Formation of ecological and natural competencies of children of preschool age with the help of an ecological path
Authors: Volkova Lyudmyla 
Published: June 2022

In the method of formation of ecological and natural competence of a child the main aspect is the formation of an attitude to nature as a value, awareness of unity with the natural world, the formation of ecological knowledge, key among which are ideas about connections and dependencies in nature. The process of formation of ecological and natural competence affects all areas of development of the child's personality: intellectual, motivational, emotional and volitional, providing assistance to the full development of a preschooler in harmony with society and nature.
In the practice of environmental education, various approaches and methods of teaching directly in nature are increasingly used, one of which is an ecological path. Its purpose is to provide students with the opportunity to observe natural objects and phenomena, get acquainted with the most typical and unique natural landscapes, natural monuments, as well as characteristic manifestations of anthropogenic impact on the natural environment. An educational ecological path must be well equipped and informative. Each of its areas is a unique model that contains certain aspects of the environmental problem, natural knowledge.
Ecological paths are quite versatile and extremely effective. This is a unique form of not only environmental activities, but also recreation, associated with it. Therefore, children are willing to go on a prepared route - an ecological path to rest. They can be very diverse in scientific direction: zoological, botanical, geographical, geological, historical, and complex.
Ecological path is the most effective means of forming ecological competence, due to the fact that it synthesizes various forms and methods of acquainting preschool children with objects and phenomena of nature, children need to be taught to protect nature not only because it gives us something, but and because it is valuable.
In the course of the work an ascertaining and control experiment was carried out, as a result of which the effectiveness of the proposed system of measures for the formation of ecological and natural competence in older preschool children was introduced and tested. Based on the theoretical basis of the peculiarities of the formation of ecological and natural competence, three criteria of ecological and natural competence of older preschoolers are identified: cognition, emotionality, the presence of a behavioral component. According to the criteria, three levels of formation of ecological and natural competence of older preschool children are determined: low, medium and high.
Diagnosis was carried out in the process of observing the behavior of children on walks during play, work, in the process of classes, experimental research, conversations with children on natural and environmental issues.
During the study, methods were selected to diagnose the formation of ecological and natural competence of children. An ecological path was created on the territory of the preschool institution to expand the work on the formation of ecological and natural competence of preschool children. The results of the control phase of the study allow us to conclude that the work with the experimental group using routes along ecological paths has a positive impact on the level of knowledge and perception of environmental concepts, caring for children and the formation of ecological and natural competence