ESC Volunteering at Tihase Kindergarden in Tallinn, Estonia

Tihase kindergarten was first opened in spring 1961. Our motto: Many-sided people through play. Our mission: To support family in child up-bringing, teaching and in acquiring pre-primary education; creating conditions for a child to develop into a many-sided and healthy person in a child-friendly environment. Our vision: To be an institution with a well-developed learning and up-bringing environment where the safety and satisfaction of children, parents and personnel is guaranteed. Children groups/ages: 4 groups / 2-7 years old • The maximum number of children in one group is 24. • Each group has 2 teachers and 1 teacher’s assistant. • Separately we have 1 teacher-expert who teaches music and 1 teacher for physical education. • There are all together 18 people working in our kindergarten and 9 of them have the BS degree of education. They teach and take care of children aged 2-7. All of our teachers have pedagogical education. The main purpose of our organisation is high-quality pre-primary education for children. It is important for us to know that every child feels welcome, safe and positive among us throughout the day and is happy taking part in everyday learning activities. Our priority is learning outdoors. In addition to the daily learning activities taking place in kindergarten, we also have music and sports. Children can participate in different activities in kindergarten like dancing, music and English lessons. If there is more interest, there is also a possibility for small zither lessons. Traditions are implemented into kindergarten’s work, e.g. Christmas fairs, kindergarten’s birthday and Estonian Independence Day. In addition to celebrating traditional activities in kindergarten, national and international health days are very important, e.g. Heart Week, Bread and Milk Week etc. It is important for us to communicate and cooperate with the child’s family, thus the teachers have annual conversations with parents to provide feedback on the child’s development. The teachers are open-minded and want to extend their knowledge by getting to know people of different cultures and nations. Also, the culture and customs of our own nation are of great importance to our organisation. We also cooperate with other organisations, such as nearby kindergartens, different theatre groups and our district government. Since June 2016 Tihase kindergarten belongs to a network of kindergartens aiming to educate children on health. Principle activities: developing a healthy environment; developing a healthy way of living; developing and strengthening cooperation between children and personnel.