Working the Reggio Way

“A teacher’s goal is not so much to ‘facilitate’ learning in the sense of ‘making it smooth or easy’ but rather to ‘stimulate’ it by making problems more complex, engaging, and difficult.” – Loris Malaguzzi

Working the Reggio Way: A Beginner’s Guide for American Teachers
Julianne Wurm


Working the Reggio Way: A Beginner’s Guide for American Teachers was written in the context of applying the Italian “Reggio Approach” once featured in a 1991 Newsweek issue as offering “the best early childhood programs in the world,” into the American setting. The book is supposed to fill the cultural gap by providing practical suggestions for the American early childhood educator. It is not so much to replicate the schools themselves, “as cultural restraints make that impossible,” but to use the approach relevant to the culture of the United States. By asking many questions or engaging readers in exercises through out the chapters, the reader is lead to becoming a “reflective practitioner.” Progressing through the book should allow the reader to see the difference between values and actual practice. Reflective practice, as a basic point of origin for working with children in Reggio ways, is “looking at the ways you are working and asking questions of yourself and your colleagues.” The book presents the challenge for the practitioner to take responsibility for his/her professional development, “which requires constant reflection, collaboration, and questioning.”

The book is organized by starting with the reader’s reflection of his/her “own values about children, education, and community.” These values are to be the basis of succeeding actions, through the lens of which the reader “will look at the physical environment and space; the organization of time; the Reggio approach to curriculum through progettazione, or projects; and then the documentation, questioning that give life to the curriculum and the program.” Because it is a guide book, the book proceeds on a step by step learning course. The author encourages readers to learn along and actively participate by answering questions and writing these answers in a notebook or discussing it with a study group of colleagues.

A great emphasis of the approach is its interconnectedness. The one quality, the author says, proves difficult for teachers, because the approach presents a “big, complex picture” rather than small, compartmentalized, and individual pieces.

Chapter 1 begins by asking questions fundamental questions which serve as foundations in creating a vision for the school:

What is a child?
What is childhood?
How do we learn?
How do children learn?
What is the meaning of to educate?
What is the relationship between teaching and learning?
What is the relationship between theory and practice?
What is the relationship between school and research? And what is the relationship between school for young children and research?
What is the relationship between school and education?

The premise is the view that educators have of children, or their answers to the questions stated above affect actions including even the arrangement of the environment. In Reggio Emilia, children are not viewed as fragile but rather as “strong, powerful, and rich in potential, driven by the power of wanting to grow, and nurtured by adults who take this drive towards growth seriously.” Three features of the Reggio programs are manifestations of this view of the child as competent: a “wait time” which requires teachers to give the children time to understand concepts on their own; access to the bathroom without adult supervision; and sinks at children’s level.

“The curriculum in Reggio grows from teachers, children, and their families in those schools from their cultural context.” This approach may seem very radical for an educational system, present not only in the US that traditionally espouses a clear set of objectives and materials, or to “align their work with standards or readiness guidelines.” Alignment however should come with an established vision resulting from an examination of views and moving all elements, considering what is already in existence, towards that stated vision: aligning values and practice.


Space, “the physical, unchanging features of the place in which one lives and works with children” and environment, “the way physical space is dressed up, lived in, defined, and redefine over time” is discussed in Chapter 2. The author further gives the distinction for these two terms by suggesting conceiving “the space as forming the scaffold or framework upon which we create the environment.”

Sample Questions to Ask on the Environment:
(What do the answers communicate about your view of the child?)

o Why are the plant leaves dusty or limp from lack of watering?
o Why are there fake plants instead of real ones?
o Why are many of the toys stored out of reach of children?
o Could the storage areas be covered to create a more pleasing aesthetic sense?
o Are there boxes of old materials stored on tip of cabinets?
o Why do the children eat on paper plates?
o Why is the food made the previous day and reheated?
o How are materials presented?
o Is the restroom accessible to children at all times?
o Is the documentation at an adult’s eye level or a child’s?
o Where do the children eat?
o Where do they rest?
o What do they rest on?
o Is the outdoor space cement with a play structure?
o Is there adequate natural light?
o Does the air move freely throughout the school?
o Are there mirrors for children to see themselves?
o What does the child see when he looks up?
o Are the walls stimulating?
o Are the walls orderly?
o Are the walls clean?
o What are the clothes like in the dress-up area – adult hand-me-downs or child-sized fantasy clothes?
o Are the kitchen implements in the house-play area real or from the kitchen kit for children?
o Does the environment hold the child’s attention?
o Does the child want to stare at the light sparkles made from a hanging prism?
o Are musical instruments available?
o Are there places for the children to interact with one another both inside and outside?
o Are there safe “nooks” for two or three children to go to on their own?
o How are the blocks in the construction area stored?
o Is there a construction area?
o Is there a House-play area?
o Is there a dress-up area

Early Childhood Care and Education in Indonesia

Speaking of Indonesia’s investment in ECD, the Section for Early Childhood and Inclusive Education Division of Basic Education of the UNESCO Education Sector came up with a Policy Review Report of Early Childhood Care and Education in Indonesia in January 1995 as part of their Early Childhood and Family Policy Series.

A copy of the report in English and Indonesian may be obtained online. A search through the UNESCO library portal will also give some related documents: An earlier national case study report, and ECCE in South East Asia.

Some notes:

• The major access gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children in Indonesia lies in their access to early childhood educational services.
  
• The current participation level for educational early childhood services is 8%.
  In 2003 the total expenditure for early childhood care and education was only 0.55% of the education budget.
  
• The absence of public investment remains a major obstacle to bridging the access gap between the disadvantage and the advantaged.
  If Indonesia is serious about long-term social development, social cohesion, poverty alleviation and economic growth, it must consider making a greater investment in early childhood services.
  
• Considering that serving poor children is one of the best ways to maximize the benefits of investment in early childhood, public investment directed mainly to the poor is a doubly sound policy option for making the best use of exiting resources.
  
• As many as eight ministries and government offices with their own early childhood services co-exist: The Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Family Welfare and Empowerment Team, and the National Family Planning Coordination Board.
  
• Different ministries and government agencies plan policy with no apparent coordination.

Notes on Reggio Emilia

I’ve recently been reading on the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education and I’ve been learning quite a lot.

I’m posting some notes that I’ve picked up. This segment is from Reflections on the Reggio Emilia Approach, a collection of papers edited by Lilian G. Katz and Bernard Cesarone, monograph series of the ERIC/ EECE (1994).

The Reggio Emilia approach is described by Howard Gardner in “Complementary Perspectives on Reggio Emilia” in “The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education (1993),” as
…a collection of schools for young children in which each child’s intellectual, emotional, social, and moral potentials are carefully cultivated and guided. The principal educational vehicle involves youngsters in long-term engrossing projects, which are carried out in a beautiful, healthy, love-filled setting.”

The municipal early childhood programs in the city Reggio Emilia (pop. 130,000) located at the Emilia Romagna region, originated in cooperative schools started by parents at the end of World War II. The city currently supports 22 preprimary schools for children 3-6 years of age, as well as 13 infant-toddles centers for children under 3. Children of all socio-economic and educational backgrounds attend the programs, including special needs children; 50% of the city’s 3-6 years olds and 37% of the city’s children under 3 are served in the municipal schools and centers (Edwards, et al: Promoting Collaborative Learning)

[Why only 50 and 37%, I wonder… and how do they implement programs for special children?] – I read further and saw a figure that 90% of the children are enrolled, there are also privately funded institutions that might have catered to the other percentage of children not enrolled in the municipal funded centers.

Staff Development in Reggio Emilia
By Carlina Rinaldi, Municipal Preprimary Schools of Reggio Emilia,
Reggio Emilia, Italy

By way of introduction:
o Research as a permanent learning strategy for both children and adults.
o Staff development is a vital and daily aspect of work – of personal and professional identities.
o The group is not characterized simply by the sum of individual people or as a game between minority and majority thinking. Instead. It is a new way of thinking, it is a co-construction together towards a common interpretation of educational goals.

On competence:
o The fundamental premise of staff development is that it will develop the competence of the teacher by fostering interaction with children, parents, and colleagues. Moreover, every child has the right to have a competent, well-informed teacher. This competence is acquired through practice and through reflection within the teacher group.
o Teachers should be well educated in the broadest sense of the word. The teacher ought to be a person belonging to our present-day culture who, at the same time, is able to criticize, to question, and to analyze this culture. The teacher out to be intellectually curious, one who rebels against a consumeristic approach to knowledge and is willing to build upon knowledge rather than to consume it. To consider the teacher as such is both a premise and an objective.
o The main job [of educator] is to facilitate the entrance of children into the culture and the symbols around them and to help them to create new cultures and symbolization while respecting their own personal strategies, their own ways, their own timetable. The children are competent in this regard. We must support their “journey” by building with them and for them a network of understandings that is founded on the continual intertwining of the fields of knowledge and the fields of experience.
o The problem is not so much to question ourselves about how to teach children, but to ask ourselves what and how children can learn from a certain situation.

Promoting Collaborative Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom: Teachers’ contrasting Conceptualizations in Two Communities
By: Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini, and John Nimmo

Noteworthy Features of the City-financed, City-managed Systems of Preprimary and Infant-toddles Education in Reggio Emilia and Pistoia, Italy:
1. The ways in which children, teachers and parents are connected in to operative communities focused on the surrounding cit and region;
2. the ways in which children are stimulated toward cognitive, social, and emotional development through collaborative play and group projects.

o Rather than focusing on the developing child as an autonomous learner, Reggio Emilia and Pistoia educators see education as a communal activity and sharing of culture through collaboration among children and also between children and teachers, who open topics to speculation and negotiation. The Amherst, Massachusetts educators, in contrast, see education first and foremost as a means for promoting the development of each individual.

I’d like to put the Conclusion of this article in whole because it’s so interesting especially in describing the different cultural contexts with which teachers work with children, and presents as well very challenging questions on collaborative and individual learning.

Beginning with shared assumptions about the nature of the child of the schooling as a “system of relations and communications embedded in the wider social system” (Rinaldi, 1990), the educators in Reggio Emilia have developed over the past thirty years a distinctive approach to early education. The concrete features of this approach include, as key components, small group collaborative learning; continuity over time of child-child and child-teacher relations; a focus on problem solving and long-term projects involving mastery of many symbolic media; fostering of the connections between home, school, and the wider community; and awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage (city, region, and nation). Accompanying these concrete organizational features is a shared discourse or language of education that allows the Reggio teachers to collaborate, that is, in their own terms, to exchange ideals, listen to one another, and engage in meaningful conflict over ideas. Their language of education is readily apparent in their statements in the collaboration interviews, as well as the subsequent group vide-reflection discussions. It is based on a theory of knowledge that defines thinking and learning as social and communicative events – co-constructive experiences for both children and adults.
The Amherst educators, members of a school community founded in the 1960s based on Deweyian principles of progressive education, likewise developed a shared language of education. Central to their goals are promoting the development of each unique individual, within a strong community stretching backward and forward in time and containing children, their families, and all the staff at the school – director, librarian, teachers, assistant teachers, and others. This community is conceived as democratic, diverse, and drawing strength from the ties of cross-age relationships. Their language of education, very different from that heard in Reggio Emilia, is based on a theory of knowledge that sees thinking and learning as a matter of each child gaining knowledge of self, others, and the wider world through social interaction, research, and discussion – processes that stimulate the development of mature autonomy and self realization. Placing the two perspectives in juxtaposition, it is easy to see how each language of education constrains or directs the thinking of its teachers, but = at the same time packages ideas economically to make the communication and dialogue possible for the community. The language of education preferred in Amherst focuses teachers’ attention on individuals and how they develop and change over time. The preferred discourse makes it difficult for them to regard groups as the always desirable context for intellectual work and supports the view that teachers should closely monitor social interactions between children and be available to work closely in short, one-on-one or one-on-two spurts, with children engaged in intellectual work, so that children have opportunities for both guided and independent learning. In contrast, the language of education preferred in Reggio Emilia focuses teachers’ attention on children always in relation to the group, and makes it difficult for them to speak systematically about the value of their program in terms of what the children gain from it, year by year, across specific domains.
At the same time, the educators in each community seem to be aware of more dimensions and more complexity that what their language of education structures for them. As aw shall discuss in future writings, both groups of teachers are highly aware of the unique personality f each chills and also highly knowledgeable about the group processes in their classroom. Indeed, it appeared that the interviews and discussions involved in our research, particularly the cross-cultural video-reflection, provoked the teachers to consider the limitations of both their own and the other community’s discourse and practices.


I wonder, however, if anybody has ever made studies on the effects of the Reggio Emilia approach to the community or to Italy, for that matter. If their early childhood development programs are so world renowned to be superior, and with the knowledge that investment in ECD is worth all other investments, have the Reggio Emilia schools produced better individuals and communities as compared to other places in the world? Are the Italians better, in a sense, than other people in the world with different ECD or early childhood education approaches?

Malnutrition Affecting Aceh’s Youngest

I found this in one of the news bits of The Jakarta Post, July 1, 2006 issue reported by Antara: Naimah Hasan, an official of the Bureau of/ Agency for Reconstruction and Recovery for Aceh and Nias (BRR) stated that an estimated 60 percent of Acehnese children under five are malnourished according to a recent survey conducted through Aceh. A 2005 census of the province placed the population of children aged under five years old at 402,460. The official added that reconstruction efforts in Aceh had been focused on physical projects at the cost of health.

I think that Aceh especially should seriously look into its ECD investments and interventions because after the tsunami, the trend had been for families to get pregnant as a response to the loss they had incurred. There is indeed a lot of marrying and women getting pregnant around here.

Planning Policies Guidelines Review

I've been reading a material which might seem very useful for our needs. I would have wanted to move forward on identifying and/ or helping develop workshop materials for ECD benchmarks, theories, and best practices but I don't know what materials we already have and what materials need to be developed. Anyway, I just assumed that I'm working from zero, so this is one of the materials which I have identified and I'll outline some of its contents that we can use. I've decided to review seemingly good materials that I have already searched and see where they can be used rather than search and save/print haphazardly. I figured that this would be a better way to manage the knowledge that is already being accumulated.


Planning Policies for Early Childhood Development: Guidelines for Action
Emily Vargas-Barón
Available online at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001395/139545e.pdf

Because the material is a “tool kit,” it is a good guide book especially for a multi – sectoral working group who has to understand the basics of having to work in collaboration. The material works on the basic principles of participatory planning, integrated and life cycle approach to ECD.
Practical suggestions for conducting the five phases (Preparation; ECD Situation Analysis and Consultation Preparation; Community, Regional and National Consultations; Policy Drafts and Consensus Building; and Policy Approval and Adoption) of an ECD policy planning process follows after an introduction on all major areas of child survival and development.

Area/ Task/ Need:
Workshop Material for Early Childhood Development Benchmarks, Theories and Best Practices

Contents (From the Material):
The Needs and Justification for ECD Policies.......... 3
A Brief History of ECD Policy Development.......... 6
The Integrated Approach ................ 7
The Life Cycle Approach to ECD Policy Planning..... 9
Increasing Investment in Young Children...... 11
The Participatory Approach......... 12
Achieving Policy Alignment................ 13

Area/ Task/ Need:
Design and Implement a Baseline Assessment for ECD services and programming in Aceh/
Develop indicators for STC ECD Programming in Aceh

Contents (From the Material):
ECD Indicators Linked to MDGs..... 63
Policy Indicators (for content areas and policy assessment)..... 91


ECD Indicators Linked to MDGs
Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 2 under this MDG is: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Target 2 includes the indicator: Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age. 47
Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education
Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. The indicators include: net enrolment ratio in primary education and the proportion of pupils starting grade one who reach grade five. Children need to be “ready for school” in all respects in order to enrol in and complete primary school, without grade repetition.
Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women
Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015. Indicators include: ratios of girls to boys in primary education that requires that girls be ready for school as well as boys.
Goal 4 Reduce child mortality
Reduce by two-thirds, between 1900 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. The three indicators are: Under-five mortality rate; infant mortality rate, and the proportion of one-year-old children immunised against measles.
Goal 5 Improve maternal health
Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio. The two indicators are: maternal mortality ratio and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel.
Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Target One: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. Indicators include: HIV prevalence among pregnant women ages 15 to 24 and ratio of school attendance of orphans to school attendance of non-orphans ages 10 to 14. Clearly, prenatal education and care plus attention to children affected by HIV/AIDS needs to be a part of comprehensive National ECD Policies.
Target Two: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases. Indicators include child-related measures of prevalence and death rates associated with malaria and tuberculosis as well as the proportion of the population in malaria risk areas using effective malaria prevent and treatment measures.
Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
Target Two: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Indicators include: Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural, and proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural. Water and sanitation are essential areas for every National ECD Policy.
Policy Indicators (for content areas and policy assessment)
The purpose of this Annex is to help Planning Teams consider a wide range of indicators previously used in many nations and provinces for possible application in National ECD Policies. Several of the indicators also have been used in Poverty Reduction Strategies and in other multi-sectoral or sectoral policies, such as health, nutrition, sanitation, education, and children’s rights that include indicators related to young children and families. Some of the ECD indicators listed in this paper are used widely while others pertain mainly to certain situations in specific nations. The latter tend to be ECD indicators that are used in nations with severe resource constraints and major human development needs. This list is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to inspire reflection in each nation about which indicators
No nation would ever use all of these indicators because the list is too long, only a few of them will be needed, and it would be very expensive to gather so much data. Each Policy Planning Team must make a judicious selection of indicators for each age range and outcomes area. Indicators that are not on this list certainly can be added. At the end of the list, a few indicators are suggested for the evaluation of the policy itself. Others could be considered but these are central to achieving policy goals and objectives.


Examples of National-level Policy Indicators Used by Nations, by Life Cycle and by Special Theme
The list below is divided into indicators for specific age ranges or special populations:
• Zero to 36 Months
• 37 to 72 Months
• 73 to 96 Months
• Special Populations
• Indicators for Assessing Policy Implementation
In each age range or special population, it is important to consider each sector: health, nutrition, sanitation, education and juridical protection. The set of indicators for each age range is divided into the following types of outcomes:
• Child Outcomes
• Family or Community Outcomes
• Programme Service Outcomes
By dividing the indicators this way, it is possible for Policy Planning Teams to ensure they have selected appropriate indicators for each age range, sector and type of outcomes.
Several of the indicators listed below are ones that the Planning Team may wish to continue to measure through the next age range. The ones recommended for consideration for continuation are asterisked when they first appear in the list. They are not repeated in the next list although they may be added in the text of the policy.
Indicators for the Prenatal/Perinatal Period
Child Outcomes: Birth Outcomes
• Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000)
• Ratio of infant mortality rate of poorest quintile to infant mortality rate of least poor quintile
• Percent of infants with low birth weight (<2500 gm)
• Percent of infants born pre-term (<32 weeks)
• Percent of newborns with national identification number and birth data nationally registered
• Percent of newborns with a congenital malformation, hearing or visual impairment or other disability identified at birth or very shortly thereafter
Family or Community Outcomes: Maternal Outcomes
• Rate of pregnancies to girls 11 to 17 years of age
• Percent of pregnancies to single girls or women
• Percent of pregnancies to women living in poverty, in extreme poverty (national measures)
• Percent of women with anaemia or other vitamin or mineral deficiency during the prenatal period
• Maternal mortality rate
• Percent of infants who receive only breast milk for the first six months of life
Programme Service Outcomes
• Percent of pregnant women who begin receiving prenatal health and nutrition care and parenting education during first trimester
• Percent of pregnant women who receive all regularly scheduled prenatal checkups
• Percent of pregnant women who receive at least four home visits or group meetings on prenatal health, nutrition and parenting education before they give birth
• Percent of births attended by a trained and skilled health worker
• Percent of births taking place in a government or other quality health facility
• Percent of women who make at least three post-natal health and education visits in a health centre
• Percent of women receiving at least four home visits or group meetings on infant care and psycho-social stimulation, parenting, child development, health, nutrition before child is six months old*
• Percent of mothers informed about good infant feeding practices and who follow those practices*
Indicators for Zero to 36 Months
Child Outcomes
• Number and percent of children identified to be developmentally delayed or are at high risk of delay at certain ages (for example: three, six, nine, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months)
• Number and percent of children who achieve normal development by three, six, nine, 12, 18 and
36 months of age
• Percent of infants under six months (or 12 months) with vision or hearing problems
• Percent of infants and young children with complete DPT3 coverage
• Percent of infants and young children at 36 months who received all immunisations on time
• Percent of young children who consistently receive a breakfast*
• Percent of infants and children having enough vitamin A, vitamins and minerals, including iodine*
• Incidence of diarrhoea among children under 36 months of age (under 60 months of age)*
• Percent of mortality attributable to diarrhoea among children under 36 months (under 60 months)*
• Percent of mortality attributable to malaria among children under 36 months (under 60 months) *
• Percent of children under 36 months diagnosed with malaria (under 60 months) (or other disease)*
• Percent of children under 36 moderately or severely stunted (height for age) (under 60 months)*
• Percent of children under 36 months moderately or severely wasted (weight for height) (under 60 months)*
• Percent of children under 36 months moderately or severely underweight (weight for age) (under 60 months)*
• Number and percent of children identified to be malnourished whose growth curve improves*
Family or Community Outcomes
• Percent of mothers who maintain breastfeeding until six, 12, 18 months
• Percent of parents that maintain or develop good parenting skills (as measured by a parent observation scale)*
• Percent of parents who have a good knowledge of basic nutrition, health and child development stages and learning activities (as measured by a survey questionnaire)*
• Percent of mothers and fathers that state they feel greater support and ability as parents due to participating in early childhood programmes*
• Percent of mothers who completed primary school*
• Percent of parents who report that they read or tell stories to their children three to six times a week*
• Percent of parents who report that they have supportive networks and are able to access parenting advice and resources*
• Percent of families with young children with access to piped or protected clean water as their main drinking water source*
• Percent of households able to fetch clean water in under 30 minutes*
• Percent of families living at or below the basic needs poverty line*
• Number and percent of families with young children and no working parent*
• Number and percent of single mothers who are working*
• Number and percent of single mothers without work*
• Percent of families living at or below the food poverty line*
• Percent of districts reported to be food insecure*
• Percent of households who eat no more than one meal a day *
• Percent of absent fathers who provide adequate financial or material child support (as specified by national child support policy)*
• Total fertility rate*
• Number of reported cholera cases (or other prevalent disease)*
• Life expectancy*
Programme Service Outcomes
• Number and percent of children whose development is screened or assessed at three, six, nine, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months (assessment instrument required)
• Number and percent of infants and children identi.ed with developmental delays or at high risk of becoming delayed served by community parent education and child stimulation programmes*
• Number and percent of children receiving services for a developmental delay or a high-risk condition who are tracked and followed up until 36 months of age (48 or 60 months)*
• Number and percent of children screened for vision and hearing before 24 months
• Percent of parents participating in some form of early learning programmes (e.g. home visiting
programmes, family or centre-based child care, family resource centres, or others)*
• Availability of family resource centres or similar parent education and support services for families per city, town or village*
• Number of community educators trained and who teach health, nutrition and child development*
• Number and percent of communities with trained community educators*
• Number and percent of families served by each/all community educators*
• Number and percent of children zero to 36 months served by community educators (37 to 60 months)*
• Number of outpatient health visits per child per annum*
• Percent of children receiving primary health care and well-baby checkups according to schedule*
• (Alternative) Percent of children who have had a physical examination or well-child visit during the interval recommended for their age group*
• Number and percent of children with a well-child check-up booklet*
• Number and percent of malnourished children whose parents receive appropriate services*
• Total number of family planning acceptors*
• Percent of mothers reporting to be satisfied with health services for them and their children*
• Number of radio and/or television programmes with messages regarding parent education, early child development, health and nutrition*
• Number and percent of infants and children zero to 36 months who receive quality child care
Indicators for 37 to 72 Months
Child Outcomes
• Number and percent of children 48 and 60 months who are screened or assessed and identi.ed to be delayed in their development or at high risk of delay
• Number and percent of children who achieve normal development by 48 and 60 months of
• Child mortality rate (under 60 months of age)
• Percent of children with severe developmental delays or disabilities receiving special education
programmes*
Family or Community Outcomes
• Percent of families that report they have access to quality child care or preschools
• Percent of families that report their children are safe from accidents and protected before and after child care or preschool
Programme Service Outcomes
• Number and percent of children whose development is assessed at 48 months and 60 months (assessment or screening instrument required)
• Number and percent of children requiring quality child care or preschool who receive care
• Total number of child care centre slots (places)
• Total number of preschool slots (places)
• Total number of child care centres
• Total number of licensed child care centres
• Total number of preschools
• Total number of licensed preschools
• Total number of child care centres using age-appropriate curriculum for holistic child development
• Total number of preschools using an age-appropriate curriculum for holistic child development
• Total number of child care centres repaired and upgraded
• Total number of preschools repaired and upgraded
• Number and percent of child care centres or preschools with functioning latrines
• Number and percent of child care centres or preschools with access to abundant clean water
• Number and percent of child care centres that are assessed to be of acceptable quality (according to a scale including: age-appropriate curriculum, methods, suf.cient trained staff, suf.cient learning materials, adequate building and equipment, etc.)
• Number and percent of preschools that are assessed to be of acceptable quality (according to a scale including: age-appropriate curriculum, methods, suf.cient trained staff, suf.cient learning materials, adequate building and equipment, etc.)
• Number and percent of children in family child care by single year, by age, sex and region
• Number and percent of children in publicly funded and regulated family child care by single year, age, sex and region
• Number and percent of children in a child care centre by single year, age, sex and region
• Number and percent of children in a preschool by single year, age, sex and region
• Number and percent of children in publicly funded and regulated child care centre by single year, age, sex and region
• Number and percent of children in publicly funded and regulated preschool by single year, age, sex and region
• Number and percent of children requiring quality child care or preschool services who receive them, by age, sex and region
• Number and percent of child caregivers who receive at least 10 days (80 hours) of in-service training each year
• Number and percent of preschool teachers who receive at least 10 days (80 hours) of in-service training each year
• Number and percent of child caregivers and preschool teachers who have completed formal training, as specified by national guidelines
• Number and percent of caregivers and teachers trained and certified for providing services to children with malnutrition, low birth weight, developmental delays and chronic ill health
• Percent of annual staff turnover of caregivers in child care centres
• Percent of annual staff turnover of caregivers in preschool centres
• Average caregiver duration in post
• Number and percent of family child care homes that have received of.cial recognition
• Number and percent of trained directors of child care centres
• Number and percent of trained directors of preschools
• Number and percent or family child care homes assessed as acceptable (quality assessment scale)
• Ratio of children to trained staff in family child care homes
• Ratio of children to trained staff in child care centres
• Ratio of children to trained staff in preschools
• Average hourly cost per child enrolled in family child care homes
• Average hourly cost per child enrolled in child care centres
• Average hourly cost per child enrolled in preschools or
• Average daily or weekly cost per child of full day family child care
• Average daily or weekly cost per child of full day child care centre services
• Average daily or weekly cost per child of full day preschool services
Indicators for 73 to 96 Months
Child Outcomes
• Percent of children assessed to be “ready for school” with age-appropriate skills and behaviour, by age, sex and region (assessment instrument required)
• Percent of children entering primary school with one or more years of preschool, by sex/region
• Net primary school enrolment rate
• Gross primary school enrolment rate
• Girl/boy ratio in primary school
• Percent of children identified upon school entry to have developmental disabilities or delays
• Rate of school attendance
• Percent of children with mother tongue that is not the national language who receive their first instruction in their mother tongue
• Percent of children who pass the first, second and third grades
• Percent of children who repeat one or more grades before completing third year of primary school
• Percent of children who are at or above grade level in reading by the end of third year of school
• Percent of children who are at or above grade level in mathematics by end of third year of school
• Percent of children who drop out of school by age, sex and region
• Percent of children who complete primary school
• Percent of students passing the Primary School Leavers’ Exam
• Percent of children in the labour force and not going to school
• Percent of children fully immunised at school entry
Family or Community Outcomes
• Percent of parents that state they have developed positive relationships with local schools, child care providers and health facilities
• Percent of parents that report they have become involved in the schooling of their children
• Percent of parents reporting they contribute to the development of their child’s school
• Percent of parents who consider their children to be safe before and after school
Education and Programme Service Outcomes
• Percent of primary schools that screen or assess children’s school readiness at school entry
• Ratio of students per teacher
• Ratio of students per class
• Percent of children identi.ed to have developmental disabilities or delays who receive inclusive special education services in the schools
• Rate of school attendance
• Percent of primary schools with high drop out rates
• Percent of primary schools with high repetition rates
• Percent of primary schools with low levels of primary school completion
• Percent of primary schools assessed to have quality learning environment (observation scale)
• Number and percent of primary schools with functioning latrines
• Number and percent of primary schools with access to abundant clean water
• Percent of primary schools that have a parent orientation programme for the school year, especially for the first year of school
• Percent of primary schools whose teachers make at least one home visit per year
• Percent primary schools that report they work with families to support learning
• Percent of primary schools with parent involvement policies and activities
• Percent of primary schools with children in special education that provide family support
• Percent of primary schools offering family support services
• Percent of primary schools providing school feeding programmes (specify breakfast and/or lunch)
Indicators for Special Populations
• Rate of substantiated child abuse or neglect (per 1000)
• Number and percent of abused or neglected children whose parents receive parenting education and family support and counselling
• Rate of reported cases of family violence where children are present in the family (per 100,000)
• Number and percent of families with violence receiving counselling and parenting education
• Rate of reported cases of maternal depression
• Number and percent of women identified to be depressed that receive support to meet their needs,
counselling and parenting education
• Number and percent of children, three to eight years of age identified to be in child labour
• Number and percent of children ages three to eight years in child labour who enter child development
programmes to prepare for school entry or are placed in primary school
• Number and percent of children affected by war or living in displaced families
• Number of children affected by war or living in displaced families who receive appropriate trauma, child development and parent education services
• Number and percent of children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS
• Number and percent of AIDS orphans
• Number and percent of HIV/AIDS infected or affected children who receive early child development services
• Number and percent of children identified to be begging in the streets
• Number and percent of former beggar children who are placed in good care or homes
Indicators for Policy Assessment
• Annual ECD Action Plan prepared, reviewed, approved and adopted
• Structures for implementing, co-ordinating, monitoring, evaluating and revising ECD Policy established and functioning (national, regional/provincial and district/community levels by phases)
• Policy Implementation and Evaluation Unit established and conducting all expected roles successfully
• Priority ECD programmes designed, augmented or improved according to Policy and Action Plan
• ECD Training Plan designed and functioning in accordance with the Annual ECD Action Plan
• Policy Advocacy and Social Communications Plan designed and implemented according to Annual ECD
Action Plan
• Donor and Partnership Co-ordination Plan implemented according to schedule
• Investment Plan implemented and additional investments made according to plan
• Data for assessing the achievement of Policy indicators collected, analyzed and disseminated widely and used for preparation of next Annual ECD Action Plan
• Consultations and consensus meetings for the preparation of next Annual ECD Action Plan designed, convened and reported
• Second Annual ECD Action Plan prepared, reviewed, approved and adopted

Comparative Analysis of ECD/ ECE Programmatic Guidelines

Comparative Analysis of ECD/ ECE Programmatic Guidelines

Synthesis and Summaries of Different Programming Guidelines


I. Head Start program

The Head Start Program is based on the premise that all children share certain needs and that children of low-income families, in particular, can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program to meet those needs. The Head Start approach makes the following assumptions:
A child can benefit from a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program to foster development.
Because the family is the principal influence on the child's development, the child's family, as well as the community, must be involved in the program.
Local communities are allowed latitude to develop creative program designs so long as the basic goals, objectives and standards of the comprehensive program are maintained.
The overall goal of the Head Start Program is to bring about a greater degree of social competence in children of low-income families. Social competence means the child's everyday effectiveness in dealing with both the present environment and later responsibilities in school and in life. Social competence takes into account the interrelatedness of cognitive and intellectual development, physical and mental health, nutritional needs as well as other factors. To achieve social competence, Head Start objectives and performance standards provide for:
· Improvement of the child's health and physical abilities, including appropriate steps to correct present physical and mental problems and to enhance every child's access to an adequate diet.
· Improvement of the family's attitude toward future health care and physical abilities.
· Encouragement of self-confidence, spontaneity, curiosity and self-discipline that will assist the development of the child's social and emotional health.
· Enhancement of the child's mental processes and skills, with particular attention to conceptual and communication skills.
· Establishment of patterns and expectations of success for the child that will create a climate of confidence for present and future learning efforts and overall development.
· Enhancement of the ability of the child and family to relate to one another and to others.
· Development of a sense of dignity and self-worth within the child and his family.
A comprehensive preschool program for children from low-income families
Project Head Start, launched as a summer program by the Office of Economic Opportunity in 1965, was designed to break the cycle of poverty by providing preschool children and their families with a program to meet their social, health, nutritional and psychological needs. Head Start is now a $4 billion dollar program that provides comprehensive services to low-income children from age three to the age of school attendance. A new program, Early Head Start, serving children from birth to three years was initiated in 1995. Head Start serves nearly 800,000 children and families nationwide, through a network of approximately 1,450 grantees.
Head Start has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, more than doubling in size since 1990. The program currently receives approximately $21 million in federal assistance and serves more than 3,200 children each year in the following critical areas:
Education
Each child receives a variety of individualized learning experiences to foster social, intellectual, physical and emotional growth. Children participate in indoor and outdoor play and are introduced to the concepts of words and numbers. They are encouraged to express their feelings, develop self-confidence and their ability to get along with others.
Health and Nutrition
Head Start emphasizes preventive care and early detection of health problems. Every child receives a complete physical examination including vision and hearing tests, immunizations, a dental exam and identification of disabling conditions. Follow-up services are provided. Through the nutrition program, children are served a minimum of one balanced meal and a healthful snack each day.
Parent Involvement
An essential part of every Head Start program is the involvement of parents in education, program planning and operation. Parents play an active role in all aspects of the program. Through that involvement and other training and activities, parents also have the opportunity to gain skills and secure employment. Many employees at both the grantee and delegate agency levels are former Head Start parents.
Social Services
A case management program assists families in assessing their own needs, identifying and securing services and building upon their individual strengths. A variety of community resources are available to families in addition to crisis intervention and emergency assistance.
Disabilities
At least 10 percent of Head Start's enrollment is dedicated to children with disabilities or other special needs. Specially trained staff work closely with community agencies to provide services to disabled children while simultaneously providing them with an integrated, developmentally appropriate early childhood experience within the Head Start classroom.
Mental Health
Mental health professionals work with staff and parents to increase awareness of the special problems of children and provide a link to mental health resources.
Source: http://phoenix.gov/YOUTH/headstrt.html

II. Learning Menu Guidelines for Early Childhood Education (Generic Learning Menu)

The ECE Learning Menu Guidelines is one of various sets of guidelines developed by the Directorate of Early Childhood Education (DECE) in collaboration with experts, practitioners, and caregivers of young children who are involved with the ECE Forum and the Central ECE Consortium. The DECE was established by the Ministry of National Education (MONE) as a result of the Indonesian government’s awareness of the importance of early education. It operates under the Directorate General of Out of School Education and Youth (DGOSEY) and is expected to be able to encourage and facilitate the community in ECE services (0-6 years old), particularly those children who are denied access to ECE services due to their poor living conditions.

The guidelines, the arrangement of which also involved the MONE Curriculum Center, were later called Generic Learning Menu, meaning it was not intended to be rigidly followed and should further be developed by ECE providers. In addition, the guidelines, which are arranged according to children’s age, are expected to be viewed as a continuum of processes so that it must not be interpreted rigidly. That is, an activity may be applied to children of any age; yet with different level of depth or variations.

The guidelines were designed to be used until a standard one can be made available. Therefore, it will continuously be refined based on actual practices and recent research findings in the field of child growth. However, should any refinement be considered necessary in the future, its basic principles should be kept in tact.

Shortened as Learning Menu, the ECE Learning Menu Guidelines is a set of plans and arrangements for development and education activities that is designed to function as guidelines for the implementation of educational activities. As a Generic Learning Menu, it is a holistic ECE program (0-6 years old) that can be utilized in providing development and education activity service at any type of programs intended for young children.
Source: Directorate of Early Childhood Education, Directorate General of Out – of – School Education and Youth, Ministry of National Education, Indonesia, “Learning Menu Guidelines for Early Childhood Education (Generic Learning Menu)”
III. Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century

In 1999, under the direction of Sue Wortham of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) with Leah Adams and Ulla Grob-Menges of the Organización Mundial para la Educación Preescolar (OMEP), a symposium was held in Ruschlikon, Switzerland to develop global guidelines for early childhood education and care. Early childhood and care professionals representing 28 countries attended the symposium and developed the guidelines entitled, “Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century.”

Using items from the Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century, ACEI sponsored a second initiative to form the ACEI Global Self-Assessment Tool. The instrument was first piloted in Chile and the United States in 2000 and again in 2001 in Nigeria, Botswana, China, and additional sites in the United States. By 2002, the instrument development was completed.
The purpose of the ACEI Global Self-Assessment is to provide a practical method for helping early childhood educators in countries around the world to assess and improve program quality. The ACEI Global Self-Assessment contains items for examining program quality in five areas:
Environment and Physical Space;
Curriculum Content and Pedagogy;
Early Childhood Educators and Caregivers;
Partnerships with Families and Communities; and
Young Children with Special Needs.
Source: Chapel Hill Training-Outreach Project, Inc., http://www.chtop.org/GPselfassessment.htm
This Self-Assessment Tool was designed to enable early childhood education and care sites to assess and evaluate their program using basic guidelines for quality.
The Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century co-sponsored by the Association for Childhood Education International (A.C.E.I.) and the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (Organisation Mondiale pour L’Éducation Préscolaire: O.M.E.P.) indicate that “every child should have the opportunity to grow up in a setting that values children, that provides conditions for a safe and secure environment, and that respects diversity” (International Symposium of Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century: Global guidelines, 1999, p. 5). The International Symposium was a thoughtful deliberation on the parts of 83 early childhood professionals from countries around the world to operationalize "quality education and care for all children in accordance with each countries own needs, resources, and culture" (Self-Assessment Tool Adapted from the Global Guidelines for the Education and Care of Young Children, 2003).
Source: Child Care Resource and Research Unit, University of Toronto, http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=86209&AA_EX_Session=03bdba7075dae5441f5fbd84ed4a1398

IV. What Barangay Officials Can do to Set Up a Child – Friendly Society
The Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) was launched in 1996 to act on the resolution passed during the second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) to make cities liveable places for all; in UNICEF terms, for "children first." The Conference declared that the well-being of children is the ultimate indicator of a healthy habitat, a democratic society and of good governance.

The Child-Friendly Movement has energized many parts of the Philippines. But many communities remain uncertain how to make the movement work for them. "What Barangay Officials Can Do to Set Up a Child-Friendly Locality" is a useful guide to creating child-friendly communities that will help realize the vision of a good quality of life for the Filipino child in the 21st century. The booklet is intended to be simple and user-friendly. It is designed to be used at community level as a tool to assess itself and track its progress towards creating conditions that help children develop to their full potential. It describes 7 foundations in order to fulfil 24 Child Goals. The 24 goals are:

(A) Child Health:
(1) All children are registered at birth.
(2) All infants are exclusively breastfed up to about 6 months.
(3) All children are fully immunized against Tuberculosis, Diphtheria/Pertussis/Tetanus, Polio and Measles.
(4) All children 0-2 years old are weighed monthly and mothers counselled on health, nutrition and psychosocial care.
(5) All children are well-nourished.
(6) All children 1-5 years old are given Vitamin A capsules twice a year.

(B) Maternal Health:
(7) All births are attended by trained personnel.
(8) All pregnant women get at least four pre-natal checkups.
(9) All mothers are immunised against Tetanus.
(10) All pregnant or lactating women are sufficient in Vitamin A and are not anaemic.
(11) All pregnant women who are at risk get emergency obstetric care.
(12) All pregnancies are spaced at least two years apart.

(C) Education:
(13) All children 3-5 years old attend early education programmes.
(14) All children 6-16 years old are in school and finish high school.
(15) All schoolchildren pass the National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT)
(16) All out-of-school-children are identified and reinstated, or are provided alternative education.
(17) All illiterate parents and caregivers are enrolled in functional literacy programmes.

(D) Special protection:
(18) All children are removed from exploitative and hazardous labour, prostitution and pornography.
(19) All cases of physical and sexual abuse and violence are eliminated in the home and community.

(E) Family practices:
(20) All families have safe drinking water.
(21) All families have access to and use only iodised salt.
(22) All families use sanitary latrines.
(23) All family members share in child care and other domestic responsibilities.

(F) Child Participation:
(24) Children 12-17 years old participate in socio-cultural and community development activities, for example sports, children’s theatre, cleanliness drives, community fund raising campaigns and information dissemination on child right issues.

The 7 foundations are: a functional Barangay Council for the protection of children, a functional children’s organisation, a functioning justice system, a functioning health and nutrition system, a functional early childhood care and development centre, child-friendly schools, a community managed knowledge dissemination and exchange system addressing issues concerning children and parents. A self-assessment method has been linked to these points. The method was developed in careful consideration of the existing evaluation tools of the Council for the Welfare of Children. The publication has been jointly prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), League of Barangay Officials, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Source: UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, http://www.childfriendlycities.org/news/index_information_material.html

Sandosenang Sapatos

Subject: Fw: Sandosenang Sapatos - nice read!From: http://us.f329.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=mblmaca@adb.org&YY=28844&order=up&sort=date&pos=0Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 16:25:32 +0800To: undisclosed-recipients: ;

SAPATERO SI TATAY.

Kilalang-kilala ang mga likha niyang sapatos dito saaming bayan. Marami ang pumupunta sa amin para magpasadya. Ayon sa mgasabi-sabi, tatalunin pa raw ng mga sapatos ni Tatay ang mga sapatos nagawang-Marikina. Matibay, pulido, at malikhain ang mga disenyo ng kanyangmga sapatos.Paano mo ba naiisip ang ganyang istilo? Kay ganda!Siguro, dinadalaw ka ng musa ng mga sapatos at suwelas?Parang may madyik ang iyong kamay!Sa lahat ng papuri, matipid na ngingiti lamang si Tatay. Tahimik na tao siTatay. Bihirang magsalita.

LUMAKI AKONG KAPILING ang mga sapatos na gawa ni Tatay. Madalas aykinaiinggitan ako ng mga kalaro at kaklase ko. Buti raw at sapatero angTatay ko. Lagi tuloy bago ang sapatos ko kapag pasukan, kapag pasko, kapagbertdey ko, o kung nakatanggap ako ng honors sa klase. Ginagawan pa niyaako ng ekstrang sapatos kapag may mga tira-tirang balat at tela.Buti ka pa Karina, laging bago ang sapatos mo. Ako, lagi na lang pamana ngate ko. Sa 'kin napupunta lahat ng pinagkaliitan n'ya, himutok ng isangkaklase.Nasa Grade II na ako nang muling magbuntis si Nanay. Kay tagal naminghinintay na magkaroon ako ng kapatid. Sabi ng Lola ko, sinagot na raw angmatagal nilang dasal na masundan ako.Naku, magkakaroon na pala ako ng kahati sa mga sapatos! Pero di bale,dalawa na kaming igagawa ni Tatay ng sapatos ngayon.Habang nasa tiyan pa si baby, narinig kong nag-uusap sina Tatay at Nanay.Nagpa-check up ako kanina. Sabi ng doktora, babae raw ang magiging anaknatin!Talaga! Kung babae nga, pag-aralin natin ng ballet. Gusto kong magkaanak ngballet dancer! Ngayon pa lang ay pag-aaralan ko nang gumawa ng mga sapatosna pang-ballet.

PERO HINDI LAHAT ng pangarap ni Tatay ay natupad. Nagulat kaming lahat nangmakita ang bago kong kapatid. Wala itong paa. Ipinanganak na putol angdalawang paa!Nakarinig kami ng kung ano-anong tsismis dahil sa kapansanan ng kapatid ko.Siguro raw ay binalak na ipalaglag ni Nanay ang kapatid ko kayakulang-kulang ang parte ng katawan. Nilusaw raw ng mga mapinsalang gamotang kanyang mga paa. Isinumpa raw ng mga diwata ng sapatos si Tatay dahilmahal na itong sumingil sa mga pasadyang sapatos. O baka raw ipinaglihi siSusie sa manika.Nanay, bakit po ba walang paa si Susie?Nagkaroon kasi ako ng impeksyon anak. Nahawa ako ng German measles habangipinagbubuntis ko pa lang ang kapatid mo. At iyon ang naging epekto,malungkot na kuwento ni Nanay.Hindi na magiging ballet dancer ang kapatid ko. Malulungkot si Tatay.Araw-araw, ganun ang naiisip ko kapag nakikita ko ang mga paa ni Susie.Kaya pinilit ko si Nanay na muling pag-aralin ako sa isang ballet school(dati kasi, ayaw kong mag-ballet). Pero...Misis, bakit hindi n'yo po subukang i-enrol si Karina sa piano, o sapainting, o sa banduria class? Hindi yata talagang para sa kanya angpagsasayaw, sabi ng titser ko sa Nanay ko.Nalungkot ako. Hindi para sa aking sarili, kundi para kina Tatay at Susie,at sa mga pangarap na masyadong mailap.

SAKSI AKO KUNG paanong minahal siya nina Tatay at Nanay. Walang puwedengmanloko kay Bunso. Minsan, habang kami ay nagpipiknik sa parke, may isangmama na nakakita kay Susie.Tingnan n'yo o, puwedeng pang-karnabal yung bata! turo nito kay Susie.Biglang namula si Tatay sa narinig. Tumikom ang mga kamao. Noon ko langnakitang nagsalubong ang mga kilay ni Tatay. Muntik na niyang suntukin ito.Ano'ng problema mo, ha?Mabuti't napigilan siya ni Nanay.Isang gabi, habang nakahiga kami sa kama, narinig kong kinakausap ni Tataysi Susie.Anak, hindi baleng kulang ang mga paa mo. Mas mahalaga sa amin ng Nanay mona lumaki kang mabuting tao at buo ang tiwala sa sarili. Masuyo niya itonghinalikan.Hindi tumigil si Tatay sa paglikha ng sapatos para sa akin. Pero napansinko, kapag sinusukatan niya ang paa ko, napapabuntung-hininga siya.Pagkatapos ay titingin sa kuna.Sayang, Bunso, di mo mararanasang isuot ang magagarang sapatos na gawa niTatay bulong ko sa kanya.

LUMAKI KAMI NI Susie na malapit ang loob sa isa't isa. Hindi naging hadlangang kawalan niya ng paa para makapaglaro kami. Marami namang laro na dinangangailangan ng paa. Lagi nga niya akong tinatalo sa sungka, jackstone,scrabble, at pitik-bulag. Ako ang tagapagtanggol niya kapag may nanghaharotsa kanya. Ako ang tagatulak ng wheelchair niya. Ako ang ate na alalay!Noon ko natuklasan na marami kaming pagkakatulad. Parehong magaling angaming kamay kaysa aming mga paa. Ako, sa pagpipinta. Siya, sa pagsusulat ngmga kuwento. At oo nga pala, si Tatay, kamay rin ang magaling sa kanya!

MINSAN, GINISING AKO ni Susie. Sabi niya, nanaginip siya ng isangpambihirang sapatos. Napakaganda raw nito sa kanyang mga paa.May paa siya sa panaginip? gulat na tanong ko sa sarili.Maniwala ka, Ate, kay ganda ng sapatos sa panaginip ko. Kulay dilaw natsarol na may dekorasyong sunflower sa harap!Magbebertdey siya noon. At napansin ko, tuwing nalalapit na ang kanyangkaarawan, nananaginip siya ng mga sapatos.Ate, nanaginip na naman ako ng sapatos. Kulay pula ito na velvet at maymalaking buckle sa tagiliran.Binanggit din niya sa akin ang sapatos na kulay asul na bukas ang dulo atlitaw ang mga daliri niya. Ang sapatos na puti na may kaunting takong atmay ribbon na pula. Ang sapatos na yari sa maong na may burdang buwan atmga bituin. Ang sandalyas na parang lambat. Ang kulay lilang sapatos na maynakadikit na bilog na kristal sa harap.Manghang-mangha ako sa kung paanong natatandaan niya maski angpinakamaliliit na detalye ng mga sapatos - ang disenyong bulaklak, ribbon,butones, sequins, beads, o buckle. Inaangkin niya ang mga sapatos na 'yon.Ate, paglaki ko, susulat ako ng mga kuwento tungkol sa mga sapatos nanapapanaginipan ko. Ikaw ang magdodrowing, ha??

PAGLIPAS PA NG ilang taon, namahinga na si Tatay sa paglikha ng mgasapatos. Gumagawa na lamang siya ng sapatos para sa mga suking dimatanggihan. Noong nagdaos siya ng kaarawan, niregaluhan ko siya ng isakong painting na may nakapintang isang pares ng maugat na kamay nalumilikha ng sapatos. Binigyan naman siya ni Susie ng isang music box namay sumasayaw na ballet dancer.Pinasaya n'yo ang Tatay n'yo, sabi ni Nanay.Pagkatapos noon, naging masasakitin na siya. Labindalawang taon si Susienang pumanaw si Tatay.

ISANG ARAW, HINDI sinasadya'y napagawi ako sa bodega. Naghahalungkatako ng mga lumang sapatos na puwedeng ipamigay sa mga bata sabahay-ampunan. Sa paghahalughog, nabuksan ko ang isang kahong mukhangmatagal nang hindi nagagalaw. Naglalaman ito ng maliliit na kahon. Mgakahonng sapatos na maingat na nakasalansan!Para kanino ang mga sapatos? May umorder ba na hindi nai-deliver?? tanongko sa sarili.Pero nang masdan ko ang mga pares ng sapatos na yon, nagulat ako. Taglayng mga sapatos ang pinakamahuhusay na disenyo ni Tatay. Iba-iba ang sukatnito. May sapatos na pang-baby. May sapatos na pambinyag. May pang-firstcommunion. May pangpasyal. May pamasok sa eskuwelahan. May pangsimba.May sapatos na pang-dalagita.Lalo akong nagulat nang mabasa ang kanyang dedication sa nakasabit napapel: Para sa pinakamamahal kong si Susie, Alay sa kanyang unang kaarawanInisa-isa ko ang mga kahon. Lahat ng sapatos na nandoon ay para kay Susie.Diyata't iginagawa ni Tatay si Susie ng mga sapatos? Para kay Susie, lugod ng aking buhay Sa pagsapit niya ng ikapitong kaarawanTaon-taon, hindi pumalya si Tatay sa paglikha ng sapatos sa tuwingmagdaraos ng kaarawan si Susie! Sandosenang sapatos lahat-lahat. Handog sa mahal kong bunso Sa kanyang ika-12 kaarawanNapaiyak ako nang makita ang mga sapatos. Hindi ko akalaing ganun palakalalim magmahal si Tatay. Binitbit ko ang sandosenang sapatos at ipinakitako kina Nanay at Susie.H-Hindi ko alam na may ginawa siyang sapatos para sa yo, Susie. Namuo angluha sa mga mata ni Nanay. Inilihim niya sa akin ang mga sapatos??A-Ate, ito ang mga sapatos na napanaginipan ko. Hindi makapaniwalang sabini Susie habang isa-isang hinahaplos ang mga sapatos.Ha??Noon ko lang naalala ang mga sapatos na ikinukuwento ni Susie.Dilaw na tsarol na may dekorasyong sunflower sa harap. Kulay pulang velvetna may malaking buckle sa tagiliran. Asul na sapatos na bukas ang dulo atlitaw ang mga daliri. Kulay puti na may kaunting takong at may ribbon napula. Sapatos na yari sa maong na may burdang buwan at mga bituin.Sandalyas na parang lambat. Kulay lilang sapatos na may nakadikit na bilogna kristal sa harap.Naisip ko, tinawid kaya ng pag-ibig ni Tatay ang mga panaginip ni Susiepara maipasuot sa kanya ang mga sapatos?Hindi ko tiyak.Ang tiyak ko lang, hindi perpekto ang buhay na ito. Gaya ng hindi perpektoang pagkakalikha sa kapatid ko. Pero may mga perpektong sandali. Gaya ngmga sandaling nilikha ni Tatay ang pinakamagagarang sapatos para kay Susie.

(This story won First Prize, Maikling Kathang Pambata in the 2001 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature

Finds from the Trash Bin

I was rummaging through re-usable papers in the office paper drawer and thought I’d read through the contents. I thought it was already my peek into the knowledge resources of the organization.

Here were a few things I thought I ought to take note (They’re mostly “historical” notes – stuff you put on a timeline):

Makati City’s Council for the Protection of Children, whose member agencies include the Makati Social Welfare Department and the Liga ng mga Barangay (Leauge of Barangays), scheduled a Training/ Workshop for Members of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) on August 2-4, 2004 and August 5-7, 2004.

Contents of the training/ Workshop were:
CRC, Child 21 and ECCD Child Friendly Movement
The Four Gifts for Children
BCPC Workshop: Program/ Project Identification (Barangay Development Plan for Children)
Reporting and Handling Child Abuse Cases (vis-à-vis Katarungang Pambarangay)
Monitoring and Evaluation


AKAP-BATA, Inc., and Caritas – Manila sponsored a colloquium with the theme: The Filipino Children Amid Economic Crisis: Drafting a Legislative Agenda for Effective and Efficient Laws for Children in Difficult Circumstances on September 29, 2004, as part of the Children’s Month Celebration.

ECDP Researches

Covenanted Studies

ADB Funded: Support to Program Innovation and Policy Development

1.Baseline Survey and Data Generation on Nutritional Status, Psychosocial Development, and Care of 0-6 Year-old Children in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Provinces (FNRI-DOST, September 2002)
2.Cost-effectiveness Of Deworming And Weekly Iron Supplementation In The Reduction Of Anemia Among Preschoolers: A Field Test (NCP, May 2003)
3.School Readiness of 5 ½-6 ½ Year Old Children in Various Socio – Economic Environments (Save the Children-US, October 2003)
4.Efficacy of Pandesal Baked From Wheat Flour Fortified with Iron and Vitamin A in Improving the Iron Status of Anemic Elementary School Children (Nutrition Center of the Philippines, January 2005)

WB Funded: Benefit Monitoring and Evaluation

1.Survey Of Indigenous Peoples’ Access To And Utilization Of ECD Services in Regions VI, VII, and XII (Southern Philippine Research and Extension Foundation, Inc. (SOPREX) - MSU - Iligan Institute of Technology , March 2002)
2.A Study of the Effects of Early Childhood Interventions on Children’s Physiological, Cognitive, and Social Development : Baseline Indicators Study (Office of Population Studies-University of San Carlos, July 2003)
3.A Study of the Effects of Early Childhood Interventions on Children’s Physiological, Cognitive and Social Development: Results Of The Longitudinal Evaluation Study (Office of Population Studies-University of San Carlos, July 2005)
4.A Study of the Effects of Early Childhood Interventions on Children’s Physiological, Cognitive, and Social Development: Endline Indicators Survey (UP Los Banos Foundation)


Other Studies Done

ADB Funded: Support to Program Innovation and Policy Development

1.Correlation Analysis of Children’s Nutritional Status, Dietary Intake and Psychosocial Development, and Pregnant and Lactating Mothers’ Dietary Intake in the ECD and Non-ECD Areas (FNRI – DOST, March 2005)

2.Sixth National Nutrition Survey: Philippines, 2003 - National Food Consumption Survey (FNRI – DOST, May 2005)

3.Effects of Iodized Salt on the Quality of Selected Processed Food Products (FNRI-DOST, August 2005)

Other Studies
4. Methods of Early Detection and Intervention of Children with Special Needs
5. Cost Effectiveness Study of ECD Interventions and Services of the Child Development Worker (CDW), Rural Health Midwife (RHM), Day Care Worker (DCW), Day Care Mother (DCM), and the Early Childhood Enrichment Packages
6. Evaluation of the Continuum and Best Practices of Project Educational Activities: Case Studies of Selected ECD Sites; and
7. Perceptions of Filipino Fathers and Mothers on Parenting Roles and Practices
Note: These studies are currently in their final stages of completion

Un-Leaked

It turns out... I could not readily post my work outputs. I have been advised that if I do that without the clearance of my supervisors, I might end up getting sacked. Although, I remarked, I probably do not care. I reasoned that these are information that need to get into the hands of people anyway... and if you wait ten years for clearances to happen - the information ends up as historical data, in the irrelevant sense.

Draft and Partial Consolidated Findings of the Philippines ECDP Researches

I was trying to consolidate the findings of 14 researches conducted under the Research and Development component of the Philippines' Early Childhood Development Project (ECDP) which should have concluded last November 30, 2005, but some tasks such as policy analysis have been left behind. The Endline Survey, which, if done right, could provide good material for the project's evaluation is currently being conducted. It is expected to be completed this February.

I was supposed to post the consolidated findings but I'm having trouble posting. Will try to have it available soon.

"Each of us has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership as we go about the everyday business of our lives by taking the extra moment to ask: 'How does this decision, this choice, affect the lives of children.'?" - Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director