When the Novak Djokovic Foundation signed a  partnership agreement with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development on the Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care Project in May last year, it was announced that at least 120 study rooms for children across Serbia would be opened by the end of 2022. Seventeen months later, together we have exceeded our official goal, which is why we will continue to implement the project with even more enthusiasm. We look forward to new smiles on the faces of children who will be included in early development programs via this project.

The cities and municipalities where children have been given the opportunity to develop in the best possible way are:

– Municipality of Svilajnac, Kušiljevo village (85 places)
– City of Belgrade, Municipality of Vračar (200 places)
– City of Belgrade, Municipality of Stari grad (75 places)
– Municipality of Obrenovac (186 places)
– Municipality of Nova Varoš (80 places)
– Municipality of Doljevac (105 places)
– Municipality of Vladičin Han (75 places)
– Municipality of Rača (240 places)
– Municipality of Čukarica “‹”‹(270 places)
– Municipality of Apatin (15 places)
– Municipality of Čajetina (100 places)
– Municipality of Batočina (25 places)
– Municipality of Pećinci (300 places)
– Municipality of Zemun (75 places)
– Municipality of Žagubica (50 places)
– City of Pančevo (40 places)
– City of Pančevo, Dolovo village (65 places)
– Municipality of Sjenica (190 places)
– Municipality of Sremska Mitrovica (100 places)
– Municipality of Vlasotince (75 places)
– Municipality of Velika Plana, Bresje village (25 places)
– Municipality of Velika Plana, Veliko Orašje village (50 places)
– Municipality of Dimitrovgrad (50 places)
– City of Niš, Novo Selo (125 children)
– Municipality of Raška (60 places)
– Municipality of Brus, village Zlatari (25 places)
– Municipality of Opovo (50 places)
– Municipality of Vladimirci, village Debrc (65 places)
– Municipality of Bač, village Bođani (25 places)
– Municipality of Požega, village Zdravčići (40 places)
– City of Belgrade, Municipality of Bežanijska kosa (270 places)

The post Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care Project: We Kept Our Promise Made Last Year appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Multiliteracy is about being human and being able to live in an increasingly diverse world.   It is about understanding and being understood.

It is about approaching the world with an open perspective and a healthy, critical mindset.

What is MOI?

The Joy of Learning Multiliteracies (MOI) research and development programme is organized by Playful Learning Centre – a research centre at the University of Helsinki. It is designed to promote multiliteracy among children aged 0 to 8, through work with children and via networking of researchers and professionals working in preschool education, starting grades in primary schools and cultural institutions developing programmes for children. As the name suggests, this programme aims to promote and develop multiliteracy in children, as well as actively research and assess the questions of what multiliteracy is for children, what it means and what it achieves, and based on which the programme is updated with recommendations for new activities.

Multiliteracy is understood to be a holistic approach, as the sum of all those skills the children use to comprehend and empathise with their environment, which are separated into the following fields: Richness of Language, Research and Influence, Growth and Development, Me and My Community, Different Ways of Expression.

The MOI programme combines science, art, and storytelling as the context for the development of multiliteracy, relying on the natural curiosity of children and creating opportunities for imaginative and analytical engagement with their environment. Science, art, and storytelling serve as the foundation for creating a rich environment in which the child can interact with various types of texts, as their user, creator and interpreter.

Work methods

The activities implemented within the MOI project are predominantly based on makerspace principles. Creation, construction and resolving specific problems through different media and materials was deemed to be the method which encourages cooperation among peers, communication skills, creative and critical thinking. It also sparks the interest among children in science, giving them a feeling of competency in science, and making them ready to get involved in scientific activities later in life. A particular goal of the MOI programme is the desire to bring the playfulness of the children’s approach to learning and scientific work to adults, through multiliteracy and makerspace principles – a topic on which research data is lacking.

The MOI project prepared multiple sets of flexible activities with which adults can strive to establish contact with children and play with various types of texts, finding new, own, original solutions. Here are some examples:

Poetry of Science

The Poetry of Science starts with a set of cards combining short poems and encouragements for analytical and creative thinking about the problems presented through poems. The unique value of the cards is in their rich design which motivates children to investigate them and to view known phenomena in a different light. A crucial part of the work comes after joint reading and storytelling of the proposed poems, through their recreation and the process of constructing a solution, in which the children use all their senses.

The Poetry of Science starts with a set of cards combining short poems and encouragements for analytical and creative thinking about the problems presented through poems.

Whisper of the Spirit

Whisper of the Spirit was created as an attempt to develop multiliteracy and at the same time promote Finnish culture and methodology and the love and sensitivity towards nature ingrained in it. As forests and forest spirits played a particularly important role in Finnish folklore, they served as inspiration for a set of cards and activities they initiate. The cards have a similar purpose like in Poetry Science – they serve as an encouragement for “maker” activities which have children depict phenomena they learn about, or respond to problems they face, encouraging them to imagine, observe, cooperate, reflect, experiment, and create in a multitude of ways.

Whisper of the Spirit was created as an attempt to develop multiliteracy and at the same time promote Finnish culture and methodology and the love and sensitivity towards nature ingrained in it.

MyARJulle

To encourage children to create and share their stories, an app called MyARJulle was created, which encourages multimodal storytelling – the child’s creativity, making sense of things, using technology, and creating different videos. The application can be used in the curriculum with different age groups and for different issues of interest to children, but also as a tool for children to document their experiences and share them with others.

MyARJulle encourages multimodal storytelling – the child’s creativity, making sense of things, using technology, and creating different videos.

Why MOI?

The issue of multiliteracy, which the MOI programme is dedicated to, is universally relevant, and in our context – the context of the common practice of making children “literate” through worksheets and mechanical learning of letters and in the context of insufficient “literacy” among adults in terms of different forms of expression – it might even be a pressing issue. The use of different technologies is in that sense also a popular solution which promotes “competencies for the future”, and is also necessary to help children and adults develop an ethical, creative and critical approach to their use.

Based on the operating principles set by MOI – by field of study it promotes and operating methods it connects – it is possible to recognize the orientation toward holistic development and education as ethically and socially engaged participation, and the child is viewed as competent enough to deliberate their environment and create new ways of living in it. As much as this approach seems to be already universally promoted and not new in pedagogy, in practice, it faces the challenge of the impossibility of adults leaving the position of the one who “teaches” the child, and moving to a position of someone who is entering something unknown with the child, and creating something new.

From the available resources it seems that the practical development of the aforementioned approach via the MOI programme is ensured, on one hand, with active participation of the researcher in the programme and with networking of researchers and professionals from different fields, and on the other, by establishing tools and platforms which enable joint flexible foundations for deliberating, researching, imagining and creating by adults and children. Investing into their design highlights the importance of materiality the children engage with – i.e., the value of aesthetics for enabling a different “style” of learning and research and encouraging joint action and creation.

It is hard to comprehend the entirety of the MOI programme and the process it unfolds in from the available materials, but even the materials themselves point to the flexibility, creativity, and process of this method of work, and the importance of the openness of adults to build the process together with children, as co-researchers and teammates.

The post MOI – The Joy of Learning Multiliteracies Research and Development Programme appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Multiliteracy is about being human and being able to live in an increasingly diverse world.   It is about understanding and being understood.

It is about approaching the world with an open perspective and a healthy, critical mindset.

What is MOI?

The Joy of Learning Multiliteracies (MOI) research and development programme is organized by Playful Learning Centre – a research centre at the University of Helsinki. It is designed to promote multiliteracy among children aged 0 to 8, through work with children and via networking of researchers and professionals working in preschool education, starting grades in primary schools and cultural institutions developing programmes for children. As the name suggests, this programme aims to promote and develop multiliteracy in children, as well as actively research and assess the questions of what multiliteracy is for children, what it means and what it achieves, and based on which the programme is updated with recommendations for new activities.

Multiliteracy is understood to be a holistic approach, as the sum of all those skills the children use to comprehend and empathise with their environment, which are separated into the following fields: Richness of Language, Research and Influence, Growth and Development, Me and My Community, Different Ways of Expression.

The MOI programme combines science, art, and storytelling as the context for the development of multiliteracy, relying on the natural curiosity of children and creating opportunities for imaginative and analytical engagement with their environment. Science, art, and storytelling serve as the foundation for creating a rich environment in which the child can interact with various types of texts, as their user, creator and interpreter.

Work methods

The activities implemented within the MOI project are predominantly based on makerspace principles. Creation, construction and resolving specific problems through different media and materials was deemed to be the method which encourages cooperation among peers, communication skills, creative and critical thinking. It also sparks the interest among children in science, giving them a feeling of competency in science, and making them ready to get involved in scientific activities later in life. A particular goal of the MOI programme is the desire to bring the playfulness of the children’s approach to learning and scientific work to adults, through multiliteracy and makerspace principles – a topic on which research data is lacking.

The MOI project prepared multiple sets of flexible activities with which adults can strive to establish contact with children and play with various types of texts, finding new, own, original solutions. Here are some examples:

Poetry of Science

The Poetry of Science starts with a set of cards combining short poems and encouragements for analytical and creative thinking about the problems presented through poems. The unique value of the cards is in their rich design which motivates children to investigate them and to view known phenomena in a different light. A crucial part of the work comes after joint reading and storytelling of the proposed poems, through their recreation and the process of constructing a solution, in which the children use all their senses.

The Poetry of Science starts with a set of cards combining short poems and encouragements for analytical and creative thinking about the problems presented through poems.

Whisper of the Spirit

Whisper of the Spirit was created as an attempt to develop multiliteracy and at the same time promote Finnish culture and methodology and the love and sensitivity towards nature ingrained in it. As forests and forest spirits played a particularly important role in Finnish folklore, they served as inspiration for a set of cards and activities they initiate. The cards have a similar purpose like in Poetry Science – they serve as an encouragement for “maker” activities which have children depict phenomena they learn about, or respond to problems they face, encouraging them to imagine, observe, cooperate, reflect, experiment, and create in a multitude of ways.

Whisper of the Spirit was created as an attempt to develop multiliteracy and at the same time promote Finnish culture and methodology and the love and sensitivity towards nature ingrained in it.

MyARJulle

To encourage children to create and share their stories, an app called MyARJulle was created, which encourages multimodal storytelling – the child’s creativity, making sense of things, using technology, and creating different videos. The application can be used in the curriculum with different age groups and for different issues of interest to children, but also as a tool for children to document their experiences and share them with others.

MyARJulle encourages multimodal storytelling – the child’s creativity, making sense of things, using technology, and creating different videos.

Why MOI?

The issue of multiliteracy, which the MOI programme is dedicated to, is universally relevant, and in our context – the context of the common practice of making children “literate” through worksheets and mechanical learning of letters and in the context of insufficient “literacy” among adults in terms of different forms of expression – it might even be a pressing issue. The use of different technologies is in that sense also a popular solution which promotes “competencies for the future”, and is also necessary to help children and adults develop an ethical, creative and critical approach to their use.

Based on the operating principles set by MOI – by field of study it promotes and operating methods it connects – it is possible to recognize the orientation toward holistic development and education as ethically and socially engaged participation, and the child is viewed as competent enough to deliberate their environment and create new ways of living in it. As much as this approach seems to be already universally promoted and not new in pedagogy, in practice, it faces the challenge of the impossibility of adults leaving the position of the one who “teaches” the child, and moving to a position of someone who is entering something unknown with the child, and creating something new.

From the available resources it seems that the practical development of the aforementioned approach via the MOI programme is ensured, on one hand, with active participation of the researcher in the programme and with networking of researchers and professionals from different fields, and on the other, by establishing tools and platforms which enable joint flexible foundations for deliberating, researching, imagining and creating by adults and children. Investing into their design highlights the importance of materiality the children engage with – i.e., the value of aesthetics for enabling a different “style” of learning and research and encouraging joint action and creation.

It is hard to comprehend the entirety of the MOI programme and the process it unfolds in from the available materials, but even the materials themselves point to the flexibility, creativity, and process of this method of work, and the importance of the openness of adults to build the process together with children, as co-researchers and teammates.

The post MOI – The Joy of Learning Multiliteracies Research and Development Programme appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Speaking a foreign language is such a valuable skill. People who speak more than one language can strive both professionally and personally. This is why children should start learning a language other than their native, in the earliest stages of their childhood. Plus, when they’re younger, they have the power to acquire a language faster and more easily than in the later years.

1.             Memory Games

Memory games are kids’ favorite, especially when played in larger groups. And, they’re brilliant for language learning as well.

Here’s a fun memory game for a group of children in a class or a birthday party:

• everyone sits in a circle
• you decide on a topic e.g. grocery shopping
• the first person to start says: ”I need to buy eggs.”
• the next person repeats this grocery and adds one more ”I need to buy eggs and ice cream.”

This continues around the circle, with everyone adding one grocery item to the list. In case someone is unfamiliar with the vocabulary used, the game can pause for the teacher or parent to explain the meaning.

2.             Picture Storytelling

Kids have a wild imagination. Use it to make language learning productive and fun through picture storytelling.

All you need is a couple of pictures or illustrations to show the kids. Then, ask them to come up with a story behind the pictures.

For instance, give them a portrait of an old man looking at the sky and have them invent his life story. It’s fun, creative, and will boost their language learning process.

They’ll enjoy this writing assignment. Who knows, it might inspire them to become professional writers working for an  online dissertation writing service, like the ones I use to  type my essay.

Memory games are kids’ favorite, especially when played in larger groups. And, they’re brilliant for language learning as well.

3.             Body Numbers

If you’re looking for a simple beginner’s activity for kids, this may be the perfect match. Most kids enjoy activities that are designed for kinesthetic learning.

For this activity, have kids work in small groups of three or four. Go over the numbers you want to learn- first verbally or in writing. Then, start the activity:

• say a number the kids are in the process of learning
• have them shape this number using their bodies
• assign a point to a group that did the best job or was the fastest to succeed

This activity involves physical effort, teamwork, and competitiveness which is everything the kids love. You can do the same with other types of vocabulary, and have them put together a house, a cloud, or a horse!

4.             Touch Game

Touch is an icebreaker game for shy learners who need a bit more time to relax when speaking a foreign language.

The game is simple. The teacher or the activity facilitator gives commands. The command is for the student to find and touch something of a certain characteristic. Here’s a couple of examples:

• Touch something rusty.
• Touch something cold.
• Touch something made of wood.

Students need to look for the nearest object with such characteristics and touch it. Plus, if they’re not sure what the command means, they can look around and see what the others are touching.

This is a truly fun game that kids love playing. All it takes is as many different hats as you can find.

5.             Finding Something in Common

This language learning activity is great for bringing the kids closer together and encouraging them to be friends.

The goal of the game is for the kids to learn about each other. Here’s how it works:

• write down some questions on the blackboard or a piece of paper
• have everyone answer those questions individually, in writing
• have the students walk around the classroom, comparing answers, and finding something in common

The questions can vary from simple like ‘‘What’s your favorite color” to more complex like ‘‘What was your favorite summer vacation?”. It’s great for building writing and speaking skills in kids. They’ll practice simple conversations in the foreign language and even improvise while talking to each other.

6.             The Hat Game

This is a truly fun game that kids love playing. All it takes is as many different hats as you can find. Give each kid one of the hats and ask them to act like the person that’s most likely to be wearing such a hat.

For instance, a student puts on a shabby old winter hat. So, they start acting like an old lady walking slowly on a cold winter day, saying: “Back in my days, winters used to be way worse! “.

Final Thoughts

Learning language through fun games and activities is a great idea. You can teach kids a foreign language using the activities listed above and ensure they’re all participating and enjoying.

Choose your favorite activity and give it a shot today!

About the author: Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at Valuablewriters. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.

The post How to Teach Kids a Foreign Language with Activities appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Speaking a foreign language is such a valuable skill. People who speak more than one language can strive both professionally and personally. This is why children should start learning a language other than their native, in the earliest stages of their childhood. Plus, when they’re younger, they have the power to acquire a language faster and more easily than in the later years.

1.             Memory Games

Memory games are kids’ favorite, especially when played in larger groups. And, they’re brilliant for language learning as well.

Here’s a fun memory game for a group of children in a class or a birthday party:

• everyone sits in a circle
• you decide on a topic e.g. grocery shopping
• the first person to start says: ”I need to buy eggs.”
• the next person repeats this grocery and adds one more ”I need to buy eggs and ice cream.”

This continues around the circle, with everyone adding one grocery item to the list. In case someone is unfamiliar with the vocabulary used, the game can pause for the teacher or parent to explain the meaning.

2.             Picture Storytelling

Kids have a wild imagination. Use it to make language learning productive and fun through picture storytelling.

All you need is a couple of pictures or illustrations to show the kids. Then, ask them to come up with a story behind the pictures.

For instance, give them a portrait of an old man looking at the sky and have them invent his life story. It’s fun, creative, and will boost their language learning process.

They’ll enjoy this writing assignment. Who knows, it might inspire them to become professional writers working for an  online dissertation writing service, like the ones I use to  type my essay.

Memory games are kids’ favorite, especially when played in larger groups. And, they’re brilliant for language learning as well.

3.             Body Numbers

If you’re looking for a simple beginner’s activity for kids, this may be the perfect match. Most kids enjoy activities that are designed for kinesthetic learning.

For this activity, have kids work in small groups of three or four. Go over the numbers you want to learn- first verbally or in writing. Then, start the activity:

• say a number the kids are in the process of learning
• have them shape this number using their bodies
• assign a point to a group that did the best job or was the fastest to succeed

This activity involves physical effort, teamwork, and competitiveness which is everything the kids love. You can do the same with other types of vocabulary, and have them put together a house, a cloud, or a horse!

4.             Touch Game

Touch is an icebreaker game for shy learners who need a bit more time to relax when speaking a foreign language.

The game is simple. The teacher or the activity facilitator gives commands. The command is for the student to find and touch something of a certain characteristic. Here’s a couple of examples:

• Touch something rusty.
• Touch something cold.
• Touch something made of wood.

Students need to look for the nearest object with such characteristics and touch it. Plus, if they’re not sure what the command means, they can look around and see what the others are touching.

This is a truly fun game that kids love playing. All it takes is as many different hats as you can find.

5.             Finding Something in Common

This language learning activity is great for bringing the kids closer together and encouraging them to be friends.

The goal of the game is for the kids to learn about each other. Here’s how it works:

• write down some questions on the blackboard or a piece of paper
• have everyone answer those questions individually, in writing
• have the students walk around the classroom, comparing answers, and finding something in common

The questions can vary from simple like ‘‘What’s your favorite color” to more complex like ‘‘What was your favorite summer vacation?”. It’s great for building writing and speaking skills in kids. They’ll practice simple conversations in the foreign language and even improvise while talking to each other.

6.             The Hat Game

This is a truly fun game that kids love playing. All it takes is as many different hats as you can find. Give each kid one of the hats and ask them to act like the person that’s most likely to be wearing such a hat.

For instance, a student puts on a shabby old winter hat. So, they start acting like an old lady walking slowly on a cold winter day, saying: “Back in my days, winters used to be way worse! “.

Final Thoughts

Learning language through fun games and activities is a great idea. You can teach kids a foreign language using the activities listed above and ensure they’re all participating and enjoying.

Choose your favorite activity and give it a shot today!

About the author: Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at Valuablewriters. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.

The post How to Teach Kids a Foreign Language with Activities appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Today around 60-75% of the world population can speak at least two languages. Many research studies show that knowing two or three languages is beneficial at any age, but a lot of people have the same question – when is it better to start learning a second language?   What are the brain benefits of learning a second language at an early age? There are a lot of questions and discussions on this topic. As a bilingual myself, I find many benefits in learning two languages from early childhood. And I’d like to share my observations with you. So, here are 6 reasons to teach your child a second language and how it helps boost his brain development.

1. Baby’s abilities

Before 10-12 months, babies can understand sounds from any language. You can say something in your native or any other language and the baby will agree or disagree by simply nodding or shaking their head. Try it, and you will be surprised! It’s important to talk to the baby in two languages because as the baby gets older, they will react only to the native language. If you start to practice talking several languages to your baby in childhood, they will retain this ability later on in their life.

Children use simpler words and sentences than adults. This way their brain is not overloaded by difficult and complex words and word combinations. As children get older, they start to use more complicated words and gradually increase them to higher levels of communication.

The sooner you start teaching your child a second language, the better and the easier the process of adjusting to the new environment will be.

2. The development of memory

A second language always forces our brain to use areas that monolinguals usually do not use. This way the brain becomes more efficient and flexible as it starts to create ways of associating information for accessing memories. That is why children who can speak two languages have better skills for memorization and memory development.

3. Better concentration and focus

For a person who speaks two and more languages, it is easier to eliminate unimportant information. It is about the ability to choose the most important items from the information flow and ignoring unnecessary details.

That is why bilingual children are much better at planning, problem-solving, concentration and multitasking.

That is why the sooner you start teaching your child a second language, the better and the easier the process of adjusting to the new environment will be.

4. The care for the brain

A child’s brain adapts to change new information much easier and faster than an adult’s brain.   Dr. Paul Thompson and his colleagues found out that the brain systems which specialize in learning a new language rapidly grow from 6 years to puberty. After that, these systems just stop growing.

Also, it is proven that knowing more languages slows down the aging process in the brain and helps to prevent or delay some of the illnesses such as various forms of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. For example, according to a study of a Canadian psychologist and professor Ellen Bialystok, it was found out that people who know only one language get diagnosed with dementia at the age of 75, while bilinguals usually get the same diagnosis at the age of 79.

People who can speak two and more languages suffer less from cognitive decline and have more cognitive abilities than people who speak only one language.

5. Learning about a new culture

When a child starts to learn a new language, they automatically get interested in the culture, people and history of a country. That way children become more communicative and it’s easier for them to make friends with people around the world, travel and be more tolerant towards cultures and mentality differences.

Development of memory, better concentration and focus, faster adaptation, etc. There are many brain benefits of learning a second language at an early age.

6. Job opportunities

Today companies tend to hire employees who speak more than one language and they are paid much more than monolinguals. Companies need people who are able to communicate in a foreign language and can expand the company. It is easier for a child to learn a new language in childhood and then study a specific field at the university than to study and simultaneously learn a second language.   As for me, I’m native in two languages, then studied two more languages at school and two at the university. Now I work in an international company and a lot of opportunities are open for me.

Start teaching your child a second language in the early years so they can have more opportunities in life and live a more fulfilled and healthy life in general. As an English philosopher Roger Bacon once said: “Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom”. Keep in mind the brain benefits of learning a second language at an early age,   next time you doubt if teaching your child a new language is worth it.

 About the author: Ana Jevtić is a sinologist and language enthusiast. Coming from a bilingual family.  Ana  developed a deep love for learning new languages and sharing her knowledge with others. Besides her daily job as a translator in a Chinese company, she spends her evenings teaching English to children.

The post The Brain Benefits of Learning a Second Language at an Early Age appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.