SÃO FRANCISCO DE PAULA DAY CARE

a contribution to the childhood history of Pelotas

Abstract

This article investigates the day care São Francisco de Paula, the first one to work full time, during the parents work time in the Pelotas County. Search to understand the space dedicated to small children and its relation to the State and the Catholic Church. The writing sources used was the day care minute books. The period established for the study was the first decade of the Institution operation. The Catholic Church influence was indentified, in an explicit way, on the day care routine and in the realized activities, in a context of the Brazilian State concerns with the childhood. These concerns, in a local context, allowed highlighting the Catholic Church as a mediator of the implementation of the public politics. This way the São Francisco de Paula day care emerges in Pelotas County as a space at the same time, spread the Catholicism and assemble the State demands.