This thesis presents and evaluates a summer camp project in preschool as a way of enhancing social interactions. In the theoretical part, I have presented the social development of children and some factors that influence social development. Children first interact with important adults, and gradually engage more frequently in interactions with peers.
I presented forest pedagogy, the Reggio Emilia approach and Slovenian scout youth program (taborniški Program za mlade), with an emphasis on how these programs and approaches influence social interactions among children. I compare the presented programs and approaches in terms of goals and principles, methods and forms of work and contents, and then with Slovenian Curriculum for preschool (Kurikulum za vrtce, 1999).
In the empirical part, I presented and evaluated the project of summer work at the Vrhnika preschool, the summer camp at the kindergarten. The project was carried out in sections of the 2nd age range, in six sections involving children aged three to six. Initially, I presented the plan of the summer work, described the implementation of the project and, as part of the final evaluation of the project, recorded the findings on the impact of the project on social interactions between children. I have found that the Slovenian Curriculum for preschool (1999) is sufficiently open and flexible to accommodate alternative programs and approaches to enrich the implementation curriculum. The implemented project had a positive impact on the development and strengthening of social interactions among children from different departments, between children and educators, and connections among professional staff also improved. The project is an example of good practice.
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