Teaching Kids about Real Jobs
On Monday, the children of the 5-6-year-old group of Tbilisi Kindergarten 162, which is based in Okrokhana village on the outskirts of Tbilisi, took a trip to Carrefour supermarket in Kolmeuneba Square as the exciting conclusion to an in-school project about markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, produce and jobs.
GEORGIA TODAY went along with them and spoke to Kindergarten Director Nino Tsiklauri as two groups of children were led around by entertaining staff members. During the ‘tour’, the children were asked to identify the products, talk about their favorites, and highlight the health benefits of eating certain foods, such as fish and fruit. The children also got to watch tone bread being made and meet the serving staff.
“At our kindergarten, we have a system of concluding our projects with an outing related to the theme,” Tsiklauri told us. “When we focused on books, we took a trip to the Sulakauri publishing house; when we talked about technology, we went to meet the AI robot Pepper. We also go to various museums, the Childrens’ Theater to watch specific performances, and to other venues for the children to get some practical experience related to what we’re teaching them in the classroom. In future, I’m planning on taking the children to Pirimdze to show them the various professions.” Pirimze is a center offering shoe/bag repairs, ateliers, key cutting and other practical jobs that we need in everyday life. “We want to show the children that there is more to the concept of work than ‘an office job’, that there are many other respectable jobs out there,” Nino tells us.
On completion of their supermarket tour, the children repaid the kind welcome by holding a 15-minute concert for staff, parents and shoppers, including songs and a small ballet dance.
“We were very glad to welcome these children to our store,” Nino Ramishvili, PR Manager, Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets Georgia LLC (Carrefour) told GEORGIA TODAY. “It’s a great initiative for children to be given the chance to see different professions in action, people actually working in different fields. Letting children see such things from an early age is important. We welcome such initiatives. In fact, we often work with disabled children and have playgrounds in some of our stores. We work with the Ministry of Education, kindergartens and schools to do something fun for children. One of our company missions is ‘To create great moments for everyone, every day in our stores,’ and I feel today is a great example of that”.
Tsiklauri echoed the sentiment, as the children sat in the Carrfour Cafe tucking into a feast of pastries, cupcakes, marshmallows and juice. “The children have really enjoyed themselves today, and come away with new experiences. I think the staff enjoyed it, too, going by the smiles on their faces!”
Katie Ruth Davies