Africa-Press – Liberia. The American based organization Youth Action International has launched a two-day training workshop for early childhood education teachers in Monrovia. The training was held in Dya-Wulu Cooperative Learning Center in Monrovia on October 28th and 29th. More than over 150 teachers from thirty schools were in attendance.
The organization’s Executive Director, Dr. Kimmie Weeks said that the training is part of a larger initiative called the Liberia Early Childhood Initiative (LECI) which provides training, age-appropriate educational materials, and ongoing support to enrolled schools. “We launched the LECI program ten years ago when we saw that there was a great need not only to provide training for early childhood educators, but also the materials and supplies create a highly effective and fun learning environment for young students.” He stated that since the program was launched in 2010, approximately seventy-five schools, four hundred teachers and eight thousand pupils benefited. The program provides essential elements to support the rapid developmental skills of our beneficiaries.
The teachers are receiving training on various skills including classroom management, effective communications, planning and collaborating. Teachers are also learning how to utilize the Mother Goose materials and supplies. Dr Weeks explained: “preprimary education is the foundation of a child’s education, but because of resource constraints, many schools cannot afford to purchase materials and modules that encourage creativity and learning through play.” He stated that the Mother Goose Time kits was a school in the box module that provides teachers adequate materials and supplies to help their students learn at an accelerated pace.
Dr. Weeks elaborated: “LECI provides both an immediate and long-term solution to the problems facing the youngest children in Liberia. By leveraging the existing infrastructure of current school and community leaders, LECI offers needed support to mobilize leaders, teachers and child advocates to systematically improve the quality of the young child’s experience at home and in school.”
Mrs. Leslie Falconer, CEO of the US based company Experience Learning, which produces the Mother Goose Time materials and resources explained that her company had been developing early childhood education materials for over twenty years. She stated that the materials were developed by some of the world’s leaders in early childhood education and therefore was amongst the premier early childhood education kits in the United States. “We are delighted that Liberian teachers are able to benefit from this wealth of materials,” said Mrs. Falconer. Each of the participating schools will receive thousands of dollars worth of Mother Goose Materials for use in their classrooms during the upcoming academic year.
Lead facilitator Rudy Martin thanked Youth Action International for the continuation of the program and stated that it was an essential tool for the teachers. “The Mother Goose time program buttresses the Ministry of Education’s curriculum because it provides the practical tools, books and materials to help make education more effective and fun,” said Madam Martin.
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