The concept of preschool education: main ideas, regulations

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The rapid changes in the modern world have not bypassed preschool education. Every day it is updated and improved. This is the essence of the concepts of preschool education. They bring fresh ideas and plans to the masses. This article reveals the modern concepts of preschool education and touches on topical issues.

What is early childhood education?

Unlike going to school, going to kindergarten is optional. There is a category of parents who prefer not to take their child to kindergarten. Attending a preschool is only a recommendation for the child to receive opportunities for development and learning. It also serves as a kind of starter program for first graders.

However, preschool is not all good. There are no uniform rules for such training at the moment. Therefore, we can observe that, despite having reading and writing skills, the vast majorityfine motor skills are not developed in first-graders, and more than half of them have oral speech. About 70% of students are unable to organize their activities. That is why the question arose of revising the direction and goals of preschool education, as well as compiling the Federal State Educational Standard for preschool education.

Pre-school education is the foundation of the entire educational system. During this period, children are most amenable to education and absorb information like a sponge. At this time, the child is laying the personality, which will later determine his character. Therefore, it is extremely unreasonable to ignore this age period and preschool education.

Goals and objectives of preschool education

FGOS preschool education defines the goals and objectives of the educational process at preschool age. Initially, this is the creation of conditions for the maximum disclosure of the individual abilities of the child. These conditions should also provide an opportunity for the development of a literate personality, that is, one that is able to solve any life situations or problems that have arisen by applying the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities. After all, it is obvious that the essence of knowledge is not in their quantity, but in their quality. Those skills that are not used by a child in life become dead weight and can kill his desire to learn something new.

It is important to let the child believe in himself, to see his capabilities, to become a full-fledged subject of his own activity. This is an important point in the transition from preschool to school. It is necessary to keep the child's interest in learning and develop his desirecultivate yourself.

To achieve the set goal, the corresponding tasks have been allocated:

• organization of the developing environment in which the child is located;
• development of motor culture and physical activity, he alth promotion;
• development during training of personal qualities and cognitive processes;
• learning self-education.

Ultimately, we must get a person who is able to organize his activities, ready to master the school curriculum, aware of himself ("I am"), his capabilities and individuality ("I am"), able to communicate and cooperate with adults and peers.

Development of early childhood education

Pre-school education, like other branches of education, is influenced by social, economic and ideological changes in society. Recently, the entire education system has been saturated with the idea of the priority of the rights of the child. All international documents, in particular the "Declaration of the Rights of the Child" (1959), express a humanistic orientation, calling on all participants in the learning process to give children the best that is in this world.

The concept of the development of preschool education is permeated with such sentiments. It expresses the desire of the authorities, parents and the entire public to provide children with conditions for full and harmonious development.

It is also important that the concept of pre-school education implies the rejection of any form of violence (asmoral as well as physical). That is, the education and upbringing of children should be carried out only with their consent and if they have a desire to develop. That is why the main requirement for preschool education is its variability and flexibility.

The principle of dynamism being implemented leads to the emergence of more educational institutions for children and countless different educational services.

Modern trends

Even in the Soviet Union, namely in 1989, the State Committee for Public Education approved the Concept of Preschool Education. Its compilers are V. V. Davydov, V. A. Petrovsky and others. This document condemned the educational and disciplinary model of teacher education in kindergartens. In other words, the upbringing of children was reduced to stuffing them with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. The specifics of the development of children during preschool childhood were not taken into account.

The main idea of updating preschool education at that time was the humanization and de-ideologization of the process of preschool education. A direction was chosen to increase the intrinsic value of preschool age. Human values were put at the head of education, and not a dry set of knowledge, skills and abilities.

And yet this concept existed only in theoretical terms. It did not set out specific programs to achieve the intended goals.

The "Interim Regulation on Preschool", issued in 1991, abolished the use of the educational program asa single binding document. It was stated in it that, guided by this program in the learning process, they do not take into account the individual characteristics of children.

Today, the concept of preschool education in the Russian Federation involves the use of a variety of programs created by research teams and research teachers.

Educational program

The implementation of the main educational program of preschool education must necessarily include personality-oriented interaction of children with adults. Only in this case it is possible to implement an individual approach to teaching a child.

Modern educational programs do not aim to "shove" more knowledge into the child. Their main focus is to interest the child, to make him want to learn more new things on his own. The basis of cognitive activity is curiosity, creative imagination and communication. Programs rely on their development.

In addition, programs should include physical development and he alth promotion, ensuring psychological and emotional well-being. However, intellectual development has not been canceled. Interaction with parents is also important. They also need to stimulate the desire for development. In this case, the child will receive round-the-clock development.

Since most of the time a child spends in kindergarten, time planning is an important part of the educational process. It is important to ensure the continuous development and improvement of the child. To do this, use 3 forms of time organization:

• classes (specially organized form of education);
• non-traditional activities;
• free time.

Program classification

Depending on the classification criterion, the following programs are distinguished:

• variable and alternative;
• basic, federal, regional, municipal;
• main and additional;
• exemplary;
• complex and partial programs.

The difference between variable and alternative programs lies in the philosophical and conceptual basis. That is, how the author relates to the child, what aspects of his development he considers first of all, what conditions he considers for the formation of a personality.

Variable programs can be presented as basic or additional.

The main program covers all aspects of a child's life and includes the following educational sections:

• physical development;
• cognitive and speech development;
• social-personal;
• artistic and aesthetic.

The implementation of these sections ensures the development of mental, communicative, regulatory, motor, creative abilities. It also develops various types of children's activities (subject, game, theatrical, visual, musical, design, etc.). It can be concluded thatthe main program affects all spheres of the child's life and implements the principle of complexity. Such a program is also called complex.

Additional educational programs allow you to develop any aspect of life in addition to the main program. They are more narrowly focused, as they implement a smaller number of tasks. The use of such programs is allowed only with the consent of the parents. You can rely only on an additional program in sections, circles, studios. Within the framework of preschool education, the main comprehensive programs are still more popular.

The Exemplary Educational Program is a blueprint for a larger program. It does not spell out the daily work of the educator, but presents the approximate volumes of each specific block. In addition, an exemplary program includes a forecast of the results of its application and criteria for evaluating pupils. They are based on the normative indicators of the physical and mental development of children at each age stage.

Program selection

The correct selection of a program for teaching children in kindergarten is the most urgent problem of preschool education. It is important that it fully implement the tasks set and take into account all the nuances of the educational process of each specific preschool institution.

Each training program is subject to examination by the Federal Expert Council for General Education of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. In order to be able to use it,a positive rating is required. Local governments can create expert commissions to evaluate educational programs for each individual region or city.

The choice of program depends on the type of preschool education institution. These could be:

• ordinary kindergarten;
• kindergarten with a certain bias;
• kindergartens of compensatory and combined type, for the correction of deviations in psychophysical development;
• kindergarten of sanatorium and preventive direction;
• child development centers.

An educational program cannot be implemented if it has not passed the appropriate examination at the city and federal levels. The decision to introduce a particular certified program into the educational process of a preschool institution is discussed and decided at the pedagogical council or at the council of the labor collective. The selected program must be spelled out in the Charter of the kindergarten.

Introduction of the educational program

The concept of preschool education implies not only the selection and testing of programs, but also their correct introduction into the educational process. For the most effective implementation, a number of the following conditions must be met:

• to get acquainted with the program for all age groups;
• provide an optimal subject-developing environment;
• pick up didactic and visual material according to the program;
• conduct a diagnostic examination in each age group;
• carry out theoretical andpractical seminars with teachers on the implementation of the program;
• consult parents;
• begin to introduce the program at a younger preschool age (or take into account the age period prescribed in it).

Kindergarten + family=full development

The modern concept of preschool education pays great attention to the continuity of the preschool institution and the family. The family has a significant influence on the formation of a child's personality. This is the very first social institution that affects human development. The child, due to his age, is very dependent on the family. His independence is only superficial, but in fact, the child cannot do without the help of adults. It is interaction with adults at this age that motivates development and mental he alth.

Every family is different. And the way, and relationships in it are special for each child. However, several common features can be identified. There is a "democratic" family and an "authoritarian" one.

In a "democratic" family, the attitude towards children is very loyal. Here the child is allowed a lot, but at the same time there is close contact with the parents. They always answer children's questions, stimulate their interest and curiosity. Children are considered full members of the family and, regardless of age, participate in the discussion and resolution of family issues. In such a family, children will not just be forced to brush their teeth at night, but they will definitely explain that this is necessary to maintain he althy teeth.

The "authoritarian" family operates on a different principle. Here there is a reliance on the unquestioning fulfillment of the requirements of parents, whose authority is considered the most important in the family. The opinion of children is not taken into account. In addition, in relation to them, there are countless prohibitions and restrictions, which narrows the amount of knowledge about the world around us.

Special features of pre-school education include mandatory work with parents, especially those with "authoritarian" type of relationships. After all, all the work done in the kindergarten on the development of the child (especially his personality) will be reduced to zero if the knowledge gained is not reinforced in the family. In addition, the child gets dissonance. He does not understand who to listen to: they say one thing in the kindergarten, and another at home. This, in turn, is very harmful to the mental he alth of the child.

Problems of preschool education

Recently, much attention has been paid to creating a comfortable developing environment for the child. All teachers are focused on improving the equipment of their group rooms. More and more multifunctional games are being invented that can be modified and develop several functions at the same time. By focusing on play activities, we allow the child to gain knowledge about the surrounding reality in an unobtrusive form. This principle ensures a smooth transition from preschool to school.

However, for parents, the quality and quantity of knowledge that the child received in the classroom in kindergarten is more important. That is why the conceptpreschool education until 2020, the use of didactic and visual material during classes is prescribed.

Neglecting the above principle and relying only on getting dry knowledge, we run the risk of raising a child who will not want to go to school or will strive to study for a good grade or praise from parents. But when a child has already gone to school with such moods, it is almost impossible to correct the situation. Therefore, this issue needs to be addressed at the stage of preschool education.

Another problem of preschool education is moral and moral education. In the modern world, it is quite difficult to put the correct attitude towards the world into the child's head. Indeed, often the teachers themselves do not have such high moral qualities that need to be taught to the child. The themes of early childhood education should resonate with today's events. The isolation of education from real life (which is another problem of preschool education) makes it difficult to master such abstract concepts as diligence, respect, honesty, modesty, self-criticism, conscientiousness, courage, compassion, selflessness, love for the Motherland and patriotism.