Promoting Children's Health and Development in Kindergarten "Buratinas" Kuršėnai

1. Kindergarten“Buratinas”Kuršėnai ŠiauliaidistrictGood Working Experience Development of Children’s HealthCompetence 2012-03-01 presented in Romania

2. Our Slogan Healthy soul – Healthy body Moral education is very important to us. So we have special lessons for childeren (kindergarten works according to catholic trend). Catholic upbringing is based on Noel Le Duc program „Uncovering God‘s Secret for children“

3. Our kindergarten participates in the Lithuanian Children‘s Health Promoting Schools Network. Kindergarten health promotion team has prepared a programme „Healthy childhood". All the children are educated according to it, and the whole kindergarten community is included in the performance of the programme. Integrated programmes “Programme for acquiring safe lifestyle skills for preschool age children“ “Universal programmes of health development, family and gender buildup” “Programme for preventing alcohol, tobacco and other psychotropic substances usage“

4. Healthy Nutrition • Food for children is prepared in the kindergarten kitchen, it is always fresh and never re-heated. • We participate in the programs organized by the Lithuanian Ministry • of Agriculture • “Milk for children”and “Promotion of Fruit and Vegetables” • (children get free dairy products: milk, kefir, yoghurt, curd, cheese • and fruit. Everything is paid by the Ministry of Agriculture.) • Children tender-dietician makes the menu for children and counts calories.

5. Education of Children’s Health (1) • Every year we make a team for health consolidation,which coordinates the activity of kindergarten’s community (prepares projects, organizes different actions,etc.). • Every month educators and children tender-dietician analizes the causes of children’s morbidity (tries to find ways of decreasing it,foresees remedy). • We communicate with children’s parents and try to care about the health of every child,creating safe and friendly environment. • Speech therapists help children with speech defects. • Children tender-dieticianis responsible for children’s health and healthy nutrition.

6. The pyramid of a healthy food

7. Education of Children’s Health(2) • The competence of children’s health is expanded through all the spheres of activities: • morning exercises are organized every morning; • body training sessions take place twice a week; • healthcompetenceis cultivated in the morning-ring; • different activities, actions, meetings and excursions are organized in groups of children.

8. Children participate in the republican school project „Sveikatiada” While participating in the project we try to develop children’s understanding about healthy eating and physical activity organizing interesting actions. Day of Healthy Food (Children make fruit salad) (Children make a pyramid of healthy products)

9. Every year we participate in the action“A Week without Taunting” A wide smile  is the best present for a friend Friendly dancing (this action forms friendship and respect among children)

10. The community of the kindergarten took part in the mass-exercise, organized with the initiative of the program “Will grow-up actively 2011" (All children in all schools were exercising for 10 min. at the same time)

11. We communicate with institutions caring about children’s health The officers of Kuršėnai policestation introduced children with their profession.They showed the animation about the famous dog Amsis, which taught children to cross the street safely, ask for help when needed. Also, everybody was reminded about reflectors in the darkness and how to act in various situations.

12. The mouth-hygienic specialist from Kuršėnai Health centrespoke to children about hygiene of mouth, taking care of their teeth and showed them how to clean teeth regularly. Also, the specialist explainedif they can eat chewing gum and gummy-sweets.

13. A paramedic from Kuršėnai medical service station told children about doctor’s profession as the most important in everyone’s life and answered their questions:“What is doctor’s job?”, “What does the sign of a snake mean on the Ambulance?”, “What is there in the doctor’s bag? (An Ambulance car came into the kindergarten yard where children could examine the doctor’s bag and usage of stretchers).

14. The specialists from the pedagogical-psychological service organize various discusions to the children’s parents Speech teraphy specialist spoke about thespeech development and its correction among children with special needs,advised which institutions can be applied for their purposes evaluating children’s speech disorder.During the discussions parents were interested in the ways of activating their children’s speech.

15. The children of the kindergarten go to the sport school in Šiauliai to play and get some training It is very funny to play volleyball with a Tiger in the “Dubysa”sport school Children got very interested in playing tennis after some training at Šiauliai tennis school. (The Ministry of Education budget children’s cognitive excursions.)

16. Senior children of the kindergarten enjoy educative activities organized in nature Horse-riding teraphy at the centre in Kurtuvėnai Children from the pre-school preparatory group took part in military activities

17. The use of projects in the development of Health Competence • - group projects(they are made every year according to the problem matter): • “Healthy teeth  nice smile” (for 6-7year-old-children); • “Intelligent lickerish” (for 5-6year-old-children); • “Our little steps to the land of health”( 6-7years). • - local projects are sponsored by children’s parents; • - republican(national) projects - sponsored by funds of Lithuania; • - international projects – financed by EU).

18. International Comenius Project “My day starts with a smile” While doing this project,we tried to save children’s psyhical health,improving their ability to command emotions,keeping to the rules,carrying good emotional atmosphere. (We shared different relaxation activities and sportive exercises with our partners,also read and performed fairy tales with positive characters.) Active Lithuanian game „Pine tree” Relaxation game “Stroke chain“

19. Project ”We move and wiggle everywhere” wasfinanced by the Health Community of Šiauliai district. The aim of this project was to motivate children’s physical activity, integrate it into the movement of children with some lack of activity, strengthen children’s health maintaining the most important needs of safety and communication. During the project children had the opportunity to use new sport equipment and devices. Children with some lack of activitygot interested in sporty games and new exercises, their physical, psychical and social maturity became better. Children are trying new sport devices in new games

20. Project “Children’s,with special needs,healthy influence on training their hearing and speaking“was sponsored by the Health Community of Šiauliai district.The aim of this project was to give the children with special needs the opportunity to be educated in the process of correction. During the project children could use new visual and methodical means for speaking, hearing, breathing, teaching lexicon,grammatical structures and cognition. Musical lesson for children”We are happy together” Educational tools are demonstrated to the community

21. Every year we are organizers and participaters in the sport festival of Šiauliai region“Hapiness of movement” The aim of the festival is to concentrate all the preschoolers of all regional educational institutions for the development of movement and self-expression in the sport festival. (Every educational institution prepares a yard with sporty tasks for children to play in one yard, then change the yards).

22. There are lots of activities for children’s health in the kindergarten Standing on the side of the street children watch passing cars and lorries, discuss the harm of air pollution to nature and people,try to cross safely the street,speak about security measures on the roads.

23. Environment clean-up action “Let’s Do” Kolektyvinė mankšta Morning activity”Nice and Healthy” Bicycle and Scooter Parade Healthy Movement Day

24. On the 22nd of September we participate in the international action “A Day without a Car”. On this day we organize the parade of bikes, try to count the number of steps from the kindergarten to home. In this way we motivate parents to walk their children to the kindergarten and back home.

25. Children’s physical abilities are strengthened and correct poise is formed in the dance and wrestling circles (The trainings are held twice a week)

26. The educators of the kindergarten share the work experience with the colleagues in the republican and regional events Educators O.Grigalaitienė and J.Vileikienė organized a seminar for the preschool teachers of Šiauliai region“The development of ecological culture, cherishing traditions of harmony with nature from the early age, training demand for healthy and safe living “. We introduced our working experience at the conference ”Supervision and management of health risky factors”, organized by Šiauliai university.Our topic was: “The influence of projects to the health saving competence for children of the kindergarten”

27. The Evaluation of Health Actions • All the health actions are evaluated by parents and teachers; • Different forms of evaluation are held: interior-audit, surveys, interviews, discussions and debates; • This sphere of actions is analyzed by educators at the kindergarten -board, teachers’ methodical group sessions and perssonel meetings; • Children’s health actions are evaluated by institutions, responsible for their health: regional School-board, Community Health centre, veterinary office and others.

28. What does the word “Health” mean to children: HEALTH is … EVA –when you are all right; AGNĖ – sport. You can sport alone or with friends; MIGLĖ – if you do not eat many sweets; VILTĖ – when you eat porridge; SMILTĖ – when all people are healthy and feel well; SANDRA – when children eat buckwheat porridge. It’s healthy; DOMAS – when you are in good mood; PAULINA –when people wash fruit and vegetables before eating; TITAS – when you clean your hands and feet. No bacillus! IVETA – if you are healthy and eat a lot of vegetables; VIKTORIJA – when people do sports and smile a lot; KRISTUPAS – porridge, water, fruit and vegetables; NOJUS – life, all people live and are happy; DEIVIDAS – medicine, people must use medicine when sick; GABRIELĖ – soup: red or white; JOKŪBAS – when people eat healthy food.

29. Children’s Health Competence is developted in games while playing. Let’s play the game“AFriendship Web”. You will need a thread-ball. The game is mostly played in the morning or can be played any other time of the day.It is loved by children of 5-7 years old. The game “A Friendship Web” develops skills of communication, creates good microclimate, gives nice emotions and is useful for cognitive activity. The game is played in this way: all children sit in a roundcircle and throw or roll a thread-ball to each other. They say each other wishes, compliments, tell some good words or jobs.Also, this game can be useful for cognitive activity: children can say names of Lithuanian cities, names of famous people as well as names of animals or birds, starting with the same letter. The game ends when all the children throw or roll the thread-ball, it means that everybody has made a web, a friendship web.When the ball comes to the last player, s/he starts to reel threads in. All the players do the same action, singing the Lithuanian song “ Threads threads reel in”.We wish you good luck . (Today we will say compliments to each other)

31. We wish everybody good health, lots of smiles, fine mood and desire for life, love and work.