TRAINING COURSE IN VRTEC MARTIN KRPAN, CERKNICA, SLOVENIA
8th - 10th APRIL, 2025
Our 3-day mobility began on April 8th with a welcome dinner at our local tourist farm. There were 5 participants from Slovenia, 5 from Finland and 2 from Turkey. The next day, April 9th we began our programme with the presentation of our kindergarten, Vrtec Martin Krpan Cerknica. Saša Pivka presented her work in the group with children with special needs. There are 6 children in the group and for each child a special programme is prepared at the beginning of the year so that the teachers meet their special needs and try to help them develop in their own pace and. As Saša said: “In our group the children can be themselves, because we accept them as they are.” The presentation was followed by a short tour of the kindergarten: we visited some playrooms, outside playground, gym, sensory room and playroom for the special needs children.
The presentation of the kindergarten was followed by the course by Chantal Romi: Outdoor Activities with Special Needs Children. First she presented some helpful tips that can be used when working with children with special needs (SNC): we need to get to know the child so that we can help him; we need to establish a confidential relationship with parents; and most of all we must never give up. She especially stresses the importance of teacher-parent cooperation: that relationship affects the child also. She then moved to present the activities outdoors: what we should take into consideration and some activity ideas. She then continued her presentation outside where we learned some new activities which we can use in our work and which promote the use of all of our senses in nature (eyes closed and show where the voice comes from; each participant receives some little thing from the nature and must find their pair by just touching; identify what is in the bag by just touching; hiding items under a cloth and then removing one; enriching our vocabulary on chosen topic; work with emotions: pin the emotion on a photo; baby worms (pieces of thread) were lost in the field, find them).
Our second day, April 10th, began with the course led by Ulla Myllyniemi: Going from Strength to Strength. Ulla presented her work as a teacher and her current occupation. She stressed the importance of seeing the good in the child: look at all the potential and let the child grow; we need to give them words, to show them how to cooperate. The short presentation indoors was followed by the presentations of activities outdoors: how to use pictograms to structure our day; how to use strength cards (time to think and to share with our pair and then with the group); how to create a sensory path with materials we find in nature.
The last course was led by Gaye Amus and she presented several activities we can use in nature: games with the parachute, beanbag for a friend, how to use a stick to share something with the group; how to use materials from nature to make music (pebbles, sticks, walnuts etc.); how to use shadow play; how to use a story and massage a child; how to go on a treasure hunt: find something soft, something hard, something rough in your environment; and last: how to connect to something we find in nature.
Each of the trainers presented several activities that can be used in nature. The most important message was that we should not be reluctant when it comes to spending time in nature; we just need to take certain health and safety precautions. Spending time in nature is very important for children with special needs; they need to use their senses more, they need to be exposed to different materials, to be able to manipulate with them freely. Our role as teachers is to enable them time in nature and to offer certain activities that help and support their development.
