WE-CARE Foundation, Inc.

This program sends trainers to homes in economically challenged communities to teach parents to be their children’s first teachers. Operational in four communities (West Point, Caldwell, Duazon, and Neezoe), Family Literacy Initiative is involved with 128 families. There is also an adult literacy component that trains people to solve problems using basic and fundamental literacy skills, in addition to critical thinking and their cultural values.

Family Literacy initiative in its third and final year of the pilot years, and continues to provide for 180 parents with the necessary instructional materials and most interestingly, the skills and confidence they need to be their child/children first teacher. They have moved from the initial doubt of not being able to teach their child/children to the skills and confidence building that will go a long way with them, as they work with their children. On the other hand, their children are gradually transitioning from book knowledge to story sequencing and from scribbling to letter knowledge, sounding letters to the spelling of their names, identifying things and happening around them.

The third year of the family Literacy initiative pilot program started, with the regular process, reciting home visitors and new parents, maintaining old parents, administrating bracken assessment, selection of home visitors from the general training workshop. On January 12, 2018, the third-year program kicks out with the weekly training of the home visitors and lasted up to January 18, 2018, Due to the new training schedules per community that will be listed below. The first field visit started on January 22, 2018, and was completed on January 30, 2018, base on the community home visit schedule.

The weekly training for home visitors is intended to fully engage the home visitors with the curriculum activities using the role plays. This also helps the home visitors to familiarize themselves with the booklets, books, and role-play activities before taking materials to the parents. Moreover, the training helps the home visitor and the coordinators to have an idea of how the children learn by repetition and usages the five domain areas. However, base on the increase of home visitors and communities, the weekly training for three communities is now being conducted within the communities, excluding West point home visitors. They come to the office for training. This year the coordinators with assistance coordinator rotate the training with home visitors in each community. We have successfully completed 10 weeks of training and have implemented nine weeks with the parents on the field.

The strength of the program lied within field visits, where home visits are made, monitoring & mentoring home visitors, parents & children. These visits are conducted on a weekly basis and are continued up to the end of each round of 30-32 weeks. The Home visitors and the coordinators used the time of the visit and get along with parents in building a strong working relationship, teach role play, the required skills, and confidence that the parents need to be their child/children first teacher by taking responsibility for their own learning.

The regular bracken assessment was conducted for the 60 newly selected families with the four communities( Neezoe -30 families) (Caldwell- 10 families) (WestPoint- 10 families) (Duazon -15 families) during the recruitment process for year three families five families from Duazon, year 2 move out of the community, additional five was recruited to balance the actual number.