Social integration group in Montessori environment for children with special needs

Objectives:

The goal of the project is to support the Montessori group for social integration. This group is to help children with various conditions – mild and moderate intellectual disabilities, Down syndrome, Cerebral palsy and children with communicative disorders – to acquire pre-school, primary school, social and everyday skills through various activities. This is a group to help foster-care children be really self-sufficient, confident and proud to be part of a group. Children will learn about love for order and work for independence and initiative, spontaneous self-discipline and freedom, expressed in independent decisions and actions. The Montessori group pursues the aim of improving cognitive, linguistic and social skills. The service will improve self-service capabilities (nutrition, dressing, undressing) and interactions with children and adults. Children are free to choose and work on activities at their own place. Here, they experience a combination of freedom and self-discipline, as guided by the environment.

Activities:

Montessori group is led by a Montessori teacher and 3 assistant carers. Rehabilitator and music therapist also participate in some of the activities. All the activities are performed in Montessori environment with Montessori materials.

The service/group include the following activities:

• Communicative activities – to learn to communicate and initiate communication, to improve interactions with other children, to sing together and share emotions.
• Tonus groups – They are led by a high-qualified rehabilitator. The goal is through physical exercises in the form of play, children to develop their motor skills and skills to work in a group.
• Art activities – to learn artistic skills and to express themselves through the means of fine arts and theater. Within this group activity children paint and do modeling and application on various topics.
• Musical activities – They are directed towards sensory and emotional stimulation, establishing contact with the therapist and the surrounding world. Through the music children have the chance to create and strengten interpersonal relationships and self-expression as well as to develop and improve crude and fine motoring.
• “Montessori kitchen” – a regular activity that helps children with special needs at Karin dom to acquire valuable daily life skills and be able to engage in household chores at home. Kitchen activities also encourage the building of communicative and social skills.
• Integration activities – walks, trips, eco-initiatives, work in the garden, celebrations

Results:

This project will finance 3 children with special needs to be part of the “Social Integration Group in Montessori Environment” at Karin dom and will help them feel accepted and understood. Together with their purposeful activities and therapy, participating in the group will make them grow confident and self-sufficient, will develop their potential as much as possible according to their condition.