Organization of Preschoolers' Physical Education in the Montessori Pedagogical System

Abstract

To date, in the programs implemented according to the Montessori method, the section “Physical Education” has not been adapted. The section is aimed at developing the child's general culture, physical qualities and basic motor skills. In the process of physical education, the values of Maria Montessori are not realized. The Montessori pedagogical system is among the most relevant ones today as modern education is focused on the individualization of learning. The development of health in preschool children depends on their well-organized physical education, which should be directed towards the children's harmonious development and considered in an integrative relationship with the various sections of the preschool education program (artisti c, aesthetic, educational, verbal and socio-communicative development). The aim of the research is to develop the structure and content of the model of physical education of preschool children in the Montessori pedagogical system and check its effectiveness in a pedagogical experiment. To reach this aim, the following research methods were used: pedagogical observations, modeling, pedagogical testing, pedagogical experiment, mathematical and statistical data processing. In the course of the pedagogical experiment, a control (15 girls and 15 boys) and an experimental (15 girls and 15 boys) group were formed; a total of 60 five- and six-year-old pupils of the Montessori preschool educational institution in Tomsk took part in the study. To assess the effectiveness of the developed model, the following tests were selected: shuttle run 3x5 m, standing long jump, medicine ball throw, seated forward bends, ball catching at a distance of 5 meters. The model of preschoolers' physical education based on the integration of personality-oriented, activity-based, synergetic and technological approaches in the Montessori pedagogical system has shown its effectiveness. The research shows a positive dynamics of indicators reflecting the level of preschoo lers' motor readiness after the pedagogical experiment. At the end of the exp eriment, when comparing the indices of motor readiness demonstrated by the experimental group before and after the experiment, statistically significant differences were revealed in motor tests (ball catching at a distance of 5 m, shuttle run (3x5 m), medicine ball throwing), which indicates the effectiveness of the proposed model of five- and six-year-old preschoolers' physical education.