Between November 2018 and March 2019 Know and Can Association implemented the testing of the T-BOX cards with students in Know and Can daycare for pupils from I to IV grade. Testing the tools with this target group wasn’t part of the initial plan and what was written in the project proposal. The reason we implemented it was to see if the created product could go beyond the preliminary set indicators and in this way to have greater added value.
Every school day in our premises we teach and take care of approximately 30 children (before or after school, depending on the semester). They use this time to prepare their homework, learn their lessons, play with their peers and last but not least – be involved in extracurricular activities using the methods of non-formal education. That is why we decided that the daycare would be a very appropriate environment for testing the T-BOX methods.
Being all day either at school or at the daycare the students very often feel tired, distracted and not very motivated. In such moments the teachers have to think of a way to keep their attention and to make them relax a little. Our teachers have a number of games and methods they apply in these situations, but there is always a need of innovative an attractive techniques like the T-BOX cards. Our observations are that such tools are an effective way to provide a little break for the students and in the same time keep them in the classroom and proceed with the lesson afterwards.
Since our target group were students of smaller age than the ones targeted in the project application form we couldn’t test all cards from the box. Some activities are designed for students from secondary or high school education because they require a certain set of knowledge, skills and state of mind which small kids don’t have yet. Nevertheless, many activities could be directly applied even with the smallest pupils, and other methods after some modifications from the teacher. Some activities in categories Think it, Express it and Sense it are not appropriate for kids 7-10 y.o., but are perfect for older students. All activities in category Move it and almost all in Feel it (after some modifications) are suitable for all ages.
After collecting feedback from the teachers and from the students we can affirmatively say that although tailored for students after V grade (12 y.o) many of the T-BOX cards could be successfully applied with pupils below this age. All kids had fun while doing the activities and the boxes became an integral part of their classrooms. Our daycare teachers even say that the kids are doing some activities by themselves without seeking the teachers support. This fact led us to the conclusion that the T-BOX is a successful tool that will be very beneficial for its target groups.
