CAMAGÜEY.- Exactly in 1961, that year of Education in which thousands of people were illuminated with the dawn of letters and numbers, the first nursery schools were created in the country, starting with them the educational attention to early childhood, understood from birth to six years.
At first they only took care of the little ones so that their mothers could get into work, but the goal was more ambitious: educate them. In this endeavor, today they are instructed daily on the mother tongue, elementary notions of Mathematics, Physical Education, Music, Visual Arts, Socio-Moral, Knowledge of the World of Objects and Phonic Analysis, fundamental for development.
In the children's kindergarten The Golden Age, adorned by lively illustrations of the characters created by our National Hero, there is tranquility. The director, Iraimi Murga Betancourt tells us about her 20 years of work at this educational level and the three years at the head of the institution: “it is a challenge and a commitment to the Revolution, with Fidel and Vilma, and a pride to achieve maximum development of boys and girls.
“We teach values such as honesty, friendship and love for the country and what surrounds us, Martí's qualities that honor the name of our institution. Currently, we work with daily planning, which is a strategy of the educational project ”.
Alicia Díaz Varona, deputy director of the center, together with the administrator Aliuska Riverón Méndez, point out the importance of promoting good habits in children, starting with food, because "here they receive 60% of their daily food."
Among the 32 teachers who work in this dream house, Norma Arias Nogueras stands out. The retiree with 40 years of experience who was reincorporated, with great emotion she feels that the kindergarten attracts her. “I am a founder. The name it bears was proposed by me; After being approved, it has accompanied me, as well as generations of neighbors. I have found children and even grandchildren of those who were once my students, I have watched them grow up. After rejoining, I have traveled with a group since the second year of life, those who are almost in preschool classrooms, one sees the evolution in their growth.
"I tell the new generations of educators that this profession takes dedication, patience and a lot of love, since they are a varied range of children and families."
"The Golden Age" is also enriched by the youthful presence. Strengthening the training of the new generations of educators is a priority.
Arletis Vargas Torres carries out her fourth internship within the family of teachers:
“The Children's Kindergarten has the necessary conditions to educate. Communication with parents is good and very helpful. Hopefully when I graduate they will place me here ”.
Dayana del Risco Estrada, who shares her knowledge with the little ones in the fifth year, only has one in this work: “I like working with children, they show joy when participating in a certain activity. They are affectionate, they show us their innocence and simplicity. It is very useful when we teach them, for example, nursery rhymes, because the world around them does not respect their childhood, they saturate them with lyrics that are inappropriate for their age content ”.
Of those experiences, after a restful sleep, little Alicia said that her "master" reads to her the story of La Gallinita Dorada; Likewise, another girl expressed her preference for the story of La Margarita Blanca, while some boys like the chick song. Everyone agrees that "the coronavirus make us sick and you have to use the mask so that it does not enter through the nose or mouth."
This children's kindergarten, highlighted by its results, honors the Martí's spirit of its name. The Teacher is the best inspirer of education, that work of infinite love.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez