Korczak International News: The first korczak brasilian summercamp

Korczak International News: The first korczak brasilian summercamp


The Vaga Lumes Network Program (Translator’s note: Vaga Lume is the Portuguese word for “firefly”), carried out by the Vaga Lume Association since 2005, has as its objective to promote cultural exchange among children from the different regions of Brazil, encouraging the development of reading and writing, as well as integration among children.In 2008, two groups were communicating between the states of São Paulo and Pará. The Anchieta Project, an NGO located in the Grajaú section of the low-income outskirts of São Paulo, with four public schools from the small town of Castanhal, Pará; and the privately owned Oswald School, located in the Vila Madalena section of São Paulo, which corresponded with two public schools in the rural area of the town of Soure, Pará.Altogether, 1,600 children and over 60 educators from the two states participated. During the school year, the students communicated from a distance by means of two exchanges of materials: during the first semester, they talked about the topic “our environment,” and in the second semester they sent their reactions to the materials, commenting on their cultural and environmental similarities and differences. The materials are highly varied, each teacher working in the classroom with his/her students in keeping with their grade level, encouraging creativity and producing individual and group letters, scale models, crafts, games, etc.