Title Preschool Standards and Curriculum Framework in Albania Title

Standards of pre-school education Introduction All school levels are intensively discussing today the importance of the establishment of national standards as a means that raises the quality of education and makes it more controllable. In Albania, like in many other countries of the world, the control of education is the duty of the state and its responsibility. In the conditions of market economy and of the reality of private kindergartens alongside those public ones, the state can not play properly the central role in the field of control, if it could lack the means to do such a thing, which in our case are represented by the standards of the pre-school institution. What is the standard? In the universal dictionary of education it is defined “as an aim, objective or criteria of education expressed numerically as a statistical or philosophical average, as an ideal of perfect ness; or as a criteria used for the judgment and evaluation of the component elements of education”. Regarding this and other definitions encountered in other countries, it emerges that the standards serve as a very efficient means to judge the quality of the programs of education of early childhood, the attainments of children, quality of their teachers and why not even the progress of the entire pre-school educational institution that includes in itself the physical environment, qualification of teaching staff, involvement of parents and community, etc. Need for the establishment off professional standards system. The full development of children in our pre-school institutions requires more than ever before the raising of professional abilities of teachers. The research and inspecting evidences demonstrate the close relation between quality of teaching the children and the quality of lesson and education. Referring to world experiences, it emerges that the principal aim of the establishment of national standards is: 1. To define the expectable and clear attainments for the children and teachers in the main fields of knowledge. 2. To assist the teachers in different directions of their professional development, like for example to plan and monitor the activity in the classroom. 3. To ensure that on focus of each stage be the improvement of the pre-school institution with all its component elements. 4. To realize effective activities in the direction of the security of partnership between children/ teachers/parents and community Which could be the role of national standards? 1 1. The national standards present the frame of knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes that the children must benefit in the kindergarten (so they assist in defining the pre-school curriculum). 2. The standards put the emphasis on the national priorities, particularly in support of educational objectives of the state regarding the formation and qualification of teachers and contemporary technologies. 3. The standards aim at assisting the development and progress. They constitute the basis for more structured attainments, more efficient assessments that assist in the identification of priorities of further development by guaranteeing success. Which are the most important fields which the standards are being proposed for? 1. COOPERATION teacher- child, child-child/ parent-child. The aim of the standard in this field is the guaranteeing of such relations between children and adults, that can enable the children develop an understanding of their own selves and of the others, create a climate characterized by positive support, cordiality, personal respect and responsibility. The standard defines the role of the teacher as a facilitator of the cooperation of children with one another, thus enabling them develop their self assessment, social competences and intellectual growth. 2. CURRICULUM. The aim of this standard is to actively involve the children in the teaching processes, offering a variety of experiences through suitable activities and encouraging them to develop their interests in the context of life in community and the world. The encouragement of the introductory, physical’, social and emotional development is what is needed to realize the final attainment of this standard. 3. TEACHER-PARENT PARTNERSHIP. The aim of this standard is to ensure a partnership of teachers and families in order to guarantee a higher quality care and education for the children. The strategy of the accomplishment of this standard regards the parents as welcomed supporters, observers of the work in the kindergarten and contributors in the development of educational programs. The establishment of this standard enables the members of community to have decision-making power about what they want for their children, and to become real contributors in the development of the pre-school system in the locality and further down. 4. QUALIFICATION OF STAFF AND ITS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. The aim of this standard is to ensure a pedagogical team that works with the children on scientific basis, and is led by the understanding of the development of the child and family and by the information and tendency for the fulfillment of the needs of development and teaching of those partners. 2 5. ADMINISTRATION. The aim of this standard is to ensure that all these programs of education are administered in an effective and efficient manner, something that can be reached by taking into consideration the needs and desires of children , family and the teachers’ team. 6. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. The aim of the establishment of this standard is led by the principle that the internal and external physical environment speeds up the increase and optimal development and fulfils the demands of the children for discovery and lesson. 7. HEALTH AND FOOD. This standard considers the health and safety of the child and adults cooperating with them, as a fundamental demand that must be protected and consolidated. 8. EVALUATION. The aim of this standard is to ensure an effective systematic assessment of the educational programs in the completion of their aims for all children, families and teaching staff, in order to reach a better quality of the care and education. This standard creates such spaces which enable the programs have more possibilities to improve and renovate them. WHO WILL BE THE USERS OF STANDARDS AND HOW WILL THEY FUNCTION IN THE PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTIONS. 1. Teachers. This category will use the standards of content and assessment of the development of children in pre-school age, enabling themselves to create a clear tableau about what children should learn and be orientated by elements that will be assessed, that means to be based on criteria of assessment. 2. Faculties of teaching. The standards will offer to these faculties the criteria on whose basis the teachers of pre-school education will be prepared. On this basis they will also define the teaching programs for separate subjects and pedagogical practice. 3. Specialists of evaluation. The standards are more important for the specialists of assessment, who define the level of progress of the children in every field, and will describe the criteria for each level. 4. Parents and community. The standards offer to the parents and other members of community interested for knowledge, abilities and values presupposed to be gained by their children, a necessary information on what is developed in the kindergarten, on the physical environment where the children operate, etc. 5. Programmers. The document of standards will serve as a guide document to prepare educational programs, teaching materials, to build up kindergartens in conformity with the suitable space and educational criteria. 6. Designers of teaching policy will use the standards and the statistics of their completion, for defining the national and local policies of the present and the future. 3 As it is knows, those who will welcome the establishment of standards of pre-school education are many, but emphasis must be put on the fact that the standards are not everything. They may be transformed in fictiveness that remains on paper if the society and those interested in education, will not work to manage to make them possible and a concrete reality. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STANDARDS IN THE FIELD OF CURRICULUM I. Kindergarten of children The kindergarten of children occupies a particular place in the harmonic formation of the personality of the child from 3 to 6 years of age. The educational activity of the kindergarten as an addition to the family and preparatory activity for the elementary school, constitutes an important experience which helps the child to grow up. The aim of the pre-school education is orientated in: ! ! ! The education and formation of the free individual conscious and participant in the social life. The assimilation of the communicative, expressive, logical and operational ability and competences. The development of psychomotor, cognitive, emotional, social and moral ability, The respect of the equality of chances for all children. The aim of the kindergarten is defined by the new vision the society has for the child. Today the child is considered as an active subject enveloped in the continuous cooperation with the co-agers, adults, and the social and cultural environment where he belongs to. This imagination for the child imposes some of the characteristic features of the pre-school institutions. They are as follows: Open educational institute: The harmonious development of the child is realized through the continuity of education. The kindergarten of children must be open towards the family. It must build up and develop with it, relations of trust, cooperation and coordination of the activity. Of importance to the kindergarten is also its cooperation with other institutions dealing with children, the day nurseries and school. The kindergarten of the children is a privileged institution to the working people of the health and social service dealing with the care, prevention and control of children’s diseases and the social-economic difficulties of their families (health service, social assistance, etc) The teacher is closely related to the child, the development and difficulties occurred during the process of development. This is why the kindergarten and the network of specialized institutions play an important role in the identification and prevention of health problems. 4 A rich environment in new and different experiences: The kindergarten of children is the first and most important place where the social integration process of the pre-school child begins. The wealth and variety of educational experiences help the children build up and develop their knowledge, getting themselves prepared for the assimilation of structured knowledge of the elementary school. Through the rich situations of communication with co-agers and adult, the child understands more and more the spoken language and its use. The activity of the kindergarten contributes in the exertion and development of motoric, emotional, social and intellectual abilities of the child. The child learns to identify the feelings and emotions, to control its activities and adopt them to the time, place and social environment. The game is one of the most important activities if the kindergarten. It assists and supports the reaching of aims and objectives of the development of the child. The child operates on his body and on the environment surrounding him. In this activity he uses different means and materials, combining them with his own actions. The child is encouraged and instructed to react and express himself by making use of the different communication means. Step by step the child is taught to adopt his speech to the interlocutor and the created situation too, so that he be more comprehensive. The child becomes able to reflect towards a situation, to reason, to decide, to recall events and facts related to a given situation, to express his choices and impressions. The child learns to think. In all situations the child must learn how to observe, reflect, imagine, use memory, work out a solution, tests his own abilities knowledge and actions. Life in the kindergarten is organized in space, time and activity in such a way that the child can actively take part in it. An environment which has the child at its center. The activity in the kindergarten responds to the physiological, emotional and intellectual needs of the child and created conditions to him to occupy his own place in the company of the kindergarten. The educational activity of the kindergarten requires a certain organization of the environment and an organization of the time spent in it. The equipment and system of the classroom must enable the development of many activities with the participation of various groups of children. The classroom area is put to the function of a child who is growing up and becoming conscious of his being growing up. The systemization of each classroom must vary to the function of the age of the children. In particular, the classroom of the small children must be equipped and systemized to the function of their age. 5 In the course of the year, the organization and system of the classroom changes in conformity with the activities being held. The space of the classroom must be an environment which ceaselessly changes, develops and enriches to the function of the encouragement of the activity of the children. The equipment, means and materials used by the children, must respond to their age. The organization and management of the time of children’s stay in the kindergarten, is an important duty of the teachers. She plans activities, whose duration is conditioned by the difficulty they present and by the level of the attention of children. The activities must not be very short in order to leave time to the children to observe, try, make mistakes and reflect. But they must not be very long too, in order to avoid the loss of interest and tiredness. The change of activities during the day must not be very frequent, in order to leave the necessary time to the child to get further deeper and analyze the carried out activities. The time for entertainment, hygienic routine and the time of receiving and seeing out of the children is assessed as an important educative moment. Anyway, attention must be shown not to exceed the time spent for them, to leave space to the structured and organized activities that are considered as working hours by the children and which enable them to develop and advance their knowledge. The organization of the time in conformity with the age demands and the growth of the children, enables the class of the 5 year old children to devote more time to the organization of the planned activities. An environment where programmed activities are developed. The years in the kindergarten mark a considerable development of the child. It is the delicate duty of the teacher to know and respect the rhythms of the life, the teaching of the children, their interests and tastes. She must also orientate them step by step for the transition from less organized activities to the more organized ones. The difficulty of the activities organized by the teacher must be in accordance to the ability of the child to accomplish them by making use of the assimilated knowledge and by opening new perspectives to gain new knowledge. The teacher educates the children to carry out their duties through to the end. Through the attentive observation of the progress of the children the teacher uses different educative techniques in order to be adopted to the rhythms of teaching of the children, the individual changes and interests. The teacher organizes activities, defines objectives and nuances the demands too the function of the interests and needs of the children. The involvement of the children in different kinds of activities in small or big groups, in the classroom or ateliers assists the teacher to distinguish the needs and individual interests of each child and the group where he takes part. Through a periodical observation and assessment of the development of the activities, the teacher guarantees the assimilation of the necessary competences for their age. The 6 transition from one year to another is important to be accompanied by attainments of the children. They must become conscious of the new stages and knowledge gained. The curiosity and desire to learn increase if the evaluation of the children is made uninterruptedly. The activities organized in the kindergarten help in the formation of general concepts, but this process is not similar to the system of knowledge gained at school. The pedagogical staff of the kindergarten defines the kind and nature of the difficulties of the activities carried out by it and escalates their difficulty. The teacher finds different forms and means for the assimilation and teaching of the most specific knowledge that suit the progress and development of the children. The 5 year old children can be confronted with more organized and structured activities, but not systematic ones. This is the duty of the school. All children must be faced with accomplishable tasks. All the children have neither the same maturity not the same rhythms of assimilation. Important is not to allow the child be confronted with insurmountable difficulties and premature tasks .Also the desire to learn must not be curbed to him. Content of the educative activities. The educative content of the kindergarten is organized in large fields of activities. Each one of them is very important and must occupy the necessary place during the stay of the child in the kindergarten. The application of the content of the fields of activity always to the interest of the child, creates great interpretation possibilities of the activities to the function of a field or of all fields taken together. According to the teacher, the distinction, evidence and implementation of the objectives of each field become easier due to the knowledge they have for every discipline. While organizing activities, the teacher must be careful to exactly define the most important and principal concepts the child should assimilate to the function of his objective. In the kindergarten the chills must learn to live in a group with the adults and his coagers. He faces such situations that teach him how to communicate and lay the first steps in the civic education. The child also learns through the operations; he operates with the people and things encircling him, tries his own abilities and enriches them. The kindergarten enables every child to make further progress in learning. Verbal and written communication enriches the situations interacting with the others. Teaching how to speak and communicate, the language serves the child as a very powerful means, which enriches the experiences, knowledge and emotions. Becoming familiar with the writing, the child begins to enter the world of the books, which will be read later on. This is a useful beginning to enter the school. The child in the kindergarten plays and operates by creating esthetical pleasure. The development and use of sensitive abilities, refining of motor abilities and transformation of the objects that encircle it, assist the development of imagination. 7 II. DOMAINS OF EDUCATIVE ACTIVITY The domains of educative activity include all situations in which the child reacts and operates. In this context. The child assimilates abilities and competences which give sense to the activity, develop the knowledge, assimilate the speech and communication, permeate the formation process in the wake of the activities held with his active participation. Each field of the educative activity has its own objectives, methodological elements of implementation, evaluation figures and remains open towards the many educative circumstances created for the realization of objectives. The organization of activities according to fields is open, flexible, operational to the function of the individual rhythm, style and time of learning, motivation and interest of each child. In particular for the handicapped children who must not be excluded from any of these fields of activity, clear must be made the objectives that must be reached , the methodological procedures that must be followed and the indexes of the evaluation of their abilities and potential. The new programme orientates the educative activity in 6 fields. a. civic education (all together) Entering the kindergarten is the first experience of the collective life for many children. To make the co-existence work and useful, the children have to respect the common rules. The fundamental objective of this domain is: ! To teach the children live and operate together. Each one of the child is taught hoe to co-operate with the others, how to use together the environment encircling them, how to create closer reports and relations with the friends and particularly with the teacher. In this process, the child understands that he is able not simply to stay with the others, but to understand them and cooperate with them for the realization of common aims, to provide assistance and cooperation for the realization of activities. The child understands that he lives in a society where in operation are not only the rules of dependence, but also the rules that organize the collective life. In general, the rules force the child to bear responsibility and explain his own actions, to listen to and to understand the other’s opinions and to discuss about the problems confronting him. In this process the child grows up and begins to create his own personality which is forged in several directions: ! In the emotional development. The development of the ability to know and express the emotions and feelings; the orientation of aggressiveness towards 8 ! ! useful actions; the increase and education of the feeling of trust, friendship and cooperation. In the social development. Introducing the child with the surrounding environment starting from the closest one to the most distant one. Acquaintance with the cultural environment and tradition is realized through activities, which integrate other fields of education too. In this direction of a particular great value is the participation in important events of the community. In ethical-moral development. The development of useful social relations on the basis of acquaintance and respecting of moral values and dignity of each one. Education with the feeling of independence thinking and acting, feeling of responsibility in the framework of the social group where he takes part and is accepted. The daily activities of the kindergarten are developed through the participation of adults and their involvement in decision making, encouragement to think and judge the behaviors and the way how to evaluate them. Activities and their content. The activity of the kindergarten is focused on the realization of the above objective. A special attention is shown in the use of proper time to welcome the children, the collective activities and communication with them. Welcoming of children ! ! ! ! ! ! Welcoming of children and family from the very first days of the child’s entering the kindergarten onward. Introduction of the child with the classroom and kindergarten. Daily welcoming of the child, organization of rich activities, especially of those lingual ones with certain pedagogical aims. Time schedule of the activities held by the collective of the children. Acquaintance with the adults living in the kindergarten (learning ho to address themselves to them, how to find them, how to talk to them for finding out solutions to problems facing them). Situations, which enable the children identify themselves, say their own name and surname. Common life ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Activities which enable the children know themselves and the others, the adults and the role they have in the classroom and kindergarten. Games which explain the rules of the collective life in the classroom and kindergarten. Free games. Organized and collective games and games based on rules. Realization of joint projects. Establishment of common rules through the discussion about concrete events. Division of duties and responsibilities of children in the classroom. 9 ! Discussion in the classroom, about events and actions, which have social values. This discussion is made through the analysis of concrete cases. Involvement in this activity of external subjects, which emotionally influence to the children. Communication ! ! ! ! ! ! Use of communicative situations for explanation of advises in particular, by means of words and behavior. Creation of situations for exchanging of opinions, ideas and thoughts. Creation of situations, which encourage the initiative of the child to communicate with the adult and his peers. Creation of situations which encourage the dialogue Creation of situations for collective discussion on the solution of important problems or the discussion of a special theme. Practice and teaching of children how to take the floor during a discussion, how to listen to the others, how to evaluate what they say. Though the formation and educational activities of the field of civic education, may start in the spontaneous game of the children, in various situations created in the kindergarten, they must be carefully foreseen and programmed by the teacher. Their development is realized through the active participation of the children, the explanation of norms and rules of behavior by avoiding the authoritative obligation of the adults in their application. B. Lingual development and elements of writing This field includes the communicative abilities related to the spoken language and the first contacts with the written language. Specific objectives of this field are: ! ! ! ! ! ! To develop the ability of communication and expression To develop the ability to listen to and to understand the speech of the interlocutor To clearly pronounce the words and to be understandable in speaking. To formulate comprehensive sentences and to speak about things, events and people by correctly using the tenses of the verb. To analyze and comment complex events To describe explanatory situations to the others To briefly show an event in the form of a story The child under three years of age has assimilated a series of lingual skills, which are further enriched by the activity in the kindergarten. There are two kinds of activities in the kindergarten which encourage and assist the development of the speech. The first kind of the activities includes all the situations created in the kindergarten, where the child, based on the experience gained, begins to learn how to speak. These situations do not have specific lingual objectives, but the preserve their objectives beyond 10 the assimilation of the speech. The role of the teacher in such situations is double; he makes use of the situation to the benefit of the lingual experience; through the conversation with the child the teacher enables him to advance in the lingual development and make it functional. The teacher uses these situations and is attentive towards the speech of the child. This constitutes a precious way for the assessment of the progress of the child in the assimilation of the language and to encourage those who are in more need. The second kind of the activity contributes directly in the development of the speech. These are lingual activities during which the children exercise practice. Such activities are related to: ! ! ! ! The sound of the language Syntax Lexicon The text and its structure The lingual development of the child is based on the regular conversations with the teacher and the cooperation with the peers. The regular talks with the teacher are fruitful with small groups of children, where all can speak and listen to. The theme of the talks in small groups is connected with the personal experiences of the children, the discussion of common events, the analysis and reasoning of different events and facts, the organization of collective games, listening of the tales, short stories, poetry, puzzles, exercises through lingual games, etc. The short story created by the children serves to develop the narrative thinking, which is a precious instrument to understand the social and physical environment where they live in and to form the identity of the children. Both in the kindergarten and in the family the intertwining of the spoken language with the written language can spontaneously develop through the familiarization with the book, its reading by the adults and the conversation on the content of the book. The first contact with the written language is an important moment of the educative activity of the kindergarten as far as the confrontation plan with the book and the interest it presents to the system of writing, are concerned. As soon as the child begins to distinguish the writing from the drawing, a particular interests is shown by him. The notion of the written language begins before the child enters the school and the support of the interest of the child is ensured by the creation of a rich informative environment with images and views which further raise the curiosity for the written language. The world of writing initiates with simple activities like: interpretation or comment in written form of views, books and magazines and the written reproduction of separate words through the assistance of the teacher or in an individual way. The activity of the kindergarten has not to do with the systematic learning of reading and writing. The principal way of the activity of the kindergarten is the active 11 conscientiousness of the children about the connection that exists between the content of reading and the written form of its presentation. Through the reading the teacher unfolds to the children the written text; she writes separate words dictated by the children, which regulate the activity of the child and in written form she explains to them how the word is transformed into written words, which constitutes an important moment in the educative process of the child. Evaluation The principal means in the evaluation of the lingual development is the observation of the behavior of the child in all lingual situations. The competences that must be assimilated by the child are ranked as follows: ! ! ! Ability to talk, to be understandable and to enrich the vocabulary. Ability to tell a story or personal event (to verify the coherence during the story) Ability to understand what is said or read ( through the analysis of the main points of the talk, the piece being read or the demand to explain the story). Nature and content of the Activity. Sound of the language ! ! ! ! Words ! ! ! ! The finding of suitable words related to a certain theme (an event, activity or craft, etc). Classification of words on the basis of different criteria (things, animals, family of words, etc) Use of words in different contexts. Interpretation of unknown words on the basis of the context of use. Lesson of tales, short stories, poetry to exercise the intonation, rhythm, and the volume of the voice. Rhythmical games with the language of poetry, songs, stories through which the accent and syllables are discovered. Rhyme games exercised by the child in the use of words fitted to the rhyme. Identification of the sounds of the language. Listening and spoken language ! ! Acquaintance and listening to different materials of tradition (tales, poetry, puzzles) narrated by the teacher, recorded on the tape recorder, accompanied by images (on radio, cinema, puppet theatre) Discussion on different kinds of stories, creation of children’s stories in group through the assistance of the teacher. 12 Beginnings of writing through the teacher’s assistance ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Discovery of written text in all forms of presentation and its interpretation through the teacher’s assistance. Continuous use of the reading corner in small groups during the free time. Repeated reading of attractive texts to the children. Systemization of books in the library according to certain criteria through the assistance of the teacher. Written text analysis (page structure, distinction of titles, division in paragraphs) Collective comment of the written text (what is said in a sentence? The role of the word Correspondence between letters and sounds Memorizing of texts during the reiterated readings (reformulation of the read text, continuation and ending of the read text) Beginnings of creation ! The creation by a big or small group of children, of a text dictated by the teacher: description of events experienced by all children like for example a visit in the zoo, reproduction of events, stories, tales that have been listened to before, exchanging of messages between children, use of advises given to them, establishment of rules in group. Use of writing, coping of words and short sentences. Writing of explanations of figures or drawings by the children (album, illustrated tale, children’s files) ! ! B. Discovery of oneself and the world The kindergarten plays a particular role in the introduction of the child to the world and culture of society. This long and complex process starts from the acquaintance with the body of the child and its functioning and extends to the world of things and phenomena surrounding them. The child explores the environment surrounding him through his own body by mobilizing this or that function of it. Day by day he gains sensitive and motoric competences, that enrich the vital experiences and contribute in his development. Fundamental objectives in the body knowledge are orientated in: ! ! The development of sensitive-perceptive abilities and the fundamental dynamic schemes (walking, running, dancing, jumping) to get adopted to the space and time parameters of the environment where he lives in and acts. The progressive assimilation of the coordinated movements and control of the motoric activity in relation to the environment, that means in the ability to design and carry out exact motoric movements and to catch and foresee those of the others, and the dynamic of things during motoric activity. 13 The comprehensiveness of the experiences of movements and body of the child, experienced in the right direction, assists in the creation of a positive image of oneself. The discovery of the world begins with the discovery of the body of oneself, continues with the discovery of the close environment and extends to the discovery of the more distant one. This field includes the exploration and discovery activity, the systematization of knowledge, which is connected with the scientific knowledge and is realized through the participation of the space and logical-lingual intelligence and mathematical thinking as well. The child begins to know, to tell the adventures and confrontation with vivid and physical world. He begins to ask questions and to wait for an answer. The child begins to lead his activity, to forecast the results and events and to explain them in words. The activity of the kindergarten aims at supporting, encouraging and disciplining such features of the child like the curiosity, desire to observe, discover, understand, motivation to test the thinking etc, which in general, characterize the behavior of the child since being three years of age. Specific objectives for knowing the world are: ! To know and make evident the problems and the possibility existing for solving them. ! To orientate the search and establish the rules in the research procedure ! To be sincere in admitting the lack of knowledge, misunderstanding and to make questions to become clear. ! To be ready to cope with the others’ opinion and to change the personal opinion ! To respect all vital living beings and their condition of life. ! To know, evaluate and respect the natural environment. The abilities developed in this field of educative activity are: ! ! ! ! ! ! The manipulation, observation, use of all senses, exertion of simple activities of manual and building work; The establishment of contacts between the phenomena and objects, the fixing of rules and correspondence; The use of symbols Working out and forecast of hypotheses; Compilation of plan of activities for reaching results; Coherent reasoning for the argumentation and explanation of events and phenomena. The methodology of the work followed for the realization of objectives first to the age characteristics of the activity and thinking of the children and to their needs for development. An important role in the realization of objectives for scientific knowledge is played by the teacher. She must be open towards anything, so that the children express themselves, accept the way how to express their thoughts, how to be careful in giving the 14 answers and avoiding the premature answers, to know how to encourage the processes of thinking and individual and collective4 reasoning by means of observation, experimentation; to evaluate the individual thinking of each one, not to punish the mistake, which as an expression of the opinion of each one, creates the possibility for self-correction by the children themselves, something which leads to the development of critical thinking. Among the scientific concepts assimilated and exercised in this field are the timing concepts, which are connected with activities taking place at the same time, or which follow one another or which take place according to certain turns or order at a certain period of time, etc. The timing concept is familiar to the child, since he uses it in other activities too. It assists him to assimilate even more difficult concepts that are related to the time of the events in the past and the forecast in the future. Didactic means Discovery of the body and its functions, requires the use of fine means, simple articles that can easily be manipulated or used by the children in different situations. Their use gives content and sense to the actions of the child. Suffice it to mention that the installation of big and sophisticated means does not constitute a guarantee to their educative effect. Through the discovery of the surrounding world, the children satisfy their demanding and observation needs and desires through the use of different materials (water, sand, stones) alone or in group. They also use different devices and building materials. The children develop with them activities which have a high level of motivation, such as the experiences that have to do with the kitchen, acquaintance with physical phenomena of elementary physics, with different materials, activities of biological interest (seeds, planting, observations and talks about the animals which pose a particular interest). Apart from the many and rich materials existing in the nature, the creation of a group of necessary means and instruments, facilitates the development of exploration activities of children. The creation of separate subjects within the classroom environment and of the separate ateliers in the kindergarten, contributes in the intensification of the production and experimental activity of the children. Evaluation Verification of the gained abilities and actions assimilated by children, is realized through the ceaseless observations, which use the indexes of the objectives defined for this field. In regard to the acquaintance with oneself, important is the observation and evaluation of the child development process, where particular emphasis is put to the dynamic control of the body movements and their adoption to the space and time. Observations are concentrated mostly on the behavior of the children during the exploration, observation and research activities, carried out individually or in group of children. In this process of importance are neither the content nor the truthfulness of the 15 results of research, but the integrity of the process being held. In assessing the process, attention must be devoted to the planning of the activity, the use of the results and the verbal way of their presentation. Important elements of diagnostication are the demands related to the foreseeing of facts and events, formulation of questions and the further demands for suitable forecasts and explanations, which are evidence of the evaluation of the process of understanding and assimilation. Nature and content of the activities Knowing of oneself ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Discovery and knowing of the close environment (classroom, kindergarten, garden) Discovery and knowing of a more distant environment (the zone around the kindergarten, garden, etc) Discovery of the body of the child Fundamental mobile activity: mobile exercises in various situations with obstacles, walking, running, dancing, jumping, climbing, balancing the equilibrium) Adoption and accuracy of movements in connection to other moving things. Participation in joint activities, acceptance and respecting of the rules of the individual and collective game. Expression by means of the body, alone or with the others. Processing of strategies for the surmounting of risks. Acquaintance and counteraction towards the characteristics of the sound. Knowing of the world of things ! ! ! ! The use of different things and means in vital situations( in the kindergarten, kitchen, etc) Constructive games Assembling and disassembling of things and objects Fabrication or production of a thing: choosing of suitable materials and tools, the process of the realization of object through technical and specific actions ( cutting, gluing, folding, etc) Discovery of the world of material ! ! ! ! Discovery of the natural characteristics of the materials(wood, mud, stone, etc) First experiences for the existence of the air( wind) First experiences with water ( liquid, rain, snow, ice) Observation of the light effect (games with the shadows) Discovery of vital world 16 ! ! ! Discovery of the body in the integrity of its functions. Observation of characteristics of living beings (birth, growth, development, growing old and death) First knowledge on the function of living beings(growth, movement, food, reproduction) through the observation of these phenomena in different environments (in the classroom, garden, zoo,) and filmed materials. natural environments, sensibilization towards Discovery of living and environmental problems ! ! ! ! ! ! Visual assessment of the forms and dimensions Discovery, observation and description of the nature( plants and animals) , of the nearby and less known environments. Practical activities: care for the plants, flowers and animals. Making evident of different environments: village, town, sea, mountain, field, forest, stream, etc. Observation of constructions made by the man: houses, roads, trade centers, etc. Conscientiousness about the losses. Sensibilization about problems of hygiene, food and security ! ! ! ! ! ! Observation and consciousness about the importance of the rhythms of life ( role of the sleep, relaxation, etc) Concrete activities related to the hygiene of food (rules of eating, meals and content of the food) Assimilation of elementary rules of hygiene. Development of sensitive abilities ( taste, touch, smelling, etc) Initial experiences for the guaranteeing of food and the types of shops (shops, fruit and vegetable market, etc) Acquaintance with the risks of the road and known environments (dangerous things and objects; education with general safety rules; assimilation of some of the rules of road traffic. Time that goes by ! ! ! ! ! ! Discovery of the temporal rhythms of life (day, night, year, seasons) Assimilation of the concept duration Assimilation of the simple system of time distinction (days of the week, dates of the month, year,) The use and production of calendars Distinction and division of activities in the near and distant past, distinction of the events following one another. Discovery and observation of cultural heritage (things and objects preserved in the town, kindergarten and the family) World of figures 17 The child is faced with figures of different forms ! Static figures (posters, albums, photos) ! Mobile figures (television, film, video, etc) Important is to prepare and introduce the child to the world of figures: initially the child perceives the figures to the function of sensibility and cultural environment belonging to it and later on, to the function of intelligentsia and the choices he makes. D. Artistic education In the kindergarten the child develops the sensitivity, imagination, ability to create and to express himself, the taste and ability to make his own choices. The artistic education includes a broad field of activities. They are realized through the continuous participation of hearing and visual perceptions; the ability to make, create, feel and exchange. So it is a kind of the contact of the child with the art and emotions created by this kind of wordless communication. This field includes all activities which enable the child to communicate through the visual presentation, musical sound, dramatic expression, audiovisual means, etc. The involvement of children in activities of this field presents special interest to the symbolism being used. Today the audio-visual communication is very rich. The messages received by the children are plenty and various. Important for the children is to understand those messages, to work them out and create their code of understanding. Artistic education confronts the children not only with the art and emotions created, but also enables them to practice the artistic activity. Through the imagination and creation of sounds, graphic images, and imaginations accompanied by gestures and words, the child learns how to express the emotions and his thoughts. He begins to find out that the thoughts, desires and dreams can be expressed not only in words but also through drawings, collage, application, music, mime, dancing, etc. The child begins to discover the many possibilities he has to express himself and to leave freedom to his imagination. The fields of art which traditionally occupy place in the activities of the kindergarten are the music, applied art, graph, and drawing. Today an important role in the artistic education is the theatrical drama activity and the mass-media. Nature and content of the activities Drawing, graphic and applicative activity This field of artistic education includes graphical, drawing and plastic activities, which enable the child to express himself through a variety of forms. Starting with scrawls, first notional graphic signs and continuing with a more advanced activity which is presented in a drawing product or applied art, the child undergoes reach research experiences. 18 These activities mark a higher level of communication and intellectual exchange. Fundamental objectives in these activities are: ! Assimilation of the use of means, instruments and techniques of the graphic, drawing and applicative activity. ! Enrichment of expressive languages of the children. The organization of activities in this field, is based on the development of the perceptive, visual, manipulating abilities and encourages the use of different languages of expression by the children. A rich experience is gained in those activities concerning the knowing and experimentation of different means and techniques used in arts. Drawing Drawing is to the child an important means to describe and understand the reality. Through it the child learns how to describe a thought, sentence and event through the figures. ! Exercise of accuracy in drawing lines ! Drawing of forms ! Choosing of the means, which present relations between objects and characters of drawing. ! Processing of a special graphic code, so that drawing be understood by others too. ! Simplification of drawing to make evident the importance of secondary elements in drawing ! Interpretation of different forms of drawing used during communication ! Discovery of elementary forms of schemes ! Practice on the use of means and techniques of drawing. Writing In the kindergarten the children must be trained in writing. They must find out why does writing serve and in particular, how it is related to the speech (the permanent relation that exists between the speech and writing). ! ! ! ! ! ! Use of spaces in the sheet of paper Finding out of different signs Putting of signs in a straight line Coping of different forms, separate letters, words or short sentences. Discovery and functioning of alphabetical writing. Discovery of the organization of writing on a peace of paper (a list, table with two columns, writing of the text, etc) Applicative activity In the kindergarten, the child is created the possibility to use different materials. The practice of the use of applicable art in the kindergarten has shown that the children have the desire to see, touch, make or create different objects. The child 19 has great imaginary and creative abilities. The creation of suitable conditions serves their encouragement and exercise. Indispensable activity for the development of the art of expression ! ! ! ! ! ! Exploration of objects and things by touching the form and subject. Exploration of color. Exploration of an atelier of different means and materials. Practicing of modeling, collage and the realization of different objects. Use of simple procedures: unification, change of places, and the use of opposite characteristics of things. Exercises of visual memory. Assimilation of knowledge ! ! Basic elements of the development of imagination: (air, soil, water, fire) house, kindergarten, tree, flower, etc. Acquaintance with plastic elements: form, color, material, volume. Presentation of product ! ! Comments about work Observation of the final product( selection of materials, colors, etc) Musical activity The development of the sensitive perceptive abilities and their ceaseless use help the child to discover and know the universe of noises, sounds, objects or instruments which produce sounds. The child learns to listen to and understand the sounds in general and the different forms of music. The content of the educative activity includes: the discovery and acquaintance with the reality of sounds; distinction of environmental sounds; use of the sounds of voice and those benefited from the use of body limbs; use of traditional and electronic means and instruments; use of suitable instruments for the children; teaching of suitable songs for the vocal of the children; creation of simple melodies; rhythmical motoric activity, etc. The musical activity develops the creative imagination of the children and its expression through music. It also assists in the strengthening of socialization of the group of children: to sing and dance together, respect the other when listening to, share the emotions together etc. Vocal Activity ! ! ! Simple repertoire: traditional children songs: different songs for children Sung games Musicalization of tales, stories, simple verses. 20 Dance The kindergarten creates conditions to the children to express the feelings and emotions through simple movements and dancing. In this context global movements are exercised through the repeated, imitated and improvised movements; ! ! ! Repertoire games in the form of dances in circle accompanied by song. Instrumental activity: imitation with gestures of simple musical instruments Body movements in accordance to the rhythm of music. Musical hearing ! ! ! ! Identification of the sounds from the reality encircling the child: identification, comparison and reproduction of noises and sounds of known environments; Listening to different music: places, epochs, styles Assimilation of the art of listening: prolongation of a noise, sound, intensity, height, song fragments Perception and reproduction of rhythm, melody. Theatrical drama activity Using of theatrical-drama aims at developing to the child the predispositions of the theatrical play, developing the imagination, the desire to be expressed and to act in the framework of aroma play. The children in the kindergarten explore and test their sensual, body, relational, verbal and imaging abilities as members of a group. Under the guidance of the teacher or through the game or dramatization of short stories, the children get closer to the life of the characters and make the necessary distinctions between reality and the game. Dramatization does not aim to teach the children to play or declaim, but to create such situations, where the experience of the children’s game assumes the colors of “the play in a theatre”. Apart from dramatization, the children must be permanent spectators of different spectacles. In this way they can become acquainted with the artists and the performance, discovering the varieties of forms and places of the creation. Activity of mass-media The aim of this activity is to use in an active manner and to the function of educative activities of the kindergartens the radio television programs, technological games, cartoon films and films for children. They represent a rich source of information which is taken by the child in different ways. The teacher must make use of this rich material to the function of didactic aims, transforming them into topics for games, conversations, confrontation of thoughts, away from stereotype moralizations. 21 The educative situations which naturally get intertwined with and accompany the television programs, etc can be used with efficiency to ease and stimulate the assimilation of active, social and creative behavior of the children. E. Space, rules and dimensions This domain involves all the experiences of the children on whose focus is the classification, lining-up, counting, measuring, acquaintance with the space forms and relations. These experiences, which later on get transformed into mathematical operations, are particularly useful to describe the phenomena of reality. The activities of this field are related to the solution of problems that are object of thinking, reasoning and analysis. Educative objectives of this field are: Development of abilities to: group, count, measure; development of comparative abilities for separate features of the objects to the function of size, color, form; use of separate instruments and means to measure, count and compare. ! Development of identifying abilities and realization of informative processes through the observation, operation and manifestation; the use of word, drawing and construction of representative models; development of reference systems which help the child to know the reality from different points of view and their coordination. Life and activity of children in the kindergarten offers many situations, which enable the development of informative processes of mathematical nature. The game, direct observation of things and objects, co-operation and confrontation of actions and ideas with the others, exchange and encouragement of activities by the teacher, constitute a rich terrain where the child grows up, develops and learns. The acquaintance with and assimilation of mathematical concepts takes place in vital situations of communication, game, drawing and handicraft work, talks, etc, that are individual or collective, spontaneous or organized ones. Nature and content of activities Classification and lining –up During their activity the children discover and confront the qualities or features of a group of objects. The procedures to be followed are: ! ! ! Classification of objects to the function of one of qualities. Grouping of objects to the function of quantity criteria (bigger, smaller, wider, narrower) Comparison between groups of things ! 22 The child can develop activities through the use of rhythm, lining-up of things( list of things, grouping of tales, grouping of drawings, etc) by setting the rules of the games. Acquaintance with the number To a pre-school child, the quantitative dimension of the world around us, is not imagined as a number. The consciousness of the quantity or production of a definite quantity goes beyond the concept of the number. As time goes by, the child begins to operate by following some procedures to count the quantity of the objects of a group. ! ! ! Global assessment of quantity ( more, less, equal, etc) Counting of a collection of things through the perception of the moment Comparison of a group of things with the natural objects ( for example with fingers of the hand) or with objects of the environment( number of seats around the table, number of plates, forks, etc) ! Counting by means of tales, short verses, stories) Concepts of addition and subtraction which confront the children when vital problems have to be solved, like for example when the toys are distributed, etc, the function of number as an expression of quantity is found out by them. The lining aspect of the number represents the concept of hierarchy in lining up. The activities carried out are linked with: ! The hierarchy of a series of actions in a tale ! Comparison of dimensions of things by using an etalon. Acquaintance of forms The forms is a quality of the objects and things that must become known, be built and drawn by the child. The variety of the activities varied out for this purpose are of importance. They enrich the observation experience to the child and pre-prepare them with the geometrical objects. The activities that are developed intend to: ! ! ! Discover the isolated and open forms to initiate the concepts inside and outside of it. Distinguish the regular and irregular forms by making evident the number of sides, angles and pages. Make the distinction between the forms. Orientation in the space In the kindergarten, the child learns how to be orientated in the space. The advices of the adult, use of orientation words during movements, etc, help the child to gain the necessary means of expression. Life in the kindergarten must ensure many and varied 23 activities in the form of the game, in order to exert the correct orientation of the child. But it is necessary the assimilation of the orientation concepts in the space be accompanied by the child through a verbal explanation about his behaviors. The child gradually learns : ! To be orientated in the space in relation to the one who speaks (close, far, here, the opposite of which is far away, there , over there) ! to be orientated in the space in relation to the one who speaks (above, under, over, below, right, left) ! to be orientated in the space in relation to the other things or objects, beyond himself ( near the window, at the end of the garden, etc) The same index is used even in the case of the description of a real or imaginary space. Orientation in time Orientation in time is one of the important moments of the development of child, since this concept includes the natural reality and history of the man. The Assimilation of this concept is realized through; ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Conscientiousness about the distinction between the presence / past in connection with the moment when he speaks. Conscientiousness about the future as a time related to an action 1 waited or desired to happen and the aim you have to realize something. Acquaintance and assimilation of the vocabulary that shows the development of the actions in time (now, before, , after, yesterday, tomorrow…) Conscientiousness of the rhythms of nature (night, day, season, month, year…) and their use for getting orientated in time. Use of time indicators in the classroom (having of breakfast, organized game, walk, getting out to the kindergarten). Use and assimilation of the words that express time (morning, afternoon, evening, night) and of the time indexes. 9 hours, days of the week, months of the year, etc) Orientation on the events that have taken place in the past by using the tenses of the verb. Evaluation and comparison of the duration of phenomena and events. Initial elements of the similar timing of the events. III. Evaluation of fundamental abilities The emphasis on the abilities that must be assimilated by children of 3-6 years of age, serve the teacher to guarantee the functional organization of the activity in the kindergarten. They orientate the teacher to chose the suitable pedagogy and methodology 24 which is their responsibility, in the case when they guarantee a genuine methodological continuity. The new curriculum makes evident two fundamental abilities: ! ! General abilities for using the basic concepts of orientation in space and time through the implementation of the respective methodology. Abilities in connection with separate fields of activity which are accompanied with the assimilation of basic knowledge and the suitable methods on those fields. A. General Abilities Formation of personality, assimilation of independent actions and adoption to the social environment In the kindergarten, which is a different environment from that of home, the child continues to form his own personality and to discover the life in a collective: ! ! ! By affirming his independence in relation to the things, objects and people, he becomes known with his own body , uses and adopts his own behaviors in different situations and activities. By operating and adopting his behaviors to an environment where others operate too, he cooperates and establishes more and more relations with them , listens to them , becomes known with them and respects them . Through the learning, understanding and respecting of the rules of life in a collective, the child understands his own contradictions, the rules of the game, taking part in them too. Desire to know and greed to learn. Fields of knowledge that pose great interest to the children, are the people, animals, plants, cycles of life, natural phenomena, things, technical means (why? How it moves? etc. In his activities, the child is able to notice, ask, materialize in words, of draw what he has understood. The child becomes gradually conscientious about the power of the knowledge and has the desire to learn ( to know the title of the TV program, to know his own sign, etc..) 1. Assimilation of basic concepts of orientation in space and time During the process of knowing and exploration of different spaces the child learns: ! ! to get orientated in a certain space ( kindergarten, garden, street, suburb,..); to describe a simple itinerary 25 ! ! ! ! to formulate reference systems and certain codes. to be orientated in events developed in time (at present, day, week) and to distinguish the chronological development of the events. To place the events in relation to one another, as if they are developed at the same time, but in different places, or if they are developed at the same place but in different times. to express himself by using time and space concepts (use of the tenses of the verbs) The methodological abilities gained by the child in this age are mostly based on the memory. He is exercised to memorize poems, tales, stories and situations. Method of labor During the years in the kindergarten, the child learns to be attentive, to observe and to be concentrated on a task. He tries to carefully carry out a duty he’s been charged with. I particular the child respects the organization of the activity. But in this age the child can carry out by himself a certain duty (to prepare a message, a gift, an album) and to foresee the actins he will undertake, the means and materials to be used, and the technique due to be applied. The child must also take part in a joint project with the others regarding a preliminary known theme. The child must assimilate knowledge needed for his future. ! to identify, analyze and correct his mistakes through the assistance of an adult ! to identify the information obtained by means of senses ! to make analogies and distinguish the forms, hues, size, sounds, separate noises , etc. ! to understand and act for the realization of an advise. B. Assimilation of abilities related too fields of activity. 1.Assimilation of lingual abilities Communicative abilities The child must: ! ! ! ! take the floor, express himself in an understandable manner( pronounce the word correctly) in different situations: dialogue tell explain 26 ! ! ! ! justify correctly formulate the questions and respond in a correct manner to say and memorize short texts to explain to an adult the development of an event where the later has not been present. Skills in writing The child must: ! identify and understand why different materials serve (the books, magazines, posters, newspapers, dictionaries etc) ! know the order of the material on paper and its continuation on other papers ! know the elements of a text and their functioning: the title, illustrating drawings, etc ! listen to and understand the reading of a text . explanation of the rules of the game, etc. ! become conscious about the relation existing between spoken and written language, distinguish a word from a simple sentence, identify separate elements by ear or in written form. Abilities to use the functions of the language The child must be able to: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! name things and objects, actions and feelings of the daily life keep in memory and use the proper vocabulary in the necessary context. distinguish separate graphs and memorize any of them distinguish the rules of the language( formation of plural) use the tenses of the verb use personal pronouns use relative sentences used to connect two simple sentences (and, or, for, because,..) use suitable vocabulary in the activities developed Means used to learn Graphic activity The child must: ! ! ! ! hold the pencil, pen, chalk, etc, in a proper manner, and maintain a correct body attitude while writing. present through a simple drawing, a character, thing or an object from the daily life which can be easily understood. reproduce models and forms given by the teacher correctly copy separate words, short sentences related to the activity developed 27 ! write in a straight line 2. Assimilation of abilities related to the field of space, rules and proportions Facing the number The child must: ! Identify the features of things through - comparison - classification - lining-up - selection ! use numeric procedures (counting, global perception of quantity…) or nonnumeric procedures (correspondence) - realize a group of things that have the same number - realize groups according to the features of things - solve problems that have to do with the enlargement or lessening of quantity ! know the order of numbers and use them (e.g. to count the girls and boys in the classroom..) Actions Even in the cases when the pre-school child uses addition and subtraction, this does not mean that he has managed to gain real abilities of the accomplishment of these actions. Knowing of space forms and relations The child must: ! know the forms, distinguish and classify them ! know how to be orientated in space ! name the movements ! place, displace and move the things in relation to himself and other things Proportions The child must ! ! begin to compare the sizes ( length, volume, content) use an existing measure of reference or one such created by him himself (rope, wooden stick…) 28 3. Assimilation of abilities related to the field of the discovery of oneself and the world Discovery of oneself The child must assimilate behaviors that give sense to action. Step by step the child become conscious about the results of his actions and compares the efforts made with the results gained. The abilities of the child are developed in different environments with or without the use of didactic means, but in motivating and significant situations which encourage his full involvement in it. The child must: ! use by himself or through the other’ encouragement, a wide range of elementary actions like: jumping, climbing, throwing, pushing, manipulating. ! be sure about his own actions and move in environments equipped with equipment in free places ! take part together with others in the development of body actions with or without musical support, and join the games by respecting simple rules whose meaning is known. Discovery of the world The child must: ! ! ! ! know the animal and vegetable world (Fauna and Flora) use different materials, simple technical objects use simple procedures to set to work simple mechanisms assembling/disassembling of toys) observe the features of things and the changes undergone by them ( In pre-school age, the teaching of history and geography is summoned-up mostly in the activities carried out by the children in the space and time of the daily events. The abilities gained by the children include the general abilities of orientation in space and time. 4. Assimilation of abilities related to the field of civic education The child must: ! ! ! bear responsibility as member of a collective accept and respect the rules of life in a collective ( respecting of others, of the others’ work and of the materials used) implementation of elementary safety rules (movement in the street, use of tools in the garden, etc) 29 5. Assimilation of abilities connected with the field of artistic education Musical education The child must: ! ! ! ! ! ! take part in joint musical activities play with his own voice be orientated in space ant time during the musical games test his own abilities in simple musical instruments perceive the relations existing between the production of sound and listening invent music, songs Applicative art The child must: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! perceive the affective relations with the materials to his disposal produce something according to his desire and imagination try different alternatives for the processing of a given material use different tactics (drawing, modeling, collage, etc) use realized products to express himself through a work which stimulates imagination notice the attained results IV. ORGANIZATION AND USE OF TIME The organization and efficient use of time in the kindergarten is based on ceaseless studies made to define the suitable rates of the activities carried out with the children. The results of the studies admit the indispensability of the adoption of the daily, weekly and annual activities, rates of individual and circumstantial development of the children. The recommendations below, respect the results of the conducted studies. They make evident the needs of the children, which must be fulfilled and respected. A. Respecting of rules of the alternation of activities and their combination Development: ! of different forms of activity ! of different types of activity of activities in different environments Activity: ! collective ! semi-collective ! individual Activity: ! free 30 ! ! suggested orientated Activity: ! that require concentration of attention ! relaxation Activity: ! within classroom ! in another environment of kindergarten ! outside the kindergarten Activity: ! led by the teacher of the class ! led by another person Activities developed in different environments (sitting, on foot, in relaxing position, at the same place or different places) ! Duration of activities to the function of: ! children’s age ! monitoring individual activities in relation to the duty ! obvious signs of tiredness, lack of interest (paleness, yawning, stretching, excitement) To suggest the use of playing grounds and their change ! observation of the duration of activity ! attention towards sign of tiredness 31 B. Respecting of biological needs ! ! Results of chronobiological, chronopsychological studies have made evident the relation existing between the annual, weekly and daily results of the children and the time of the organization of activities. For the children above 3 years of age -The teaching of new knowledge requires: concentration of attention and memory and the lessons be developed better on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9.00-11.00. -To postpone the activities which: require greater mobilization and attention on Monday and all the other days from 11.00 –14.00. Activities which require mobilization of the memory for a long time are advised to beheld in the afternoon. ! ! Importance of the adoption of physiological rhythms. ! ! Security pf physical well-being Security of personal hygiene To foresee the time of the break and siesta for: -the smaller children -not to allow them wake up early -not to allow them sleep late -not allowed to pass a long time in a collective environment In the kindergartens offering food, a break is offered after the meal and routine hygiene. ! Time for break is planned to the function of the individual needs; several alternatives must be offered concerning: -Selection of the suitable time during the day; -Organization of these moments (like hearing, attraction to a peaceful corner to leaf through an illustrated book, peaceful games) ! Create suitable sleeping conditions: -emotional and physical comfort 32 ! Security of a suitable emotional and affective environment -organization of the break in a known familiar, secured and warm place -a noiseless place -suitable temperature personal choice of the place presence of a thing or toy from the house. B. Daily regime and respecting of rhythms The suggestion of the daily regime and its adoption to the rhythms and needs of the child, have an orientating value in the organization of life and activity in the kindergarten. The adjustments and their adoptions in compliance to the profile of every kindergarten is useful and necessary. Their principal aim is to ensure to each child an environment where he can correctly perceive what he knows, what he wishes to learn, what activities he’s in need for, the responsibilities he can bear to organize the time of his stay in the kindergarten. 1. Relations between the systemization of environment in the classroom and organization of activities’ time Prior deciding about the activities of the day, it is necessary to reflect regarding: - living conditions of the child - time of the stay of child in the kindergarten - registrations - suggestions being used - division and naming of the environments in the kindergarten, joint environments, etc. Defining and naming of spaces ! Yard of the kindergarten, sand-hole, swings, etc being used for: - physical activity - moments of games related to different activities. Dining room Serves for: - activities related to the assimilation of the ability of feeding and kitchen activities ! 33 - time of feeding organization of holidays and birthdays holding of meetings between classes ! Resting room (resting corner) Ensuring of pillows, mattresses and tappets that can serve for: - expressive body activities - listening of music - reading As the kindergarten is joined by children of three years of age, it is necessary to have a space nearby the classroom that can: - ensure not to leave alone the child who has fallen asleep - secure a space where can be played with toys of different sizes ! Water corner Is used for: - water games with the small children - games connected with the make up of the doll, washing of clothes - activities and experiments with water involving children of all ages. ! Atelier of kindergarten Is used for all expressive and manipulative activities of the children to the function of the projects applied. ! Teachers’ Room Is used by the teachers, but also as a library hall or documentation center. Suggestions for the development of activities in the classroom ! Guaranteeing of positive habits from the beginning of the year: - cordial and friendly reception; peaceful dressing and undressing; exhibiting of understandable tables with the rules that must be respected, in order not to create confusion and disorder - preservation of all means and materials that make everyone feel responsible - acquaintance with all school environments and adults operating in it. - acquaintance with the children of the other classes through the activities held precisely for this purpose ( apart from the spontaneous acquaintance of children in the yard of the kindergarten). Reflections on the implementation of the program Division of the program’s content: ! according to fields of activity ! according to knowledge, abilities and competences needed to be assimilated in those fields ! assimilation of general competences. 34 Aim of the work in the kindergarten and motivation of children The word “to grow up” means to the children to operate like a grown-up child or the adults operating in his social environment. The children of the kindergarten have different levels of development depending from the family culture. In organizing a useful activity for the children, of importance would be the assessment of separate abilities, which stand out during the observation of the free activities of each child, like for example the curiosity they manifest, the way hoe they act, etc. The rhythms of daily organization include the entire relaxation, entertainment and re-grouping moments of the children to the function of the realization of educational activity, fulfillment of individual needs of children, moments of cooperation between children of different ages, etc. All these enable the modification of the daily regime in conformity with the rhythms of the children. But important is the fact that the child becomes gradually conscious about the time he has to his disposal and the reason of the development of the activities. Daily regime 7.30 Receiving of children Free activity: educative games, drawing, leafing through books, albums, care for flowers, different observations, filling in of the table for the absent children. 8.45 Breakfast: laying of tables, civic education 9.15 Morning meeting: Conversations about what the children will do during the day. Filling in of the daily and weather calendar as well as activities considered as reasonable ones by the teacher. 10.45 Distribution of children in activity centers and ateliers: graphic, artistic and scientific activities of different fields, monitoring activities and activities for the development of speaking, writing and didactic games. Collective activities headed by the teacher Finally, individual and group comments regarding the carried out activities. 11.15 Toilet according to the needs of the children 11,30 Getting out in fresh air 12,15 Lunch 13.00 Siesta, narration of tale. 15.00 Different individual and collective games. Activities in small directed groups. Listening to music, watching of a video film. 16.00 Departure 35 Daily regime of the second group 7.30 Receiving of children Free activity: identification of spontaneous reflections of children, educative games, drawing, leafing of books and albums, care for flowers, different observations, filling in of the table for the children who are absent. Breakfast: laying of tables, civic education Morning meeting: Conversations about what the children will be doing during the day. Filling in of the daily and weather calendar. Collective songs and other activities which the teacher considers necessary to be developed. Distribution of children in activity centers and ateliers: Activities led by the teacher: language/writing development, guided graphic activity, mathematical games, activities that develop perception and observation, scientific activities, use of new techniques, initiation of a new activity Individual activity or an activity in small groups: cutting, sticking, collage, drawing, constructions, reading, doll’s house, systemization of games, preparation of materials for the organization of holidays, graphic, artistic and scientific activities in different fields, observation, development of speaking, writing and didactic games. Collective activities directed by the teacher. Finally, individual and group comments on the carried out activity Toilet according to the needs of the children Getting out in fresh air Lunch Free activity Siesta, narration of a tale Different individual and collective games. Activities in small directed groups. Listening to music and watching of a video-film. Departure 8.45 9.15 10.45 11.15 11.30 12.30 13.00 13.30 15.00 16.00 36 Daily regime for the third group 7.30 Receiving of children Free activity: Free drawing, frequentation of the book stand, educative games, drawing, leafing of books and albums, care for flowers, different observations, filling-in of the table for the children who are absent, filling-in of the calendar and weather page of the day.. Breakfast: laying of tables, civic education Morning meeting: Conversations about what the children will be doing during the day, suggestions by children on the organization of the day and activities which the teacher considers necessary to be developed. Distribution of children in activity centers and ateliers: Activities led by the teacher: language/writing development, guided graphic activity, mathematical games, activities that develop perception and observation, mathematical games, scientific activities, use of new techniques, initiation of a new activity Individual activity or an activity in small groups: cutting, sticking, collage, drawing, constructions, reading, doll’s house, systemization of games, preparation of materials for the organization of holidays. Graphic, artistic and scientific activities in different observation fields, development of speaking, writing and didactic games. The activity of the children aims at assimilating an certain ability or exerting abilities gained in new situations. Collective activities directed by the teacher which draws a balance sheet of what has been done and the individual and group comments on the carried out activity by the children. Toilet according to the needs of the children Getting out in fresh air Lunch Free activity Siesta, narration of a tale Activities in group and individually to the function of: -support of the morning activity -balance sheet of the work done -problematic situations that seek solution -filing activity -artistic activity -decoration or exhibiting of the works of children in the classroom -scheduling of the next day activity together with the children Departure 8.45 9.15 10.45 11.15 11.30 12.30 13.00 13.30 15.00 16.00 37 V. ORGANIZATION AND SYSTEMIZATION OF KINDERGARTEN AND CLASSES Systemization and regulation of the environments of the kindergarten and its classes is of a particular importance in the life and activity of the child. Organization, systemization and transformation of joint environments and spaces of the kindergarten To: ! ! arouse the interest of the children towards environment ensure suitable and functional conditions for the daily activity of the kindergarten Suggestions: ! to have esthetical and functional indexes ! to be fruit of the cooperation of teachers, parents, children, representatives of local governance, donors, etc. ! to systemize the separate halls (when it is possible) for the development of activities of reading, dancing, listening of tales, ateliers for all manipulative activities (graphic art, works on plasteline, paper, wire, collage, etc.) Systemization of a separate dining room Finding of suitable solutions that assist in the free movement of the children in the kindergarten Support of the choices that enable the exchange and communication between: ! ! to give the necessary importance to the eating period physical development and the development of independent actions of children ! ! ! multiplying of exchanges between children of the kindergarten and of the later with the children of elementary school ! - classes, spaces that can be used by all children, or heterogeneous groups (ateliers, concert halls, gymnasiums, etc) 38 - classes for the kindergarten and classes for the elementary school ! To be in favour of : - games developed in open air - different activities ! ! To be in favour of: - order - team activity of teachers Systemization of the yard of the kindergarten through the participation of local governance representatives, parents, different organisations by creating: - peaceful playing grounds - playing grounds for collective games - playing grounds for the development of different engine plays - contact zones with the nature - systemization of the teachers room (to keep the documentation, the library, information and audio-visual materials) and the holding of joint meetings between parents and different partners of the kindergarten. ! Specification of the areas of kindergarten and their ceaseless transformation need a suitable device. The creation of such environments helps in: - the development of independent activities for each child - emotional, social, physical and intellectual development - encouragement and realization of cooperation relations - a better and efficient use of spaces - a better communication of teachers with families and community Organization, systemization and equipment of classes Organization, systemization and internal equipment of classes influence directly in the motivation of the child to attend the kindergarten Suggestions Criteria of choice ! To foresee rest areas for the Criteria that must be respected in small children, to satisfy their equipping the classroom individual needs - physiological ! To foresee relatively wide rhythms 39 ! - respecting of the rules of hygiene ! ! ! areas to circulate without obstacles, to satisfy the need for movement to keep a desirable temperature and continuous airing. To secure the necessary lightening To secure the suitable placement of equipment in relation to the heating and airing sources. To secure equipment with suitable dimensions to the age of the children and the activities they develop To foresee a sink for the classroom to respect the rules of hygiene To choose things and materials which are neither dangerous nor toxical ones. To accept the things and objects that the children bring from home. To leave to the disposal of children, toys and other materials that are suitable for the age of the children (to create trust in them and encourage the independence of actions through them) To organize play-corners with toys and materials of family origin. Dynamic organization of playgrounds, whose use has two functions that are: - social - to develop professional skills ! - guaranteeing of physical well-being ! - guaranteeing of psychological and emotional well-being ! ! - social, moral and cultural insurance of the child. ! 40 - to respond to the development of interests and needs of the children (the rules that must be respected: the smaller the children are the more free space they must have to their disposal: The play corners and materials used in them enable: - watching and care for flowers and animals - actions with technical means - reading of figures in books ! Systemization of classroom in different ways according to children’s ages ! Use of different materials according to the age from the first to the third group. - For the children 3-4 years of age are suggested spaces which enable: - free movement -activities which develop listening -activities which develop visual and touching perceptions by making use of the means put to their disposal -water games -games in the form of telling a story where the characters appear and disappear. -building up of imagination for oneself: mirror, silhouette, figures and dolls, photos. -anything recalling family life, food, hygienic care, pets. ! For the children 4-5 years of age it is proposed: - everything connected with the real life, social roles, tools and instruments to explore the world, Collections of different things and fine materials; -to respond to the development of abilities of children -everything related to imagination: the magic and miracle, transformation and taste -everything is related to 4 41 elements: water, land, air and fire. ! To children 5-6 years of age an encouragement of spontaneous interest is suggested for: - all signs that belong to different codes and priorities of writing - presentation of different fixed or changeable figures - tales -separate aspects of life( physical and cultural world) -nature and life - interpersonal relations - games with rules ! To realize the rational use of means: from free game to that structured game - to remind that the game of the children is a way of leaving and understanding of the world ! To distinguish the transition from one age to another through the organization and differentiated equipment of the classroom space , which is a reflection of the duties and new activities that must be carried out. Periodical change of the interior organization and systemization of classroom, toys, games, books, magazines, different materials must be to the disposal of children and serve always as a support of the spontaneous and organized activities. Equipment with didactic materials and educative ! ! 42 materials produced or collected by all. ! Preparation of means to the function of definite aims of the teachers Translated by: Ardiana Bisha Perkthyer nga: Ardiana Bisha 43