Article "Game as a means of economic education of older preschoolers."

Author: Kotenkova Natalya Leonidovna

Annotation.

This article examines the relevance of economic education for older preschoolers. Economic education occurs through gaming activities: role-playing games and didactic games.

Keywords:

economic education, economics, game.

The Law “On Education” of the Russian Federation and the “Concept of Preschool Education” emphasize the priority of universal human values. [1] Therefore, in the conditions of maintaining the economic independence of Russia, its scientific potential and the development of modern Russian society, the economic education of the younger generation becomes significant.

In other words, modern children have to live in new conditions, master fundamentally new professions that require new knowledge, professional and personal qualities. Thus, modern new economic conditions dictate the need to educate independent, active, active, hardworking, economically literate, highly moral, humane people from preschool age, which is the basis for the further life of the individual. [2]

Therefore, economic education, a relatively new direction in preschool pedagogy, is currently relevant and in demand.

Only at first glance, economics and a preschooler seem too far apart. The child is included in the economic life of the family very early, encounters money, advertising, goes to the store with his parents, participates in the process of buying and selling, thus mastering economic information on an everyday level. It is in the family that he first learns the price of labor, income and expenses, the advantages of material well-being, prosperity and poverty. Understood as the area of “smart housekeeping,” the “art of housekeeping,” economics is inseparable from a child from the earliest years of his life. [10]

Economic education is part of the general education system, an organized pedagogical process aimed at developing a caring attitude towards the surrounding world of values, another facet of the educational process. [9]

Economic education is understood as the result of economic education, contributing to the formation of an economic attitude towards material and spiritual values and the formation of the principles of value orientations. [eleven]

In our opinion, the effectiveness of economic education is largely determined by what moral foundation is laid in the child’s personality. In the process of economic education, along with the assimilation of basic economic categories, the formation of moral qualities of preschoolers, hard work, frugality, efficiency, occurs, which is expressed in actions and behavior.

The goal of economic education is to reveal to the child the objective world around him, as a world of spiritual and material values, as part of universal human culture, and in the process of cognition, to teach appropriate forms of behavior. [12]

In order for a child at school to have a good understanding of complex economic concepts, work in this direction must begin from the age of 5–6 years in close cooperation with parents. After all, according to psychologists, at the border of preschool and school age, there is a closure of connections between the two most important spheres of life - the world of human relations and the objective environment. One world gives way to another. It is during this period that a leap occurs in the formation of personality and its basic mental foundations. And naturally, adults cannot lose sight of this period. This is what happens in a growing person’s assessments, judgments, and attitudes toward good and evil. [5]

Considering that preschoolers have a predominance of visual-figurative thinking and the main type of activity is play, play activity becomes the main means of economic education for a 5-7 year old child.

Playing for a child is a serious activity. “To make a serious activity entertaining for a child is the task of initial education,” said K.D. Ushinsky. [7]

An analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature shows that the problem of the content of economic education of older preschoolers is very complex and ambiguous; teachers highlight various aspects: economic education of preschool children (AA Smolentseva); formation of the foundations of economic culture (E.A. Kurak); introducing children to the economy, initial economic education as one of the factors of economic socialization, which has a huge impact on the child’s developing relationship with material and spiritual values and, in general, on the development of the child’s personality (A.D. Shatova); the formation of economic socialization of children (E.V. Kozlova); formation of economic knowledge in children of senior preschool age (JI.H. Galkina); children's awareness of economic concepts (DA. Golub).

Those. the process of economic education occurs spontaneously, fragmentarily, the holistic theory of economic education of preschool children has not been sufficiently developed, and the problem of economic education of older preschoolers through play has not been sufficiently studied, in this regard, the program “Game as a means of economic education of older preschoolers” has been developed.

The goal of the program is the economic education of older preschoolers (this is the process of forming an economic outlook, mastering economic ideas and concepts, initial economic skills, acquiring such personality traits as hard work, frugality, efficiency) through play activities.

Tasks:

1. Introduce children to the theoretical basis of economic sciences (through familiarization with the most accessible economic concepts, familiarization with modern market relations).

2. To develop skills of caring for all types of property, respect for the interests of the individual and other members of society, instilling respect for work and working people.

3. Development of gaming activities.

4. Fostering the necessary qualities in children (respect for the objective world, nature, etc.).

5. Formation of skills of reasonable behavior and needs.

The program is designed for two years (1st year of study - children 5-6 years old, 2nd year of study - 6-7 years old) and is divided into blocks. At the age of 5-6 years, 4 economic categories are studied: needs; work; product; money.

At the age of 6-7 years, the process of mastering 8 economic categories is underway: economics; profit and loss; needs; money ; labor (professions); advertising; barter; business and capital.

I began my work by preparing methodological support. Methodological publications by L.G. Kireeva, A.A. Smolentseva, E.A. Kurak, and A.D. Shatova became the main manuals for the implementation of economic education.

It is known that the development of a child depends on many factors, including the relevant environment, i.e. the environment in which it occurs. Therefore, it is so urgent to create a subject-development environment in a preschool educational institution - the space in which the child lives and develops: the natural world, the world of people, the world of the subject-spatial environment. [13]

The group has created a corner “Economic ABC”, in which there is a map of the city, which shows the industrial centers of our city, as well as large stores. The development environment was supplemented with the following board and printed games on economics: “Monopoly”, “money”, “supermarket”, “what is made of what”, “sweets and coins”, “professions”, “economics”, etc. To the role-playing game in the “Shop” game, a cash register was purchased, checks and money were made., for the “Bank” game - receipts, a computer layout, money, I created a card index of economic concepts, which I regularly replenished as I studied the material. A did card index has also been developed. games.

Cooperation with parents played a significant role, so I spoke at a parent meeting with information on the topic of economic education “Preparing a child for life.”

Parents really like that their children study economics, and they help us in every possible way to raise our children “economically.” After all, the “first economic experience” is acquired in the family. Therefore, the children in their families tried out the economic experience acquired in the classroom: they distributed family needs according to importance (what to spend money on first, what to spend money on last), drew up a family budget, bought food, saved household resources (electricity, water), took care of to everything in the house.

In my work, I use story-based didactic games, which are both educational and educational. Such a game has a detailed plot, including a variety of roles, where certain game problems are solved directly on the basis of acquired mathematical knowledge and are offered to the child in the form of game rules. Plot-based didactic games help make economics understandable for children through modeling real life situations: buying and selling, production and marketing of products, etc. [3]

With the help of story-based and didactic games, I help children enter the complex world of objects, things, and human relationships.

On the theme “labor - product - commodity” I organize such games as: “Atelier”, “Furniture workshop”, “Market”, “Shop” “Hospital”, “Pharmacy”, “Hairdresser”, “Builders”, “Farmers” . Children comprehend the meaning of labor and reproduce the labor processes of adults. During the game, children use a variety of materials and master labor operations for the manufacture of various goods.

The goal is to give children knowledge in the field of financial categories, to form an idea of a product as a result and product of human labor, to develop skills in evaluating objects in terms of their quality and cost, moral and labor qualities of an individual through a comparative analysis of one’s own and others’ work, and also to consolidate skills evaluate a thing as a commodity and as an object of human relations. Preschoolers got acquainted with professions - traditional (games “I Know All Professions” and new ones (for example, advertising agent, advertiser, banker), the importance of various types of work for a person. I tried to convey to the children’s consciousness that there are no bad or good, necessary or unnecessary professions, everyone is necessary. It doesn’t matter what a person’s profession is, what matters is how he does his job, what benefits he brings to people.

On the topic “money and price,” I include in children’s activities a game that involves operations with coins of different denominations and values, and the exchange of money. These are games such as “Small Shopping”, “Market”, “Pharmacy”, “Bank”. During such games, children learn that every thing costs money and learn to compare the price of an item with the available cash. Children are introduced to the concept of a bank - a place where they lend money, change it, store it and pay it back.

When playing “Shop” and “paying” for purchased goods, preschoolers do not pay attention to the value of money. You can often hear from children: “I had one piece of money, and now I have several (two, three, five, etc.),” so there were classes dedicated to familiarizing preschoolers with Russian banknotes. To trace the history of Russian money, the folder “History of Russian paper money” was created. During classes, children learned that there is paper money - bills and metal - coins, money has dignity, and not always one bill or coin is less than two or three. They clarified the names of banknotes - rubles and coins - kopecks, what denominations of money are used in our country, and introduced the children to currency.

For this purpose, she introduced preschoolers to such concepts as “salary”, “pension”, “family budget”, they explained what it consists of, what goods and services the family’s money is used to pay for, because it is no secret that many children perceive money in my parents’ wallet as money to buy toys and sweets. We often hear in a store: “Mom, buy ...” - and we see with what bewilderment the child greets the mother’s statement that she does not have money: after all, he just saw it in her wallet. In order for the children to understand where the money earned by family members goes, we discussed with them possible options for spending the money. At the same time, we proceeded from the life experience of preschoolers: they go with their parents to the store for groceries, to the savings bank to pay for utilities, long-distance telephone calls, etc.

Plot-based didactic games on the topic “advertising” give children the opportunity to practically carry out the process of creating advertising. Introducing children to the work of an advertising agent, advertiser, and graphic designer.

The formation of “useful skills and habits in everyday life” occurs in various plot-based didactic games: “Atelier”, “Furniture Workshop”, “Market”, “Hospital”, “Pharmacy”, “Hairdresser”, “Builders”, “Farmers”, “Bank”, “Auction”, “Factory”, “Travel Agency”, etc. In addition, she taught children to conserve the country’s resources: water and electricity. She conducted play sessions “The Journey of Kapa and Droplets”, “How Gnome Economy Saves Electricity”, during which she explained to the children where water and electricity come from in the house, why they are needed, why they are expensive, etc. Children no longer forgot to turn off the tap behind them and reminded adults to turn off the lights.

In my work, I relied on the empirical knowledge and life experiences of children, trying to clarify and expand their ideas in the field of economics.

I also used didactic games as a means of forming the foundations of economic culture. The main feature of didactic games is that tasks are offered to children in a playful way. They play without suspecting that they are mastering knowledge, mastering skills, and learning a culture of communication and behavior. All didactic games include cognitive and educational content, which allows you to integratively solve problems in developing the foundations of economic knowledge in older preschoolers. [4]

During the experimental work, didactic games were included in the content of classes and were carried out outside of them. For the emergence of independent didactic games in the group, the necessary conditions were created: appropriate didactic material and manuals were selected. To increase interest, didactic games of different content and types were used: with objects, with pictures, printed board games, verbal economic games, as well as travel games, riddle games, conversation games, guessing games, etc. [13]

The use of games in economic education plays a positive role. Children are more successful in acquiring economic knowledge and applying it in games. It can also be noted that children have begun to treat their personal and kindergarten belongings much more carefully and are trying to save material in productive activities. We learned to think logically, reason on economic topics, and formulate conclusions.

Positive feedback has also been received from parents. The teachers received special thanks for their work on the topic of family budget and its rational use. Children began to react with understanding to their parents’ refusals to buy things they didn’t really need.

At the end of the year, a diagnostic test was carried out on economic knowledge. Her results showed that there were more children with a high level of development, and children from a low level moved to an average one. So the high level was in 3 and became 10 children, the average level was in 13 - became 9, the low level was in 4 - became 1.

Economic education brings a preschooler closer to real life, allows him to acquire the qualities inherent in a real owner who knows how to count money, and develops the business qualities of an individual, which ensures continuity between kindergarten and school.

List of sources used

1. Federal Law of December 29, 2012 N 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation”.

2. Preschoolers about economics: a guide for teachers of institutions providing preschool education / E.N. Tabih. – Minsk: Vysh. school, 2011. – 48 p.: ill.

3. Playing economics: comprehensive classes, role-playing games and didactic games / author - comp. L.G. Kireeva. – Volgograd: Teacher, 2012 – 169 p.

4. Knyshova L.V., Menshikova O.I., Popova T.L. The economy of milking babies, or How Misha became a businessman. – M.: Pedagogy – Press, 2011 – 118.: ill.

5. Lushnikova E.V. How we play economics //Teacher of the preschool educational institution “TC SPHERE” M.; 2008. No. 11. p.75.

6. Raizberg B.A., Lozovsky L.Sh., Tsymuk M.I. Children's economic dictionary. Publishing house "Rosmen" M.: 1999. – 192 p.

7. Smolentseva A.A. Introduction to the world of economics, or How we play economics: Educational and methodological manual, - St. Petersburg: “Childhood - Press”, 2011. – 176 p.

8. Smolentseva A.A. Problem-based game technology for economic education of preschoolers // Kindergarten from A to Z. 2003. No. 4. p.63.

9. Shalamova T.P. Introducing children to the world of economics // Kindergarten from A to Z. 2003. No. 4. p.89.

10. Shatova A.D. Preschooler and ... economics // Hoop. 1999. No. 1.

11. Shatova A.D. Do preschoolers need economic education and why? // Preschool education. 1994. No. 8

12. Shatova A.D. Discussing the problem “Economy and ... children” // Kindergarten from A to Z. 2003. No. 4. p.148

13. Economic education of preschool children: Sample program, long-term planning, lesson notes / Under.
ed. E.A. Kuraka. – M.: TC SPHERE, 2012. – 80 p. comments powered by HyperComments

Economics and preschooler

The economy and the preschool child seem too far apart only at first glance. Understood as the field of "wise housekeeping", the art of economics can be taught to children in the form of elementary information:

Teach them the correct attitude towards money, how to earn it and use it wisely;
use games, economic problems, crosswords to introduce children to the complex world of objects, things and human relationships
The connection between economic and ethical categories: Labor, goods, money, value, price, on the one hand, and moral categories: “thrift, honesty, frugality, dignity, generosity,” on the other.
teach how to properly treat advertising and deal with it;
behave correctly in real life situations, develop significant needs.

The child participates in economic processes. He goes to the store with his parents, sometimes he does the shopping himself, and whether we like it or not, he still has economic experience. Therefore, the teacher’s task is not only to convey a certain amount of economic knowledge, but, very importantly, to teach how to correctly apply this knowledge, that is, to educate an economist.

Based on the above, A.A. Bogdanov proposes to include the following key topics in the economic education program for preschoolers:

my country and family.
family income.
family cost.
current and future family budget.
family savings and their use.

As a result, according to A.A. Bogdanov, a preschooler should:

Know the basic economic concepts and categories covered in class;
Be able to weigh your needs and capabilities; Understand that money “grows” when it is kept in a bank (and not in a piggy bank); To feel that their family is involved in the development and strengthening of the state and that there is an inextricable connection between them;
learn that wages are payment for the quantity and quality of labor and a pension for past work, and alimony is an advance paid to children in anticipation of their future work; that family expenses should not be wasteful, and a thrifty child can increase them, that advertising, if true, can help and, conversely, harm the family budget; that family savings are money that can remain if spent wisely, and can be used for a vacation for the whole family or buying necessary but expensive things, etc. P.
Realize your importance for family and society; responsibility for one’s actions, which may positively or negatively affect the economic situation of the family and oneself.

Scientists of the Russian Academy of Education have developed and adopted a unified concept of economic education for children and adolescents, according to which education begins from preschool age.

A. Shatova’s program “Preschoolers and ... Economics” seeks to lay the foundations of an economic way of thinking, an awareness of what “I” is in the world of economic values and how to behave in it. Already in preschool age, the child moves from the usual role of a carefree consumer to a conscious consumer, and then to the creator of consumer goods. This is the key to a new way of thinking and a new attitude towards life.

The process of formation of economic thinking

An analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature shows that the problem of the content of economic education for preschool children is complex and ambiguous. In fact, economic education as a process of forming economic thinking, developing business qualities, social activity and entrepreneurship is only partially applicable to preschoolers, due to the age-related characteristics of their mental development.

HELL. Shatova believes that “the purpose of labor in economic education is to instill in children the correct attitude towards what adults have done and are doing for them, respect for human labor, thanks to which an “objective world that ennobles life” has been created.”

Economic education of preschool children should emphasize its relationship with moral education. In conditions of capitalization of the economy, the younger generation’s ideas about justice and honesty often shift towards permissiveness, materialism, selfishness and the desire to get rich at any cost.

The period of senior preschool age is the most favorable for the formation of the first ideas about the moral and legal foundations of the market, which, according to B.T. Likhachev, “are the simple rules of human morality”: Honesty, strength and reliability of a given word; politeness, respect for employees, partners, and consumers.”

For the effectiveness of the process of economic education of children of senior preschool age, researchers have determined optimal pedagogical conditions. Let us dwell on the first condition - the creation of an economically educational environment aimed at the formation of such moral and economic qualities of the individual as thrift, responsibility, business sense, entrepreneurship, ensuring life in society.

Based on the research of I.I. Pidkasisty, the environment of economic support is understood as a set of phenomena and events that surround the child, influence his personal development and contribute to his entry into the world of socio-economic relations.

The contents of an economically supported environment include:

object-spatial environment (creation of a gaming economic zone);
socio-behavioral environment (parents, teaching staff of a preschool educational institution);
event-cognitive environment (excursions, meetings with interesting people);
Information environment (crosswords, illustrations, layouts of stores, banks, service centers, coin samples, map of industrial enterprises of the city).

A teacher who professionally uses the influence of these social agents gives this influence a target orientation, transforming the social situation of development into a pedagogical one - creating an educational environment aimed at the formation of leading moral and ethical qualities.

In preschool age, moral feelings begin to form, which are important for the development of decent relationships. The sincere attitude of adults towards someone or something soon turns into the attitude of children towards the same persons and phenomena, expressed in corresponding morally oriented feelings. There is an active desire to help and support each other. The emergence of friendship between children and a caring attitude towards each other occurs on the basis of the first forms of a sense of duty and responsibility.

Why does a preschooler need economics?

So, what are the goals of the program, or why does a preschooler need economics:

The child must understand and appreciate the material world around him (the material world as a result of people’s labor);
Respect people who know how to work well and earn money honestly;
Understand at a level accessible to him/her the connection between the concept of “work - product - money” and the fact that the value of a product depends on its quality;
Seeing the beauty of human creation;
Recognize the qualities of a master as decisive: Thrift, economy, diligence in work, as well as generosity, magnanimity, honesty, sympathy, charity (examples of patronage, financial support, etc.).
Behave correctly in real life situations;
Satisfy your own needs according to your age.

The program consists of four blocks: “Work is a product”, “Advertising”, “Money”, “Useful skills and habits in everyday life”. Despite the internal connection of the blocks, each of them can be implemented independently as a mini-program.

The program is designed to work with children of senior preschool age - from five to six years old. When choosing blocks, it is easy to find the internal connection that establishes a certain system of work. We do not introduce children to the concept of “needs,” but it is embedded in the “work - product” block. Children gain insight into why all adults work. The result of people's labor is a product of labor (various goods, things, toys, food, etc.), which all people need: both children and adults.

A series of varied activities allows children to understand the role of work in life, where all kinds of goods necessary for human life come from. It is recommended to introduce preschoolers to such new professions as businessman, manager, advertiser, advertising agent.

This is how the product is made. And what is his future fate? When it is created, all people should know about it. There is advertising for this (the “Advertising” block), this material is of great interest to children. They get acquainted with the concept of “advertising”, find out what it is, think about advertising on city tours, in special classes with parents, and come up with advertising on their own, starting with the phrase: “If I had my own business.”

But with the help of advertising, people learn where and what goods to buy. But how to do that? The next stage of work is introducing children to the topic of money. There is no need to be afraid that talking about money can cause an unhealthy increased interest in children. We discuss various life situations with children: what happened when there was no money; what is money; what kind of money is used in different countries (near and far); what is the purpose of money, a vital necessity; where do they come from?

Finally, goods are bought with money. The next step is “once you buy something, you know how to use it.” Hence the name of the block “Useful skills and habits in everyday life” - “Economics”. This section is quite understandable to any educator, as it is associated with one of the traditional areas of kindergarten work - developing the skills and habits of a behavioral culture. The author emphasized only its economic aspect (attitude to light, water, food, etc.).

According to N.A. Strunilina, economic education has a clearly applied nature, therefore the techniques and methods for its implementation should be taken from the general arsenal of pedagogical techniques and methods. They should be immersive and active to a greater extent. Firstly, at each stage there is a call for discussion and commentary on each issue raised in the lesson, this is a mandatory summing up by the teacher with an assessment of the correctness and incorrectness of the children’s statements and behavior.