Work in nature as a means of developing children’s cognitive abilities
Work in nature as a means of developing children’s cognitive abilities
Educator E.N. Zhukova.
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, a careful and caring attitude towards it is cultivated. In a team, children learn to work together and help each other.
According to P. G. Samorukova, work in nature creates favorable conditions for the sensory education of preschool children. The teacher teaches children to focus on the characteristic features of objects when achieving goals and results of work.
So, in order to determine whether a plant needs watering, it is necessary to take into account its condition - the elasticity, density of the leaves and stems or its lethargy, softness; condition of the soil - its moisture, density, etc.
In the process of work, children realize the dependence of the state of plants on the conditions of their growth, learn that changes in the environment naturally entail a change in the state of plants. Mastering these connections and dependencies also affects the attitude towards work: it becomes more meaningful and purposeful. Children develop a strong interest in work and hard work.
Working in nature, children learn in practice the dependence of the states 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 nature; their work becomes meaningful and purposeful.
Work in nature contributes to the development of observation, curiosity, and inquisitiveness in children; it arouses in them an interest in objects of nature, in human labor, and respect for working people.
Raising the ability of children to accept the purpose of observation and understand its result will be more effective if the observation is associated with difficulty.
In the process of work, practical skills in caring for plants and animals are formed, intellectual skills are developed: planning work, selecting materials and tools, outlining a sequence of operations, distributing them over time and between labor participants, evaluating results, etc.
P.G. Samorukova writes in her works that work creates favorable conditions for the physical development of children, because in most cases, it takes place in the air, is varied in nature, and this contributes to the development of movements and strengthening of 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.
In addition to educational ones, educational tasks are also solved in the process of labor in nature. Children gain an understanding of the objects of labor, the properties and qualities of plants, their structure, needs, main stages of development, methods of cultivation, seasonal changes in plant life; about animals, their appearance, needs, methods of movement, habits, lifestyle and its seasonal changes. They learn to establish a relationship between the habitat, the animal’s way of life in nature and ways to care for it in a corner of nature.
The most important pedagogical requirement is the organization of work that is varied in content: caring for animals (birds, fish, mammals), plants, growing plants in a corner of nature, work on the site (in a flower garden, in a vegetable garden, in an orchard). Only varied work arouses interest in children and a desire to participate in it.
Work in nature only has educational significance if its organization and content meet certain pedagogical and hygienic requirements.
How to create in children a stable positive attitude towards everyday, monotonous, but much-needed work? One of the conditions for the effectiveness of any work is the correct organization of work. A.S. Makarenko said that only with good organization a child experiences joy from work.
Of great importance in organizing the work of children is their emotional attitude to the task, which the teacher creates even before starting work. The work itself, especially if it has already been done more than once, will not always interest children; sometimes they are attracted and inspired by the goal set by the teacher, and while doing the work they are captivated by the overall pace and coherence.
In any type of work activity of children, the teacher must remember to protect their health: do not overheat the children, finish work on time, make sure that children do not injure each other with a shovel, rake, etc.
We should not forget that an indispensable condition must be the interest and meaningful attitude of children to any work. Otherwise, inattention, absent-mindedness, negligence appear, and long before the onset of actual fatigue, the child will begin to complain that he is tired.
Also, the most important pedagogical requirement is awareness of work, which involves revealing to the child his goals, results and ways to achieve them.
The work activities of children in nature should systematically become more complicated. The skills of caring for plants and animals become more complex, the range of knowledge is enriched, and children’s observation and planning skills develop.
Work activity must be regular. It is important for the teacher to introduce every child to it.
Forms of organizing children's labor in nature. The work of children in nature is organized in the form of individual assignments and as a collective task. Individual assignments are used in all age groups of the kindergarten. They enable the teacher to more carefully guide the children’s actions - to provide direct assistance to those who need it, to give additional explanations, advice, and to monitor the implementation of labor operations. All this helps to firmly develop skills and abilities, as well as instill responsibility for the assigned work and habits of work effort.
Collective work makes it possible to develop work skills and abilities simultaneously in all children in the group. These forms of labor are necessary to establish relationships in a team. Here the skills are formed to accept the common goal of work, to come to an agreement, to coordinate one’s actions, to plan work together, to help a friend, to evaluate his work; Collective responsibility for completing a task is fostered.
With the frontal organization of collective labor, when all children of an age group participate in the work, they can work together to perform one task, for example, weeding a garden. When cleaning a corner of nature, some wash plants, others clean animal cages, others wash trays and wipe down window sills. In this case, children are divided into subgroups. Collective work can be organized for one small subgroup: for example, 5-6 children are assigned to water a flower garden or collect beans and peas.
One of the forms of labor organization is duty. In the corner of nature, children begin to be on duty in the older group. This form of work allows you to improve labor skills and form social motives for work.
Children in the middle group will have to develop an interest in caring for plants and animals and, based on this, form a habit of work effort, the ability and desire to carry out assignments independently and without distractions. Deeper ideas are formed about the work associated with caring for plants and animals, about the entire content of the labor necessary for their cultivation.
Managing children's work.
In the middle group, children help the teacher in caring for animals and plants in the corner of nature and on the site. Individual assignments occupy a large place; they are longer in nature than in younger groups. Children carry out the same assignment for 2-3 days. Working in subgroups has its own characteristics: 2 subgroups can work simultaneously and perform different labor operations (but no more than two). For example, one group of children waters the plants in the garden, another loosens the rows. The skills of children in the middle group are still imperfect, so the teacher needs constant attention to the methods of their work so as not to cause damage to plants and animals.
It is possible to organize the work of the entire group of children. The teacher uses collective forms of labor when it is necessary to introduce children to new labor operations, for example, methods of planting seeds.
For example, planting large flower seeds and onions is done together. Work is organized as “work nearby” - children do not experience any dependence on each other. This gives each child the opportunity to act at an individual pace, which is very important when he is just mastering skills. And at the same time, collective work fosters interest in joint work.
It is also possible to organize work in small subgroups. Each subgroup performs one labor operation: wipes the plants, or plants peas in the garden, or waters the flowerbed.
When teaching labor skills in nature, children are shown each stage of a labor operation, while simultaneously organizing the execution of it by all children. The teacher combines demonstration with explanation, and the children perform labor operations step by step.
The work of children of middle preschool age takes place with the participation of a teacher or under his supervision. The teacher helps children if they find it difficult to do something, shows them how to complete a task, and encourages those who have done the assigned work well.
Children in the middle group are more independent at work. When teaching them a new work operation, the teacher shows and explains the entire task, and then divides it into successive stages (draw a furrow, put seeds, cover with soil, water). Monitoring the implementation of each stage, reminds of the sequence of actions, methods of using equipment, using demonstration and explanation.
The nature of the assessment changes: the teacher gives an assessment as the children work and immediately, if necessary, offers to correct the mistake. He teaches children to understand the need for labor, shows why it is necessary to perform this or that labor operation. Inspects the plants together with the children, runs his hand over large leaves, reveals that they are dusty and need to be washed; indicates a plant that needs to be watered (emphasizes - the ground is gray, dry); reminds that the animal has dirty sand in its cage, it needs to be changed, there is not enough water in the aquarium - it needs to be topped up.
Thus, in the middle group, the forms of organization of children in the labor process and the methods of managing labor in nature become more complex
In the process of supervising children’s work, the teacher solves the problem of developing a sense of self-control: checking the completion of the task, he poses questions to individual children that direct their attention to the result of the work, to compare it with the task, and teaches them to correlate their actions with instructions.
The assessment is positive, but it is differentiated depending on the quality: “I planted it correctly, but I didn’t press the soil around the bulb well.” The children themselves are also involved in the assessment: the teacher asks one child to evaluate how the other completed the task. When working in subgroups, one subgroup evaluates the work of another.
Forms of labor organization and methods of managing it throughout preschool age become more complex. The complexity is determined by the age capabilities of the children.
When organizing work, children must be provided with the necessary equipment appropriate to their age.
P. G. Samorukova provided an approximate list of equipment required for work on the site:
— Rake: handle length 100–110 cm, rake length 20–22 cm and teeth 5 cm.
— Roar: rectangle 100-X-75 cm.
— Pegs: height 30 cm.
-Cats, watering can, bucket.
— Shovel: handle length 75–80 cm, diameter 2–2.5 cm; Shovel height 15 cm, width 13 cm.
— Scoop: length 16-20 cm.
— Hammer (wooden).
— Stretcher: length 100–110 cm, distance between handles 30–35 cm, square box 20–25 cm, side height 3 cm.
— Wheelbarrow: length 100-PO cm, distance between handles 35 cm, drawer length 30-40 cm.
The work of children in nature should be feasible. The physical effort expended by the child should not cause overwork. Otherwise, he develops a negative attitude towards work assignments. The duration of work depends on its nature and the age of the children: in the younger group - within 5-7 minutes, in the middle group - from 10 to 15 minutes with a short rest depending on the nature of the work, in older preschool age - 15-25 minutes with a break for rest or change in the nature of work.
It is necessary to ensure the correct posture of children when working. So, when carrying water, watering cans or buckets must be carried in both hands; When working with a rake or shovel, the body must be kept straight. It is important that children do not stay in the same position for a long time. For this purpose, one type of work should be alternated with another (for example, loosening the soil with a water supply). Tools must be absolutely safe and correspond to the height and strength of the child, but at the same time it is necessary that the equipment is not toy, but real.
Pupils in the middle group are becoming increasingly independent as they acquire skills. They willingly carry out work assignments and help adults; they begin to develop processes of deliberate memorization and recall, the beginnings of a sense of responsibility for the assigned work and a critical attitude towards the results of their activities appear. Children of the fifth year of life begin to develop a conscious attitude towards performing labor operations, the ability to see and feel the need to carry out one or another labor process is formed. Working in nature has great educational value. It broadens children's horizons. Working in nature, children become familiar with the properties and qualities, states of natural objects, and learn ways to establish these properties.
The main task of labor education is to develop the correct attitude of children towards work. When developing hard work in children, it is necessary to teach them to set a goal, find ways to achieve it, and get a result that corresponds to the goal. In this case, it is necessary to strictly take into account the peculiarities of the work activity of preschool children.
When managing the work process, you should teach children to work carefully, calmly, without distraction. Then, along with the skills, the habit of neatness, the ability to take care of oneself, and maintain order in appearance will be formed. And most importantly, children will develop the habit of working hard.
In the process of moral and labor education of children of middle preschool age, new difficulties are encountered that are determined by their age characteristics. This is a low level of self-esteem, self-control, organizational skills and culture of activity in general. Children do not always know how to correlate their capabilities with the upcoming activity. Taking into account these difficulties, the teacher should focus his work on the positive features of this age that help raise children in work: the desire to act, the desire to independently complete tasks, activity. When children of this age complete tasks, the percentage of goal achievement is twice as high as that of children. Children of middle preschool age can already fairly objectively evaluate the actions of their comrades and speak with respect about them. They experience their successes and failures together with their peers, and show various forms of mutual assistance; Most children (more than 90%) distinguish play from work. Compared to children, the work activity of children of the fifth year of life acquires greater independence, although for now it is not so much creative as it is performative in nature. The level of organizational skills and culture of activity of these children is still low. Therefore, the initiative in organizing work activity still belongs to adults: most often the teacher sets the goal, and he also helps establish the sequence of operations and achieve the intended result. Adult participation in work (joint work) still remains one of the leading factors in managing work activities.
Middle-aged preschoolers do not yet have organizational skills, and their formation is very difficult due to the age characteristics of the children. The teacher needs constant reminders, showing them rational ways to prepare a workplace, explaining why materials and tools should be arranged this way: “It’s more convenient,” “It’s better, it’s more pleasant to work,” etc.
In the process of work, it is necessary to form in children an idea of what it means to be hardworking, as well as the experience of actions in which this moral quality is expressed.
Organization of work in nature with children of middle preschool age
Tatyana Smolyakova
Organization of work in nature with children of middle preschool age
Fostering hard work and caring attitude towards nature is one of the important tasks of general work on environmental protection .
Each of us has experienced the influence of our native nature
Introducing preschoolers to nature is a means of developing in their minds realistic knowledge about the surrounding nature , based on sensory experience and nurturing the correct attitude towards it.
Labor as a method of educational work in kindergarten is important. By directly coming into contact with objects and phenomena of nature , children acquire specific knowledge about it and establish some connections between the development of plants and human care for them. All this has a positive effect on the development of thinking and creates the basis for a materialistic worldview.
Systematic work in the vegetable garden , garden, flower garden and corner of nature increases interest in plants and animals, helps to instill in children love and respect for natural , and contributes to the formation of hard work and other moral qualities. Working on a site or in a corner of nature , children master the simplest practical skills of handling equipment, learn techniques for caring for plants, and receive a lot of information about the growth and development of plants.
Practical physical labor has a beneficial effect on the overall development of children, promotes the development of analyzer functions, and primarily the motor one. Children's work in nature creates favorable conditions for physical development, improves movements, and strengthens the nervous system. Systematic collective work brings children together. It instills in them hard work and responsibility for the assigned work, gives them pleasure and joy.
Labor education is a necessary and essential condition for the successful preparation of children for school. Children raised to work are distinguished in school by their independence, organization , activity, neatness, and ability to serve themselves.
Working in nature contributes to the development of observation skills in children.
It instills in them an interest in agricultural work and respect for the people who do it. Working in nature helps to cultivate love for it.
Creating conditions for work in kindergartens
How to create in children a stable positive attitude towards everyday, monotonous, but much-needed work? One of the conditions for the effectiveness of any work is the correct organization of work . Anton Semenovich Makarenko said that only with good organization a child experiences joy from work .
Materials and tools for child labor must , firstly, strictly comply with hygienic requirements and rules for protecting the life and health of children. It is strictly forbidden to give children anything to work with that could create the slightest danger of injury or have an adverse effect on their health and physical development. Secondly, the materials that children use in their work must be pliable and easy to process, and the tools are convenient and adapted to the capabilities of children.
In order for children to be able to take an active part in caring for the plants that are in the group and on the site, a variety of equipment is needed.
For working in a corner of nature : aprons, napkins for wiping dust from plant leaves, tools for loosening, watering cans, spray bottle, brushes, basins, buckets, trays. Buckets with a capacity of 1.5-2 liters. Watering cans with a capacity of up to 2 liters.
A specific place is allocated for storing equipment, and everything that children use independently is arranged so that they themselves can get and put away everything they need for work. it can be a combined cabinet of any design with closed and open shelves.
Equipment for work on the site is necessary in order to properly organize children's activities in all seasons. Objects for work should be convenient for children, have an attractive appearance, and be made of light but sufficiently durable material (for example, shovels and scoops - iron or steel; buckets and watering cans - made of thin galvanized iron or tin, painted with oil paint, or polyethylene; wheelbarrows, stretchers, labels, etc. - made of wood).
For cleaning the site, working in the vegetable garden and flower garden, the following equipment is used: Wooden rake (for raking leaves)
and iron (for loosening, cleaning the soil surface from stones, leveling the surface of ridges): the approximate number of teeth is 7, the distance between them is 2.3-2.5 cm, the height of the teeth is 5 cm, the length of the comb is 20-22 cm, rake length—100–110 cm, handle cross-section—2–3 cm. Broom for cleaning the area from dry leaves and other debris: stick length—1 m, diameter from 2 to 2.3 cm. Stretcher with sides for carrying earth and sand , fallen leaves: length - 20-25 cm, width - 20 cm, side height - 3-4 cm, length with handles - 100-110 cm. Wheelbarrow for transporting earth, sand, fallen leaves, stones: side height - 20 cm , length including handles—100 cm, length of sides—30–40 cm, wheel diameter—12 cm. Scoops for digging and planting plants, for hilling and loosening the soil;
tray length - 10 cm, width - 7-8 cm, scoop length - 16-20 cm. Hand claws - “cats”
for loosening the earth.
Equipment used by children in the process of working in nature is stored in the kindergarten area, in cabinets with shelves convenient for children.
The main types of work in kindergarten are household labor , work in nature , and manual labor . In the middle group all types are used
Forms of organization - assignments , duty and collective work of children .
Individual Orders are widely used in all age groups of kindergarten, but in younger groups they are the leading form of organizing child labor . Educators should know why work with children on labor education should begin with individual assignments that the child completes together with the teacher, and only much later move on to other forms. Due to their psychological characteristics, children of younger groups are not yet sufficiently independent in their actions, they are prone to imitation, they cannot coordinate their actions with the actions of their comrades and work at the pace required for the team, they are often distracted and do not finish the work they start. At this age , children are little interested in the result; they are attracted by the process of action itself (they do not yet possess the necessary skills and abilities to achieve the result). Therefore, only in the second younger group, from the second half of the year, when children already have some work experience , do teachers use group assignments. The main form of unification in work for children of this age is work “side by side”
when each child works independently and is responsible for his work to the teacher; at the same time, the child practices the skills and abilities necessary in team work.
At the end of the year, duty duties are introduced in the second junior group - systematic work that requires a certain level of independence. (The most widespread use of different types of duty is in the senior and preparatory groups.)
The most complex form of organizing children's work is collective work . It is widely used in the senior and preparatory groups of kindergarten, when skills become more stable and the results of work have practical and social significance. Children already have sufficient experience in participating in various types of duty and in carrying out various assignments. Increased capabilities allow the teacher to solve more complex problems of labor education : he teaches children to negotiate upcoming work, work at the right pace, and complete a task within a certain time frame. In the older group, the teacher uses such a form of uniting children as common work , when children receive a common task for all and when at the end of the work a general result is summed up.
work takes on special importance when children become dependent on each other in the process of work. Joint work gives the teacher the opportunity to cultivate positive forms of communication between children : the ability to politely address each other with requests, agree on joint actions, and help each other.
Contents of work of children of middle preschool age in nature :
In the middle group, children are more independent than in the younger group. They acquired some knowledge and skills in caring for plants and animals in a corner of nature . Now the task is to continue to develop in children an interest and love for nature , to teach them to care about animals and plants.
Indoor plants are permanent inhabitants of the corner of nature in all kindergarten groups. This makes it possible to teach children how to care for plants. In the process of teaching children to care for plants, joint work of a child and an adult . The teacher, working together with the children , sets a specific task for them, outlines what result they will get, shows the necessary techniques as necessary, imparts knowledge, and does this as the work progresses. Working together helps children learn the direction of movement (body movements, turning arms and legs when loosening and watering)
.
All this can be accomplished when an adult works from the very beginning with a small group of children, who are assigned a specific area of work. Having a constant task, the child makes a certain effort and learns to overcome difficulties .
At the same time, the children learned the names of these plants and the concepts of moisture-loving plants and plants that do not like frequent watering, and various methods of watering: at the root, in a tray, without getting on the bulb. At first we tried to interest the children, to draw their attention. I bring the children to the flower: Children, look at the Coleus, how its leaves have drooped, why do you think? you need to water it. Gradually, they began to involve all the children in watering the plants and established a duty. Watering plants is a difficult task for children to care for . Being carried away by the process of watering, they can water the same plant several times a day. Therefore, this work is performed by children under the supervision of a teacher. Involving all the children in turn in watering, it is necessary to teach each child how to hold the watering can correctly (putting its spout to the edge of the pot, teach them to pour water little by little, slowly, pour water until all the soil in the pot is wet and no water will appear in the pan.
When caring for bulbous plants, water only the ground and under no circumstances overwater the bulb. It is necessary to explain to the children that they need to water the plants with the water that was already in the room.
It is also necessary to remember that plant leaves must be kept clean and washed with warm water: cold water is harmful to them. Plants with small leaves (for example, tradescantia, evergreen begonia)
water from a watering can with a strainer, placing the plants in a basin. The children learned how to wash leaves. At the beginning they offered to see how to wipe the leaves, showing how to run a cloth along the leaf in one direction from the petiole to the end, otherwise the leaf might break. Then the children rolled up their sleeves to avoid getting them dirty. Everyone was asked to wet a cloth in a basin, wring it out, place the sheet on the palm of the left hand, and if the sheet was large, place the sheet over the entire hand, up to the elbow, and carefully wipe it. Each child must be supervised during work. Two or three children can be assigned to wash the trays in another basin of warm water.
After work, we wipe the floor, rinse the rags, wring them out and hang them to dry, then put the plants back in place. When examining the plants after work, you need to ask the children: “What did the plants look like after they were washed?”
After introducing the children to tools for loosening, they talked about the need to loosen the earth. And gradually they taught the children to perform this labor operation .
During the spring-summer period, when plants need more nutrition, it is necessary to feed the plants with organic or mineral fertilizers in the presence of children, involving children in the work (water the plants before and after feeding, explaining to them the purpose of feeding.
Bring children to the conclusion: plants need care, then they will grow and develop better.
Labor activity on sowing is carried out in a group, in the vegetable garden, in the flower garden.
Children plant onions, sow oats, parsley, peas, and plant cucumber, tomato, and cabbage seedlings in the ground. Regularly throughout the spring and summer, watering and weeding the garden and watching the growth of plants, the children were interested in the result of their work .
When organizing work activities on the site and in the garden, the following rules should be observed: work not during the hottest hours of the day, but in the morning or evening. The working posture must be correct. Labor processes must be alternated, taking into account its nature. Less intense processes should be replaced by more intense ones, work and rest (for example, after preparing the beds, weeding between the beds, children can tamp them down, water them after sowing).
It should be remembered that the example of adults is the main condition for instilling in children interest and respect for nature . Labor landings , cleanup days that take place together with parents, have great educational value for children.
Labor , as a method of educational work in kindergarten, is important. By directly coming into contact with objects and phenomena of nature , children acquire specific knowledge about it and establish some connections between the development of plants and human care for them. All this has a positive effect on the development of thinking in children.
Systematic work of children in nature increases children's interest in plants and animals, helps to cultivate in children love and respect for objects of nature , and contributes to the formation of high moral qualities.
By organizing work activities , the teacher ensures the comprehensive development of children, helps them gain confidence in their abilities, develop vital skills and abilities, and fosters responsibility and independence. to organize children's work in such a way that it activates the physical strength and mental activity of children, giving them joy and allowing them to feel significant and competent.
