The diploma thesis presents how through art we can connect curriculum contents when working with children in the first age group.
In the theoretical part of the diploma thesis I depict developmental characteristics of children aged one to three years, with whom I conducted the practical part of the diploma thesis. I described characteristics and phases of project work and phrases of research in the kindergarten as work methods that enable participation and children’s holistic development. through High/Scop’s preschool concept and the Reggio Emilia pedagogy, I explained the importance of active learning for the child and presented Curriculum for kindergartens in Republic of Slovenia, which also includes recognitions on the importance of active learning, children’s participation and children’s holistic development. I presented arts as an area of the curriculum, the field of dance and the meaning of creative movement in the preschool period.
The empirical part of the diploma thesis contains descriptions of children’s activities in the thematic project Waste throughout all areas of the curriculum. From different angles, through creative games and creative movements, children learnt about different waste, their structure and form, usability and the possibility of their recycling and the importance of sorting waste. Based on my monitoring activities, I found that, by researching, children get to know different types of waste, that they have great creative potential, when they make themselves a toy by using unstructured material and by this they create a new activity. I found that project work, which is based on cross-sectoral integration with arts, children’s activity and their participation, has a major impact on the holistic development of children as well as on the quality of work in the kindergarten.
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