Parents and educators, together

Community is participation

“I chose this Nursery because I felt it in my gut, something about the location, about the spaces and about the way I was welcomed by the people who work here really impressed me”
Laura, S' mum.

The participation of the families starts even before the beginning of the school year. How? Well, by choosing to keep our doors open for the whole year and not just during the Open Day period and enrollment time.
“I had the chance to see that this is not just a Nursery, but a place where also families and parents are welcome. This is like a bird nest”.
When the experience of the Nursery starts, also the proposal for participation starts. On the one hand it is a “given participation” on the other hand it is a “proposal for participation”.

“Given participation” is the one that includes parents, it is created through the instruments used to record our activities, like “The Logbook” or our communication instruments through which educators keep in touch with all the families.

‘Proposal for participation” is the suggestion to be part of the “Committee of parents”, like  Participation Committee, to meet challenges, to propose ideas and suggestions, to give constructive criticism, knowing that educators are always open to listen, open to dialogue and open to discussion. In this way we are able to share experiences and decisions with families. Parents who candidate themselves as Class representative become privileged interlocutors and members of the social -promotion association Caracol.  
In 2015 some families of Nido Di Sofia Daycare decided to formalize the friendship network naturally born during the years at Nido di Sofia Daycare. Presently there are 200  families that joined the association.

“The time I spend with Caracol it is not time that I take from my children but it is time I invest for me and my family for something we can all use. Keeping in touch with other families it is an exchange and comparison moment about kids and also about us. ”

Parents of this association propose the organization of social events where families can exchange opinions, so that new ideas and projects are provided and shared around the Nursery services and the local area.
The main goal of this association is to support parenting in all its forms and bring these ideas out of the school in order to make them more usable to other families.
Caracol association organizes the Family Cafè – which is basically a space for discussion and recreation for parents and kids facilitated by educators-;  thematic meetings with experts, an outdoor education program that includes field-trips for families in the tuscan-romagnolo Apennines with environmental and hiking guides.  
The hope is to follow all the families along their path for growth, path that begins during Nursery and continues through kindergarten.
The passion and commitment of Caracol parents and the professionalism of Paolo Babini Cooperative’s educators and educationalists are fundamental for our little educational society that origins in the Daycare and expands itself into the community.

Nursery events:
MEETING WITH NEXT YEAR ENROLLED KIDS’ PARENTS (second half of June) to meet each-other and schedule the acclimatization
PTM  (end of August and February) to tell us about your kid and share needs and concerns with us
WELCOME SNACK for kids and parents to play together and start the school year in a conviviality atmosphere  (beginning of September)
PARENTS’ MEETING and classroom meetings  (end of October and May) to share the Year Educational Project,  co-build proposals for kids and talk about the gained experiences.
CELEBRATIONS Christmas is celebrated together with all the families and, inside the Daycare, it is an occasion to spend this period of the year playing with the kids, sharing the joy and the hope that each new born child gives to our family, starting from the narration of the Nativity.

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are two different occasion to welcome the parent-child relationship (“A morning at school with daddy”, “An afternoon snack in the playground with mommy”)
The End of term Treat it is a conviviality moment organized in collaboration with The Participation Committee that often takes place in a teaching farm to improve and boost the experiences of the kids.

LABS are an extraordinary occasion for parents to know each-other and build friendships; parents usually prepares decorations for the celebrations or materials that will be used by the kids.