Upon entering the kindergarten, the child encounters enormous changes, which triggers much distress in him. It is a time when he is for a long time separated from his parents for the first time, and he also has to adapt to a new environment, new people and the new rhythm of life. During this time, educators must be willing to establish new bonds with children and create an environment where they will feel comfortable. The material and toys placed in the playroom will make it easier for children to adapt as they will play with it.
In the pre-school period, play is the primary way of a child's development and learning. During this period, the child loves to experiment with new objects, and through the grip, he learns about their various properties and information. During this time, as he explores something he is not yet familiar with, he also gets distracted. He temporarily forgets that he has separated from his parents for the first time and that they are not present in the group. With the help of the educator, in his game, they can begin to build a bond with each other, which is necessary to facilitate adaptation to the new environment and build trust.
In the diploma thesis, we focused on wood, which is a natural material, but gentle and warm to the touch, thus affecting the individual's well-being. Therefore, we want to encourage educators to make greater use of all wood materials at the early inclusion of children in kindergarten. The wood has the function of calming down children. Furthermore, we would encourage all educators to step outside their framework and introduce technical education to the youngest children.
The diploma thesis consists of theoretical and empirical work. In the theoretical part, we present the developmental characteristics of children aged 1-2 years and their play, introducing children to kindergarten, technical education for the youngest and critical information about wood, which is good to know when using this material.
The empirical part includes the analysis of a questionnaire. We wanted to find out educators' attitudes regarding the introduction of children to kindergarten with the help of wood materials, how many times they use different wood materials and if wood as a material makes sense in kindergarten. The second part presents a diary of records of the 14 days of observation of children who experimented with different wood materials during the introduction to the kindergarten. Based on observations and detailed records, we also evaluated the introduction of wood materials during the introduction.
We have found that educators find it essential to introduce wood materials during a child's introduction to kindergarten, but they often do not do this themselves. They still stick to familiar things, offering children only structured wooden material (toys). The rest they do not find suitable for the youngest (home-made toys and unstructured wooden material). However, they see many advantages in wood as a natural material that calms down children and develops imagination and curiosity. Through the introduction of wood materials during the introduction to the kindergarten, we offered the children something new, unknown, something with which they could explore indefinitely and at the same time feel good. In addition, we have now shown educators that children feel good around wood and that it is suitable for them from the very beginning.
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