News

News

Club “Young Archaeologist”

For twenty years at the Sholokhov Museum-Reserve fruitfully working group "Young Archaeologist" as a form of extracurricular work with younger students.

The club was opened when the funds of the museum-reserve were replenished with archaeological finds found in the Vyoshensky district in the 80s of the twentieth century by the staff of the History Department of the Rostov State University. Students of Vyoshenskaya secondary school became members of the club.

The program covers the study of the history of the native land from ancient times until the formation of the Don Cossacks. The use of genuine museum objects makes a strong impression on the children, forms their sense of ownership in the distant past, makes classes vivid and memorable, and instills museum culture. The cycle of classes is designed for four years and ends with a final lesson.

One of the forms of working with children in the Young Archeologist club was an interactive game. "Immersing" children in antiquity, an interactive game brings students closer to the true situation of that time, and helps restore historical moments of the past. So, during the lessons, children get acquainted with the occupation of an ancient person, make models of housing, tools and hunting similar to those that people used in antiquity. From natural material - clay - the guys sculpt vessels, women's jewelry and coins, and from the fragments (copies) of the vessels restore their original shape. In addition, the children learn to correlate the items with a particular archaeological culture or era.

Also, the club uses elements of museum theatricalization. For example, in the lesson “Secrets of the old pot”, children, using archaeological attributes, play the scene “How I Found a Relative Pot”. Despite the fact that this scene takes place without rehearsals, the guys manage to accurately transform into the alleged characters. Elements of theatricalization always have an emotional response, they teach to think, to work in a team, they develop interest among archeologists in club members.

Each museum lesson in the club is accompanied by illustrative material (archaeological finds from the museum’s funds, a demonstration of photographs, color slides taken during archaeological excavations) and excavation work. The guys will learn how to remove the cultural layer of the earth, how the finds are recorded using the symbols.

For twenty years the club has been visited by more than a thousand elementary school students. They have significantly increased interest in the history of the Don region, its traditions and customs. Classes allowed children to acquire certain skills in working with various archaeological finds and ancient tools, contributed to the development of creative abilities, imagination, mastering new knowledge about their native land. Thus, through museum means, the long-term work of the Young Archeologist club helps solve the problems of educating the younger generation.

 Svetlana Usova