Pre-school students in Olhão had the opportunity to experience and learn about habits from other countries through activities promoted by partners of the Erasmus+ project.
Last week, 4 educators from six countries (France, Lithuania, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Turkey) attended Kindergarten No. 17 of the Professor Paula Nogueira Group of Schools, from Olhão, under the project “Children's Mission: Europe without Borders”, which is part of the Erasmus+ Program financed by the European Union.
According to professor Paulo Quitério, the project's Portuguese coordinator, "these projects are often carried out with 3rd cycle students, but with pre-school students we are a rarity in the Portuguese context."
The project's objectives are “to improve multicultural competence in educators and reduce discrimination and cultural isolation”, with its priority being “to improve the quality of education and care in preschool”.
The "great challenge", according to the project's promoters in the Algarve, is that, for "young-age students (3-5 years)" to participate in a European project such as this one, it "requires specific knowledge, skills and competences in parts of educators».
To improve multiculture, "each partner carried out specific activities on the countries they visited throughout the project (seven countries and one French overseas territory)", and also had the "opportunity to learn a few words in different languages".
In order to improve the quality of teaching, an educational project was drawn up, in which all partners carried out common activities, for example around Christmas traditions, folk dances, typical food, summer traditions, traditional tales.
Each partner also had the opportunity to share with students from Olhão specific activities from their country, such as traditional tales, songs, paintings, construction of paper figures, magic or paper decorative elements.
In addition to sharing experiences, the guests of Kindergarten No. 4 also had the opportunity to visit the Places of Globalization (Sagres, Cabo de S. Vicente and Lagos), as well as the typical corners of the old town of Olhão and Tavira and the old cask tuna armature.
With the sponsorship of the Portuguese Navy, the group rose to the top of the Farol of Cabo de Santa Maria, which allowed «to read the surrounding territory».
The Professor Paula Nogueira de Olhão Schools Group is developing Erasmus+ projects at all levels of education it teaches (from pre-school to the 3rd cycle).
For these activities, the Group thanks the Algarve Tourism Region, Municipality of Olhão, Fortaleza de Sagres and the Portuguese Navy.
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