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Curriculum

The Smarties educational programme is an integral system of education, developed on the basis of the Framework Educational Programme for pre-school education of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.

One of the main project goals is to teach children to communicate in Czech and English without problems, which is facilitated by the bilingual environment of the day-care centre. Children learn naturally to respond in English in various situations, which is absolutely intuitive and unforced at their age. The sooner a child starts to use their mother tongue and a foreign language, the easier it is for the child to master it. We focus on both languages and preparing children systematically for primary school.
We go to the local library regularly where children can browse through or borrow new books. The interest in reading is linked directly with the interest in language, and therefore we read books to children, browse though picture books with them, and teach them nursery rhymes and verses. We show them how rich every language is, and that it is hidden in the books within their reach.
What we focus on:
  • Children's fine motor skills. Children repeat regular daily routines and activities, such as cleaning teeth, getting dressed and combing their hair; children learn to take care of themselves, play with building blocks, cubes, jigsaw puzzles; they string beads, paint and cut out, learn to lace their shoes and button or zip clothes, and learn to recognise objects by touch.
  • Vision. Children perceive colours and learn to distinguish them. They look at pictures and browse through picture books, make jigsaw puzzles and pictures from cubes, and try to distinguish the whole and parts of objects. They paint pictures, colour colouring books, and draw with chalks.
  • Speech. Children get used to saying whole sentences and complex sentences. They learn to use all word forms, describe what they see in pictures, and give names to unknown things. They sing, recite verses and nursery rhymes, and articulate all sounds correctly.
  • Space perception. Children need movement – in games, during walks or trips. They say what they see around them, talk about the way they walked and what they saw, and thus develop spatial imagination, as well as through playing with cubes, building blocks and jigsaw puzzles. They learn to distinguish terms such as up, down, right, left, high, height.
  • Time perception. By observing regular daily activities, children are gradually able to orientate themselves in time and to distinguish various periods of the day. A regular rhythm helps children structure a day and gives them a feeling of security. Children say what they have been doing, or what they are going to do next day, and recognise the stages of life of people, animals and plants.
  • Auditory reception. It is essential for children to chat with adults, to listen to stories, songs, nursery rhymes and verses. Children learn to recognise and to describe sounds of the street, nature, and home; to listen to others, and to notice how important hearing is.
  • Mathematical concepts. At the beginning children learn terms such as small, big, a lot, a little, etc. Nursery rhymes help children remember numbers, distinguish geometrical shapes, learn to compare and to imagine certain quantities in games.