The aim of preschool education is the balanced development of a child and getting ready for the schooling. Hence the Kindergarten programme is built around the requirements of the Primary School GALILEO SCHOOL. The programme of GALILEO SCHOOL is a complete system of schooling that results in students being fully prepared for university education.

The GALILEO SCHOOL Kindergarten provides for bilingual education in both Slovak and English languages. The main goal is to initiate intrinsic motivation to study in English language. The English native speaker-teacher provides the first educational experience in English language for three-year-old children. Parents will notice the outcomes of bilingual education after several months, in a form children naming objects around themselves in both Slovak and English.

A thorough preparation for the Primary School is a subject of the last year in Kindergarten. Children discover the alphabet via the Jolly Phonics methodology and through regular lessons with an English native speaker-teacher.

The predominant method of active learning in Kindergarten is a game. The teacher facilitates the play based on the knowledge of the nature of the particular game and of the effect it has on the development of children. The game is equally entertaining, enjoyable and educational. Such game provides for happy, healthy development of children. Learning by playing is the most natural way of learning at this age. Children use the game to express themselves and to communicate, showing the nature of their personality traits. The game is not only an educational tool; it also serves the diagnostic purpose.

The purpose of learning by experience comes is underlined by the fact that strong personal experience remains deeply remembered. Learning by experience allows to touch every child’s heart by the memory of a happy, joyful experience of adventurous day in Kindergarten. Children will remember their times in Kindergarten as happy days of their early childhood.

The professional team of qualified teachers at GALILEO SCHOOL Kindergarten uses the methods of experience learning. Children are able to gain knowledge and skills naturally, without the need of hardship required in intentional learning. Thanks to the small class sizes we are able to show our wonderful world in its specific forms children can explore, smell, taste, feel – simply they can experience it.

Outdoor learning doesn’t necessarily mean a trip to the deep forest. Every Kindergarten classroom has a direct access to the front garden, where children play in the shade of tall trees, on a soft lawn or in a sandpit. There are plenty of climbing frames, play-areas, slides, outdoor classrooms, gardening pots outside.

The birds nest in the trees above. In front of children a little owl grew up in spring. The front gardens housed lots of bird boxes regularly filled up with bird feed, so the birds can be observed all year round.

Children from their early years like to explore the nature around them and nurture a positive view of nature. They like both the living and non-living nature, a lot of what they see is magical. Our experienced teachers in Kindergarten GALILEO SCHOOL make the use of exploration methods to bridge the world of magic and the world of facts and figures.

In a beautiful setting full of gardens, gardening pots for planting, children develop both their motor skills as well as their skills or observing, describing and justifying the action. The activities planned for children are based on simulations of the work of researchers. Children are exposed to sensory inputs to explore and research, so every experience is a discovery itself for the young children’s mind.

Childs painting is a unique phenomenon worth of a public display, gratitude and hence the classrooms of Kindergarten GALILEO SCHOOL are decorated by the artwork made by children. These displays are regularly updated. Parents take pride in the work of their children and store their paintings as they clearly see messages of their child’s life reflected in the drawings. Teachers refer back to the drawings to see the development of the child and a specific communication tool. Viewing such a drawing allows to enter the child’s feelings, fantasy and wishes of a young person.

Children get their appetite for food the most when they had spent time outside being active. In GALILEO SCHOOL children build a good rapport with food by taking part in the preparation of meals. The lunch soup tastes the best once handpicked parsnip greens are added. The recipes are often updated by the renowned chefs, regularly visiting our kitchen, to teach the modern culinary mastery, to be used in our canteen.

The Kindergarten GALILEO SCHOOL is closed only during the regular school holidays as announced by the Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic. However, during the summer holidays, we offer a day programme on a weekly topical basis. Every week is focused on a specific theme, and the vocabulary and the conversations are based on the given theme.

GALILEO SCHOOL set up its own mobile Covid-19 testing centre in December 2020. Students, teachers, parents made a great use of being able to be tested on a weekly basis. This allowed for almost continuous functionality of the school in 2020/21.

The programme of the Kindergarten GALILEO SCHOOL cares for the development of digital competency in children, including the positive attitude to the information technology and their sensible use. Teachers use the Bee Bot, tablets and interactive whiteboards for teaching.

Teachers maintained the connection with children during the lockdown via online learning. It is hard to believe, yet both the teachers and the children were successful in overcoming this challenge.