What do we notice comparing our classes ?
Burcu's class (Turkey) is more focused than others on technology, sciences...
Romina's class (Malta) is organised to develop oral skills among other skills (may be more due to the younger age of her pupils) ...
Choussila's class (French class in Germany) and Murielle's class (France) have both a kitchen zone (may be because sharing meals in family is so important for French people or because of our famous french cuisine !). Both of them also have a Nature zone and an ICT zone with computers for Choussila and tablets for Murielle.
Most of us have book centers showing the importance of storytelling and litteracy in all our coutries.
Manipulation and construction games seems very important in France and Malta.
Murielle's class is the only one where there is a place for children who need a shelter or a little rest for a few minutes and the only one with a painting/drawing zone.
All the classes ecxept Murielle's have an interactive whiteboard (magic board ?).
Is it the result of educational politics of our countries or on our teaching profiles ? Probably a mix of these 2 reasons...
My reflections and Curiousities (My Romina - Malta)
I always think and reflect upon how different settings can be and so I have to ask.
Here in Malta, a normal school day is between 8.30 and 14.30, so parents prepare a small snack beforehand for the children to have during break time. Therefore, the children do not get a cooked meal from school - no kitchen in our school.
What time are your school days?
Currently, we are waiting for the government to build us a new school - due to our Town, Marsaskala's population growing rapidly. We have a population of 760 pupils. This means that our school is disadvantaged since we have no room for a kitchenette to have cooking activities ... we do have a small transportable kitchen which we do use for this purpose. Since my class is small, most of my resources are in cupboards and so during the day, I take out a large box full of resources (sometimes blocks, sometimes writing, drawing and painting material, small world items) and then I set up this 'centre' on some tables in the class. So in a way I have a painting zone too although this is not a permanent fixture.
Do you all have 'centres' in the classroom and are they a permanent fixture?
Our activities are mostly done with children in groups while the others play independently. This means that the children rotate from one centre to another.
Do you work in groups too?
Thank you for the opportuity to reflect :)
Maternelle Capsus FRANCE
In Andernos les bains, there are 3 public preschools and one private one. It is an attractive zone on the seaside. Andernos is growing but houses are so expensive that young families with little ones can't really afford it. THis is why our population becomes older... Last september, we closed one class in the school.There are now 3 classes which means that we've got 88 pupils from 3 to 6 years old in our school. We used to be the biggest preschool in our city but now we are nearly all the same...
School starts at 9 in the morning till 15:30 or 16/00 except on wednesday (school in the morning only). After that tie, children have extra activities or after school day care. Some of them are here from 7:30 to 18:30 which is exhausting for them !
Since 2015, french preschools have new programs, focused on manipulations, experimentations... We have to work on the centers we propose in our class and on an evolution throughout the school year. IDentifiing the centers, children are more aware of what is asked to them in the activities. Our class has to change (for example less chairs and tables at the beginning of the school year so that the children see they are growing up ...
In my class like in Romina's class, I use group activities that rotate. But I also use many individual activities based on Montessori learning so that children can experiment with their body and senses.
I usually work in projects like ours covering all the curriculum. This is a good way to motivate students. I introduce many thinking activities (much more math than I used to), robotics ICT tools according to our projects' demands, and relaxation. We work on critical thinking and on cooperative ways to solve problems. I think working on cooperation is essential nowadays to build open minded citizens !