Family Learning Program

It's March and my New Year's Resolution of blogging more is already shot. I guess that's why I rarely make New Year's Resolutions. Anyway, to make up for my poor resolve, I'm going to make a few short posts about what I've been up to lately.
Back in February, I attended a seminar on the Family Learning Program (FLP) hosted by the Caribbean Child Support Initiative (CCSI). FLP encourages stimulating interactions between young children and adults in the home and greater community. They believe activities like storytelling and creative play improve both the children's future success in school and the adult's self-confidence in reading and parenting. CCSI works with groups like the Roving Care Givers, who travel to homes around the island to teach parents how to help their children learn and grow. I attended the seminar, along with two colleagues, to learn more about an Innovation Grant for Ideas on Family Literacy and Learning. CCSI is funding small scale projects that engage families in innovative learning activities, and EHSM wants in! I'll be working with our school counselor and our literacy coordinator to come up with a proposal. We're in the very beginning stages, but I'll try to keep you posted. Especially if we get a grant!
Beyond that, I just want to say a few words on how important it is that adults interact with young children! I know that sounds obvious, but it is so lacking in St. Vincent and, I imagine, the rest of the world. Too often, we see students who go home to parents who don't take the time to read with their kids or help them with homework or even talk to them, and unfortunately, these kids grow up to have irreversible social, behavioral and academic problems. Young children need stimulating interactions with adults! What they glean from such interactions is not something they can obtain later in life from peers or teachers. There's a small time frame in which kids learn (from adults) how to socialize, how to behave, how to work, how to live and once you pass that, there's no going back. It's a disaster after that.
So, if your parents ever read to you or told you why the sky is blue or taught you to whistle or tie your shoes or make an omlete, thank them. Those small interactions gave you a giant step up!