Sovelluksemme idea
Lapsen kasvu- ja kehityspolut, etenkin niiden siirtymävaiheet ovat niin lapselle kuin vanhemmillekin jännittäviä ja arkea mullistavia hetkiä. Lapsen siirtyessä varhaiskasvatuksen piirin arjen rytmi muuttuu, saadaan uusia ystäviä, tehdään uusia asioita ja leikitään leikkejä, joihin lapsen on helppo lähteä mukaan ja tottua. Mutta jos lapsi tuleekin ihan toisenlaisesta kulttuuripiiristä, jossa varhaiskasvatus ja päiväkoti saattavat olla joltain osin tunnistettavia käsitteitä, mutta joista ei oikeasti vielä tiedetä mitään. Kuinka jännittäviä ja arkea mullistavia hetkiä ne ovat?
Haluamme tuoda päiväkotikäyttöön uudenlaisen tietopaketin, helposti täytettävän “Starting kindergarten”- tietovihkosen, jonka avulla toisesta maasta muuttava perhe ja perheen lapsi saavat tärkeää tietoa päiväkodista. Vihossa on myös uudenlainen ystäväni-kirjoista tuttu osio, jossa perhe pääsee kertomaan enemmän itsestään sekä tarkemmin päiväkotiin tulevasta lapsesta. Sovelluksemme tarkoituksena on lähentää päiväkotia sekä perhettä alusta alkaen sekä helpottaa päiväkodin aloitusta niin lapsen kuin vanhempienkin puolesta.
What we did, why and for who
Transferring in kindergarten and into kindergarten can be hard, especially if you are new to the culture. Our solution to this is to try to bring the Finnish kindergarten a little closer to these families in particular. Our starting point for this invention was that we wanted to support these new families that had come to Finland and needed to start or continue kindergarten. With our creation we aim on minimizing the misunderstandings and issues that occur from people growing up in different parts of the globe. But how you might ask? With good information trading. According to our sources these families of different languages might feel a bit left out and might need more help with assimilating to the new surrounding culture. And that they’d like to participate in this new society they are a part of, which is why our creation is good because it engages both parents and the child.
More about our creation
The creation we made is a kind of mix between journal and an information leaflet, but for simplity’s sake let’s call it a notebook. The first part gives information to the family from what the day to day life in kindergarten is like to what kind of clothing children need. The second part gives information about the family back to the kindergarten, so they’ll know more about them. After that is the part where the family can ask questions about the kindergarten should they wish to. But why should some people from a kindergarten get information on your family? To put it simply so that the early education educators know more of your family’s culture and wishes and get to know your family as well as the child. This is important because they want to educate the child to adapt to both cultures and languages. As mentioned, the latter part of the creation is meant to convey information back to the kindergarten, but the questions are illustrated and some can be coloured in by the whole family, which should prove quite fun.
Feedback
We have received feedback from two different kindergarten employees. They liked it and would use it in their respectable kindergartens. One of them particularly liked the drawing part, that way the employees would instantly get an idea of the child’s motor skills and might get an idea of how the child sees him/herself. The other one was very worried about the language barrier, since not all people who move to Finland speak English. But our university asked us to do the materials in English, so that’s what we did. Both of them agreed that this would work on the first visit to kindergarten, when if need be the parents’ would have an interpreter with them.
If you wish to give feedback to us, for our written report on this, you can email me to my address: r.merimaa@gmail.com
Should you wish to view the whole creation online, here is the link to it.
Done by:
Riikka Merimaa Vo1C
Severi Marttila Vo1C
Saara Lehvänen Vo1C
Roosa Moisio Vo1C
Rinna-Liisa Kukkonen Vo1C
Honorory mentions : Jutta Kritz did most of the drawings for the questions, Jenny Merimaa did one of them