EARLYPOLY

ERASMUS+ EARLYPOLY Project

The EARLYPOLY project aims to integrate Poly-Universe tool into preschool and lower primary education as an innovative STEAM approach, enhancing children’s creativity, problem-solving, and spatial reasoning skills. The project will be implemented by a consortium of 5 partners: 2 universities, an arts centre and two STEAM education providers. The project will foster a collaborative learning environment and practice, putting emphasis on inclusiveness and the involvement of girls in STEAM fields.

We will conduct professional development trainings for educators, create comprehensive, age-appropriate Poly-Universe methodology and lesson plans for kindergartners and primary schools and establish a supportive background for educators in formal and non-formal settings as well. Additionally, we will organise hands-on STEAM activities, pilot the methodology, adapt the Poly-Universe tool for diverse learners, and evaluate the project’s impact through collecting feedback from all stakeholders. The project will result in a methodological study on Poly-Universe activities for preschool and lower primary school children. Training for in-service pre-school and primary teachers and a methodical module for students will be provided. By using the Poly-Universe tool and the STEAM approach, the project will contribute to the development of education at age 3-10, helping learners to develop basic skills and competences related to STEAM, and laying the foundations for their future success.

Task & Course Repository

You can find good practices from 9 topics for both formal and informal teaching/learning activities. Feel free to download, try them out and adapt them to your own practice! Task repository

Project results

Needs analysis: The aim of this document is to inform the reader about a comprehensive survey, providing insights into the needs and challenges faced by formal and non-formal preschool and lower primary educators and further education providers at this level as well institutions in implementing STEAM education using PolyUniverse. The needs analysis is based on a survey conducted between October and December, 2024. Data have been collected anonimously through a Google form. The respondents – educators, kindergarten and primary school teachers – were allowed to complete the survey in their own native language in order to avoid any language difficulties (overall results have been translated to English). They were coming from the countries of the partner institutions – Finland, France, Hungary and Romania. Download

EARLYPOLY Methodological Study Book: The EARLYPOLY Methodological Study Book aims to introduce the world of the Poli-Universe educational tool and to provide assistance to kindergarten educators, lower primary school teachers and those interested in the education of children of age 3-10 in the effective and creative application of the Poly-Universe tool in both kindergarten and lower primary education.

The volume is the third part of a series, just as the project itself is the third stage of an international cooperation. The first volume of the series, which was born within the framework of the Poly-Universe in School Education (PUSE) project, discusses the role of the Poli-Universe game family in mathematics education in upper grades. A separate methodological manual related to this volume discusses the principles and possibilities of introducing the Poly-Universe tool into teacher training, thanks to the Poly-Universe in Teacher Training Education (PUNTE) Erasmus Partnership project. The topic of the present volume, completing the spectrum of public education, is the use of the Poly-Universe tool in the teaching and upbringing of the 3-10 year old age group.

The volume also includes an extremely rich and structured database of good practices, thus facilitating the implementation of the principles discussed here into practice.

Best practices: Ideas for using Poly-Universe in kindergartens and primary schools, categorized thematically. Free to use for pilot programs and future practices. Open best practices

Intensive Course Materials: Slideshows from the intensive course for kindergarten teachers and teachers, arranged thematically, with selected good practices. Open intensive course materials

Methodical Module Handout: Methodological materials for students to support the introduction of the Poly-Universe tool – recommended as a 4-lesson module for university courses. Download

Testimonial

The 27-month EARLYPOLY project was launched in October, 2024, supported by the European Commission Strategic Partnerships Framework Programme. The aim of the project is to develop innovative, transdisciplinary pedagogical methods that are primarily related to a revolutionary educational tool, called Poly-Universe, targeting the age group 3-10 of learners. We intend to discover the possibilities of introducing and applying the Poly-Universe kit in preschool and lower-primary school education, in the spirit of striving for completeness.

The birth of the Poly-Universe toolkit itself is the result of a fundamentally art-driven concept, which, however, in addition to aesthetic aspects, opened up new perspectives first in the teaching of mathematics and then in further disciplines. Today, we can declare that the Poly-Universe kit has become part of everyday life in many schools. The aim of this project is to facilitate the incorporation of this everyday practice into early-childhood education and the transfer of methodological foundations to teachers and educators in formal and non-formal settings as well.

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