitude towards all living things.
2. The use of illustrative and visual material in environmental education of children.
3. The use of technical teaching aids (slides, filmstrips, films, videos, computer programs, etc.) in the system of environmental and pedagogical work.
4. Labor as one of the main methods of environmental education for children.
5. The use of elementary experiments in the system of environmental work with preschool children.
6. Game as a method of environmental education.
7. Modeling activity as a method of environmental education for children.
8. The teacher's stories about objects and phenomena of nature, human activity in it.
9. Compilation of a natural history book, its use to motivate the development of environmental concepts, in cultivating in children observation, interest, love and respect for nature, in enriching aesthetic impressions and feelings.
10. The use of environmental fairy tales in the formation of a scientific vision of nature, in the disclosure of complex phenomena, the variety of forms of adaptation of living organisms to the environment, and the education of value orientations in relation to natural objects.
11. Using conversations as a method of expanding, deepening, generalizing and systematizing children's knowledge about nature.

Questions for an interview with an ecologist (educator-specialist) of a preschool educational institution.

1. What do you understand by the term “ecology”?
2. What do you understand by the term “environmental education”?
3. What do you understand by the term “ecological knowledge”?
4. How do you understand what the goal of environmental education for preschool children is?
5. What role do you think the formation of children’s emotional attitude towards nature plays in environmental education?
6. Name what forms, methods and means should be used in the formation of environmental education of children.
7. List what conditions need to be created in a preschool educational institution for the implementation of environmental education for children?
8. What problems does environmental education of preschool children in preschool educational institutions solve?
9. Name what three types of groups existing environmental programs can be divided into according to their content, goals and objectives.
10. What requirements should a teacher take into account when organizing an ecological and developmental environment?
11. Name the technical means that can be successfully used in the system of environmental and pedagogical work in preschool educational institutions?

Analysis of environmental education programs for preschool children.

Currently, there are a number of environmental programs for preschool educational institutions. An analysis of existing programs in terms of content, goals and objectives allows us to conditionally divide them into three main groups: environmental (mainly bioecological) programs; aesthetic, cultural and environmental programs; social and environmental programs.

Environmental programs (bioecological)

Aesthetic-cultural-ecological programs

Social and environmental programs.

Literature

1. System of environmental education in preschool educational institutions: information and methodological materials, greening of the developmental environment of a kindergarten, development of classes in the section “Natural World”, matinees, quizzes, games. – 2nd ed., stereotype. /aut.-state O.F.Gorbatenko.
2. Dick N.F. Developmental lessons on ecology for preschoolers. – M.: LLC TID “Russkoe Slovo – RS”, 2006.
3. Nikolaeva S.N. Methods of environmental education in kindergarten: Working with children in the environment. And Art. kindergarten groups: Book. for kindergarten teachers. – M.: Education, 1999.
4. Kolomina N.V. Education of the fundamentals of ecological culture in kindergarten: Lesson scenarios. – M.: TC Sfera, 2005.
5. Bondarenko T.M. Environmental activities with children 5-6 years old: A practical guide for educators and methodologists of preschool educational institutions. – Voronezh: TC “Teacher”, 2004.

The effectiveness of pedagogical techniques and methods

Fostering an ecological culture among preschoolers implies variability in the methods and techniques of work in the presentation of educational material. They are divided into:

1. conversations;
2. observations;
3. viewing objects;
4. surprise moment;
5. artistic word;
6. dynamic pauses;
7. finger gymnastics;
8. method of projects, game learning situations.

Methods of environmental education of preschoolers today differ in many ways from outdated stereotypes; they are designed to combine into one whole the learning process and direct contact of a preschooler or primary school student with natural objects. Long-term projects are developed for older children and they are designed to implement the tasks of environmental education for children during one school year as part of the curriculum. The project involves a long process of observation, experimentation, followed by analysis of the effectiveness of the methods, techniques and forms of work with children used.

By the end of the project, older preschoolers will learn to make connections, draw parallels, see mistakes in activities, and learn ways to correct them. They will be able to compare the result of an experiment or an environmental project with the originally set task, and objectively comment on the result of the coincidence of their hypothesis with the data obtained. The guys will sum up the uselessness or effectiveness of their work and set themselves the task of reaching a new level. In middle-aged groups, such projects can last up to 1 month, in younger groups - 1 week.

The concept of environmental education for preschool children by S. N. Nikolaeva

The concept of environmental education for preschool children by S. N. Nikolaeva

The concept of environmental education for preschool children»

S. N. Nikolaeva
( 1996)
is a normative and regulatory document in the field of environmental education for preschool children
.
The concept allows us to determine the prospects for its development, create specific programs and technologies, and organize the practical activities of various preschool institutions
.
The concept of environmental education for preschoolers

- this is the first attempt to formulate the main ideas and provisions of the new direction of preschool pedagogy. The concept allows us to determine the prospects for its development, create specific programs and technologies, and organize the practical activities of various preschool institutions.

Nikolaeva S.N. believes that initially the basis of environmental work with children should be the transfer of knowledge and information about nature, and as the final stage in environmental work with children, the author puts the formation and consolidation in the child of a certain type of attitude towards the natural environment (cognitive, aesthetic or humanistic). According to her opinion, the way a person has become in practical life, relates to nature, is an indicator of environmental education and upbringing.

The foundation for environmental education of preschoolers is the traditional system of introducing children to nature. Nikolaeva S.N. puts two points into the content of environmental education: the transfer of knowledge in terms of ecology and its modification into attitudes. In her opinion, knowledge underlies the process of forming the beginning of ecological culture, and attitude is its final product. Only true knowledge in this area forms a conscious attitude and gives rise to environmental consciousness.

Nikolaeva S.N. believes that when approaching issues of environmental education, first the focus is on nature and that man is part of it, and then prerequisites are put forward in terms of the need to study the patterns that exist in nature itself. Only a clear understanding of them will allow a person to understand the fullness and correctness of interaction with nature and live with it according to its laws.

Modification of knowledge occurs if the teacher provides his own guidelines when working with children. And when there is a manifestation of a subjective attitude towards nature, here we can already talk about independent activity

The initial stage of all environmental work with children C.

N. Nikolaeva highlights the process of transferring knowledge and information about the natural world to children.
The final result of this activity, in her opinion, should be the formation in each child of a certain type of attitude towards the natural environment (cognitive, aesthetic or humanistic)
.

An indicator of environmental education and upbringing must be considered a person’s practical actions in relation to the natural environment. The basic basis for environmental education of preschoolers is the traditionally established system of introducing children to nature.

The content of environmental education includes two aspects: the transfer of environmental knowledge and its transformation into attitude. Knowledge is an obligatory component of the process of forming the principles of ecological culture, and attitude is its final product.

The teacher should be considered the bearer of ecological culture in kindergarten,

it is a decisive factor in children’s environmental education.

The aspects of his personality determine the result of his activities - the advancement of children along the path of acquiring the principles of ecological culture:

1) understanding of environmental problems and the causes that give rise to them. Each teacher feels a sense of civic responsibility in the current situation and is ready to change it.

2) professionalism and pedagogical skill: mastery of methods of environmental education of preschool children,

awareness by the teacher of the goals and objectives of this activity, systematic implementation of various technologies of development, upbringing and education in the practice of working with children.

3) the general orientation of the teacher in the practice of the new humanistic model of environmental education: creating a favorable atmosphere for children to live in kindergarten, caring for their physical and mental health, using personality-oriented methods of work.

Real achievements in working with children are ensured by the teacher’s professionalism, knowledge and practical mastery of environmental education methods.

The following groups of methods can be distinguished, the integrated use of which leads to an increase in the level of environmental education of children,

development of the environmental orientation of their personality.

1. The joint activity of the teacher and children to create and maintain the necessary living conditions for living beings is the main method of environmental education of children.

2. Observation is a method of sensory knowledge of nature. Provides direct contact with nature, living objects, and the environment.

3. The modeling method occupies a significant place in the system of environmental education.

4. The verbal and literary method is distinguished as an independent method due to the great specificity of speech activity.

Methods are only conditional (theoretically)

divided into groups; in the practice of environmental education of children, they are used in combination within the framework of one or another specific technology.

Nikolaeva S.N.’s concepts in terms of environmental education are based on materials from the field of education that are of direct importance to her: the Concept of preschool education (1989) and the Concept of general secondary environmental education (1994). The concept of preschool education allows us to consolidate the most advanced humanistic ideas of a personality-oriented model of educating preschoolers and ensure the connection of environmental education with the entire sphere of education of children of this age.

The concept of environmental education shows that its foundation lies in the possibility of adaptability of preschool age and the leading ideas of ecology: the organism and the environment, the community of organisms and the environment, man and the environment.

The goal of environmental education for preschool children

- the formation of the principles of ecological culture - the basic components of personality, which allow in the future, in accordance with the Concept of general secondary environmental education, to successfully appropriate in the aggregate the practical and spiritual experience of interaction between humanity and nature, which will ensure its survival and development.

Objectives of environmental education

- these are the tasks of creating and implementing an educational model in which the effect is achieved - obvious manifestations of the principles of environmental culture in children preparing to enter school.

Below I will list these tasks:

— formation within the teaching staff of an understanding and significance of environmental problems and the fact that this area is a priority in terms of environmental education;

— organization in a preschool institution of conditions that would ensure and facilitate the pedagogical process of environmental education;

— advanced training of teaching staff on an ongoing basis: mastering the methods of environmental education, improving environmental propaganda among parents;

— implementation of constant work with children using various technologies, its constant improvement;

- identifying the level of environmental culture that a particular child has achieved when interacting with nature, objects, people and assessing his personality and activities

- real achievements in the intellectual, emotional, behavioral spheres.

Preschool age is a good period when it is possible and necessary to study the laws of nature as part of environmental education, while the content of environmental knowledge covers the following range of issues:

— connection of plant and animal organisms with their habitat;

— diversity of living organisms, their ecological unity;

— communities of living organisms;

— man as a living being, his habitat, which ensures health and normal, high-quality life;

— use of natural resources in human economic activity, environmental pollution;

— protection and restoration of natural resources;

- attitude

- final result.

According to the position of this author, the initial stage in developing a correct attitude towards nature is the transfer of environmental knowledge, and their change occurs when the teacher puts his own guidelines when using methods in working with children. If a child participates in an activity, then this is a vivid form of manifestation. If the activity contains indicators of attitudes toward nature, people, and oneself, it means that the child has mastered the elements of environmental information.

The process of environmental education may include the following activities:

- role-playing games that reflect various events in nature or the activities of adults aimed at creating nature;

- practical activities to create or maintain conditions for living beings in the green zone of a children's institution (work in nature), as well as activities to restore objects (repairing toys, books, etc.);

— creation of art products within the framework of impressions received from communication with nature or the activities of people in nature;

- communication with nature, voluntary contact with objects of flora and fauna

- complex activity, which includes observation, evaluative one-sided judgments, admiration, care activities, taming and training (animals);

- implementation of experiments: practical cognitive activity with natural objects, which is accompanied by observations and statements.

A positive effect from such an experiment with living beings (objects) can only be if all actions take into account the needs of living objects and do not harm them.

- speech activity (questions, messages, participation in conversation, dialogue, exchange of information, impressions, clarification of ideas about nature using words);

- observation, which is an autonomous, independent cognitive activity, which is ensured by obtaining information about the nature and activities of people in nature;

- viewing books, paintings, television programs with natural history content

- activities that contribute to obtaining new and clarifying existing ideas about nature.

The concept of environmental education of preschool children (S.N. Nikolaeva) on leading materials in the field of education that are of direct importance to her: The concept of preschool education (1989) allows you to assimilate the advanced humanistic ideas of the personality-oriented model of education of preschoolers and ensure the connection of environmental education with the whole sphere of education of children of this age.

The Concept of Environmental Education for Preschool Children states that: environmental education is based on the leading ideas of ecology adapted for school age: the organism and the environment, the community of organisms and the environment, man and the environment.

Bibliography:

1. https://spargalki.ru/pedagogiks/165-metodika-ekologicheskogo-obrazovaniya.html?start=2
2. Gretskaya Yu. P. Concepts of environmental education according to S. N. Nikolaeva [Text] // Current tasks of pedagogy: materials of the VIII International Scientific Conference (Moscow, November 2021). - M.: Buki-Vedi, 2021. - pp. 37-39. — URL https://moluch.ru/conf/ped/archive/272/13052/ (access date: 01/02/2018).

Age characteristics

Methods, forms and means of environmental education depend on the age of the children. Classes on nature conservation begin at preschool educational institutions and then continue in primary school. Research, experiments, observations, projects, conversations, reading literature are the methods that the teacher uses in academic work and extracurricular activities. Extracurricular general activities include trips, holidays, themed leisure, as well as work with parents. Forms and methods can be used together or separately.

S.N. Nikolaev

System of environmental education for preschool children

Svetlana Nikolaevna Nikolaeva – Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, chief researcher at the Institute of Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of Childhood of the Russian Academy of Education.

Reviewers:

Kudryavtsev V.T. – Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Theory and History of Psychology at the Institute named after. L. S. Vygotsky.

Kavtaradze D.N. – Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Ecology and Nature Conservation of the Department of Higher Plants, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, laureate of the Presidential Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of education.

Tsvetkova I.V. – Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor of Moscow State Pedagogical University. M.A. Sholokhov.

Galitskaya I. A
–
Candidate of Philosophy, leading researcher at the State Research Institute of Family and Education of the Russian Academy of Education.

about the author

Nikolaeva Svetlana Nikolaevna (b. 1940) – Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, researcher in the field of environmental education, chief researcher at the Institute of Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of Childhood of the Russian Academy of Education.

She began her career as a teacher in one of the Moscow kindergartens. After graduating from Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. V.I. Lenina worked at the Research Institute of Preschool Education of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. She was a student of a prominent galaxy of domestic scientists: psychologists (V.S. Mukhina, A.V. Zaporozhets, N.N. Poddyakov, L.A. Wenger) and teachers (E.I. Zalkind, D.V. Mendzheritskaya, A.P. Usova , T. A. Markova, N. A. Vetlugina). Until 1979, she was engaged in research on the issues of mental education of preschoolers in the process of introducing them to nature. From 1980 to the present day, he has been engaged in research in the field of environmental education for preschool children.

S. N. Nikolaeva is the author of the first “Program of Environmental Education for Preschool Children” (1993), which later became the “Young Ecologist” program, and the first “Concept of Environmental Education for Preschool Children.” In 1992, a theoretical monograph “Communication with nature begins in childhood” was published, in which the author analyzes and summarizes research that made it possible to define a new – ecological – approach to introducing preschoolers to nature. From this moment the author’s intensive work in the field of environmental education begins. In 2006, S. N. Nikolaeva defended her thesis for Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences.

A contribution to preschool pedagogy is the author’s holistic system of environmental education for children from 2 to 7 years old in kindergarten and family settings, the theoretical justification of which is presented in this publication. The system defines the content and methods of environmental education for preschoolers, a program for preschool institutions, reveals the concept of “technology,” and presents a sequence of technologies for children of all age groups. Technologies for the “Young Ecologist” program allow practitioners to form the beginnings of an ecological culture in preschoolers. Adult education is also part of the system: the training of specialists in colleges and universities is carried out using the textbooks of S. N. Nikolaeva “Methods of environmental education of preschool children. Textbook for students of secondary pedagogical educational institutions" and "Theory and methods of environmental education for children. Tutorial. For students of preschool education faculties of higher pedagogical educational institutions." In the system of advanced training for preschool workers, the manual “Environmental education of children in preparation for school” is often used.

The sphere of today's scientific interests of S. N. Nikolaeva is the issues of comprehensive intellectual and personal development of children in the system of environmental education.

Preface

The progress of modern civilization is largely due to the rapid development of natural science, in particular, the biosphere sciences, in which all earthly processes are considered in interconnection, in the unity and interdependence of their manifestations. Ecology among these sciences acquires special significance.

In recent decades, the development of two parallel processes has been clearly visible - the worsening of the planet’s environmental problems and their understanding by the Earth’s population. In Russia, as in other countries, a system of continuous environmental education is being established, and a conceptual vision of this process is being formed. The initial link in the environmental education system is the sphere of preschool education.

It is obvious that it is at the stage of preschool childhood that the first worldview is formed: the child receives emotional impressions of nature, accumulates ideas about different forms of life, that is, the fundamental basis of ecological thinking and consciousness is formed, and the initial elements of ecological culture are laid. But this happens only on the condition that the adults raising the child themselves have an ecological culture: they understand universal problems and are concerned about them, show the child the beautiful world of nature, and help establish relationships with him.

Application to the program

To successfully implement this goal, Svetlana Nikolaevna has developed a special program. This is “Young Ecologist” for Nikolaeva’s preparatory group.

This manual examines the issue of environmental education and culture of children in preschool age. The basis of the book consists of theoretical and practical research on this topic. The author devoted several decades to this work.

Note! Tentatively, the readers of the book should be practitioners involved in preschool education, teachers and students of pedagogical institutes and pedagogical colleges.

The “Young Ecologist” application provides for the study of the following topics:

• Plants, animals and humans live among living and inanimate nature.
• Plants and animals are diverse, they are united by their habitat.
• Plants and animals grow and develop in their environment.
• Man constantly interacts with nature.

Didactic game on the topic of ecology in senior groups of preschool educational institutions

For which kindergarten groups is this book suitable?

Ecological culture in a kindergarten should be instilled by the teacher. Therefore, it is important for him to understand the significance of environmental problems and the reasons that gave rise to them. This technique was developed for children starting from junior kindergarten age - the preparatory group.

“The Theory and Methods of Environmental Education for Children” by Nikolaeva S.N. is intended specifically for the youngest pupils of a kindergarten, since even then children can learn important information:

• how plant and animal organisms and habitats are related;
• how diverse are living organisms that are in ecological unity;
• what communities do living organisms unite into?
• a person is a living being, in his habitat he receives all the conditions for healthy and normal, high-quality life;
• people use natural resources, but at the same time pollute the environment;
• it is important to protect and restore natural resources;
• The end result of the implementation of the methodology should be a conscious, careful attitude towards the environment.

Important! The main aspects of the program are as follows: the end result of environmental education work is attitude. The teacher is assigned the role of a carrier of ecological culture.

A teacher and children from a kindergarten group during a lesson

What is S.N. Nikolaeva’s book about on methods of educating preschoolers about ecology?

Svetlana Nikolaevna Nikolaeva is a Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, chief researcher at the Institute of Psychology, dealing with childhood problems. The author of scientific works on pedagogy is known for her research related to environmental education. She reveals this topic in her work “Methods of environmental education of preschool children.”

Palms holding children and rainbow

The textbook was written by a person with extensive experience in raising children. According to Nikolaeva S.N., environmental education should begin with stories about nature. And when the child’s consciousness is filled with the necessary information, it is possible to consolidate in the pupil a certain attitude towards the environment:

• educational;
• aesthetic;
• humanistic.

Important! Nikolaeva S.N. “Methods of environmental education of preschool children” is a work in which the author expresses confidence: a person’s attitude to the natural environment is an indicator that shows how educated he is in environmental terms. And it is important to start such education as early as possible, from the preparatory group of kindergarten, consolidating it in the middle and senior groups.

The teacher proposes a method of environmental education, which consists of two main points:

• transfer knowledge on ecology;
• modify them into relationships.

Environmental education of Nikolaeva’s preschoolers should be about achieving the final result when the child consciously treats nature with care. Realizing that he too is part of this environment.

Planet with a butterfly in human palms

Variety of effective forms of work

The teacher’s repertoire should include not only traditional forms of working with children; it is replenished depending on the teacher’s experience and his creative searches. Environmental education of preschool children in the institution is implemented through the following activities:

• Game-activity. This type of organized activity is the leading one in a child’s life, and therefore is widely planned for all ages of preschoolers. Work on environmental education of children can be carried out during role-playing games: “Seed Store”, “Vegetable Store”, “People’s Pharmacy”, “Nursery”, “River Watch”, “Pet Store”, “Veterinary Pharmacy”.
• Spectacular events. Ecological entertainment, holidays according to the seasons, contribute to the emotional perception of information, the motivation to preserve the wealth of nature of the native land. Such events include: “Praise to Bread”, “Harvest Festival”, “Autumn Extravaganza”, “Crystal Winter-Winter”, “The Rooks have Arrived”, “Hello, Red Summer!”. The production of the musical “How the Animals Prepared for Winter” and the opera “Ball of Flowers” ​​promote imaginative perception and easy assimilation of the material.
• Working with family. To teach parents the concept of “ecology for kids,” you can hold open days, environmental events, hiking trips, travel, and Kindness Days.
• Cooperation with society. The program for environmental education of preschoolers provides for continuity in the work of a preschool institution and the primary level of a comprehensive school. To form the foundations of environmental culture among preschoolers and schoolchildren, it is possible to organize forums for the exchange of children’s experiences, “Young Researcher” competitions, laboratories “Advice of the scientist Probirkin”, workshops “Lessons of Samodelkin”, and a club “Lessons of Environmental Safety”.
• An excursion to the nursery will help children understand the painstaking work of adults in the process of growing plants from small cuttings into large garden crops. To visit a shelter for homeless animals with your children together with their parents means to awaken in the pupils a feeling of deep compassion for abandoned pets, a desire to take care of them and help them find their owner.
• Work. The teacher implements the objectives of the program in practical activities at the site, in the environmental center, and at thematic sites.
• The production of homemade books “Ecological Tales” in the joint activity of children with their parents will make it possible to intensify the children’s mental activity in inventing a plot and designing book pages. Children are invited to design books such as: “The Tale of the Curious Kozyavochka”, “How the Droplet Traveled”, “The Tale of the Sundew Flower”. Workshop for making dolls “Droplet”, “Queen Ecology”, “Probirkin”, “Samodelkin”, “Environmental Safety” Such books will enrich development centers with new characters who will become the main characters of the kids’ games, their advisers in making smart decisions in preserving the environment of their plot.

Organization of the subject-game environment

To implement the objectives of the program, a subject-development environment is formed in a preschool institution, the purpose of which is to awaken the child’s interest in the world around him, the desire to know it and take part in its formation.
The environmental center includes indoor plants, their passports with a graphic depiction of methods of care, frequency of watering, method of reproduction, and light-loving behavior. The list of plants for each age of children is determined by the curriculum.

Here are tools for loosening the soil, replanting, cutting, spraying and watering plants. For preschoolers to work, aprons are purchased with the expectation that there will be at least 5 people in the group. While working in an indoor flower garden, children observe the growth of flowers, make simple conclusions about the process of plant formation, and determine the decisive factors in changing the height, shape, color of leaves, and the formation of buds.

Nearby you can place a mini-garden with onions, parsley, dill, and berries. It can be designed in the form of a train, a fairy-tale meadow, or cartoon characters. By observing the development and growth of plantings, preschoolers become familiar with their beneficial properties, method of consumption and set of vitamins.

In the ecological center there can be a living corner with 2-3 representatives of fauna: a hamster, a mouse, a guinea pig, a parrot. The kids' tasks include caring for their pets on a daily basis. The guys understand that without their care, the inhabitants of the corner could die. Meanwhile, being in the group with them is fun and cozy. An activity-game with pets teaches preschoolers and schoolchildren empathy, a reverent attitude towards them, and observation of how pets grow and take care of themselves.

The cognitive and practical center in the group involves elements of research activity in the concept of “ecological education”; it is a mini-laboratory for games and work with children to develop their own projects, hypotheses, and discoveries.

Such a center can be equipped with a microscope, mirrors, flasks, liquids for mixing, and lenses. By studying a leaf, grain, or fluff under a magnifying glass, children become familiar with the structure of the object, its density, and color scheme. This is a good way, using the possibilities of play, to cultivate perseverance, observation, and develop the analytical abilities of preschoolers and schoolchildren.

Thematic environmental stations are organized on playgrounds with the aim of studying objects of living and inanimate nature.

Ecology for children also includes the stations “Forest”, “Flower Garden”, “Vegetable Garden”, “Meadow”, “Field”, “Pond”, “People’s Pharmacy”, which would be more appropriate to equip on the territory of the kindergarten near the playground.

Here the children observe the flora of their region and learn how to care for vegetable crops in open ground conditions. Signs with pictures of vegetables will serve as a guide for observing and working in your garden. Two or three pines and several spruce trees will create a small forest corner where you can observe the growth of trees, the appearance of young shoots on the branches, study the cones of coniferous trees and find their differences.

A small area of ​​unmown grass will be a good imitation of a meadow, where preschoolers will observe the life and behavior of insects, beetles, and worms. And the sown wheat, rye, and barley will allow you to form an idea about the origin of bread and teach you how to treat it with care. On an artificial pond, children can observe the plants of the reservoir: water lily, duckweed, reeds, sedge. Snails and small fish should be released into the depths of the mini-reservoir. Butterflies and dragonflies will choose a place to rest here.

Functional ecological stations include the “Bird Canteen”, “Meteorological Station”, “Skillful Hands”.

In them, children learn to compose the simplest chains of ecology, determine the direction and strength of wind movement, and the weather. Here, using natural and waste materials, preschoolers are engaged in making crafts, testing wood, stems, and cones for strength, flexibility, and fragility. Games at stations help develop children's thinking processes, moral qualities, and fine motor skills.

Prohibitory signs located at stations, in the form of a game, will reinforce children’s knowledge of the rules of behavior in nature, teach them to appreciate the ecology of their region, and help bring the environmental education of preschoolers into line with the requirements of the curriculum.