The day center supports at-risk children by providing non-formal educational activities, recreational and socializing services, psychological counselling, and medical care. Upon admission to the center, a school certificate is requested, mentioning the grade that the child attends, along with a psycho-pedagogic characterization made by the child’s teachers, which, together with other internal evaluations, are used as a starting point in planning activities.
In the center, children do their homework and receive a hot meal daily. They are encouraged to do this by themselves, in order to gain responsibility, and the educator only intervenes if they cannot manage, to support them in understanding and carrying out the requirements.
There are frequent situations at the center where the staff discovers that some children lack the necessary knowledge and skills, in which case they are supported individually or in small groups, through recovery sheets looking to bridge the gaps.
Children are also involved in educational activities, which are based on play to make them more appealing. The staff of the center pursues specific objectives for each group through creativity, drawing and handwork workshops, language exercise activities, diction and pronunciation activities, motor skill development games, questions, riddles and crosswords to improve general knowledge, improvisation games, watching of documentaries.
Once a week, the psychologist of the center organizes workshops for each working group, aiming at the children’s personal and emotional development. The topics envisaged are proper relations, healthy life habits, autonomy, responsibility, understanding and capitalizing one’s personal resources, improving one’s learning capacity. Through games, therapeutic stories, drawings, and role plays, the psychologist works towards cognitive stimulation, encouraging a positive attitude towards learning, stimulating their interest for educational activities, and stimulating their curiosity.
Individual sessions are organized for the children whose parents request psychological counseling. When children enter the individual counseling program, the psychologist works in two or three sessions with the children’s parents or grandparents/legal representatives/ persons of reference, to discuss the child’s progress.
The center also provides relaxation activities for children, through socializing and recreational activities that can be conducted indoors or outdoors.
Parents’ meetings are organized in case of problematic situations, when greater involvement is needed from the parents. The staff attempts to team up with the parents, in order to get continuity between the center and the home, so that the child can receive the same educational message from several directions. In the “Parents’ School”, meetings are organized to advise parents on sensitive issues regarding child education – required skills, understanding the behaviors of children, efficient educational measures, managing the difficulties in the relationships with children.
At the center, the nurse makes the epidemiological screening and supervises the health condition of the children. The nurse regularly participates in activities and informs the children about preventing colds, personal hygiene, personal space hygiene, and what healthy nutrition is.
Once a month, the birthdays of children who are born in that month are celebrated.
Within the context of the pandemic, the activity was suspended for 6 months, then adapted to the new conditions. The number of children in each group was reduced significantly – up to 4-5 children per group as of October, in order to be able to safely ensure social distancing.
Before recommencing the activities, the team of the center took the role to inform the beneficiaries about the need to comply with the protection measures for the health of the children and family members. Within this period, for safety reasons, the “Parents’ School” and the hot meals were suspended, and recreational and socializing activities are much more statical. Each child has their own working materials, which are sanitized after each activity.
116 children have benefited from the services of the center up to now.
The activity of the center has contributed to reducing absenteeism and school dropout, increasing graduation rates, stimulating the interest of the children and parents for educational activities, improving motivation, reducing the gaps in knowledge acquirement, improving interpersonal skills and the relationships between parents and children, and stimulating the parents’ involvement regarding the children’s health.
“We have a child who is raised by his grandparents because his parents are abroad. Inappropriate behavior at the kindergarten and in the family occurred in his case. The grandmother was referred to the center and she described the situation. The team of the center noticed that there was a strong rage that the child was manifesting through these behaviors, and the grandparents were relating to the child in an inadequate manner, deeming that they should not engage in any disciplinary actions, since the child’s parents were not with him. Basically, the child was having no boundaries; grandparents were meeting all his whims. Through counseling, the grandmother realized that she needed to change how she related with the child and she has managed to convince the parents to communicate with their child more frequently. Positive change was seen in the child’s attitude, and he is relatively OK now emotionally. [...] We have noticed good progress, and we continue.” (Representative of the Navodari day center for children)
“Their commitment [the staff’s] was noticeable. [The child] acquired knowledge; he is more tranquil, more outgoing, he behaves differently with other children. It has helped me financially as well, since I am a single mother of two, one of which is a university student.” (Parent of a beneficiary child)
Results cannot be seen right away, and they cannot be spectacular after several months of working with a child.
“No matter how well trained the specialists are, the child spends two-three hours at the center and then goes back in the environment of the family facing those difficulties. This is why we try hard to motivate the family, provide counseling so that they understand the role they have in educating the child.” (Representative of the Navodari day care center for children)
Directorate for Social Assistance Hunedoara
Star of Hope Romania Foundation