kindergarten

Transferring play into real life conditions

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We do offer a DIY class in kindergarten, in order to introduce 6 y.o. children into creative thinking & problem solving attitude.

For example: by  constructing a hydraulic robotic arm from scratch, children transfer their play into real life conditions by engaging in the following. They:

  • Derive the plan
  • Measure the dimensions
  • Cut the wood
  • Trial and error to make the junctions work
  • Understand how the hydraulic pumps work
  • Team & coordinate to make the arm move in all three dimensions

While the above consist the most fascinating play, yet encourage children to develop numbers of skills and engage deeply into creative thinking and innovation.

But most of all it’s just freely selected & non-directed play. Adults do not direct or impose, only inspire and facilitate. It’s not by coincidence that, when such a project is over,  children rarely play with the outcome. They have enjoyed most playing during the construction!

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Through the eyes of Riddhi

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by Riddhi Nandola*

From my experience, at Dorothy Snot, I can truly say it is an exceptional school. From the first moment to the last, my time spent there was incredible. My first interaction with the school was my walk up to the building and seeing the bright and colorfully painted exterior giving it a feel of welcoming and warmth. Little did I know that the teachers and children would be just as, if not more, kind and welcoming.

My entire classroom was filled with happy and active children. The joy contained by these children was in part due to the extraordinary effort put in by the teachers. I saw first hand the work they put into making the days for the children not only fun but an effective and creative way of learning. The time these teachers spend with the children in school is only half the energy they put into making the school days a good time. They spend a lot of their time out of school preparing lessons and activities for the children.

The school is known for its “play-based” learning, which is a great way for children to absorb as much material as well as expel all the pent-up energy in them. From reading & writing to yoga and outdoor education, the children have a vast amount of opportunities to learn.

The school offers multiple different classes from English to Art, to Outdoor Education. The students are grouped off into their respective classes where they are able to participate in the class and then rotate into another class. This allows the children to interact with the teachers more, thus giving more attention to them, which is always a positive for younger children. Following these lessons, the children are involved in a free play which allows them to be creative while also subconsciously discovering more about their selves.

Overall, the school is designed and includes teachers that allow the children to grow up to be well rounded and kind individuals.

 

* Riddhi, a student from Canada, became part of our our school during May and June 2018, while participating in AIESEC’s “International Kindergarten” exchange program

Small talk over art class

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Kindergarten kids enter into small talk over art class, trying to arrange who is attending who’s party over the weekend!
Allowing children to take full ownership of their school life, is always a huge boost for their confidence. Our kindergarten kids feel completely free to talk and discuss in class over all issues affecting their social life. Art class time is a great opportunity for that!

(you may not be able to understand Greek, but you will surely enjoy the following video!)

Mixing cultures

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Hosting students or teachers from other countries, is a desirable situation in our kindergarten!

Early this year we had the luck to be joined by Shriya, an education student from India.

We love this process cause helps our children to understand the diversity of the world and to spot the differences between humans and civilizations.

As always foreign students do, Shriya presented us her country and her family. She told us about Indian civilization and Indian mythology, participated fully in school life  and played a lot of games with the kids.

The difference in language is always a bit of barrier, but kindergarten kids find a chance to exercise their English and become really enthusiast when manage to understand each other.

Of course, most of fun was the time of bollywood dancing!

So long for our next host. Shriya, thank you so much for being in school, we hope you had as good time in Dorothy Snot kindergarten as we had!

Let it snow in Athens!

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Living in a hot Mediterranean city like Athens, snow is a rare  thing to see, downtown. But today, it was one of these days!

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Being unfamiliar with snowy weather, the Municipality of Athens advised all schools to remain closed. However, a brave play-based school like Dorothy Snot is not afraid of some snow flakes!

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The sure thing is our kids loved it. Being able to play with snow in the heart of the city is such an unusual experience down here. Not to mention that most of our 4 and 5 y.o. had not ever seen Athens in white!

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Play in life-derived conditions is always the most exciting thing for children. And we are dedicated to keep providing this kind of play!

Pop up basketball play in kindergarten

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“Let’s play basketball” someone said… And so, kindergarten kids just constructed a pop up basket from used tires!

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They arranged by themselves a shooting order and patiently waited for their turn. They were little puzzled about how to get the ball out of this basket and needed to come up with some original solutions.

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Through this spontaneous yard play, kindergarten children accomplished a bunch of educational milestones by themselves, just being based on pleasure and joy! Priceless….

(by Ioanna Eleftheriou & Stavroula Gaoutsi, teachers in our Athens kindergarten)