Polo educativo 0-6 anni Cusago

If I tell you “story”, what comes into your mind? With this word, we would like to describe the identity of nidoscuola Cusago_polo educativo 0-6.

A story that is in the words and in the living memories of each one of its protagonists.

A young story, because Panta Rei has run the nidoscuola since September 2017.

A rich story, because the nidoscuola keeps the traces of its birth in the city of Cusago.

An ongoing story, because traces and living memories meet today through the personal histories of all the people involved in the nidoscuola. Together, they constantly rewrite the identity of this service.

A participated story, where values and ideas are born. These values and ideas are part of a pedagogical project that believes in participation as construction of culture and that the nido and the scuola dell’infanzia can enhance these world views building and becoming chances to make education.

Our idea of nido and scuola dell’infanzia is one in which education flourishes trough relation, freedom, research, active listening, interdependence, right to difference, projectual thinking, spaces, environment, materials. These materials, through the emotions of the ones who live in this dimension everyday (children, adults and the territory as a whole) can shape a new educational experience.

A vast network of relations and encounters, between children, teachers, the whole nidoscuola staff, families, territory, to create a deep-impact life and educational experience.

A plurality of professional figures and realities, each one bringing a different sensibility, competence and gaze. All these come every day to the surface, in a spirit of collegiality, in order to bring a constantly new awareness of who the children is in this time- infancy – that is not a preparation to life but a time in which discoveries and researches are made with amazement.

Ours is a great challenge, to face whom is possible thanks to agreements among all the subjects involved (children, families, the different professionals of the nidoscuola, the municipality, the territorial institutions) and to a synergic work environment where different knowledges, experiences, competences meet and have a dialogue in the building of a new, shared culture.

A shared everyday praxis, with different didactical possibilities, such as bilingualism.

The choice of bilingualism in the everyday life of the nidoscuola is based on a series of prerequisites: the English language must be inserted in a natural way in the educational project and in the everyday activities, through an exposition of the children to its sonority and rhythm. The linguistic and communicative awareness of children must be encouraged to stimulate their metacognitive dimension. The communicative experimentations and the active listening of children must be enhanced through the new language, i.e. encouraging the children to use the new language to interact with others in a participative way.

Organization history of the nidoscuola:

the organization, i.e. the choice of times, timetables, spaces is not separated from the pedagogical project. On the contrary, it crosses paths with it and creates possible ways of living, of living the nidoscuola’s space all together. In fact, it creates the identity of the nidoscuola itself. The times of entering, the daily timetables, the shifts of the personnel are bonds and, at the same time, resources for adults and children on which we invest, we make hypotheses and we build paths of knowledge and research.

The nidoscuola Cusago_polo educativo 0-6 hosts a total of 170 children, who are divided, according to their age, in eight different “sezioni”:

NIDO D’INFANZIA (crèche)

Sezione nido Piccoli 6/14 months old

14 children

2 teachers

Sezione nido Medi 15/22 months old

21 children

3 teachers

Sezione nido grandi 23/32 months old

21 children

3 teachers

SCUOLA DELL’INFANZIA (kindergarten)

Sezione 3 years old A

27 children

2 teachers

Sezione 3 years old B

27 children

2 teachers

Sezione 4 years old

27 children

2 teachers

Sezione mixed 4-5 years old

27 children

2 teachers

Sezione 5 years old

27 children

2 teachers

Working times:

the nidoscuola has a calendar that lasts from September to June. The nido is opened from Monday to Friday, from 7.30 am to 6 pm. The kindergarten is opened from Monday to Friday, from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm (pre-school and post school services are offered to the families that request them and last, respectively, from 7.30 am to 8.30 am and from 4.30 to 6 pm).

The post-school service is an opportunity that is offered to the families that request it, but it is also an integral part of the nidoscuola’s time. The post-school is with a peculiar identity and specific features and qualities; a time in which knowledge is constantly exchanged and multiple competences are enhanced thanks to the presence of children of different ages. Our pedagogical project gives a specific value to the relations between children of different ages, who are all involved in a group experience without the autonomous paths of each one of them being jeopardized. In the nidoscuola, there are specific teachers for the post-school time (4.15 pm-6 pm), according to the adult/children ratios.

The summer attendance is yet another opportunity that is offered to the families that request it, but it is also another integral part of the nidoscuola time. Again, this time has its own identity and reaches its full potential in the month of July. There is also the possibility of extending the summer attendance until the month of August, with at least 20 requests. Children are the protagonists of this time. Together with the teachers, they build a new group identity in a time that, as said, has its own peculiar identity and characteristic. Its peculiarity comes from the summer time and the strong relations between children of different ages, within a pedagogical project that enhances them and aims to create a strong group experience. Special moments make summertime even richer and more special, such as lunches and picnics in the open air, and out-of-school trips, chosen according to the topic of the month.