Navigator textbooks for primary school students were written by a teacher couple from Orsha

Navigator textbooks with a practical focus are exactly what the President of our country spoke about during the Republican Pedagogical Council. All necessary theoretical and practical material presented in an accessible format, large size, abundance of thematic illustrations that skillfully divide the text – all this helps not only to teach but also to develop.

Story-based, panoramic drawings, and hint-pictures – 80% of the information contained in the textbooks is presented in this form. Moreover, one of the main requirements for the artists and designers was the accuracy of the depiction: what you see in the book, you should recognize in nature.

The authors begin each new topic with a question that the child can answer independently. Subsequent tasks are designed for joint collective work.

Teachers of chemistry and biology in practice, the couple Sergey and Galina Trafimov know firsthand that dialogue is the most important tool for the development and education of a junior schoolchildren. The authors of over 150 books (textbooks, guides for parents, methodological literature for teachers, etc.) thoroughly study the opinions of young readers before starting their work. Their extensive experience helps them select and present information competently.

It is noteworthy that schoolchildren in grades 1-4 of the Russian Federation have been studying using Sergey and Galina's textbook "The World Around Us" for 15 years already. In 2001, the couple won a competition to create this educational aid, and in Belarus, Galina Trafimova's book "Introduction to School Life" was published back in 1995. It was followed by the experimental textbooks "The ABC of Human Life" and "I Live in the Universe."

The alternative program for primary school students in the "Man and the World" course began to be developed only in 2015. It also required the creation of fundamentally new textbooks for children, teachers, and their parents. The couple Trafimov won the republican competition for their writing again.

– What does a question mark resemble? – the authors like to ask. And they answer themselves: a reversed fishing hook, which every child should get caught on in the process of learning and cognition.

What can a snowdrift tell us? Where do crayfish hibernate? Which bird's eggs in the nest get thinner? It is no coincidence that all the headings in the navigator textbooks are formulated as questions.

– The goal is not only to impart knowledge according to the program but also to develop thinking, memory, and imagination, – says Galina Vladimirovna. – Our work is based on the principle formulated by the American psychologist Jerome Bruner: learning through active cognition. The content of the textbooks is structured so that each child makes a small personal discovery during the lesson.

The authors have also solved the problem of obtaining bonuses, the highest score in a lesson, without hints from the internet. Alexander Lukashenko also spoke about this, developing the topic of modern textbooks. All additional materials on the subject "Man and the World" can be found in the textbook. Also, after each topic, there is a link to the source of auxiliary information. This is a reading book that comes with the textbook, or children's literature.

Sergey and Galina Trafimov chose the series "Stories of a Grandfather-Naturalist" and "Little Professor" from Belarusian publishers. All this contributes to the formation of reading literacy and the development of cognitive interest.

The opportunity to evaluate the new textbook, written by a grandmother and grandfather, will be available on September 1st to the six-year-old grandson of Galina and Sergey Trafimov, who will enter the 1st grade of one of the capital's schools.

Olga Lebedeva, "Vitebskiye Vesti". Photos by the author.