RAISING AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AMONGST PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Premalokrat se zavedamo, kako pomemben za življenje in obstoj je naš odnos do narave in okolja, v katerem živimo. Zaradi našega ne zavedanja in naše neodgovornosti je ekološka katastrofa vedno večja, posledice pa se prenašajo na otroke in prihodnje generacije. Že najmlajše je potrebno seznanjati s tem problemom in jih ozaveščati, kako pomembno je varovati in ohranjati naše okolje, v njih razvijati pozitiven odnos do naravnega in družbenega okolja in jim nuditi okoljsko izobraževanje. Odločili smo se za pisanje diplomskega dela z naslovom Ozaveščanje predšolskih otrok o skrbi za okolje, saj menimo, da je takšno ozaveščanje zelo pomembno in danes nujno potrebno, da bi lahko ohranili nekakšne primerne pogoje za življenje naslednjih generacij. V prvem delu omenjamo, kako pravzaprav otrok sploh doživlja naravo, in definiramo pomen ekologije, ki govori o pomembnosti zavedanja narave in okolja, v katerem človek živi, ter o ekološki ozaveščenosti, kar pomeni zavedanje človekove odgovornosti za prihodnost. Govorimo tudi o okoljski vzgoji, ki je prav tako zelo pomemben dejavnik in stalen proces, v katerem se bolj polno zavedamo svojega okolja in pridobivamo znanja, vrednote, spretnosti, da bi delovali v skladu za reševanje sedanjih in prihodnjih problemov okolja. Otroke učimo o varovanju in zaščiti narave, jih spodbujamo, da jo raziskujejo z vsemi svojimi čutili, jo doživijo in vzljubijo, da bi jo znali ceniti in spoštovati in ji ne škodovati. Osredotočili smo se tudi na to, kako ozavestiti in informirati z znanjem vzgojitelje, da bodo znali svoje znanje pravilno prenašati na predšolske otroke, jih ozaveščali in s tem na neki način skušali preprečiti nadaljnjo škodo, ki jo našemu sistemu povzročamo ljudje. Želimo predstaviti, na kakšen način to uspešno dosežemo in otroka spodbudimo k razmišljanju, da z svojim lastnim ravnanjem in lastno odgovornostjo vpliva k izboljšanju odnosa do narave in jo s tem na neki način zaščiti, varuje. Svoj pogled smo usmerili tudi na projekt Ekovrtec kot način življenja, na to, kaj projekt je in kako poteka, ter na cilje in dejavnosti, ki lahko pripomorejo k boljši ozaveščenosti predšolskih otrok. Prav tako pa tudi na to, kako projekt Ekovrtec izvajamo v Vrtcu Šoštanj, kaj in kakšno znanje smo pridobili, katere dejavnosti smo vključili v projekt, kako in na kakšen način ozaveščamo otroke o skrbi za okolje in kako ves čas zavestno, načrtno delujemo skozi vse leto, pri vseh dejavnostih, od prihoda otroka v vrtec do njegovega odhoda.We are often unaware of the importance of our relationship with nature and with the environment we live in for our life and existence. Because of our unawareness and our lack of responsibility the ecological disaster is getting bigger and the consequences are passed on to children and future generations. Children need to get familiar with this problem and must become aware of how important it is to protect and preserve our environment. They need to develop a positive attitude towards the natural and social environment and we need to provide them with environmental education. The diploma work is entitled “Raising awareness of environmental protection amongst preschool children” because we realize how important and necessary such awareness is today in order to maintain some sort of appropriate conditions for the lives of future generations. In the first part we describe how children actually experience nature and define the meaning of ecology. We emphasize the importance of awareness of nature and of the environment in which we live and introduce environmental awareness, i.e. awareness of human responsibility for the future. We present environmental education which is a very important factor and a continuous process through which we are becoming more aware of our environment and acquire knowledge, values and skills to act in order to address current and future environmental problems. Children are being taught about preservation and nature protection. They are encouraged to explore nature with all their senses, to experience and to learn how to love it in order to appreciate and respect it and not to harm it. We focus on how to raise awareness and inform teachers so that they will be able to pass their knowledge on preschool children and will by raising children’s awareness in some way try to prevent further damage people cause to our system. We present how those goals can successfully be achieved and how to encourage children to think about how they can improve their relationship with nature and how they can protect it or guard it through their behaviour and by being more responsible. We describe the project eco-kindergarten as a way of lifewe focus on what the project is and how it occurs. We analyse the objectives and activities that can help to increase the awareness of preschool children. We also present how the project is carried out in eco-kindergarten Šoštanj, what knowledge we have gained, what activities were included in the project and how the children’s awareness about environmental care is being raised. We describe how we deliberately and consciously include environmental protection in all children’s activities throughout the whole year from the day child enrols in kindergarten until he/she leaves