Forms and methods of environmental education

preschool children.

Consultation for educators.

1. Forms of environmental education:

1.1 Classes.

Classes are the leading form of organizationwork to introduce children to nature. The teacher conducts classes with the entire group of children at a strictly allotted time. Classes allow the teacher to form knowledge about nature in a system and sequence, taking into account the age characteristics of children and the natural environment.

Under the guidance of the teacher, in the classroom, children develop a system of elementary knowledge and develop basic cognitive processes and abilities. This is an important condition for children to master elementary methods cognitive activity and development of their mental activity and independence. Classes provide an opportunity to clarify and systematize personal experience children, which accumulates during observations, games and work in everyday life.

Classes to introduce children to nature are held in all kindergarten groups. IN younger group in the first half of the year they are organized with a subgroup of children. The number of classes is determined in the kindergarten program. It increases from group to group. The duration of classes also increases. In addition to classes, all groups conduct targeted walks.

There are several types of classes that are fundamentally different from each other in didactic tasks, logic of construction, and the course of organization and conduct.

Primary introductory type of classes

During the preschool period, a significant proportion of initial environmental information about various aspects of natural life and human activity in it is transmitted to children precisely in classes of this type. Most often, these classes are devoted to introducing children to species of animals, plants, their living conditions and habitats, which are not represented in the immediate natural environment and cannot be known through observation. The main component of such classes are various demonstration and teaching aids, i.e. clarity that allows children to form clear and correct ideas.

Children learn in such classes through looking at pictures and talking. Often their components include reading children's literature, looking at illustrations, viewing filmstrips or slides, and a teacher's story. In all types of classes of this type, the verbal method of environmental education acquires paramount importance - the success and quality of children’s perception of new images presented visually, as well as an understanding of the connection of events and the connection of objects, depend on the teacher’s words. The teacher’s thoughtful and planned word organizes the content of the lesson and ensures a successful learning outcome.

Primary orientation classes take place in all age groups. With the help of pictures, the teacher introduces younger preschoolers to domestic animals, using “portrait” type pictures with a simple plot. In this age group, the teacher's speech - an explanation, a short emotional story - prevails over the children's speech. At this age, it is good to supplement the teacher’s words with various movements, play actions, onomatopoeia, and outdoor games in which children pretend to be animals.

In the middle group, the teacher activates the children’s speech: asks them to answer various questions in more detail, invites them to speak in simple phrases, teaches them to notice the correlation of objects and their connections. In classes of this type, familiar game characters provide great help; against the background of the game, they encourage children to talk.

With older preschoolers, classes of the primary orientation type are, as a rule, much more difficult. With them, you can look at pictures of nature that are far from their experience, “go beyond” the depicted plot, look at several pictures at the same time; some of the children’s already existing experience and range of ideas contribute to this. The pictures help to form ideas about the forest ecosystem, its inhabitants, and the adaptability of forest animals to life in this ecosystem.

Pictures, slides, and videos can be invaluable in introducing children to ecosystems that are inaccessible to their direct perception: the sea, the desert, the Arctic. Visualization, combined with emotional explanations from the teacher, expands children’s horizons and forms new images about nature.

In the middle of the lesson, the teacher plans a physical education session or a change of activity: talking with the children, conversation, which is the leading component of the lesson, tires them out - relaxation in movement is necessary.

Generalizing type of classes

Systematic work in everyday life to familiarize children with various natural phenomena and objects in their immediate environment allows them to accumulate a large amount of specific knowledge based on sensory examination and perception. Over the course of a number of years, children of younger and middle age become thoroughly acquainted with vegetables, fruits, trees, and seasonal natural phenomena. This allows, in older preschool age, to form generalized ideas about homogeneous objects and natural phenomena, which is what happens in a general-type lesson, when the goal is to identify a number of significant features for a group of familiar objects - and on their basis, a generalized idea is formed.

The formation of generalized ideas is carried out in the process of a special conversation, the core of which is a system of questions. Their specificity is as follows: the formulations are general in nature, since they cover not one, but a number of specific phenomena; the content of the questions is aimed at identifying those essential and characteristic features, on the basis of which a generalized representation is built; Each characteristic corresponds to a special question. An important place in the conversation is also occupied by the formulation of conclusions, i.e. the actual construction of generalizations: specific for each significant feature and then general, which corresponds to the generalized representation.

In general, generalizing classes allow you to intensively develop children’s intelligence - the ability to compare, contrast, analyze, draw conclusions, develop speech and abstract thinking, i.e. carry out deep intellectual preparation of them for school.

In-depth cognitive type of lesson

These are classes that are built on a variety of specific knowledge acquired by children during observations in everyday life of natural objects from the immediate environment, and in which the teacher supplements the knowledge with new information, deepens it by demonstrating adaptive dependencies and ecological connections in the natural community.

In classes of this type, the teacher uses paintings, models, dummies, makes vivid messages, and reads educational literature to preschoolers. On the basis of the same specific sensory knowledge, the teacher can plan classes of an in-depth cognitive type that differ in content.

Lessons are structured in different ways: they can use various visual materials, problem situations and questions - it is important that they are based on specific sensory representations of children, expand and deepen them, and allow them to establish adaptive relationships between objects in nature.

Complex classes

Complex classes are classes that, within the framework of one topic, solve different problems of children's development and are based on different types of activities. These classes can be carried out in all age groups, but they are especially useful with older preschoolers.

If a complex lesson is properly organized, then in time it can go beyond the scope of a regular lesson - this is not scary, since a change in activity will not cause fatigue and boredom, especially since - at his discretion - the teacher can use recorded music at the appropriate moment, conduct a fun physical education session.

A complex lesson is a creative activity for the teacher; they can be organized in different ways. In all cases, they effectively and comprehensively develop the child’s personality, and the combination of various types of activities contributes to an easier and faster formation personal attitude to the content contained in the lesson.

1.2 Hiking and excursions.

A trip with children of senior preschool age to the immediate natural environment is an interesting and useful pedagogical event. At the same time, various tasks are solved: health, cognitive, moral and aesthetic. The hike is a complex event, primarily in its organization: it is planned, thought through, prepared and carried out by several adults - an ecologist, a physical education instructor, a nurse, a methodologist and, of course, a group teacher.

The mental development of children on a hike is influenced by various educational activities: observations of natural phenomena, explanations from adults, word games, guessing riddles while relaxing. Observations are of leading importance among these activities - they can be of very different content depending on the time of year, the specific natural environment, and the experience of children visiting it. A trip to the forest involves introducing preschoolers to the plant community - they need to be shown and named the trees and shrubs that are the leading ones in the forest. The grass cover, the presence of mushrooms and berries depend on them. It is important to introduce children to forest animals, primarily through the various traces of their activity.

Hikes should be organized in different seasons, which allows you to observe the different state of plants and periods of their development.

On moral development Children are greatly influenced by practical environmental activities: hanging feeders with food in the winter, bird houses in the fall or spring, fencing anthills in the warm season. It is good to organize cleaning and clearing of forest and household waste. The correct organization of this part of the hike is very important - adults show preschoolers how they themselves relate to nature, how they really love it, how they care about the house in which they all live together.

Aesthetic education of children in nature begins with a demonstration of the territory; teachers say that it is beautiful here because everything is clean and well-groomed. And, conversely, littered areas of forests and clearings will not be beautiful, even if there are many flowering plants on them.

The natural environment should be well examined and studied by adults.

Only those trips that are properly prepared and organized have health, educational and developmental significance. Such preparation creates a good mood for all participants in the hike, and the event itself leaves a deep emotional mark on every child.

Excursions differ from a hike in the smaller volume of all its parameters: duration of stay in nature, pedagogical tasks to be solved, types of activities, preparation and equipment. They are easier to organize, so they can be carried out more often than hikes.

Excursions are one of the main types of activities and a special form of organizing work to familiarize children with nature, one of the most labor-intensive and complex forms of education. Excursions are conducted outside the preschool. It's a kind of outdoor activity.

The advantage of excursions is that they allow children to become acquainted with objects and natural phenomena in a natural setting. Excursions contribute to the development of observation skills and interest in nature.

The role of excursions in the aesthetic education of children is great. The beauty of nature that surrounds them evokes deep emotions and contributes to the development of aesthetic feelings. Excursions into nature involve being outdoors and moving, which helps improve health.

Excursions as a form of classes are conducted in middle, high school and preparatory school groups. According to their content, they are divided into two types: natural history excursions - to a park, forest, river - and excursions to agricultural sites - to a field, to a vegetable garden, to a poultry farm.

It is advisable to conduct nature excursions to the same places at different times of the year in order to show children seasonal changes in nature.

Excursions to agricultural facilities are conducted occasionally to familiarize with certain types of adult labor.

Excursions are much more difficult to conduct than group lessons, so their success depends on careful preparation of the teacher and children.

The teacher’s preparation consists primarily of determining the purpose of the excursion and selecting program content. The teacher plans an excursion based on the requirements of the program and the characteristics of the surrounding area.

Preparing children begins with the teacher telling them the purpose of the excursion. The guys need to know where they will go, why, what they will learn, what they need to collect.

For the excursion, the teacher should prepare excursion equipment and equipment for placing the collected material in a corner of nature. It is good to involve children in its preparation. This helps to arouse their interest in the upcoming excursion.

1.3 Ecological holidays and leisure activities.

The pedagogical meaning of holidays and leisure is to evoke in children a positive emotional response to their “natural” content. Emotions give rise to attitudes and affect the child’s personality as a whole, so holidays and leisure activities should be held regularly, ending the season or any meaningful block with them. The scripts for these events use material that children are familiar with.

Ecological holidays can be dedicated to the seasons, harvests, snow and ice sculptures, and the spring revival of nature. In the summer, holidays dedicated to water and sun, flowers, and health holidays are held.

More often than holidays, leisure activities are held on a variety of topics - they are organized by the teacher.

1.4 Introducing children to nature in everyday life.

Observations during classes and excursions are carried out in close connection with work in everyday life.

Walks are widely used to introduce children to nature. They provide an opportunity for children to accumulate ideas about natural phenomena that occur over a long period of time. The teacher introduces pupils to the daily changes of nature according to the seasons, organizes various games with natural materials - sand, clay, ice, leaves, etc. Children accumulate sensory experience, cultivate curiosity and observation. Walking gives children joy and pleasure from communicating with nature and helps them feel its beauty. When conducting walks, various forms of organizing children are used (entire group, small subgroups, individually).

Starting from the second junior group, targeted walks are carried out around the site with access beyond its boundaries. Targeted walks, unlike excursions, are short-term, and a small volume of problems is solved during them. Children get acquainted with the striking natural phenomena of a particular season. In addition, walks are organized, the educational content of which is limited (picking berries, flowers).

Interesting and varied work is carried out in the flower garden and vegetable garden. Children observe plants, practice labor skills (watering plants, loosening, collecting seeds and harvests, etc.). This work has a great influence on the development of hard work, independence and mutual assistance.

Work and observations in the flower garden and vegetable garden are carried out in the morning and evening. All children can be involved in planting, sowing, and harvesting. Work such as preparing the land, watering, loosening, cutting dry leaves, and collecting seeds is best done with a subgroup of children.

In senior and preparatory school groups, it is possible to organize site duties in the spring and summer or assign groups of children to a garden bed or flower bed.

In a corner of nature, children have the opportunity to take a good look at plants and animals and observe them for a long time; They master work skills and learn to take care of their pets.

The teacher conducts work and observations in a corner of nature with children every day. The form of organization of activities is different (depending on age). Children, starting from the younger group, are involved in certain work assignments. Permanent duty of 2-3 people is introduced from the senior group.

1.5 Elementary search activity of children.

Elementary search activity is understood as the joint work of the teacher and children, aimed at solving cognitive problems that arise in educational activities, in everyday life, in play and work, in the process of learning about the world. Search activity presupposes high activity and independence of children, the discovery of new knowledge and ways of knowing.

Search activity begins with the teacher setting and acceptance of a cognitive task by children (it is also possible for children to set a cognitive task). Then its primary analysis is carried out and assumptions are made, methods for testing the assumptions put forward by children are selected, and they are tested. The search activity ends with an analysis of the results obtained during the inspection and the formulation of conclusions.

It has been proven that the learning process, combining the assimilation of ready-made knowledge with its relatively independent acquisition, is of great importance for the mental development of preschool children.

Elementary search activity as a form of organization is used in older preschool age. In accordance with the program, the teacher develops a system of cognitive tasks that he gradually sets for the children. An important condition for setting cognitive tasks is the creation of problem situations in natural history classes or in various activities related to nature (work, observations, games).

A problematic situation arises when a task is set, but children cannot solve it immediately. An effort of thought is required to compare known facts and draw preliminary conclusions. Independent work in such a situation is exploratory in nature. When setting cognitive tasks for children, their vital significance and interest in them should be taken into account. A cognitive task always contains a question. It includes some data known to children that can be used in the solution. Children must find some of the data in the process of combining and transforming already known knowledge and methods of action. Ignorance must be partial, then the cognitive task can be solved with the help of experience and comparative observation.

Cognitive tasks should be presented to children in a certain sequence: first, simple ones containing single-link connections, then more complex ones, containing chains of connections.

After the children accept the cognitive task, under the guidance of the teacher, it is analyzed: identifying the known and the unknown. As a result of the analysis, children make assumptions about the possible course of a natural phenomenon and its causes. Their assumptions are right and wrong, often contradictory. The teacher must listen to all the children’s assumptions and pay attention to their inconsistencies. Every assumption of children must be taken into account; if they do not put forward ideas, the teacher himself should put them forward.

The interest in solving the problem that arose in children during the analysis of situations and making assumptions should be used to select ways to test assumptions.

The final stage of the search activity is the formulation of conclusions. Children must be encouraged to formulate their own conclusions. It happens that they draw the wrong conclusions. In this case, additional experiments or observations can be organized so that everyone comes to the right conclusions.

In the process of organizing search activities, children acquire the ability to independently set cognitive tasks that reflect a deeper penetration into the essence of natural phenomena, the establishment of analogies, and an understanding of increasingly general patterns.

When guiding children’s search activities, it is important to create conditions for solving every problem that arises on their initiative.

During the learning process, children's search activity improves. Its dynamics appear in the transition from accepting cognitive tasks set by the teacher and solving them with the help of an adult to independent formulation and solution.

2. Methods of environmental education.

Teaching methods are ways of joint activities between the teacher and children, during which the formation of knowledge, abilities and skills, as well as attitudes towards the world around them, is carried out.

In the pedagogical process of kindergarten, various teaching methods are used: visual, practical, verbal. When introducing children to nature, all of these methods are widely used.

TO visual methodsinclude observation, examination of paintings, demonstration of models, films, filmstrips, and transparencies.

Practical methods -This is a game, elementary experiments and simulation.

Verbal methods- these are stories from the teacher and children, reading works of art about nature, conversations.

When working to introduce children to nature, it is necessary to use different methods in a complex and correctly combine them with each other.

2.1 Surveillance

Observation is a specially organized by the teacher, purposeful, more or less long-term and systematic, active perception by children of objects and natural phenomena. The purpose of observation can be the assimilation of various knowledge - establishing the properties and qualities, structure and external structure of objects, the reasons for the change and development of objects (plants, animals), seasonal phenomena.

The inclusion of various senses in the observation process ensures the completeness and specificity of the knowledge being formed. Observation must be accompanied by precise speech from the teacher and children so that the acquired knowledge is assimilated. Observation requires concentrated voluntary attention, so the teacher must regulate it in time, volume and content.

The observation method in introducing children to nature is the main one. The need and significance of its use are associated, first of all, with the nature of the knowledge available to preschool children.

Observation allows children to show nature in natural conditions in all its diversity, in the simplest, clearly presented relationships. Many connections and relationships of natural phenomena are accessible to direct observation and visible. Knowledge of connections and relationships forms the elements of a materialistic worldview of nature. The systematic use of observation in getting to know nature teaches children to look closely, notice its features and leads to the development of observation, and therefore, the solution of one of the most important tasks of mental education.

Observation of nature is an inexhaustible source of aesthetic impressions and emotional impact on children. The teacher uses different types observations. To form in children ideas about the diversity of plants and animals, objects of inanimate nature, recognition of the characteristics of certain objects, their properties, signs, recognizing observation is used. It ensures that children accumulate vivid, living knowledge about nature.

Observation can be carried out both with individual children, with small groups (3-6 people), and with the entire group of pupils. This depends on the purpose and content of the observation, as well as the tasks facing the teacher.

Depending on the number of children participating in the observation, it can be individual, group and frontal. Depending on the goals set by the teacher, observation can be episodic, long-term and final (generalizing).

2.2 Use of illustrative and visual material in working with children

Introducing children to nature, the teacher uses a variety of illustrative and visual materials: didactic paintings, reproductions of art paintings, photographs, transparencies, models, filmstrips, films and television films.

Illustrative and visual material helps to consolidate and clarify children’s ideas obtained through direct perception of natural phenomena. With its help, you can form knowledge about objects and natural phenomena that are impossible to observe at the moment or in a given area (wild or domestic animals of other climatic zones).

Illustrative and visual material allows children to get an idea of ​​long-term phenomena occurring in nature. With its help, it is possible to successfully generalize and systematize children’s knowledge.

Illustrative and visual material is of great importance in the formation of an aesthetic perception of nature, in the enrichment of aesthetic impressions and feelings. These problems are successfully solved by examining reproductions of art paintings and watching films.

When selecting illustrative and visual material for working with children, it is necessary to take into account a number of requirements, the main of which are the realism of the depicted objects, natural phenomena, and the clarity of the artist’s plan. No less important is the artistic expressiveness of the material, presented in unity with the cognitive content.

It is also necessary to take into account the age-related perception capabilities of children.

Animals and plants in paintings should be shown close-up, in natural conditions.

When introducing children to nature, subject, plot and artistic pictures are used. The pictures are used by the teacher in all age groups. In the younger group, they help clarify and concretize children’s ideas obtained during observations and consolidate them.

Subject and subject pictures help to consolidate and clarify children’s ideas about what they have previously seen, as well as provide new knowledge about what is impossible to see directly.

In older preschool age, viewing paintings is used to form in children elementary concepts about nature: groups of animals, plants, seasons, etc.

Artistic paintings - landscapes, still lifes - are necessary for the development of aesthetic perception and feelings in children. They are widely used in older preschool age.

2.3 Introducing children to nature through games

A variety of games are widely used to introduce children to nature. In the practice of preschool education, two groups of games are used - games with ready-made content and rules and creative games.

Games with ready-made content and rules:

Didactic games- games with rules and ready-made content. In the process of didactic games, children clarify, consolidate, and expand their existing ideas about objects and natural phenomena, plants, and animals. At the same time, games contribute to the development of memory, attention, observation, teach children to apply existing knowledge in new conditions, activate various mental processes, enrich their vocabulary, and contribute to the development of the ability to play together. Games give children the opportunity to operate with natural objects themselves, compare them, and note changes in individual external features. Many games teach children the ability to generalize and classify.

Didactic games can be played with children both collectively and individually, making them more complex taking into account the age of the children. Complication should come through the expansion of knowledge and the development of mental operations and actions. Didactic games are carried out during leisure hours, during classes and walks.

Based on the nature of the material used, didactic games are divided into subject games, board-printed and verbal.

Subject games - these are games using various natural objects (leaves, seeds, fruits). In object games, children’s ideas about the properties and qualities of certain natural objects are clarified, specified and enriched.

Desktop-printedgames are games like lotto, dominoes, cut and paired pictures.

In these games, children’s knowledge about plants, animals, and inanimate natural phenomena is clarified, systematized, and classified. Games are accompanied by a word that either precedes the perception of the picture or is combined with it, and this requires a quick reaction and mobilization of knowledge. Such games are intended for a small number of players and are used in everyday life.

Word games - these are games the content of which is a variety of knowledge available to children, and the word itself. They are carried out to consolidate children’s knowledge about the properties and characteristics of certain objects. Verbal games develop attention, intelligence, speed of reaction, and coherent speech.

Outdoor games of nature historyassociated with imitation of the habits of animals, their way of life. By imitating actions, imitating sounds, children consolidate knowledge; The joy gained during the game helps to deepen interest in nature.

Creative games with natural history content. Creative games related to nature are of great importance for the development of children. In them, preschoolers reflect the impressions received in the process of classes and everyday life. The main feature of creative games: they are organized and conducted on the initiative of the children themselves, who act independently. During games, children acquire knowledge about the work of adults in nature, there is a process of understanding the importance of the work of adults, and a positive attitude towards it is formed.

One type of creative games isbuilding games with natural materials(sand, snow, clay, cones, etc.). In these games, children learn the properties and qualities of materials and improve their sensory experience. The teacher, directing such a game, gives knowledge to children not in a ready-made form, but through search actions.

In each age group, conditions should be created for playing with natural materials at all times of the year.

2.4 Simple experiments and experimentation

In order for children’s knowledge about nature to be conscious, kindergarten simple experiments are used. Experience is an observation that is carried out in specially organized conditions.

Experiments contribute to the formation of children's cognitive interest in nature, develop observation and mental activity. In each experiment, the cause of the observed phenomenon is revealed, children are led to judgments and conclusions. Experiments are of great importance for children to understand cause-and-effect relationships.

Experiments are most often carried out in older groups of kindergarten. In the junior and middle groups, the teacher uses only individual search actions.

Experience should always be built on the basis of existing ideas that children received in the process of observation and work. Its task and purpose should be clear to preschoolers. When conducting an experiment, the teacher should not cause harm or damage to plants and animals. It is important that children be active participants in setting up and conducting the experiment.

In kindergarten, experiments are carried out with inanimate objects, plants and animals.

Simple experiments can be used in children's games; they can be associated with their work in a corner of nature and in the garden, and be included in classes.

2.5 Simulation

The process of learning about the world around us is not easy for a child. it begins with sensory perception. However, many natural phenomena cannot be perceived directly. Often, on the basis of sensory knowledge, it is necessary to “construct” in the mind an abstract, generalized idea of ​​an object or a whole natural phenomenon, to draw up a diagram of the phenomenon being studied. Modeling helps the teacher successfully solve these problems as a method of introducing children to nature.

Modeling is considered as a joint activity of the teacher and children to build models. The purpose of modeling is to ensure that children successfully acquire knowledge about the characteristics of natural objects, their structure, connections and relationships that exist between them.

Modeling is based on the principle of replacing real objects with objects, schematic images, and signs.

In action with natural objects, it is not easy to identify common features and aspects, since objects have many aspects that are not related to the activity being performed or a separate action. The model makes it possible to create an image of the most significant aspects of an object and abstract from the unimportant in this particular case.

Modeling as an active independent activity is used by the teacher when introducing preschoolers to nature, along with demonstrating models. As children understand the method of substituting signs, connections between real objects and their models, it becomes possible to involve children in joint modeling with the teacher, and then in independent modeling.

Teaching children to model should be associated with the use of exploration activities. It is also important to teach children to systematically analyze and compare objects or natural phenomena.

Thus, modeling allows us to reveal important features of natural objects and the natural connections that exist in it. On this basis, children form generalized ideas and elementary concepts about nature.

2.6 The teacher’s story about objects and natural phenomena

During classes, excursions and walks, and in everyday communication with children, the teacher uses stories about nature. The main goal of this method is to create in children an accurate, specific idea of ​​an object or natural phenomenon being observed at the moment or previously seen. The story is also used to inform children about new, unknown facts.

The story should attract children's attention, give food for thought, awaken their imagination and feelings. You should know and remember some requirements for using nature stories as a teaching method. First, it is necessary to consider what children know and do not know about the phenomenon being reported. It is important to take into account their interests, as well as rely on their age-related abilities to perceive literary texts.

The topic of the story is chosen by the teacher taking into account the content of knowledge determined by the kindergarten program.

A story is a type of creative artistic activity of a teacher, requiring from him certain knowledge about nature, observation, the ability to compare natural phenomena, and reflect on them. Expressiveness of speech is no less important.

It is necessary to tell the story to children with enthusiasm, figuratively, and colorfully. And for this you need to be able to select precise, vivid, figurative words that characterize events. When composing a story, the teacher must take care to include in it not only words known to children, but also new ones that enrich their speech.

You can use the story as a method of introducing nature to younger groups. For kids, the story should be extremely brief and closely related to their life experiences. In older preschool age, not only stories are used that tell about an event, but also those that pose questions to children that force them to think and draw conclusions.

It is good to accompany the story with illustrations, photographs, slides, etc. This helps children understand its meaning.

2.7 Use of natural history fiction

Reading a work of fiction for preschool children helps the teacher enrich them with knowledge, teach them to look deeper into the world around them, and look for answers to many questions.

Fiction about nature has a deep impact on children's feelings. Books, as a rule, contain an assessment of what is happening. Getting acquainted with their content, children experience the course of events, mentally act in an imaginary situation, experience excitement, joy, and fear. This helps to cultivate ethical ideas: love and respect for nature.

Children should be taken very seriously and responsibly when choosing a book to read. First of all, you need to use the literature recommended by the kindergarten program. It is important to select highly artistic literature.

Children's natural history literature is useful for all age groups. The requirement for the method of using books, common to all age groups, is a combination of reading with direct observations in nature.

In each age group, the method of using a book about nature has its own specifics. To listen to a book, it is better to divide the children of the first junior group into subgroups, but in the second junior group all children can read at once. The teacher selects a short work so that it can be read during the lesson. Repeated reading of a work of fiction is recommended.

In the middle and older groups, natural history books are used to expand, clarify, and deepen children’s ideas about nature.

Reading fiction can accompany observations in nature. This helps children to more fully experience the beauty of nature, as well as the expressiveness and precision of language, and to comprehend what they see.

Reading a natural history book is also used as an independent way to get acquainted with nature.

After reading works of fiction, a conversation is organized about one or more books read. The purpose of the conversation is to help children gain a deeper understanding of natural phenomena, generalize and systematize knowledge about what they have read.

2.8 Conversation as a method of introducing children to nature

The conversation is used by the teacher for various didactic purposes:

to create interest in the upcoming activity (before observation, excursion);

to clarify, deepen, generalize and systematize children’s knowledge about nature.

In each conversation, the problem of developing children's speech is solved.

Depending on the didactic goals, conversations about nature are usually divided into the following types: introductory, heuristic and final.

Introductory conversationhelps the teacher gather children’s attention, arouse interest in the upcoming activity, update existing experience in order to establish a connection between previously acquired knowledge and the upcoming excursion, observation, etc.

Heuristic conversationinvolves establishing the causes of various natural phenomena using reasoning. Such a conversation is based on the children’s existing knowledge gained during the observation process. It is aimed at deepening knowledge about the relationships that exist in nature, children’s independent solution of cognitive tasks, and the development of evidence-based speech.

Heuristic conversation is used in older preschool age. Its content is varied. The teacher’s task in leading a heuristic conversation is to ensure children’s independence in formulating conclusions and accuracy of statements.

Final conversation used to generalize and systematize children’s knowledge about nature, obtained in the process of observations, games, reading works of art, work, etc.

The final conversation is organized by the teacher starting from middle group. It is carried out as children accumulate ideas about nature and only if these ideas are mastered by all children. The teacher thinks through what essential features or connections will underlie generalizations of knowledge.

It is important to think through illustrative means for the final conversation. You should not select a lot of illustrative and visual material. The purpose of its use is to revive children’s impressions and help them remember well-known facts around which the conversation will unfold.

The conversation begins with an analysis of the children’s knowledge about nature. The topic of conversation with children is subject to a certain logic, which must be adhered to, and not be distracted by points that are unimportant for this conversation.

Not only paintings, but also models serve as visual material. Pedagogical techniques should ensure the active participation of all children in the conversation, encourage them to think, solve cognitive problems, be independent in forming conclusions, and prove their judgments.

2.9 Children's labor in nature

Varied work in nature brings children a lot of joy and contributes to their all-round development. In the process of work, a love for nature and a careful attitude towards it are cultivated. Children develop an interest in work activity and a conscious, responsible attitude towards it. In a team, children learn to work together and help each other.

Working in nature has great educational value. It broadens children's horizons and creates favorable conditions for solving problems of sensory education. Working in nature, children become familiar with the properties and qualities, states of natural objects, and learn ways to establish these properties. The teacher teaches children to focus on the properties of natural objects to perform labor actions.

Working in nature, children learn in practice the dependence of the condition of plants and animals on the satisfaction of their needs, and learn about the role of man in managing nature. The assimilation of these connections and dependencies contributes to the formation of children’s attitude towards work: work becomes meaningful and purposeful.

In the process of working in nature, children develop knowledge about plants and animals. Children learn to make connections between conditions, the way of life of an animal in nature and ways to care for it in a corner of nature.

Work in nature contributes to the development of observation, curiosity, and inquisitiveness in children; it arouses in them interest in objects of nature, in human labor, and respect for working people.

Labor in nature creates favorable conditions for the physical development of children, since in most cases it takes place in the air, is varied in nature, and this contributes to the development of movements and strengthening the child’s nervous system. Children's aesthetic needs are satisfied through work. Doing work that is feasible and interesting brings them joy, and this is the basis for instilling in the future a desire to work and a sustainable interest in work.

1.2 Forms and methods of environmental education for preschool children

All work on environmental education is carried out in two directions: in the classroom and in everyday life. The knowledge, skills and abilities acquired by children in classes are reinforced in everyday life.

Based on leading didactic principles and analysis of the interests and inclinations of preschool children, scientists have developed various forms of environmental education. They can be classified into: a) mass, b) group, c) individual.

Mass forms include children’s work on landscaping and landscaping the premises and territory of preschool educational institutions, mass environmental holidays; conferences; environmental festivals, role-playing games, site work.

For group classes - film lectures; excursions; hiking trips to explore nature; environmental workshop.

Individual forms involve observations of animals and plants; making crafts, drawing, modeling.

Let us consider possible options for using various types of child activities for the purposes of environmental education using individual examples.

Along with identifying specific tasks of working with children, which are solved in the process of introducing them to the natural world, and defining a system of knowledge about nature, a number of studies are devoted to the study of methods for introducing preschoolers to the natural environment. One of the leading methods is observation (B.G. Ananyev, V.T. Loginova, A.A. Lyublinskaya, P.G. Samorukova).

In modern psychological and pedagogical science, observation is proposed to be considered from different positions. Teachers talk about it as a method of introducing children to the natural environment. Psychologists propose to consider observation as one of the mental processes, and also talk about observation as one of the types of cognitive activity. Method, observation is a purposeful, systematic, more or less long-term perception of objects, objects,

phenomena of the surrounding reality. Perception is seen as the main component of observation. The systematic nature of purposeful perception allows us to trace the phenomenon in development and note its qualitative and quantitative changes. Active thinking included in observation helps to separate the main from the unimportant, the important from the random.

Scientists have identified a number of requirements for organizing and conducting observations with preschool children:

1. Clarity and specificity of the goals and objectives of observation. At the same time, the tasks should be cognitive in nature and stimulate the development of children’s mental activity.

2. For each observation, a small amount of information should be selected. Ideas about objects and natural phenomena are formed in preschoolers gradually, in the process of repeated “meetings” with them (in the process of the teacher using cycles of observations of the same object). Each subsequent observation should clarify, consolidate and specify, and expand the received ideas.

3. When organizing observations, you should think through the system and their interrelation, which will ensure that children understand the processes and phenomena that they observe.

4. Observation should stimulate children’s interest and cognitive activity.

5. The knowledge acquired by children as a result of observing objects and objects of nature should be reinforced, clarified, generalized and systematized through the use of other methods of environmental work with children (verbal and practical).

In the process of developing observation skills, children learn to see and notice objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality in all their diversity, richness of properties and qualities, connections and relationships. The development of observation is also one of the conditions for children to master a system of knowledge about the natural world.

Along with the use of observations, visual illustrative material is widely used as visual methods in the practice of preschool educational institutions. Visual illustrative material helps to consolidate and clarify children’s ideas obtained during direct observations. With its help, you can form in children ideas about objects, objects, and natural phenomena that are impossible to observe at the moment (or in a given area). In the process of using visual illustrative material, children can become familiar with long-term phenomena in nature (seasonal changes). The use of this material helps children generalize and systematize information of natural history content and nature.

There are certain requirements for visual and illustrative material used in practice with children:

· realism of depicted objects and phenomena;

· clarity of the artist's intention;

· artistic expressiveness of the material, presented in unity with the educational value of its content.

In preschool pedagogy, play has always played an important role in introducing nature.

The gaming direction is actively developing in the environmental education of preschool children. Three main approaches to gaming methods can be distinguished: the creation of new games with environmental (environmental) content, the greening of traditional games and the adaptation of folk games.

Role-playing games assume the presence of natural history, environmental or environmental content and the existence of certain rules. When greening traditional role-playing games, it is important to adhere to the principles of scientific and accessible content selection. Research by I.A. Komarova showed that the optimal form of including role-playing games in the process of introducing preschoolers to nature are game-based learning situations (GES), which are created by the teacher to solve specific didactic problems of natural history classes and observations. Three types of IOS have been identified.

The main characteristic of the first type of IOS is the use of analogue toys that depict various natural objects. The toy helps to distinguish between ideas of a fairy-tale-toy and realistic nature, helps to understand the specifics of living things, and develop the ability to act correctly with a living object.

The second type of ITS is associated with the use of dolls depicting characters from literary works that are well known to children in order to arouse interest and attract children’s attention to the didactic goal of the lesson. At the same time, it was discovered that the role of unknown game characters in training is extremely small: they mainly perform an entertainment function, and in some cases even interfere with solving the program tasks of the lesson.

The third type of IOS is various versions of the travel game: “Trip to an exhibition”, “Expedition to Africa”, “Excursion to the zoo”, “Journey to the sea”, etc. In all cases, this is a plot-based didactic game included in the lessons, observations, labor.

Didactic games with environmental content are currently very diverse. Many of these games are developed by teachers themselves. Among them are object games that involve the use of natural materials: cones, pebbles, shells, etc. Natural material allows you to organize a number of games that promote the development of a child’s thinking. For example, objects can be classified according to different characteristics (color, size, nature of origin, shape). It is important that children also participate in collecting natural materials.

Intellectual games are also very popular among teachers - “KVN”, “Brain-ring”, “What? Where? When?". They can also be successfully used for the purposes of environmental education for older preschoolers, however, subject to their adaptation to the preschool level (in some cases, such games turn not into creative competitions, but into children’s mechanical reproduction of various pre-prepared texts).

Recently, many teachers and educators have noted that due to the active spread of television and video equipment, computers, preschoolers have begun to play much less independently. Creating conditions for independent play requires special attention from the teacher. A positive result of the teacher’s work is the moment when children develop independent games with an environmental focus.

As part of the implementation of elements of developmental education in the practice of working with preschoolers, it is proposed to use elementary research activities (L.M. Manevtsova) and modeling activities (T.R. Vetrova).

The fundamental difference between this activity is that the image of the goal that defines this activity is itself not yet ready and is characterized by uncertainty and instability. During the search, it is clarified and clarified. In our opinion, search activity from the point of view of the process of environmental education is one of the main types of child activity. As the main type of search activity N.N. Poddyakov singles out a special children's activity - experimentation, emphasizing that this “truly childish activity” is leading throughout the entire preschool age, starting from infancy. In it, the child acts as a kind of researcher, independently influencing different ways on the objects and phenomena surrounding him in order to more fully understand and master them. N.N. Poddyakov identifies a special type of so-called “social experimentation of preschoolers in various life situations,” when children (consciously and unconsciously) “try out” various forms of their behavior on adults or peers in search of the most acceptable options. The greening of this type of activity can be manifested through the involvement of children in various situations of environmental content. This approach is of great importance for developing children’s environmentally literate and safe behavior skills.

A model is a material substitute for real-life objects, natural phenomena, reflecting their characteristics, structure, relationships between structural parts or individual components.

When organizing work on environmental education in preschool age, teachers can use the following types of models:

1. Subject models that reproduce the structure and features, external and internal relationships of real-life objects and phenomena.

2. Subject-schematic models. In them, essential features, connections and relationships are presented in the form of mock-up objects.

3. Graphic models. They convey generally (conditionally) the characteristics, connections and relationships of natural phenomena.

The use of model material is of great importance for the development of children’s mental activity and the ability to abstract the essential features of objects and natural phenomena. Demonstration of models makes it possible to teach a child to identify the essential features and components of observed natural phenomena, to establish connections between them, and therefore provides a deeper understanding of the facts and phenomena of the surrounding reality. The accessibility of modeling activities for a preschool child has been proven in studies by L.A. Venger, A.V. Zaporozhets, L.M. Manevtsova, N.N. Poddyakova, I.A. Khaidurova and others.

It is impossible not to note this form of working with children as work in nature. This type of activity, like no other, contributes to the formation of a consciously correct attitude towards nature in preschoolers.

In the process of work, a preschooler has the opportunity to put his knowledge into practice, acquire new ones, and clearly see the existence of various relationships in nature (plant, animal - and the environment). He develops the necessary care skills and a sense of responsibility for living organisms.

The work activity of a preschool child always contains an element of play, imitation of the life of adults. In any case, “work in nature” is traditionally considered an integral part of preschoolers’ familiarization with the outside world, and in recent years, the environmental education of preschoolers, and is actively used in the practice of kindergartens. In the process of working in nature, a preschooler learns to subordinate his activities, his desires to certain social motives, to understand that his work will benefit people and preserve animals and plants.

But the organization of children’s work activities must be carried out on the basis of a person-oriented approach and taking into account gender characteristics. Firstly, the teacher must take into account the individual characteristics of the child (one child likes to water plants, another likes to feed animals, etc.). First of all, the child must realize the necessity of his work and make his own choice.

To increase the effectiveness of the results of labor activity, the requirements imposed by the teacher on the child in the process of work must take into account the capabilities of the child of a particular age, that is, work in nature must be feasible for each specific child.

It is extremely important, before starting work, to develop in the child an emotionally positive attitude towards the object, to show that this object is alive, that it needs the careful attitude of this particular child (“without your help, the plant can dry out, and the guinea pig will die if it do not give water or food").

The problem of taking into account gender characteristics in preschool pedagogy began to arise only in recent decades. Experts have proven that girls and boys have significant differences in their perception of the world around them, motivation for behavior, etc. These differences are clearly manifested in the attitude to work in nature, but are practically not taken into account by teachers. Thus, according to the observations of educators, girls are more prone to long-term care of plants, they are happy to wipe leaves, replant, and water plants, while boys prefer more dynamic activities and more often choose animals rather than plants for care. Taking this into account, the teacher should approach the organization of the child’s work activity from the perspective of variability, offering children various types of it:

· caring for pets, ornamental animals and indoor plants;

· work in the gardens different types;

· planting trees and shrubs;

· feasible and safe cleaning of areas (forest, park, river bank);

· repair, restoration of books, toys, etc. (economical use of natural resources);

· feeding birds and other animals taking into account their biological characteristics;

· creation of feeders and additional habitats for animals, taking into account their natural characteristics.

Traditionally, in preschool pedagogy it was assumed that human work in nature has only positive results. However, this does not always correspond to reality. Many modern environmental problems are generated precisely by people’s illiterate approaches to their work activities. Thus, the same agriculture, the mass organization of unauthorized vegetable gardens, the illiterate use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers have created a lot of environmental problems. That's why labor activity The child should be organized in such a way that from childhood he develops elementary, but environmentally literate ideas about agricultural work.

Artistic and verbal activities also play a positive role in environmental education: drawing, appliqué, modeling and design, performing performances on natural history topics, reading fiction - all this contributes to the formation in children of a consciously correct attitude towards nature and attracts them to environmental activities. One of the objectives of the Praleska program is? awaken in the child a feeling of joy from realizing oneself as living, part of living nature; to form the basis for his understanding of his unity with nature; to cultivate respect, interest and caring attitude towards living things, the ability to see the beauty of nature, the desire to experience it. It is artistic and speech activity that contributes to the implementation of this task.

Currently, there is a certain contradiction between the child’s natural need to communicate with nature as a living being and his alienation from nature, which plays a negative role from the point of view of environmental education. This alienation can be partially overcome through the greening of the developing subject environment. This process must correspond to the goals of creating a developmental subject environment as such, that is, contribute to the development of the child as a whole, his formation as an individual, and satisfy his needs in various types of activities. The main task is to create conditions for the formation in the child of elements of environmental culture, environmentally literate behavior, and the implementation of new ideas about the universality and intrinsic value of nature.

The concept of a developing subject environment was developed by S.N. Novoselova, who defines it as a system of material objects of a child’s activity, functionally modeling the content of the development of his spiritual and physical appearance; an enriched environment presupposes the unity of social and natural means of ensuring a child’s varied activities.

From the point of view of environmental education, the environment in a preschool institution should contribute to:

Cognitive development of the child (creating conditions for cognitive activity, experimenting with natural materials, systematic observations of objects of living and inanimate nature; developing interest in natural phenomena, searching for answers to questions that interest the child and asking new questions);

Ecological and aesthetic development (attracting the child’s attention to the surrounding natural objects, developing the ability to see the beauty of the surrounding natural world, the diversity of its colors and shapes; preference for natural objects over artificial objects);

Improvement of the child’s health (use of environmentally friendly materials for interior design, toys; assessment of the environmental situation of the territory of the preschool institution; competent design, landscaping of the territory; creation of conditions for excursions and outdoor activities);

Formation of the child’s moral qualities (creating conditions for regular care of living objects and communication with them, cultivating a sense of responsibility, desire and ability to preserve the natural world around them);

Formation of environmentally literate behavior (skills in rational environmental management; caring for animals, plants, environmentally literate behavior in nature);

Greening various types of child activities (creating conditions for independent games, experiments with natural materials, using natural materials in art classes, etc.).

Any developmental environment consists of a variety of elements, each of which performs its own functional role. From the point of view of environmental education, we can distinguish traditional and non-traditional elements of a developmental subject environment for preschool institutions. In a group room, plants and animals must be kept in accordance with natural conditions. The main thing is that they are involved in the educational process and are absolutely safe for the life and health of children. In a corner of nature, it is recommended to have natural and waste materials for making crafts. It should be stored in aesthetically designed boxes and displayed as needed. It is advisable to create a nature room (a specially designated room for living nature objects) in a preschool institution, as well as a nature (ecology) room, which has the necessary conditions for conducting classes. You can arrange a mini-garden there: plant onions, oats, peas in boxes with soil; tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers; marigolds, asters, zinnias (in environmentally unfavorable conditions, seedlings should not be planted in open ground: children will not be able to try the grown vegetables).

We can identify a number of principles that need to be taken into account when choosing methods and forms of work on environmental education. They include: general pedagogical principles (humanism, scientificity, systematicity, etc.), principles specific to environmental education (predictiveness, integration, activity, etc.), and principles specific to the environmental education of preschoolers (formulated by Ryzhova).

The principle of science. The teacher in his work uses only scientifically based forms and methods of work that correspond to the specific age of children, taking into account their psychophysiological characteristics.

The principle of positivism involves raising and teaching children using positive examples. Thus, in the practice of environmental education, prohibitions are widespread, which teachers introduce children to. First of all, these prohibitions are related to the study of the rules of behavior in nature. It is also important to remember that for a preschool child, learning slogans and rules is not particularly difficult, but the effectiveness of this approach from the point of view of environmental education is zero. The goal of getting to know the rules is to create motivation in a child for a certain type of behavior in nature, and independent behavior, independent of the fear of punishment or praise from an adult, is not achieved in this way. In order for a child to follow certain rules, he must understand their meaning and emotionally feel the consequences of non-compliance.

The problem-solving principle involves the teacher creating problematic situations in which the child is involved in solving them. An example of such situations could be children’s elementary search activities, experimentation, and active observation. A problem situation is characterized by the following features: the child has a need to solve a problem, there is an unknown that needs to be found and which has a certain degree of generality; The child’s level of knowledge and skills is sufficient for an active search.

Systematic principle. The most effective is a systematic organization of work with preschoolers. Consistency is also manifested in the organization of work with parents, in the coordination of the work of the kindergarten with various institutions, and in the simultaneous implementation by the kindergarten of all the main components of the environmental education system.

The principle of visibility allows us to take into account the visual-figurative and visual-effective thinking of a preschool child. The use of this principle assumes that in order to solve the goals and objectives of environmental education, the teacher selects objects and processes that are accessible to understanding and mastery by a child of a certain age, which he can observe directly in his environment. The principle of visibility also means the constant use of visual material when working with children: illustrations, manuals, video materials, paintings, posters, models, layouts, etc.

The principle of humanism is manifested, first of all, in the choice of teachers of a humanistic model of education, which implies a transition from authoritarian teaching and upbringing to personality-oriented, to a pedagogy of cooperation between an adult and a child, a dialogical form of education, when the child becomes an equal member of the discussion, and not just a learner. This approach is especially important for preschool pedagogy, since without the help of an adult it is difficult for a child to recognize himself as a partner in communication with an adult. In the process of environmental education, the teacher should give preference to methods of work that are aimed not at the mechanical reproduction of knowledge (simple memorization of certain facts), but at developing the ability to think independently, evaluate the relationship between man and the environment, and understand the (elementary) relationships existing in nature. Thus, the principle of humanism presupposes a transition to a new type of relationship between teacher and child, when they both participate in the educational process, while the child is given as much independence as possible to express his feelings, thoughts, and independent knowledge of the world around him through experimentation. With this approach, the child has the right to make mistakes and can express any point of view. And one more important point: the teacher should not be afraid of children’s questions (after all, it is impossible to know absolutely everything!). Together with the child, he and the child can find answers to unexpected questions from children (and there are more and more of them today) in literature.

The principle of consistency is associated with the principles of systematicity and problematic nature. For example, environmental studies should be conducted in a certain logical sequence. This principle is also reflected in the system of sequential development of knowledge - from simple to more complex. It is applicable both to teaching children of different ages (for example, the sequence of presentation of material to children from 3 to 7 years old), and to teaching children within the same age.

The principle of safety assumes that the forms and methods of work used by the teacher must be safe for the child. The practical activities of preschoolers should exclude areas and work methods that are potentially dangerous for them. The principle of safety also implies that the teacher does not forget about the call “Do not harm nature!” That is, in the process of observations and experiments organized by him, natural objects should not suffer.

The principle of integration. An integrated approach involves close cooperation between all preschool teachers.

Operating principle. In the process of introducing a child to nature, much attention is traditionally paid to caring for indoor plants, animals of a corner of nature, and work in the garden. However, from the perspective of environmental education, it is necessary to expand the scope of such activities through the participation of children together with adults (especially parents) or older children in various environmental activities, assessing the condition of their home, yard, kindergarten territory, group (for example, what plants grow around us, whether there are enough of them, how water is used at home, etc.). This approach makes it possible to make the child’s activities more meaningful and necessary for him personally.

Methodological techniques bring results in cases where the teacher applies them systematically, takes into account the general trends in the mental development of children, the patterns of the activities being formed, if the teacher knows and feels each child well, and follows the principles of selecting methods and forms of work in environmental education of preschoolers.

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