Early Childhood Literacy & Nutrition in Guatemala

The Riecken Foundation believes that reading to children from an early age (0-5 years), stimulates the mind, develops language, and builds a base to ensure the success of reading in the future. The parents are childrens’ first teachers; so they need to be provided with tools and activities they can do with their families to promote reading at an early age and develop a reading habit that will continue throughout life.  Riecken’s programs are aimed develop language skills, vocabulary, pre-reading, as well as creating positive experiences with books. Parents also learn techniques and that they practice with their children.  Essentially, the community libraries promote six pre-reading skills that mother, father and baby can develop from birth:

• Motivation to Books: sparking the interest in children to enjoy books, with the purpose of promoting an approach to them.
• Vocabulary: in the first week of life, the baby can vocalize at the same time that mother does.
• Becoming familiar with the writing: engage the children with reading, use exercises that show drawings, shapes, people, and animals, not only with figures but with written words.
• Knowledge of sounds: help children acquire the ability to hear and play with sounds.
• Narrative skills: librarians can relate stories and tales to children and help develop the skills in reading readiness.
• Letter knowledge: the children begin to learn their first letters.

Volunteers and librarian of Riecken community library “Ventanas abiertas al futuro”, in Chiché Guatemala, are implementing this program with a nutritional focus, which offers a lot of activities to help mothers to develop their abilities in child nutrition.

In this month, 50 women are trained about the importance of good habits in nutrition and their roles in the children nutrition. Also, the library organized a conference “I’m a women and I’m important for my community” for celebrating the International Women Day.

Links:

• Libraries are a community development agent