Early Childhood Development: The Power of Reading Erasmus Project

Project Title

Early Childhood Development: The Power of Reading

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; Early childhood education and care; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

Early reading with children has a significant role on children’s development, because it influences the whole development of the child (cognitive, language-communication, social, emotional). Using books in the teaching process encourages the children’s imagination, creativity, better understanding of one’s own and other people’s emotions. The main goal of our project is to increase the use of literature in early childhood education as an element in the children´s integral development: reading competence, emotional intelligence, naturalistic intelligence, communicative skills, digital competence, problem-solving skills and social acceptance.

“The Power of Reading” is a project with preschools from Spain, Iceland, Greece, Estonia, Croatia and Italy. All participating preschools are aware of the need to motivate preschool children to become interested in books and develop pre-reading skills while the “power” of literature can influence and help their integral development. This will help them in three ways: to more easily obtain reading competence in their primary education, to strengthen their emotional intelligence and to improve their relationships with others.

The project will gather preschool teachers and give them an opportunity to participate in Learning/Teaching/Training meetings in which they will learn about the above-mentioned subjects, to hear about the scientistic frontlines by university researchers, to participate in workshops, to visit preschools where teachers and children will show new and exciting methods and to discuss the subjects with their international colleagues. The project also aims to investigate the possibilities for preschools to cooperate with resource centres like libraries and museums.

Each Learning/Teaching/Training activity will gather about 18 preschool workers from the project countries as well as a larger group of local preschool teachers that will participate in activities and listen to the lectures from their local universities. The project will collect best practices and publish them in public sources, like Twinspace at eTwinning.net, social media, and school newsletters which other preschool teachers can access.

All children and teachers participating in the project will directly benefit from the project as well as other children, teachers and parents who will benefit from the new teaching methodologies and practices that will contribute to the development of the children.

Long-term results of the project are that children will have greater interest in reading, a positive attitude versus reading and books which all should result in better academic achievement. The project will contribute to the teacher’s personal and professional growth thanks to the possibility of comparison and exchange on methodologies with other teachers, but also to the possibility of experimenting with the use of technological tools and widening their horizon of other countries.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 97775 Eur

Project Coordinator

CE Zola Villafranca & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Istituto Comprensivo Anzio III
• Arnarsmári
• Eralasteaed Kalli-kalli
• DV Jarun
• 11th Nipiagogio Chanion