Learning through play

The primary role of the NTC programme is the use of new discoveries in the field of neuroscience in classrooms and in everyday life. The NTC Learning Programme is comprised of various children’s activities and games, based on findings on brain development and how the brain works, and can, as many studies show, have positive impact on brain development during the crucial period – the period of most intensive growth and development – from birth to around age ten. Play as a child’s inner drive is a key factor of the NTC programme.

The NTC programme is characterised by three implementation phases. An integral part of the first phase are evolutionarily supportive activities that involve complex motor activities including fine motor skills, dynamic eye accommodation, rotation, balance and movement. The second phase of the NTC programme is characterised by thought classifications, thought series and associations, while the third phase constitutes the work on developing divergent and convergent thinking, as well as functional knowledge. All three phases are conducted through play, which, as a child’s intrinsic need, represents a key factor in implementing the NTC programme. The three phases combine the child’s sensorimotor and cognitive development.

The NTC programme has been implemented in the Republic of Serbia since 2008, when it also started to expand beyond the borders of Europe. Today, the NTC programme is implemented in 17 European countries, and it has been accredited by the ministry of education in 7 states (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). In other countries, it is undertaken in collaboration with educational institutions (Italy, Greece, Sweden, Iceland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland and Sierra Leone).

A presentation by Dr. Ranko Rajović at a UNICEF conference on the subject of activities that impede or damage child’s development.

Here you can see what it was like at the NTC summer camps in 2018. The video shows only a glimpse of the NTC camp in Gučevo.

If you’re a parent and would like to find out more about the NTC system of learning, gain the knowledge that you can apply daily in raising your children, sign up for our seminar. To parents, we provide an adapted version of the seminar for teachers and expert associates. The seminar lasts 4 x 45 minutes (held in 2 blocks of 90 minutes). We generally organise the seminar in larger cities, but if a group of 25–30 parents in a place expresses interest, there is a possibility we can arrange one to be held there.

If you would like your child to gain a creative and open-minded approach to thinking and learning, as well as to acquire the practical techniques that develop learning potential, sign them up for the NTC workshops that are carried out once a week, in two cycles of 16 workshops, with holiday breaks. Every cycle is different, meaning that children can attend them for several years. The workshops last between 60 and 90 minutes, depending on the child’s age.

The programme authors – Dr. Ranko Rajović and Uroš Petrović – alongside with the NTC team lecturers have created the NTC camp programme. At the camp, we encourage children to learn through play and research. The camp enables children to get familiar with the world around them, improve mutual communication, acquire knowledge about nature and how to find their way in it, strengthen their research spirit and physical skills.

We provide two-day seminars for teachers and expert associates, with a total duration of 8-10 lessons. The seminar covers topics concerning the development of learning skills, the importance of early childhood stimulation for motor and cognitive skills, as well as practical activities in the course of which the participants master the NTC techniques.

After the seminar, you get access to three months online consultations, during which you send examples of the programme application, we give suggestions and send you new examples.

The seminar is held by Dr. Ranko Rajović with the expert team.
There is also a third part of the seminar (practical examples of the programme) intended for schools and kindergartens interested in further education. This part of the seminar is conducted by one of the expert team members (4 x 45 minutes). You can sign up for the seminar as an individual or as an institution.

We offer one-year licensing opportunity to private preschool and school institutions. The NTC licence enables daily application of our methodology in cooperation with our team. Successful application of the programme is a fundamental precondition for the renewal of a one-year licence. Parents can access a list of institutions with NTC licence through our website.

The highest level of the NTC programme implementation is embodied in NTC centres. Any institution authorised for it by our team can become an NTC centre. In an NTC centre, a trained team organises standardised children’s workshops designed by the programme author and our team of professionals. For now, there are NTC centres in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro and Serbia.