The objective of this research was to establish what the influence of gestalt group playtherapy on the self-esteem of primary schoolgirls in a children’s home would be. The goals of the research were to build a knowledge basis by means of a literature study and consultation with experts in the field. The aim of this knowledge basis was the needs and developmental characteristics of the middle childhood years, the characteristics and problems encountered by the children’s home child, to assess by means of an empirical study what the influence of gestalt group playtherapy on the self-esteem of the child in the middle childhood years in a children’s home would be and the nature and scope of gestalt therapy. The study also had the further aim to make recommendations for the use and appropriate application of social workers working in the field of children’s welfare, especially the children’s home. For the empirical study the dominant-less-dominant model was used. The dominant data collection measure that was used, was of the quantitative kind with a small component of qualitative study to support the last mentioned quantitative investigation. Six respondents were identified and engaged in eight group playtherapeutic sessions. Applied research was used as the researcher aimed to find a solution for the problem of low self-esteem in specific children, namely the primary school child in the children’s home. The research resorted under the sub-category of intervention-knowledge-development. This type of research focuses on the practical application of research. The research design that researcher utilized, was the quasi-experimental design where one group pretest-posttest was being used. This design is useful to assess how an independent variable would influence a specific group. The data collection methods used were questionnaires, unstructured observation and the study of respondent’s case records. Empirical data results indicated the following: - the child in a children’s home has weak self-esteem; - the child in a children’s home has problems binding with the peer group; - respondents could already identify and regulate emotions in themselves and understand that emotions are not always correctly observed and interpreted in others; - respondent were very negative towards the children’s home and their committal to the home; - gestalt group playtherapy has a significant influence on the self-esteem of the above mentioned child. The research lead to specific recommendations addressed to parents, teachers, social workers and housemothers aiding them regarding the improvement of a child’s self-esteem. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The diploma thesis deals with opportunities of sport activities which primary school children have in the city Strakonice on primary schools, in Youth centre and out of these institutions. The theoretic part of the work shows us the knowledge which is related to the children in primary schools and theirs development and sport. The purpose is to establish the current offer of the sport activities and the offer in the process of ten years. The evaluation is performed on the basis of study of school educational programs, annual reports of schools and collected data are supplemented in the form of an interview with the school management. The tool for evaluating the results are graphs and the results show us how the offer has changed over the years and what sport activities are offered to the primary school children the most. The results also show us the differences that are across these institutions. KEYWORDS sport, sports activity, sports offer, primary school child, Strakonice

Master's dissertation occupies with art planning in kindergarten, meaning the planning of art activities for preschool children. Master's dissertation is divided into theoretical and practical part. Theoretical part occupies with art lesson, it's history, goals and also planning of the art lessons. Next the dissertation occupies with general planning in kindergartens and goals of preschool education. Last section is dedicated to development of a preschool child with emphasis on development of drawing and on main features of drawing from preschool child. Practical part presents 2 case studies of art planning by the concept from theoretical part. First case study refers to my own planning and connection of art planning with planning of thematic units in kindergarten and their realization. Second case study occupies with concept handover of art planning to another educator by teaching activities and his own planning and realization in kindergarten. KEYWORDS Art schemes, planning, pre-school child, the contexts of art, thematic plans

Management of the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University considers opening a pre-school child care facility in a new seat of the faculty. The intention of this diploma work is to map and analyze legal forms of pre-school child care, needs of parents - employees and students of the faculty, and financial sources from which such facility could be funded; and then on the base of the analysis to design a solution suitable for the faculty. The solution has a form of a project plan, which, when approved, could be worked up and realized. Data needed for the project plan were gathered via analysis of documents, i.e. legal rules and web pages, and a questionnaire among employees and students of the faculty. According to the survey and in the case of available sufficient financial coverage, it would be ideal to establish at the faculty a facility with two children groups, each consisting of 15 children and a special children area of a 12 children capacity.

The diploma thesis focuses on targeted use of authorial songs from the project "School of Songs" to interconnect all educational areas in kindergarten with the emphasis on children's own creativity. The theoretical part deals with important developmental aspects of pre-school and primary school children, focuses on musical activities and how to integrate musical education in kindergartens. Diploma thesis also looks closely on the musical project "School of Songs", originally intended for children of younger school age. Furthermore it introduces a follow-up project "School of Song to Kindergartens", reworked with the benefit of preschool children with regard to their developmental specifics. The practical part focuses on verifying the benefits of the project "School of Songs to kindergartens". The songs were incorporated into the school educational program, a new didactic material was created, implemented and verified in 59 kindergartens over the two years period. The aim of this thesis is to verify the methodological material from the project "School of Songs to kindergartens" in kindergarten Tolstého, located in Prague 10 and in other kindergartens from various locations in the Czech Republic. Another objective is to evaluate the benefit of songs and methodological materials for kindergarten...

The submitted diploma degree thesis deals with the development of pre-reading literacy in family environment. The aim of this thesis is to find out which ideas about developing early reading skills parents have and how they build pre-reading skills in their children. The thesis is also focused on parent-child communication and child's vocabulary. The theoretical part defines basic terms relevant to the topic of reading and literacy. It offers characteristics of a pre-school child and his development in areas which are related to pre-reading literacy. The particularization of the term of pre-reading literacy and activities supporting literacy skills are presented as well.It defines the concept of family communication and child-directed speech. The final chapter of the theoretical part describes previous research that has been conducted in this field in the past. The theoretical part of the thesis is based on the study of research literature and crucial research. The practical part is devoted to an empirical study. It consists of five case studies which are focused on the analysis of video recordings connected to the development of pre-reading literacy in family environment. The video recordings were anonymized and, with slight deviations, transcribed according to the CHAT system, which is a part of...

Sexual abuse is not being reported adequately. Teachers are in an ideal position to deal with and report sexual abuse. However, research, as well as practical experience, shows that teachers are not sufficiently trained to deal with sexual abuse. Various establishments offer training initiatives to teachers, but it is unclear what the teachers’ perceptions are of the training after completion thereof. The goal of this research was to explore the perceptions of teachers after they had been exposed to an available training programme called “Understanding the Scope of Child Abuse”. The programme forms part of the training material of Forensic Assessment Consultation Training (FACT). FACT is a training company which offers support and training to professional people on the topic of sexual abuse. The researcher followed a qualitative approach. Twenty teachers from Welkom, Odendaalsrus, Virginia, Wesselsbron and Bothaville were involved in two separate training sessions. After completion of the training sessions, two focus group interviews were conducted in order to explore the participants’ perceptions regarding the training programme. The results show clearly that the perceptions of the teachers who participated in the Understanding the Scope of Child Abuse programme were significantly positive. It is also clear that there was a certain need among teachers for information such as provided by the programme. Besides the dispensation of relevant information, which was regarded as valuable and appropriate, participants valued the group consolidation and felt confident to share experiences regarding sexual abuse. Participants cherished the information not only as teachers, but also in their capacity as parents. They agreed there was a need for such training, even before participating in the study. It was recommended that colleagues, student teachers and parents should undertake the same training, conducted in a similar way. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Sexual abuse is not being reported adequately. Teachers are in an ideal position to deal with and report sexual abuse. However, research, as well as practical experience, shows that teachers are not sufficiently trained to deal with sexual abuse. Various establishments offer training initiatives to teachers, but it is unclear what the teachers’ perceptions are of the training after completion thereof. The goal of this research was to explore the perceptions of teachers after they had been exposed to an available training programme called “Understanding the Scope of Child Abuse”. The programme forms part of the training material of Forensic Assessment Consultation Training (FACT). FACT is a training company which offers support and training to professional people on the topic of sexual abuse. The researcher followed a qualitative approach. Twenty teachers from Welkom, Odendaalsrus, Virginia, Wesselsbron and Bothaville were involved in two separate training sessions. After completion of the training sessions, two focus group interviews were conducted in order to explore the participants’ perceptions regarding the training programme. The results show clearly that the perceptions of the teachers who participated in the Understanding the Scope of Child Abuse programme were significantly positive. It is also clear that there was a certain need among teachers for information such as provided by the programme. Besides the dispensation of relevant information, which was regarded as valuable and appropriate, participants valued the group consolidation and felt confident to share experiences regarding sexual abuse. Participants cherished the information not only as teachers, but also in their capacity as parents. They agreed there was a need for such training, even before participating in the study. It was recommended that colleagues, student teachers and parents should undertake the same training, conducted in a similar way. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study was directed to explore the practicability of play therapy as a support system to primary schools in order to offer the child an optimal learning opportunity. A need exists to support primary schools, to establish therapeutic services which will be available to all children with emotional, behaviour and social problems. Gestalt play therapy can be used as a source of support within the context of the primary school. It is important that the therapist and teacher have sufficient knowledge around the different developmental phases of the child. In this study the focus was on the general characteristics, cognitive, social- and moral development of the primary school child. A qualitative approach and by utilizing semi-structured interviews, were used in order to collect the data concerning the study. Results from the empirical research indicated that there is a definite necessity for therapeutic services, as support systems at primary schools, in order to assist the child to reach his/her maximum potential. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Spelterapie)

Divorce is part of every society, it is a world-wide phenomena. Divorce touches the lives of many people by breaking up families, causing personal individual trauma and affecting our children – the next generation. Consequences of this phenomenon are important, as what we do today will affect negatively or positively, the youth of tomorrow. Taken this fact into consideration one would think it logical to minimise the impact of this phenomenon on all those involved. Firstly, this study will attempt to identify the most prominent emotional indicators of a child’s drawing in order to focus therapy in those areas in an attempt to minimise or lessen the negative impact the child experiences. Secondly, the intervention strategies/guidelines researched, will be made available to parents, professionals and lay helpers alike in order to understand, support and positively facilitate the healing process within the child who is experiencing a family divorce. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (with Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)