Developing Social Competences of Children with Early Childhood Language Learning

This is a manual for kindergarten teachers. Teachers disseminate their method of teaching English.
The manual comes from a collaborative work in the Erasmus project.
The states involved are: Slovenia, Italy, Estonia and Bulgaria.

The cover of the book was chosen among the 9 drawings made by all the children.
The children together with the teachers and the parents voted.

INTRODUCTION:

The Erasmus + project “Developing social Competence of children with early childhood language learning” was planned on the basis of different methodological approaches, first of all the “learning by doing” one.

To teach the english language starting from kindergarten, a path linked to “doing” for excellence has been designed, with constructive and concrete daily practices, with the aim of making children acquire new terms in L2 through games and body movement.

From the theoretical point of view, the project refers to H. Gardner’s studies on multiple intelligences. This theory has revolutionized the traditional way of thinking about intelligence, since it replaces the idea that it is unitary and homogeneous, the idea that every individual has more intelligences, each one assigned to a specil  cognitive ability. This theory, has also given greater dignity to intelligences always placed in the background (like the musical-rhythmic one or the corporeal-kinesthetic one) respect to the intelligences most considered as linguistics or logic-mathematics.

In order to promote different forms of intelligence in children, this path was planned allowing every child to live different experiences with operational proposals through multiple expressive channels. All the activities have been diversified to offer everyone the opportunity to express themselves and their knowledge in the most congenial and appropriate way that everyone has to learn.

In every chapter of this ebook you can find a different intelligence linked to the activities:

Naturalistic intelligence: vegetable garden

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: mouviment games

Linguistic intelligence: stories

Logical-mathematical and space-visual intelligence: robotics

Working with the future European citizens of tomorrow, the teachers have designed in line with the European Key competences, so as to promote their active and responsible

citizenship.

In particular:

– communicate in the mother tongue

– communicate in the foreign language

– social and civic competences

– spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship

– cultural awareness and expression

The materials collected in this book are the result of two years of cooperative work between the four teams involved in the project: Slovenia, Italy, Bulgaria and Estonia.

We presume to tell this path in the form of an operational guide aimed at teachers who believe in communication, active citizenship and in Europe.

A lesson in the Estonian school.

Social skills: Knowledge of ourselves and of the group

The use of online applications allows different schools that share a project to get to know each other in real time and in depth. We used “Padlet”.

The padlet allows you to share more information in real time and have a total view of the participants in an European project.

All children can introduce themselves and can get to know others.

Our Padlet collects a lot of information:

Each school makes a video to tell something their school.

The game allows children to contextualize new learned words, to use them in communication.

Social skills: A Nation and its symbols

Talking about hymns and flags at the kindergartner is difficult because children of this age need real contexts to learn; but it is possible to play with these symbols that will remain in the memory of the child. In this way they can know them and appreciate them.

On the page below are shared all the flags, songs and hymns of each Nation. It is important for children to listen to songs in the mother language because it transmits the cultural values of a Nation.

Hymns:

Italia https://youtu.be/PxBUMt64V64

Slovenia: https://youtu.be/WcRrqabxN4I

Estonia: https://youtu.be/-Hesqmps9kA

Bulgaria:https://youtu.be/BVdaFShTMlI

Songs shared by the Slovenian team:

https://youtu.be/nEpAl6DLLWc

The flags have become board games and online puzzles; through these games the children have learned to identify their friends and their nations.

15 slovenia

12 italia

15 Estonia

15 BULGARIA

The European flag symbolizes both the European Union and the unity and identity of Europe in general. The European flag consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. The stars represent the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe.

Video from 9 May

Social skills can also be developed by sharing holidays. 

A common holiday for all children is Christmas.

Christmas means exchange of gifts and good wishes; it is the exchange of stories, traditions and songs. It is also a magical moment in the kitchen with the production of typical sweets.

From Slovenia:

“WE’RE EXPECTING THE ST. NICHOLAS… WARM CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO ALL CHILDREN AND STAFF IN PARTNER KINDERGARTENS”

From Italy a story told with children’s drawings.

From Estonia: 2Before Christmas our children have special activities. These activities develop child’s social skills. Our children are learning by doing. One of these games- Christmas cooking. ”

From Bulgaria: A special Christmas tree

“Dear friends from Slovenia, Italy and Estonia thank you for Christmas decorations.”

Warm hugs and kisses from  Bulgarian children…”

Social skills through stories

The story, the reading of a book allows the child to enter in another world to understand and experience feelings and emotions. 

For this reason, each Nation has found a story of its own to tell to all the children of this project. 

A department of English books was created in school libraries. The shelf has been enriched with the books of all the partners.

Let’s start with the story “Kitty the cat” proposed by Slovenia.

“There is a white house with a red roof in the middle of the forrest. The windows overflow with flowers. The sign on the door says” »Slipper Keeper Kitty«.

This very special kitty was created by renowned and highly popular slovenian artists Ela Peroci and Ančka Gošnik Godec.

Kitty has been mending and making children’s slippers for the last sixty years. If your slippers like to go missing, too, try taking a peek in her workshop.

http://online.fliphtml5.com/fvba/tvzo/

The reading of the book was done in English and through various activities the content was reworked by all the children:

Slovenia: https://youtu.be/y69x3dp5q8E

Itay (1): https://youtu.be/_8WMBx0-JgY

Italy (2) https://youtu.be/napAaFa0aEA

Italy (3) https://youtu.be/9arRkvdX3Jg

Estonia: https://youtu.be/Zk7ynQ1YBXU

Social skills through stories from Estonia

“I AM HAPPY”

What can we do to make a bear happy?

Every partner recreated the story in their schools.

https://youtu.be/FKt6Gly16MI

The next stories  from Italy  are: “it is mine” by Leo Leonnì.

Three selfish frogs live together on an island in the middle of Rainbow Pond. All day long they bicker: It’s mine! It’s mine! It’s mine! But a bad storm and a big brown toad help them realize that sharing is much more fun. With characteristic clarity, simplicity and exuberance, Leo Lionni makes it possible for kids to see themselves through the antics of others who share our world.

An activity based on “it’s mine!” made by the estonian children:

https://youtu.be/FcaxtogAPfg

Italy proposes another story “FROG FINDS A FRIENDS”

In our school every years the team of teachers chose a story with a caracter that leads the children through the activities during the first part of the years . This year our character is a frog that finds a little Teddy Bear and takes care of him. The choice of this character is due to the fact that we live in a area where there are many rise-growing fields and the frog is the tipical animal of this land.

Social skills through stories

BULGARIAN STORY : KOSE BOSE

It’s  a traditional story. It teaches to children that every action has consequences. Everyone has to behave in the best way!

Activities made by:

The Italian children

https://youtu.be/z3QK2jrTLcM

Estonia and Slovenia children used the interactive whiteboard and puppets.

Movement outdoors in English:  some proposed activites.

Each Nation offered a game to play outside. Later, every partner proposed it in their school.

Snow activities in the winter months allow children to share the landscape, to let people know about the climate and outdoor activities.

children tell about their experiences with water