OPINIONS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN ABOUT SELF CARE

Abstract

Self-care skills are one of the independent life skills, the foundations of which are laid during the preschool period, and which should be acquired by children at an early age. It is important for children to use their self-care skills in order to get involved and gain acceptance into society. Today, the importance given to the constructivist approach, that children are active in the learning process and that new information is built into previous learning, has also become apparent in preschool period. Thus, it has become important for children to express their opinions about their own life skills. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the opinions of preschool children about self-care skills, part of the independent life skills of children. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was used in the study. The universe of the study consisted of children aged 5-6 years old, who were in independent preschools in the city center of Malatya Province; the sample of the study consisted of 60 children who were selected from the universe using the random sampling method. The data were collected in two ways: visually and in written form. The data were analyzed by using the methods of descriptive analysis and content analysis; NVivo software was also used. As a result, more than half of the children were found to pay attention to not eating junk food; to realizing the importance of washing their hands; to showing concern about gathering their toys in terms of neatness; the children were also found to have difficulties tightening or loosening their shoelaces. Also, they were careful about selecting a safe seat on the school bus. Article visualizations: