ENRICHING THE OLDER PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S VOCABULARY WITH PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS DENOTING NATURE

Abstract

Today, in Ukraine, the safety and preservation of children’s lives remain the priority areas of preschool education. First, COVID-19, and now a full-scale war, forced emigration of families with children – all this has affected the indicated area. Despite such challenging times, preschool educational institutions continue to work in extremely difficult conditions, the organization of the educational process is at a high level. The article highlights the main aspects of work on enriching the vocabulary of older preschool children, determines the relevance, and outlines the tasks. In the scientific investigation, taking into account the scientific and methodological literature and current documents regulating the organization of the educational process in preschool educational institutions, the content of the concepts and terms «preschool education», «children’s dictionary», «phraseology» is represented. A system of classes aimed at enriching the vocabulary of children of senior preschool age with the help of phraseological units to denote nature is manifested, their effectiveness is checked, the importance of phraseological units for enriching the vocabulary of children of senior preschool age is emphasized and the expediency of the developed classes is substantiated. The study focuses on the significant importance of methodological work aimed at enriching the vocabulary of children, as well as the importance of using figurative expressions in their mental development. Thanks to figurative language units, children become acquainted with deep national traditions, cultural symbols, natural phenomena and the beauty of the Ukrainian language. This contributes to the development of their imagination, original thinking and identity. It is also emphasized that the teacher’s speech plays a key role in this process, because it is through the teacher the child perceives the model. Therefore, the teacher must be responsible for their speech culture, adhere to accuracy, purity and expressiveness, which will serve as an example for children, stimulate all-round growth and enrich the vocabulary. The research notes that these aspects indicate the need for a more detailed development of the work content with phraseological units in preschool education programs, in particular regarding the formation of speech skills and abilities in children that ensure the free and appropriate use of phraseological material.