The actions of each Erasmus partner present at the International Conference were true examples of good practice for all conference participants. I know the kindergarten with Extended Program “Pearls of the Sea” – Constanţa as an educational unit that frequently implements Erasmus projects. After the implementation of the Erasmus Project „Bilingual education: a step ahead”, where it was a real benefit for many schools, especially for me, because since then I apply the CLIL Method in class, I have been looking forward to attending this conference, which focused on the dissemination of Erasmus Projects.
I was amazed, at the time of the conference, by the multitude of European partners, who presented from the actions carried out within the Erasmus Projects from Norwey, Turkey, Sweden, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Romania etc.
I was interested in the Erasmus Project “No man, no women, just human”, coordinated by Norway, because it aims to support children through educational opportunities for girls and boys by providing supportive innovative tools through education.
I was also marked by the Erasmus project „My green school, my happy school”, from Bacău, Romania, which took place in Patras, Greece. The coordinator of this project presented their reception in the host school, the activities carried out in Greece, namely: comparing the education system in Romania with that in Greece, digital tools used during the pandemic, visiting the STEM laboratory of experimental mathematics, participation in history lessons, physical education, mathematics.
Another remarkable action carried out in this project was the realization of the “Keyhole” Garden, in the shape of a keyhole, which represents a vegetable garden built with recyclable materials, with the aim of saving water, caring for the soil and obtaining numerous harvests.
An Erasmus project beneficial to all children was implemented by the Kindergarten with Extended Program „Freshmen from Micro III”, from Buzău, Romania, this is called “A step forward in emphasing our children’s uniqueness”. The representative of this project presented to us objectives of this project:
– increase in frequence of specific and particular activities of each child in our kindergarten;
– improving the key competencies of the teachers participating in the training and increasing their performances in carrying out activities for the development of multiple intelligences;
– increasing the motivation of teachers in kindergarten to expand the capacity to design and carry out activities based on the free, integral and harmonious development of the preschooler.
In this project, they had as partners countries like Macedonia, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey, Italy. They also presented us with a special event that took place within the International Scientific Roundtable “Team teaching – from Theory to practice” and the purpose of this event was to exchange experience and good practice.
An Erasmus project frequently used by teachers was the one implemented by the Kindergarten with Extended Program Number 53, Brăila, namely, „Digitalization – the last frontier”. They presented to us the objectives of this project, namely the participation of teachers in international training courses in the field of technology. At the same time, they presented us the applications and educational platforms that they practiced in the training courses beneficial to teachers.
I also noticed that at a certain kindergarten in Hungary there are various optional activities, the most notable was that of Assisted Dog Therapy.
I was also delighted by the activities of the Erasmus project implemented by the Playful Dolphin Kindergarten Constanta what is the purpose to be a deepening of environmental education for kindergarten children through creative exploration of the sea, using English words about the sea, start an exchange of ideas and discover different realities and cultures, develop a blue curriculum to spread knowledge of the elements of the sea. The project representatives “boasted” to many partners from countries like Croatia, Romania, Turkey, France, Italy.
I couldn’t help but notice another Erasmus project implemented by the Kindergarten with Extended Program Pearls of the Sea – Constanţa, which is called “Tradition, Reality, Education, Entertainment”. The representatives of this project presented to us the purpose of this project as being creating many educational products for young children about the Journey of the Hero Ant through Europe. The project is implemented by six school and kindergartens from Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Hungary and Romania and aims the cooperation in the field of developing new training methods for childrens and educate them in tolerance of foreign customs and traditions and teach children to accept all those who are different than them.
They presented the symbol of the project, that of the tree, structured in “The Roots”, wich symbolize the national history, “The Stem”, which symbolizes the most celebrated traditional holidays, “The Crown”, wich symbolizes the holidays celebrated nowadays.
An extraordinary project was presented the one implemented by the Instituto Comprensivo Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno, wich is called “Let’s share our games!”, centered towards second class of a Primary School. I was surprised that nowadays, where all children use internet technology, this project involves the development of non-computerized thinking, there are no devices in their class, which I find extraordinary because they use their imagination to the fullest. The project representatives claim through its theme that by programming one another to draw pictures, pupils understand what programming is really about. They presented us with various programming activities on graph paper, to make drawings without seeing the original images.
The implementation of Erasmus projects represents the promoters of the continuous renewal of the didactic repertoire and of the innovation, an opening towards the European dimension.