Activities with plants are extremely important for both children and educators as a part of the initial science in preschool period. Through their exploration, creativity and curiosity children encourage us to experience whole kingdom and greatness of plants together with them. Plants are still neglected in preschool pedagogy today, so it is all the more important that we do not deprive children of the experience of plants.
In my diploma thesis I researched the experiences and thoughts of educators about activities with plants in the preschool period. Through partially structured interviews with randomly selected educators from Slovenian kindergartens, I gained information about their knowledge of the recommendations of the Kindergarten Curriculum and children's knowledge about plants, their use of pedagogical approaches and methods of work and the impact of activities on children. I have found that most educators use the Kindergarten Curriculum as a starting point for ideas and concepts when planning plant activities. Educators strive to provide children with a variety of thematic, concrete and experiential and daily activities with plants. I find that children have acquired both right and wrong ideas about plants, which, due to the lack of knowledge and lack of experience in most children, are based primarily on logical reasoning. The fact is that experiences with plants vary from child to child, which in turn is influenced by the development and age of children, their prior knowledge of plants and the environment from which children come.
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