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New Life Resources
The First World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education organized by UNESCO was held in Moscow through Nowadays 17 resource centers of UNESCO in Moscow work under the program “Moscow education: from babyhood to school”. Moscow resource centers open new possibilities for preschool education in the capital. They organize workshops, round tables, and conferences for sharing experience between the interested kindergarteners. Acquaintance with several kindergartens, successfully working with UNESCO, gave the guests of the First World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education an idea about new working principles and their advantage for babies and their parents. 
Before the beginning of the forum journalists had an opportunity to see the work of three kindergartens, which are the resource centers of UNESCO “From babyhood to school” project. These are kindergartens No. No. 2030, 2336 and the Resource center “Kindergarten for everybody”. They are called “Resource”, as they function as test-sites for the development of new methods in education, rehabilitation, and parents consulting, so that they could share this experience with other parents. For 3 years 510 Moscow preschool educational facilities have been involved in “Moscow education: from babyhood to school” project. The centers closely cooperate with each other complying with the General Conditions of UNESCO regarding the importance of early childhood care and education. 
Elena Vladimirovna Avdeeva, a teacher of the highest category is the head of kindergarten No. 2030, the center of Child Development. As a resource center “The best is for children” this kindergarten specializes on socialization of children from their birth to 3 years old, and helps to large families to educate their children. There are home kindergartens under the center, and “early help service” for children from birth to 6 years old with different particularities of their development, or with the risk of onset of such particularities. Children are not obliged to stay in this kindergarten for the whole day, they can visit it for a few hours, and their parents can participate in general games or to talk with teachers, because sometimes parents don’t have enough pedagogical knowledge. It applies not only to parents of particular children but to all parents. In the center children can visit a swimming pool, babies swim together with their mothers and instructors, and it’s very good for their health, especially for children with particularities. Particular babies are very happy to do some exercises in the water! And it develops their habits. These exercises last no more than 20 minutes, but there’re very efficient. In the center children can also take massage, besides, there is an infrared cabin, which is also very good their health. 
Resource centers, which cooperate with UNESKO, differ from other by their creative approach to their activity. For example, the center of Child Development — kindergarten № 2336 pays a lot of attention to creative and intellectual development of children within the frames of “Moscow education: from babyhood to school” project. There is everything for the world around cognition: ecological path in the garden, greenhouse and pharmaceutical vegetable garden. Together with parents and kindergartners children discuss topics of projects and research different interesting objects — space, properties of substances and pets. For “Space” project they made planets, costumes and interactive models. Staging and presentations are very popular in this center; it helps children to be more self-confident. Children here are physically vigorous, in the gym there are special trainers for children. Besides that, children play intellectual games — there is a chess club in the center. 
Parents have no opportunity to be lazy — some researches and projects children do together with their families. They prepare presentations on such topics as “My parents’ professions”, “Famous volcanoes of the Earth” etc. This center is headed by Irina Nikolaevna Pavlenko, a Candidate of Science, the winner of “Woman — director of the year” competition and Honored employee of basic education. Near the door of the center there is a house of a Learned Cat. Children, who are confused to ask adults questions, can write a letter to the Cat and to put it into the mailbox. The learned Cat answers each letter! The resource center “Kindergarten for everybody” was the third educational facility, visited by UNESCO and Moscow authorities’ representatives, accompanied by journalists. In 2009 a modern and comfortable building was constructed for the center on Taganka. Realization of individual needs of each child, including children with disabilities, became the mission of the center. “Kindergarten for everybody” № 288 makes a lot of efforts to make teachers not to be afraid of inclusive education and to disseminate these principles of mutual education of healthy children and children with disabilities for all the educational system. The principle of inclusive education takes into consideration particularities of each child and gives to everybody (especially for children with disabilities) an opportunity to participate in full in the life of kindergarten. 
Kindergartener gives tasks to each child in accordance with the peculiarities of the development, so that children can show their capacities. In 10 inclusive groups of the centre 211 children at the age from one to seven years are educated, and 40 of them have peculiarities of development, including such serious problems as Down syndrome, Martin-Bell syndrome, Cornelia de Lange syndrome, ICP, infantile autism. 25 children have general speech underdevelopment. Guests of the centre, journalists and specialists in the sphere of education could see how inclusive groups work, all children felt equally confident there. This is not surprising, taking into account the fact that 89 different profile specialists work with children, including art-therapists, Montessori teachers, choreographer, kinesitherapists, psychoneurologists, swimming instructors. “Kindergarten for everyone” is headed by Maria Mikhailovna Prochukhayeva, laureate of the Moscow Mayor award. The centre works with families through organizing consultations and master-classes for parents. Specialists, not only from Russia, come to the Centre to organize seminars for parents on the topics important for them, such as “Correction of undesirable children’s behavior” — announcement about this seminar was on the board in the lobby. 
There are splashes in the swimming pool — this is the competition among the girls from the senior group. Meanwhile younger children are busy in the workshop — they mould figures of clay, and shelves are covered with pretty toys, including those made of wood: for that there is an equipment of the best quality and a patient and communicable young teacher. Classes in lekoteka, where speech is developed, have helped many children to overcome problems with speech. The room with Montessori books has most exotic toys: from buckwheat and beads — “little cords for counting” — to a funny model of a man-marionette and various science models. Here are devices for counting and creating logical analogies, as well as other almost magic things, but children get over the tasks easily. And though it was easy to notice among the children those with peculiarities of development, this only made the picture full: everyone was occupied with their favorite work and could be glad about every study day. |
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© 2010 Department of Foreign Economic |