Science in kindergarten in conjuction with the elements of the concept of Reggio Emilia

The purpose of the thesis is to bring science closer to children using the Reggio Emilia concept. The Reggio Emilia concept of preschool education was developed in Italy. It is based on listening and active learning, but most of all, it accepts children as very competent human beings. Considerable attention is given to cooperation with the environment, project approach and documentation. The following elements are necessary for a successful process: planning, considering children's initiatives, evaluation with children, and reflexion. The empirical part introduces the project entitled "Why the salad wasn't good", which was carried out in a group of children aged from 3.5 to 4.5 years and lasted for 3 months. Each activity was followed by its description and analysis as well as by the children's findings. The project allowed the children to be active in the research, solve problems and develop their abilities in terms of gaining, understanding and sorting out information. By being active, the children gained information by themselves in a very pleasant and interesting way and at the same time identified and explored sour substances they usually consume every day. The goal of the project was to motivate the children to be active in the research process and search and use various possibilities to solve problems. Research helps them acquire new experience and find out how things are made, which natural processes occur and what is the sequence of events in producing vinegar. In other words, they learn about natural phenomena. Furthermore, I wanted to bring the children closer to the taste of sour, let them study sour things and experiment with them. While preparing the analysis, I used all the relevant documentation (children's statements, photos) that had been created during the project. The theoretical part deals with the characteristics of the Reggio Emilia concept (pedagogy of listening and child's participation) that are used in Slovenia. A nursery school teacher can add elements of the Reggio Emilia concept to the prescribed programme with and thus upgrade the curriculum. Children will be able to use the knowledge they gain through games if we know how to present scientific contents in a very pleasant and interesting way, include them in all these processes, consider their ideas and suggestions, and give precdence to learning rather than teaching