ALONE IN THE WORLD

One of the basic goals of the Early Learning and Development Program is the integration of children with special needs into the everyday educational program

Alone in the world

4 Participating countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, North Macedonia

Start: 01-09-2018 - End: 31-08-2020

Project Reference: 2018-1-RO01-KA229-049183

EU Grant: 107.996 EUR

Programme: Erasmus+

Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Action Type: School Exchange Partnerships

The inclusion of kids with special needs in ordinary classes is a serious problem of the education system,to be converted quickly into a complex intervention strategy.We need to reconsider in which way and who can do this.It is today a phenomenon found in all Union`s education systems aren't ready to solve it. The inclusion of kids with special needs is an action in line with EU priorities that want to offer equal opportunities without any discrimination.Kids with special needs are excluded from activities because they have no communication skills, they are not accepted by the other children in the group, do not have social behaviors. The idea of this project started from the understanding that,the teachers haven`t an auxiliary with activities and games on the strategy of inclusion at preschool level of kids with special needs. They realized that the kids with special needs, present in the usual classes that aren't unable to work because they need a different kind of activities to be included in the specificity of the group and to use and develop their skills. That's why helped by specialists we try to include different methods through a wide range of activities and games to disabled children. The objective of the project is to collect an auxiliary from all partner countries, different types of games that can lead to the inclusion of kids with special needs in the educational act. It is addressed to teachers from partner countries that will develop in a ratio of 90% working and communication skills with kids with special needs until the end of the first year of the project. They would like to bring the innovations into their kindergarten classes and develop their professional achievements sharing and exchanging good practices, educational tools and approaches.

This leads to educational quality. Another goal for the target group kids, parents, teachers and the community is to create an inclusive environment by developing social attitudes of acceptance, information, interaction, collaboration and mutual learning. By achieving this goal would be a bigger number of disabled children. The parents of the other kids and the kids will accept that, some of them need special attention and other included activities.The participants of this project will enhance their awareness and understanding of the need to combat all forms of discrimination.They will have a better sense of their own identification through the compassion, understanding with that of our partners promoting tolerance and accepting differences. We believe that through the activities we proposed and through the development of the games and activities auxiliary, we will be able to include disabled kids in mass education. The game card proposed will explain and help implement them in kindergartens in partner countries. The activities are divided into; monthly, which each kindergarten will do monthly. We have proposed at the partnership level to choose the types of games that we want to run monthly to see their applicability in different countries and education system The activities of the project combine improving the life and personal skills with the learning through the games , workshops addressed to all participants (teachers, parents, community, specialists), Job-Shadowing activities, examples of good practices in the teaching-learning process,games with children, parents, partnerships with other institutions.

The games we thought to help us achieve our goals: Communication, Presentation, Role Playing, Cooperation, Sensory, Assertion, Relaxing, Trust, Outdoor, Family, Travel, Games with anything, Funny, Party, Ice breaking,Team building, Knowledge,Self-knowledge. The games will be tailored to the age and special needs of the kids involved.Games and activities will include kids in the class together with kids with special needs, teachers, parents. Some team games consist of: kids/teachers/parents.The impact of these activities will be major for all participants.

Children will learn to accept and understand the problems of a disabled child, learn to communicate and collaborate with them. Disabled kids will develop social attitudes learning through games.Parents of disabled kids will feel like they are supported by kindergarten, teachers, other parents,specialists. Teachers will share their experience, will improve their working methods with kids with special needs, learn to establish links between children, between parents and institutions. Auxiliary consisting of the games and activities applied and implemented in the partner's kindergarten can be a teaching material and can be used by those who want to include them in mass education. Through this project we wanted to bring a drop of light into the still incomprehensible world of disadvantaged kids, to stretch out a hand to help them walk confident in this world and listen to them because they have something to offer, they are special in their own way. We want to stand by them. They aren't ALONE IN THE WORLD!

• One of the basic goals of the Early Learning and Development Program is the integration of children with special needs into the everyday educational program and to enable them to help with early socialization along with their peers.