Funded by the Erasmus+
Programme of the
European Union
The primary goal of the WELCOME project is to provide all children with a good start through quality preschool education. We would like to help kindergarten teachers in leading and managing heterogeneous groups, often including children with special needs: this may include socially disadvantaged children, children with health disabilities, talented children or those who will be later diagnosed with learning disabilities. We are convinced that the integration of these children is possible, if the teacher takes an individual approach and provides them assistance in line with their specific needs.
The first project output is Methodology for Working with Children with SEN in Preschool Education, addressing kindergarten teachers looking for new approaches in leading heterogeneous classes and educating children with special educational needs. This methodology provides information and suggestions for working with children with SEN in a clear and comprehensive form and is divided into theoretical and methodological sections.
The second output is the WELCOME IDEA (Interactive Digital Educational Assistant) application for smart devices such as tablets, smartphones, but also interactive whiteboards and monitors. The application functions as an imaginary assistant: The teacher can make use of the application’s educational screening to evaluate the child’s current state in individual developmental areas and based on the results of the educational diagnostics, the application itself will recommend appropriate activities. The range of activities allows children with special educational needs to participate in interactive activities, but also provides a number of further ideas on how to work with a heterogeneous group of children in the classroom, while including children with SEN. At the same time the application will provide the teacher with a theoretical background on the issues SEN children face in the classroom, thanks to the digital format of the Methodology.
The last output is the manual Working with and Supporting Children with SEN in Preschool Education (WELCOME workshops), a comprehensive guide for teachers on how to organize and lead integrated blocks and work groups, which can be used to implement certain thematic units with the help of the application. These work groups will include not only children with special educational needs as part of a heterogeneous kindergarten group, but also the teachers who work with these children in their classrooms.
The project outputs will be available in four languages (English, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian) since September the 1st, 2019 at:
http://e-welcome.eu/
WELCOME (WE Learn and COMmunicate Ensemble) is an international European Erasmus+ project, falling under Key Action 2 (KA2). The project is coordinated by the Dr. Josef Raabe s.r.o. Publishing House in Prague, and includes three countries: The Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Bulgaria. Project partners include the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague, the Research Institute for Child Psychology and Pathopsychology in Bratislava, the Institute of Mental Health and Development in Sofia and the M7 agency from Bratislava, which provides graphical and computer programming services. In all participating countries our partner kindergartens and elementary schools took part in development and testing of results: in the Czech Republic M. Aleš Elementary School and Kindergarten in Mirotice, in Slovakia Elementary School and Kindergarten Zubrohlava and in Bulgaria ODZ 72 Prikazka bez krai of Sofia.
We believe that the outputs of the WELCOME project can assist kindergarten teachers and empower them to work better with children with special educational needs, whose development is influenced by disadvantage or disability, and will also contribute to the improvement of the quality of preschool education in all countries.
Dr. Josef Raabe, s.r.o. Publishing House,
Prague, Czech Republic
Project Coordinator for WELCOME
© 2016 Nakladatelství Dr. Josef Raabe, s.r.o.
