Family and professional development

Appreciative and child-friendly

The offer of the Cosmo Academy

The Cosmo Academy of the Berlin Cosmopolitan School was founded to provide international families with comprehensive advice on modern education. The Cosmo Academy accompanies family and professional development in an appreciative and child-friendly manner. Adults are welcome to participate in the workshops and interactive web-based information sessions led by our early childhood education specialists.

Seminars:

Guiding questions:

– Why is inclusion important?

– How does it affect the kindergarten programme?

– What are the concepts behind the terms segregation, integration or inclusion?

An inclusive programme is committed to providing support that enables all children to reach their own potential. An inclusive setting is not one that aims to change or make the individual fit, but one that specifically seeks to change the environment.

Guiding questions:

– What is an (academic) success in our education system/society?

– How can parents encourage children to be successful and curious?

– How can parents encourage and model this behaviour?

How do parents show their child that learning/thinking does good?
For a long time, education experts and parents celebrated certain skills and subjects that they believed would help children succeed. These subjects often included mathematics and science. As a result, many parents place special emphasis at home on skills-based kindergarten, on setting children on career paths in a top-down teaching style, which often leads to the opposite reaction they want.

Guiding questions:

– What might my child be struggling with?

– What is the best way to raise my child with a consequence and why not with a punishment?

– How can parents encourage and model this behaviour?

– How do parents enable children to make healthy choices?

All children break the rules and test boundaries sometimes. When parents respond helpfully, children learn to make better choices in the future.

Guiding questions:

– What is a changing world?

– What does my child need to be protected from?

– What is meant by “calculated risk”?

The most important principle in all decisions is that safety, everyone’s well-being and a child’s well-being come first.

Children need healthy environments in which they can grow and develop, play and learn. Their environments are complex, multi-layered and constantly changing.

Guiding questions:

– What is bias in society?

– What is implicit bias?

– Is gender binary?

Although gender role norms have expanded over time, attention to gender identity equity and diversity can help build a solid and positive foundation for children’s future identity development.

There is strong evidence that peers and parents have an influence in shaping gender norms and attitudes.

There is evidence that educational institutions and teachers also shape norms and attitudes. Evidence of media influence is beginning to emerge.

If risks and effects of gender bias are known to parents and caregivers, it can be specifically clarified how measures can effectively prevent these undesirable effects.

Guiding questions:

– What are the needs of Generation Alpha?

– What is constructivism?

– Is no media consumption the solution?

– What do children need?

The role of parents is to ensure that all the basic needs of children are met and that they are well cared for. Some people would argue that basic needs are as simple as food, water and protection from the elements.

However, when it comes to children, their basic needs can be very complex. Children are products of their environment and therefore some of their basic needs fall into the emotional and psychological category.

If a child comes from a less attentive home where his/her needs were not met, the result can be a:n maladjusted adult:r who is angry at the world.

Guiding questions:

– How can diversity be embraced in a family?

– How do you start?

– What is an implicit message?

Children can only learn to be tolerant, to challenge unfair generalisations and to learn inclusion and positive appreciation for diversity if they see adults around them doing the same.

Children often imitate adult behaviour, whether it is positive or negative, but they need to learn to talk about what they already know, just like adults.

The way children think about themselves is not innate or inherited, it is learned.

Guiding questions:

– What is identity formation?

– What is a self-concept?

What is a transcultural identity?
Including children in important meals, family and friend celebrations, church services, etc. and explaining in simple terms what is going on is very important to give a sense of that child’s cultural and social background.

Ideas like “My family goes to synagogue on Saturdays” or “Grandma’s traditional soul food is delicious” become part of the child’s sense of self.

These are important aspects to consider as they affect the early socialisation of all our children.

In the early years, children are very vulnerable and every adult as well as other children have the power to influence every child’s behaviour, actions, intentions and beliefs.

Guiding questions:

– What is transition?

– Which developmental stages are relevant?

– How are transitions and relationships related?

Transitions are an essential part of the development of children and young people. These changes in the life of a child or young person can be gradual or sudden. They present the child/adolescent with challenges that need to be mastered.

Interactive Workshops:

We present materials used in BCS Kindergarten and Preschool.

Active learning through learning centres and games promotes bilingual literacy skills in children by enabling them to apply their prior knowledge and use higher thinking skills to obtain new information independently of others.

Responsive Caregiving refers to education, care and effective teaching practice that promotes and takes into account the temperament and needs of each individual child. Responsive Caregiving builds on social, responsive back-and-forth interactions with a child.

We present materials used in the BCS Kindergarten and Preschool.

Parents and caregivers can support their children by creating a language-rich interactive environment at home. Talking, playing, stories, songs and other language-related activities provide children with important opportunities to meet and learn new words.

The workshop focuses on the following areas: Try to lead your child respectfully, tune in to your child and interact with him/her during play. Say “yes” (with body language and words) during these moments of play. Encourage your child’s initiative. Try to be attentive (observe, wait, wonder).

Studies show that shouting makes children more physically and verbally aggressive. If you as a parent and carer raise your voice to the point of shouting, you frighten children. The children feel unsafe. It has been shown to cause long-term effects such as anxiety, low self-esteem and increased aggression. Calm parents and carers are reassuring, making children feel loved and accepted despite difficult behaviour. There are many responses you can choose when faced with a situation that makes you uncomfortable. Finding peace is possible. Learn to deal with your frustration and come to a peaceful resolution with some of the strategies suggested in the workshop.

In the beginning, life as a family is still very simple, but the older the children get, the more potential for sibling love and also competition unfolds – sometimes for a lifetime.

They argue, play and get along very well again. They often steal their parents’ last nerve. They drink the same juice and eat cereal from the same box for years. But surprisingly, this doesn’t mean that siblings are particularly alike.

In this workshop we talk about strategies for dealing with arguments in a reactive way and the supposedly desired equal treatment (or is fairness/equal dignity desired after all?).

We present materials used in BCS Kindergarten and Preschool.

Numeracy is the ability to recognise and apply mathematical concepts in all areas of life.

Numeracy skills include understanding numbers, counting, solving number problems, measuring, estimating, sorting, recognising patterns, adding and subtracting numbers and so on.

Children and adults need numeracy and mathematics skills to do everyday things.

Children who feel overwhelmed or hopeless will often not try to address a problem. But if adults give them a clear formula for solving problems, they will feel more confident to try.

We present materials used in BCS Kindergarten and Preschool.

This is how you can reach us

academy@cosmopolitanschool.de

030 688332340