Introduction
Kindergarten Männimäe provides pre-school education for about 200 children. The vision of the kindergarten is to have happy children, satisfied parents and staff which is continuously developing. It has 11 groups of children (ages 2-7 years), 3 of those are groups for children with learning disabilities and various special needs.
The kindergarten is one of the biggest in the city. It has around 55 wonderful staff members. The kindergarten has a nice indoor pool, a big music hall and a gym. Although the building is old and needs renovation, the rooms are big, bright and colourful. So are the children and the people who work there: happy, kind and with big smiles.
Every autumn and spring the kindergarten organises events for the families on the hiking trail. The organisation also celebrates Christmas, Mother’s Day and the birthday of the kindergarten. 3-4 times a year several theatres visit the kindergarten. It holds many interesting events also for the staff: visits to the spas, museums, theatres etc. As the kindergarten is near the lake and next to the hiking trail, a lot of activities also take place in nature.
The kindergarten has joined an anti-bullying program Kindergartens and Schools Free of Bullying.
Location
Viljandi is a small town in the central part of Estonia. Viljandi is a kind of capital of culture in Estonia. There is Viljandi Culture Academy that provides higher education in Estonian national culture, dance and music and is very active in the community, organizing concerts, performances and study groups frequently. International cultural events also take place.
Viljandi is known as the venue for the Viljandi Folk Music Festival. Every July, the festival brings together contemporary folk music from all over the world and ca 20 000 festival visitors.
The scenic views of the nearby lake and wooden architecture makes Viljandi a place of interest to both nature and culture lovers. Viljandi has a professional theatre, several venues which organize concerts and cafés. There is also the Estonian Traditional Music Centre: a modern cultural centre, where concerts, performances, training, seminars are organized annually.
The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, is about 185 km from Viljandi (2 hours away by bus or train). There is a very good bus and train connection with the capital and the other cities.
Work tasks
The typical task for the volunteer is to help the teachers in everyday indoor and outdoor activities: participating and helping the teachers during the games or lessons with children and preparing lessons and materials for activities. The volunteer can use own imagination to create something cool for kids.
The volunteer will participate in different activities of the kindergarten: annual events (Christmas, New year, Easter and others), sports, musical events, theatrical actions, walks with children. The volunteer will participate in the traditional kindergarten events and folk calendar celebrations.
The volunteer will introduce own country, nation and cultural traditions to the children, parents and personnel.
The working time will be 30 to 35 h per week from Monday to Friday. The schedule can vary. Some days the volunteer will work from 8 to 13 and other days from 12 to 17.30.
Benefits of volunteering
- For the volunteers it should be a good opportunity to learn and practice the Estonian language and culture.
- Volunteers can have the meals with children.
Requirements for the volunteer
- Motivated, interested and willing to work with children and children with special needs.
- Willing to work with 3-4 year-old children
- Active, creative, taking initiative, adaptable, open minded, sociable, responsible, reliable and patient.
Application
To apply fill in the application form in the left column and send it to evsestyes@gmail.com.
NB! We are flexible regarding the project dates which means we can change the service dates to some extent according to the needs of volunteer.
