Attention project at British Kindergarten

The British Kindergarten of Ada Bolchini dell’Acqua school, together with the coordinator teacher Andy, this year introduces a new opportunity for the Busy Bees section: the “Attention Project”.

The attention project is an educational workshop created through various games and recreational activities, which includes educational strategies to improve skills in five-year-old kids.

The path, which takes place once a week for about an hour and thirty minutes, consists of twenty meetings in which the children await with pleasure and trepidation the leading character “Rino Donald”, without knowing when he suddenly appears to the class.

Every time “Rino”- as they like to call him- communicates with them through a nice letter in which the work themes and the activities to be carried out together are announced. And always with a cheerful and a playful approach!

Activities of the attention project

The “Attention Project” had its debut in February 2022; at the beginning of each meeting, the kids sit together in the circle time, to promote the sense of belonging to the class and the sense of welcome.

Subsequently, in the excitement of the surprise of Rino’s arrival, we read his letter, and each time it is a great joy: “but when did Rino arrive? But where is he now?”

The emotion is strong, as the desire to learn by playing! Until now, the children have known and examined together with teacher Rossella the rules of the school environment and the rules of interpersonal exchange, for a better adaptation to the social environment. They also shared and represented with drawings the correct behavioral rules in the classroom during the activities with their classmates, at various times of the day; but they also represented the useful rules of daily life, from the moment they wake up till the moment they go to bed, in their temporal sequence. Children have acquired a greater mastery of their body scheme and have come to recognize their peers as similar to themselves physically, but also in lifestyle habits. All these activities have been expressly proposed in order to facilitate the acceptance of others and their needs in general.

The Busy Bees were also asked to discuss and evaluate more widely the behaviour to be used in the classroom: the importance of listening to the teacher and peers, to wait for one’s turn, to carry out activities in silence, something precious which allows the concentration and gives tranquility; and also to use one game at a time, to share it, not to argue with peers, to have respect for the thoughts of others and for the internal and external environment.

In the classroom there were also talks related to good practices and healthy living: “it is right to eat fruit and vegetables, play sports and walk outdoors” many said, “it is not fair, for example, that adults smoke and it is not correct to throw garbage on the ground “.

The children had fun creating the “billboard of the Busy Bees rules” in which they have colored and pasted, as in a puzzle, the images of both the lawful and illegal activities in the various living environments, completing it with personal thoughts; next to this, a green traffic light to identify all correct behaviors, and a red one for all behaviors to be avoided.

The project will conclude, among others, with a series of activities that will be proposed in the coming weeks and which aim to enhance the attention of the child.

We refer in particular to:

– selective attention: knowing how to select external visual and auditory stimuli through various exercises and games;

– focused attention: learning to focus attention on a few stimuli, so that the processing of information is more efficient and accurate;

– maintained attention: strengthening the ability to maintain attention for a prolonged time;

– divided attention: receiving stimuli to perform two fairly demanding tasks at the same time, without being distracted by external elements.

What are the goals of the project?

Among of the first objectives of the project are to encourage cooperative work and to support the child in the ability to know how to listen and understand the intentions of others. But also to solicit the skills involved in learning, in particular attention and self-control: all this in the midst of the future inclusion of the child in primary school.

But not only this.

Right from the start, and more and more with the time, the children are encouraged in the process of using the “how – why” scheme to solve situations and problems, to clarify them, tell facts, explain processes. The activities often lead to moments of sharing in the classroom, the Busy Bees are taught to express their emotions and to use communication to overcome any tensions. They are encouraged at each meeting to comment on situations and to provide personal opinions: in this way they will be able to get involved, to enhance empathy towards others and problem solving, making observations and building logical-temporal sequences that are at the basis of constructive thinking. At the end of each session, Andy and Rossella explain,”there is a reflection on the work produced, we believe it is nice and right to congratulate the children for the activity they have done and for their commitment”. All Busy Bees at the end of the workshop will receive the “real duck diploma” and will keep a wealth of positive experiences and knowledge that will allow them the best approach to the future primary school.

For a new adventure where the well-being and self-esteem of the individual child reign in their individuality and specialty!