FORMATION OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES OF OLDER PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the formation of communication skills in the process of project-based activities of older preschool children. The study is grounded in the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Education,” the Law of Ukraine “On Preschool Education,” and the Basic Component of Preschool Education (2021), which emphasize the development of speech and communicative competence as a key factor of children’s socialization and school readiness. It is established that the modern preschool education system requires the renewal of forms and methods of work aimed at fostering children’s ability to interact, cooperate, express initiative, and demonstrate empathy. Emphasis is placed on the potential of project-based learning as an integrative pedagogical technology that enables the practical development of communicative abilities through collaboration, joint planning, discussion, and collective problem-solving. The article defines the pedagogical conditions, criteria, and indicators for the effective development of communicative readiness within the educational environment of preschool institutions. The structural components of communicative competence – cognitive, emotional, and behavioral – are identified and characterized according to their levels of formation. The research applies a set of methods including analysis, synthesis, pedagogical observation, interviews, surveys, and a pedagogical experiment conducted at the ascertaining, formative, and control stages. The empirical results demonstrate positive dynamics in the development of children’s communication skills under systematic application of project methods: increased readiness for cooperation, improved emotional responsiveness, and enhanced self-regulation. The scientific novelty of the research lies in identifying and experimentally verifying a set of pedagogical conditions that integrate communicative development with project-based activities. The practical significance of the findings lies in their potential application by educators and methodologists to improve the content, forms, and methods of preschool education based on partnership, co-creation, and the humanization of the pedagogical process.