http://www.solentiname.org

Project Name:

LEER Solentiname and BiblioBote (READ Solentiname and Library Boat)

Project Area:

Preschool and primary education: extracurricular reading awareness and animation

Vision:

The vision of Leer Solentiname is that reading is a fundamental ability. We aim to raise literacy levels by instilling in students a love of reading and a curiosity for learning.

Mission:

Our mission is to create a love for reading and improve the reading and writing levels of primary school students, simultaneously developing their analytical and critical thinking abilities.

Project History:

The READ Solentiname program was started in 2010 with a pilot program in the pueblo of Mancarrón, expanding to the other communities of Solentiname throughout the year with 145 classes reaching over 160 students. With the addition of our mobile lending library in all sectors starting in April 2011, the program provided over 230 classes and lent more than 1,700 books during the 2011 school year.

Project Description:

READ Solentiname is a voluntary extracurricular program offering reading animation classes, with the vision that reading is a fundamental ability that provides a solid foundation for lifelong learning. With dynamic, creative and participatory learning, we provide classes in each of the 9 primary schools in the Solentiname Archipelago. Though we work with MINED to offer reading classes especially for pre-school and kindergarten children in the mornings, the emphasis remains the afterschool reading program.

Our mobile lending library (BiblioBote) visits each primary school every two weeks to loan books and offer an extracurricular class dedicated to making reading fun.

We use the Reading A-Z program, which provides leveled, printable books with corresponding worksheets and quizzes, as a comprehensive and low-budget resource for books and progress evaluation. We also use other books and resources as available to complement the Reading A-Z materials.

A professional primary school teacher directs the program, and works with trained community members to impart classes regularly in all communities.

Project Justification:

Students in rural and underdeveloped countries tend to read below their grade level; in the Solentiname Archipelago, the remote geographical situation, multi-grade modality of teaching and lack of resources exacerbate the problem. In a place where houses have few books and no culture of literacy, we hope to raise the level of reading by offering an afterschool reading program for young learners. Through enjoyable reading activities, we develop comprehensive literacy skills that will enhance over-all learning abilities. We aim to increase reading and independent creative thinking at a young age, lowering dropout rate, developing better students throughout their educational careers, and enabling these future leaders to be more proactive in their communities. Children do now learn to read and write alone; literacy is a gift that each generation must transmit to the next.

Population Benefited:

Approximately 90% of preschool and primary students from Solentiname benefit from the READ Solentiname and Lending Library program. The community they form benefits indirectly as the increasing literacy rate will result in a subsequent rise in the overall level of education, and increase educational and employment opportunities, factors that combat the cycle of poverty currently present.

General Objective:

The objective of READ Solentiname is to create a love of reading and strengthen the reading and writing level of preschool and primary school students in Solentiname.  Our objective is guided by the principle that children who enjoy reading and learn to read well will have better opportunities in their lives, especially combined with creative and independent thinking abilities.

Specific Objectives:

• Promote critical thinking and creativity through asking students to analyze and formulate opinions on readings.
• Develop reading comprehension skills, including identifying main idea/details, cause/effect, fact/ opinion, sequence of events, and author’s purpose.
• Develop language skills of reading, writing, and speaking.
• Promote self-confidence in learning capability.
• Promote a culture of reading and the idea that reading and learning are fun.
  • Deliver books into the house of each student.
• Utilize standard evaluations through the Reading A-Z Curriculum to measure the progress of each student and of the program.
• Improve the academic performance of our students in primary school and their education beyond.
• Involve teachers, parents and the community in making the education of our children a priority.

Expected Results:

• Continue to benefit all communities of the Archipelago with regular attendance and program participation of 90% or better.
• Motivate an appreciation for reading among students and parents.
• Complement primary education through 250 or more extracurricular classes annually.
• Increase the culture of reading within the primary school through Reading Corners, and within the house by lending 2,500 books or more annually.
• Increase the responsibility of the community in the education of its children, especially through direct participation in reading workshops.

Activities/Work Plan:

• Plan and execute dynamic and exciting biweekly reading classes with individual and group work in each community of Solentiname.
• Find more local community volunteers to maintain a full schedule of classes.
  • Provide further training for the program director and volunteers from the community.
• Identify each child’s reading level and track his/her growth and progress over time through the evaluation system of Reading A-Z.
• Maintain active BiblioBote visiting each primary school on a regular biweekly basis.
• Increase the collection of youth literature available through our lending library.
• Create Reading Corners in each primary school to promote early literacy.
• Improve communication and increase the involvement of teachers, parents and MINED to better coordinate READ Solentiname with the existing educational structure.
• Improve our relations with current partners; search for new partners who share our vision to increase the financial base of the program.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Success:

Success will be defined by reading level improvement through evaluations with the Reading A-Z program. Overall advance will become evident through improving grades and increasing the number of students performing at or above grade level in primary school and beyond.

Time Frame:

This project proposal is for five years, with formal review annually; we need to invest in the education of our children as crucial for initiating development processes throughout the population.

Project Budget:

The summary of the annual budget of the LEER Solentiname and BiblioBote program is reflected in the following table. The total 2012 budget is in the first column, followed by the donation suggested from our various existing partners. All amounts are in USD.

Partners:

The Alianza de Solentiname coordinates the program.

Current partners: MINED, John Brown Group, Asociación para el Desarrollo de Solentiname (APDS), Huelva con Solentiname.

Other Possible Funding Sources:

La Alcaldía de San Carlos, Acra, Tinker Foundation, WK Kellog, Weyhauser Family Foundation, USAid, Kohlberg Foundation, WorldVision, Feed the Minds, Oak Foundation

If all the funds are not obtained, can the project continue?

Yes, the program will function on a limited basis; however, we hope to maintain our commitment of classes and the lending library in all sectors of the archipelago and expand our youth literature available for students.