Project results

Czech Republic

Good Start: Support of Social and Emotional Development of Pre-school Children from Socially Disadvantaged or Culturally Different Environment.

The main goal of the training program based on the “Good Start” methodology is to increase the competences of pedagogical staff in pre-school facilities, thus contributing to the improvement of work with children, supporting healthy development and growth of children in terms of development of their social and emotional skills in early years. Particular attention is paid to children from socially disadvantaged or culturally diverse environment for whom the entry and attendance of pre-school is often more challenging and may result in behavioral difficulties. In addition, the attention is also paid to the children with different mother tongue, especially with regards to their integration into the children’s group and learning the new language.

The 40-hour training program is divided into theoretical and practical part. It consists of several blocks taught the period of 6 months since the main goal of the program is to guide the pedagogic personnel through change of attitudes, approach and practices in their work. It is based on the introductory two-day training during which the participants acquire information on the principles of the Good Start methodology to support social and emotional development of pre-school children, the activities for working with children and parents in pre-schools, rehearsal of these activities and self-reflection of teachers implementing the methodology in practice.