Trip to Transylvania (Csicsergő Óvoda)

Trip to Transylvania



Co-operation of kindergartens with the help of the Comenius Programme



The staff of our kindergarten traveled to the Transylvanian city of Sepsiszentgyörgy between 5th and 9th October, where a tripartite methodology conference between the kindergartens of Heves, Varmland and Covasna counties was held.

The partnership of the three countries bidded for and won a scholarship of the EU's Comenius action and Lifelong Learning Programme.

The project – which is running for two years – the staff of Csicsergő Kindergarten of Boldog co-operates with the Hea Kindergarten of Sunne and the Hófehérke Kindergarten of Sepsiszentgyörgy.

The basic goal of the Comenius action is to contribute to the public education's quality, to strengthen its European dimension and to assist language learning.

In the focus of the co-operation is the agenda of „Opportunities for the preservation of folk traditions in the kindergarten education”. All three kindergartens' education plan pays special attention to programmes built on folklore traditions, which on one hand contribute to the level of the professional work, on the other helps the passover and preservation of these traditions to the younger generations.

At the Sepsiszentgyörgy meet we reviewed the tasks ahead of us and we had the opportunity to observe the work at the local kindergarten. The 12-member delegation of the kindergarten of Boldog was lead by Zsírosné Katalin Őszi at the Trei-Scaune (Háromszék) meet.

The locals of the Hófehérke Kindergarten – led by Emese Márk – greeted us with typical Hungarian hospitality. We managed to estabilish good relations with both the Transylvanian and the Swedish partners. The highlight of the meet for us was the children's folk dance house, during which the Swedish and Hungarian kindergarten teachers danced with the local children dressed in traditional Székely (Szekler) and Romanian costumes.

Following up the Sepsiszentgyörgy meet there will be two more meetings planned: from 29th April to 1st May in Boldog, Heves County, Hungary and in April 2012 in Sunne, Sweden. During the project we are planning to organise such activities – exhibitions, special day celebrations, tradition-keeping handicraft workshop, collecting of folk songs and toys – that can help the kids and the staff to get to know the other two countries' traditional values.

To confine the project we'd like to assemble a book demonstrating traditional folk toys, which can be put to good use not only by the co-operating partners, but other European countries, too.

Bánkiné Erzsébet Józsa

Tender of the folklore preservation programme