Out-of-school learning environments in pre-school values education

This research aims to provide a different perspective for the Preschool Education Program (including 60 - 72 Months Old Children) on how values education can be given to children in preschool period who are in a critical period through out-of-school learning environments, what values and skills children can exhibit in values education activities in out-of-school learning environments, and what achievements in the Preschool Education Program can be gained through the findings obtained as a result of the activities. The research was conducted with the action research method, which is one of the qualitative research methods by nature. The study group of the research consists of 22 children aged 60-72 months who attend an official independent kindergarten in the Adapazarı district of Sakarya province in the 2022-2023 academic year. The main data collection tools used in the application process consists of video and photo recordings, pictures made by children, group conversations with children and observation notes. Data obtained through multiple data collection tools were classified separately and subjected to interpretive analysis. As a result of the research, in the preschool period values education activities carried out within the scope of children's out-of-school learning environments, it was observed that they exhibited the values of sensitivity, love, responsibility, cooperation, solidarity, respect, cleanliness, sharing, aesthetics, giving importance to being healthy, kindness and not wasting. It was concluded that they exhibited skills such as expressing their emotions, persistent imagination, basic social communication skills, associating with daily life, problem solving, establishing cause-effect relationships, using previous knowledge, time perception, observation, discovery, active participation, imagination and creativity. In addition, it has been concluded that preschool values education activities carried out within the scope of out-of-school learning environments can provide some gains for the pre-school education program.