Kalli-kalli kindergarten participated in the Erasmus+ KA2 project The Power of Reading. The main achievements of the project were acquisition of new methods and knowledge, as well as the exchange of experiences among colleagues and experts related to methods of using literacy as a tool to develop our children’s emotional, social and cognitive development. Project participants had the opportunity to observe experts in educational work with children, receive training from university professors, and learn about new and innovative approaches and methods. This specific training in each area of our project improved our teaching skills.

Participants shared their new knowledge with the other teachers in their preschool after each meeting and implemented the new methodologies and materials in their daily educational work with children. This new knowledge was also put into practice with a specific activity designed by the host school of each meeting, which was implemented in each preschool, documented and presented at our next meeting. This gave us an opportunity to analyse the benefits and difficulties we encountered, and how we needed to adapt the activities to the reality and culture of our own preschools. The preschools are consolidating the methodologies, activities and routines learnt in the project in their educational curriculum.

The celebration of each learning, teaching, and training event is also the result of the preparation of workshops, lectures and activities organised by the preschools of each country. These events have had a positive impact on the educational community of the host country.

As one of our goals was to exchange teaching methods and share the knowledge, methodologies and activities of our project, we compiled and published the results in a book to reach beyond our preschools into the wider European teaching community. The book called, The Power of Reading, was published and each partner distributed several copies in their country. A digital copy is also available on our webpage here The Power Of Reading_ISBN.pdf.

Each of the partner schools contributed to the project by sharing their expertise in a specific area of literacy and child development. They were responsible for planning the agenda and organising the training, inviting professors, authors, qualified teachers, experts, and workshop leaders. All these trained the partners in each LTT activity.

Arnarsmári preschool in Iceland shared their expertise on Reading in Nature and Dialogic Reading. Due to the pandemic, we were unable to go to Iceland as planned, and they prepared an online meeting to introduce their topic, which allowed us to work in this area. They later prepared the physical mobility.

CE Zola Villafranca in Spain prepared the LTT activity on Reading, Feelings and Emotions. As project coordinators, Spain monitored the implementation of the project, ensured good communication, resolved doubts, reminded partners of deadlines and gathered the documents, activities, metholodogies and photos for the final book.

Istituto Comprensivo Anzio III in Italy prepared the LTT Activity Reading and Diversity (away to social inclusion). They also supported their European colleagues by showing them the tools and software useful for creating multimedia products for collaborative activites and using the eTwinning platform. They also designed the final book which contains articles on the various topics covered during the project and the lesson plans and methodologies of all the activities carried out.

11th Nipiagogio Chanion in Greece prepared the LTTA meeting on the topic of Reading and Storytelling. The Greek partner founded our eTwinning project with the ERASMUS coordinators. 

DV Jarun in Croatia prepared the LTTA meeting on Reading and Problem-solving. They were also very helpful in designing the initial survey for parents and teachers in order to obtain relevant quantitative results.

Kalli kalli kindergarten presented Reading, Games and ICT Resources.

In September 2023 Kalli-kalli  kindergarten will open its new building in Uus-Veerenni residential quarter. The owner and builder of the kindergarten building is Merko Ehitus Eesti.

In the new building we will open four daycare groups to our smallest kids and six kindergarten groups. Many groups have their own specialty so that every family can find an educational environment which best meets the needs of their child.  In addition to  Estonian groups we shall open an English group as well as an English-Estonian and Estonian-English language immersion groups.  Besides that we shall also open a Montessori group in cooperation with the Estonian Montessori Association https://www.montessorieesti.ee.

Kalli-kalli Uus-Veerenni kindergarten will also become a community center of the residential quarter where we shall offer various services to families including a diverse choice of hobby groups to children as well as to adults, rooms for children’s birthday parties, summer kindergarten service and summer camps for children. We also plan to offer  physiotherapist’s service for babies and to opn the speech therapist’s and psychologist’s cabinets.  

Kalli-kalli Uus-Veerenni kindergarten will be ready in summer and it will open its doors for children on the 4th September 2023.

The building ceremony was held on the 10th February. See the pictures here.