We are often asked: how and why do we teach History, Science and Geogrphy to the youngest pupils? Yes, our pupils do study these subjects at the age of 4-7 years, but for them, as in the case with other subjects, it's a fun exploration of the world around us.
Children form a general understanding about one or another topic in our standard lessons with the help of interactive programs, but they excitingly acquire deeper knowledge through self study.
"Learning by doing" is a well-known approach, which is used all over the world. Pupils get really interested in the process, since they are being included into it. This can be really anything, starting with cutting out contours of continents and gluing them into an unfilled world map and finishing with digging grass out of lawn of our school. Once the child is creating something with his or her hands, he or she understands the concept and remembers the information better.
Here are some of examples of self-study of the pupils:
Our science experiment is lasting two years. In its course, children use a handy and simple device to germinate beans. On the third day, germinated beans were planted in cells with soil. After two weeks of looking after the sprouts, pupils planted them outdoors. They we were very satisfied when they saw the first harvest. Collected beans were placed again in the germination device. This time sprouts were placed in greenhouse conditions instead of planting them outdoors.
The pupils regularly looked after the plants themselves, without being reminded. The children could observe the whole process of vegetation: from a seed placed into the ground to a growing plant.
Since the Big Explosion, the Universe has been drifting and expanding. The solar system is an amazing creation, filled with planets, moons, asteroids, comets and the sun. After studying the solar system, the children created a model that demonstrates differences in the sizes of the planets and their distances from the Sun. This project allowed them to create an individual view of the solar system based on their knowledge.
Students used foam balls, paint, hot glue and paper for this project. Creating the models of the planets, the pupils also learned a lot of interesting facts about the structure of the universe, constellations and black holes.