State and Childhood Project
State and Childhood (“Gosudarstvo i detstvo”; gosdetstvo.com) is an online project developed in 2018 with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation. The website contains a lot of useful information concerning the organization of the state government, the executive bodies of the country, and most importantly, the rights of children and their parents. The materials are presented in an accessible format: simple language understandable to young readers with lots of pictures and slides.
Goals of the Program
It is quite challenging to explain the basic aspects of government and the structure of the state to young children. Therefore, a special program has been developed to teach children topics that are difficult to understand.
The main goal of the project is to encourage children and teenagers to understand how important it is to know about their own rights, to appreciate the organization of power in the country, and to grasp other seemingly uninteresting subjects.
The State and Childhood program helps teachers organize their lessons properly. Listening to the narration, watching the accompanying images, and performing engaging tasks is much more interesting than monotonous study from a textbook.
Why Is the Website Useful?
The idea of the website is to help young citizens of the Russian Federation better understand complex issues. The information contained within the resource is used in preschool institutions as part of public classes with students of senior and preparatory groups. In an enjoyable way, children learn complicated topics: who is more important - mom or the President? Which takes longer: eating a bowl of porridge or serving in the army?
The materials are also often used for distance and face-to-face teaching of social studies, history, and law to school students. The topics are differentiated, so everyone can find relevant materials at any given point in their education.
Children learn who the President of the Russian Federation is and what powers and duties he has. The portal explains what the Constitution is and what its main provisions are. On the resource, learners can listen to the national anthem of the Russian Federation and study photos of the coat of arms, flag, and symbols of the authorities, enforcement, and courts.
Each topic includes a short story (e.g., the idea behind the anthem, the meaning of the colors on the flag), an interesting picture or photograph, and follow-up questions.
The army is another complicated issue for school students. It is explained in an article that sets out what age a person is subject to military service. It also lists the main regulations governing national service.
For adults, there is a tab with basic documents that will help them apply for benefits and subsidies and enroll their children in kindergarten, school, and other educational institutions.
