Nikolaeva S.N., Kuznetsova Yu.M. Eco-education: preparing children for school. The classification of natural objects as an indicator of intellectual development of a preschooler

Keywords: ecological education development of preschool children intelligence thinking day care ecology

Nikolaeva S.N., Kuznetsova Yu.M. Eco-education: preparing children for school. The classification of natural objects as an indicator of intellectual development of a preschooler // Preschool Education Today. 2012, Issue 6 - p. 32–40.

This work is licensed under a Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

2012, 6

Svetlana N. Nikolaeva
Doctor of Pedagogy, Chief Researcher of Institute of Childhood, Family and Care Research of Russian Academy of Education (Moscow, Russia)

Yuliya M. Kuznetsova
Researcher, Institute of Childhood, Family and Care Research of Russian Academy of Education (Moscow, Russia)

Abstract

The article discusses the results of an experiment that was conducted in two Moscow’s kindergartens in 2009–2011. Its purpose was to show that well-organized ecological education forms the basics of ecological culture and develops children intellectually. The current ecological situation urges not only children, but also grownups to have properly developed ecological culture. Proper intellectual development, on the other hand, is the prerequisite for successful preparation of preschoolers for school. During an academic year children witness cyclic nature of plants and observe animals in kindergarten’s “pet corner”, watch and discuss seasons and fill weather calendars, inevitably establishing and learning causative connections existing in nature. All these activities engage children’s perceptual, cognitive and emotional spheres, developing their thinking, analytic abilities and speech. Special emphasis is made on developing children’s ability to construct generalizations and separate different notions.