Excursions in the Smolensk school for the blind in the academic year 1924-1925

The paper presents an analysis of excursion activities conducted by the head of the Smolensk regional blind school B.I. Kovalenko in the preschool and primary school groups in 1924-1925. The main methods are searching for documents in the State Archive of the Smolensk region and studying, evaluation, comparative analysis with related documents. As part of the study, it was found that during the excursions blind children learned to navigate and move independently in the premises of their school, on the territory of the school site, garden and vegetable garden. The children subsequently mastered the space of the city streets, its diverse structure, and attractions, industrial, cultural and educational facilities. Sensory development had an important place in the observation of changes in nature during the changing seasons. Excursions at school for the blind were practically significant and the introductory ones started from the first form at school. The research defines the methodology for conducting excursions in numerous modifications, since excursions combined the educational process at school with the real life, breaking the circle of isolation of blind people. Archival materials are published for the first time.