Page 15 - Tatjana Vonta in sodelavke (ur.), Dejavnosti za predšolske otroke s poudarkom na spoznavanju matematičnih in naravoslovnih konceptov, Digitalna knjižnica, Compendia 2
P. 15
roduction
Several years ago, the Developmental Research Center of Pedagogical Initiatives Korak za kora-
kom from the Educational Research Institute Ljubljana was granted a license for publishing the
»Creating child-centered materials for math and science« guidebook. Even though the content of
this guidebook seemed interesting and necessary for our country, the opportunity for its publish-
ing occurred with the Prospects of Evaluation and Development in Educational System project,
which was organized by the Educational Research Institute and co-financed by the European So-
cial Fund and the Slovene Ministry of Education and Sport. Translated parts of the guide were
sent to our co-workers in practice, who followed our instructions and modified the text according
to their opinion and added photographs that were authorized for publishing by children’s parents.
The whole guide was then revised and reorganized into final form.
We believe that the content of this guidebook will be very useful for all students and future pre-
school teachers, who have chosen this profession because they never liked mathematics and have
always had difficulties with it. The fact that students regularly give such reasons for choosing the
profession of a preschool teacher and that one third of them feels this way, is very concerning. Their
fear from mathematics, their negative experiences and their attitude towards this field can later, af-
ter graduation, influence their practical work and become part of their subjective theories and their
work. Thereby, children in their group could be deprived of important experiences with mathe-
matical and scientific concepts, even those that are part of our every-day life. A preschool teach-
er, who does not recognize mathematical and scientific concepts in every-day activities and situ-
ation, he/she organizes with the children, will have difficulties in showing this world to children
and stimulating their interest for it. The activity examples described in the guidebook should help
preschool teachers overcome such difficulties. The guidebook introduces ideas which can be sen-
sibly placed, modified and upgraded by preschool teachers according to their own judgment and
according to the capabilities, needs and interests of children, available material and the goals and
principles of the Preschool Curriculum.1 Although the activities are meant for children from the
second age group (from three to six years of age), preschool teachers will be able to adjust them for
children from the first age group, aged from one to three years.
The guidebook comprises of nine chapters that introduce ideas for connecting mathematics and
science with other fields of activities from the curriculum. The chapters are divided according to
the realization of activities in individual activity centers:
Chapter 1: Mathematical aids
Chapter 2: Center for scientific activities
Chapter 3: Center for water and sand activities
Chapter 4: Center for role-play and dramatization
Chapter 5: Center for literacy instruction
Chapter 6: Center for art activities
1 Bahovec, E. D., et al. 1999. Kurikulum za vrtce. Ljubljana: Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport, Zavod RS za šolstvo.
15
Several years ago, the Developmental Research Center of Pedagogical Initiatives Korak za kora-
kom from the Educational Research Institute Ljubljana was granted a license for publishing the
»Creating child-centered materials for math and science« guidebook. Even though the content of
this guidebook seemed interesting and necessary for our country, the opportunity for its publish-
ing occurred with the Prospects of Evaluation and Development in Educational System project,
which was organized by the Educational Research Institute and co-financed by the European So-
cial Fund and the Slovene Ministry of Education and Sport. Translated parts of the guide were
sent to our co-workers in practice, who followed our instructions and modified the text according
to their opinion and added photographs that were authorized for publishing by children’s parents.
The whole guide was then revised and reorganized into final form.
We believe that the content of this guidebook will be very useful for all students and future pre-
school teachers, who have chosen this profession because they never liked mathematics and have
always had difficulties with it. The fact that students regularly give such reasons for choosing the
profession of a preschool teacher and that one third of them feels this way, is very concerning. Their
fear from mathematics, their negative experiences and their attitude towards this field can later, af-
ter graduation, influence their practical work and become part of their subjective theories and their
work. Thereby, children in their group could be deprived of important experiences with mathe-
matical and scientific concepts, even those that are part of our every-day life. A preschool teach-
er, who does not recognize mathematical and scientific concepts in every-day activities and situ-
ation, he/she organizes with the children, will have difficulties in showing this world to children
and stimulating their interest for it. The activity examples described in the guidebook should help
preschool teachers overcome such difficulties. The guidebook introduces ideas which can be sen-
sibly placed, modified and upgraded by preschool teachers according to their own judgment and
according to the capabilities, needs and interests of children, available material and the goals and
principles of the Preschool Curriculum.1 Although the activities are meant for children from the
second age group (from three to six years of age), preschool teachers will be able to adjust them for
children from the first age group, aged from one to three years.
The guidebook comprises of nine chapters that introduce ideas for connecting mathematics and
science with other fields of activities from the curriculum. The chapters are divided according to
the realization of activities in individual activity centers:
Chapter 1: Mathematical aids
Chapter 2: Center for scientific activities
Chapter 3: Center for water and sand activities
Chapter 4: Center for role-play and dramatization
Chapter 5: Center for literacy instruction
Chapter 6: Center for art activities
1 Bahovec, E. D., et al. 1999. Kurikulum za vrtce. Ljubljana: Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport, Zavod RS za šolstvo.
15
