Abstract:

The pre-school education goes through changes from its very beginnings. These changes are caused by many factors. One of the significant moving factors are the requirements that are placed on the individuals in connection with his integration to the society, with living in the society and with the perspective development of society. In the course of the historic development the requirements and needs are changing just as the social values and because of that it is possible to encounter an emphasis on physical development, artistic development, manual skills development, perception, thinking, adopting of knowledge or the applicability of the gained knowledge in normal life in specific periods. The current social needs put emphasis on the education of a man with creative mind, a man who is capable of not only finding problems but also of effectively solving them, a man who is cooperative, active, competitive but at the same time tolerant and protective of the weaker. Already the pre-school education should motivate the children to knowledge with its activity or practical character and application of the corresponding methods. It should motivate them that it is possible to seek, to discover, to create and to find an appropriate way of solving problems adequate to their age. The institution of pre-primary education ideally equips the children with broad competences which shall help them with learning and they shall enable them to use a whole range of other educational opportunities, which are offered by a primary and secondary school. The better a child is equipped in the beginning, the more effective will be his education in school.
This article deals with the possibilities of application of the inquiry-based education in the nurseries, where it plays a significant role. The application of this kind of education already in the early age helps to the development of children´s thinking, creating the competence to solve problems and creativity. It shows that mainly the application of the inquiry-based activities based on active manipulation with an overlap to the field of thinking.

Keywords:

Inquiry-based instruction, pre-school education, child, nursery.