PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN THE PRE-SCHOOL PERIOD

In the Project-Based Learning System, the information that our children want to gain is never given directly; instead, it is aimed for our child to acquire knowledge through projects. In this way, our children have the opportunity to learn while living. They can also perform functions such as expressing their ideas, directing and elaborating the process from the beginning to the end. Respecting our children in all areas in our school is our most important starting point.

Project-based learning is essential at Very Important Kids Kindergarten. Project-based education is applied in all age groups in our school. The subject selection in the projects is chosen by taking into account the interests and experiences of our children, and respecting the ideas of our children and the subjects they are curious about and excited about in the process. According to the developmental characteristics of the age group, the right to vote is offered in a democratic environment. The Very Important Children team thinks that ACTIVE and PERMANENT LEARNING is inevitable when all this happens, when our children are present in the process with all their senses and emotions .

We aim to increase the interest of our children more, with the excitement of a different entry in each project, determined by brainstorming with the Very Important Children team, who make love, not work, before starting our projects. Sometimes this can be an Insect Hotel, which is prepared in a way that our children will notice before they even enter the school, where a giant dinosaur may have wandered around our school, sometimes it can be an Insect Hotel placed in the garden, sometimes it can be music that makes us feel like we are in a cave spread all over the place… Not only our children, but our families, teachers, everyone in the school. gets excited about this preparation.

At the beginning of the project, it is essential to prepare a mind map and reveal all the processes. Together with our children, we colorfully paint a giant Brain Map and relieve our concerns about the functioning of the process. As the process progresses, our mind map gets detailed. Because as time progresses, each of our children gets involved in detailing the process and feels belonging.

In the process of the project, we teachers do not become teachers, we become comrades, sympathizers, explorers, and curiosity. Our entire aim is not to teach and dictate what we aim for, but to prepare suitable conditions for them to discover. We don't care about the result, the main thing for us is PROCESS. The permanence and positive effect of dozens of achievements in the process is undeniable.

Our children are the protagonists of our projects. Their feelings and thoughts are always taken into account, and they continue the project in line with their interests and wishes, with our support. In fact, apart from Project-Based Learning, we develop our children's ability to plan for the future and participate in life by observing together that their thoughts are listened to, their demands are realized if they comply with school principles, and their self-regulation capacities are developed.

On the first day we start the project, our children make their "FIRST PICTURES" about our project topic. Our projects include Mathematics, Scamper, Science and Nature, Rhythm/Music, sound studies for primary school preparation, activities for getting to know art and the artist, gourmet cuisine workshop, nature trips, family participation, delicacy/ethics… studies. Our projects take an average of 1 month. In this process, we prepare our monthly training plans, including all our branch trainings, in accordance with our project topic and age groups.

Every day, we learn new information about our project topic, we reach the information not directly, but by researching, observing, and establishing a cause-effect relationship. At the end of 30 days, we finish our project by making our "FINAL PICTURES" . The “first and last picture” we include in our projects is an indicator of how much detail we have learned or a subject we knew at the beginning, and we cannot believe what we see. It is so detailed that everything in the last picture is good, we say as a team.

At the end of the project, our children make a project presentation to our families at our school. Our children excitedly tell their families about this 30-day adventure. It makes us all feel amazing that many of them still continue the enthusiasm we have experienced together for a month when they come together with their families.

One of our children said, “Do you know that there is a water rabbit among the animals that live in water?” says for example. Our families say, wow, they've never heard of it, and when they do research, they find out that yes, there is an animal called a water rabbit, and we all learn it from a child.

In fact, we realize that we learn from our children in the Project Based Learning System. Not just an event, but staying in the moment like our children, wondering, noticing childish details, patience, waiting or sometimes not being patient… And at the end of all this, to be EMOTIONAL to them too!

Our children, who make their presentations, end their presentations by telling their families about all the artistic works they carried out during the project exhibited at our school. It is inevitable to see happy, loving, confident and excited children at the end of our presentations. Of course, there are also emotional families who say they have never seen my child like this… At that moment, our tears may fall together… We say it is good!

CHILDREN TAKING PROJECT-BASED EDUCATION IN VERY IMPORTANT CHILDREN;

• They express themselves better,

• They feel understood because they see that their ideas are listened to and implemented,

• They reveal their feelings,

• They know it will happen when they make an effort,

• Presentation skills develop,

• Their confidence increases when they see their own work,

• They enjoy seeking and finding information and being able to learn continuously,

• They experience having in-depth knowledge on a subject,

• Feelings of research and observation develop,

• They learn by doing and experiencing,

• They learn to cooperate,

• Feelings of responsibility develop,

• Feelings of achievement increase,

• Problem solving skills develop,

• Their creativity develops,

• Develops the skills of asking questions and making investigations,

• Critical thinking skills develop,

AT VERY IMPORTANT CHILDREN WHO RAISED AWARENESS BY EDUCATION IN NATURE WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT-BASED EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS ALWAYS DIFFERENT! WHEN OUR CHILDREN GRADUATE, THIS DIFFERENCE IN A GROUP IS IMMEDIATELY UNDERSTOOD!

SUMEYRA YURDAER

CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION TEACHER

VERY IMPORTANT CHILDREN FOUNDING MANAGER