KIKUS with us Erasmus Project

Project Title

KIKUS with us

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 : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The reason for the preparation and submission of project Kikus with us was that the teachers of preschool education has often presented the need suitable and appropriate language learning program of Czech/Slovak as a second language for children who are not native speakers of Czech or Slovak. Existing teaching materials and aids for language support were highly insufficient in Czech and Slovak Kindergartens.

For this purpose has been transferred and adapted method KIKUS. It is a method that aims to encourage and promote the language skills of children who are not native speakers of Czech/Slovak, in their native language and in so called their second language. The using of the KIKUS Method encourages and supports the children’s ability to communicate and function in more than one language from an early age. The organization META cooperated with the author of the method, Edgardis Garlin, for several years before the project preparation, but only at the level seminars and methodological.
Thanks to the project, we were able to expand cooperation and provide Czech and Slovak teachers of kindergarten with a proven and successful method of language learning for children in preschool age.

The project had 4 partners: German organization Zentrum für kindliche Mehrsprachigkeit (ZKM, who’s the author of KIKUS method director), SNGO Marginal from Bratislava and two kindergartens: Kindergarten MŠ Sluníčko from Prague and kindergarten MŠ Timravina from Bratislava.

Project’s partners worked together to adapt the methodology KIKUS and trained in the use of this method in practice. There were two five-day seminars in Munich and 3 project meetings (two in Prague and one in Bratislava). The collaboration of all partners’ organizations was very helpful for all involved: in addition to teaching materials, they exchanged their experience and discussed about how deal with problematic situations in the education and integration of children who are not native speakers of Czech or Slovak. Methodical support of the ZKM they received not only during five-day seminars, but also during project meetings and e-mail communication over the translation and adaptation of the methodology into Czech, respectively Slovak. At the final project meeting further collaboration was discussed and decided.

Significant support was the project especially for Slovak partners because the education of children and pupils who are not native speakers of Slovak is much less developed and supported than in the Czech Republic. Methodology and teaching produced in the project were the first of this kind and for this target group in Slovakia.

Project outputs published on the platform for the dissemination of the results and outcomes of Erasmus + programme:
• Methodology KIKUS in Czech,
• Methodology KIKUS in Slovak
• Worksheets KIKUS translated into Czech and Slovak (in one document)
• Picture cards and cards KIKUS translated into Czech and Slovak (in one document).

In addition to these physical outputs we can say that the project achieved its objective in relation to the professional development of all participants. Through education, methodological support and sharing experiences increased their competences and expertise in the integration of children who are not native speakers of Czech or Slovak. At the final project meeting we assembled a working group to create a new seminar with KIKUS elements for other kindergarten teachers. In this way, teachers involved in the project will disseminate their knowledge and experience and thus the projects outputs and results.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 68148,87 Eur

Project Coordinator

META, o.p.s.- Spolecnost pro prilezitosti mladych migrantu & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• Zentrum für kindliche Mehrsprachigkeit e.V.
• Materska skola Timravina
• FMS Slunicko pod strechou pri PedFUK Praha 13
• Marginal