Early Learning Pilot Program in Rwanda

[StevenBhardwaj]

Drumroll please...

It's here!  The first draft of our Guide Document (link), translated into English!

Also at this other Brillkids thread.

Please comment it up for all you're worth!  It's also being translated from the original French into Kinyarwanda for readability / comprehensibility work.  We will begin merging all edits, local and from this online forum, one week from today. Then we plan to have final documents in Kinyarwanda and English for use in about two weeks.

Please feel absolutely free to mark-up the document in red all over.  Your effort will be appreciated!

Sincerely,
-Steven Bhardwaj

[Ilala]

Looks good to me.

[GeniusExperiment]

Hi Steven - this is really cool! I've been a fan of the organisation "Orphans of Rwanda" for many years, hopefully this project will produce some new scholars for them :-). Hopefully you can expand the reach beyond 5 mothers, maybe by teaching the mothers how to teach other mothers in their community? That would spread the impact. I think apart from teaching a child to read, it would also be good to educate parents on the general importance about early learning about everything, so not just reading but everything that is important in their community, like agriculture, how to repair things, how to make food, how everything works etc., to make sure they don't only learn things that are not relevant to daily life. The reason early reading in a Western culture is so beneficial is that our culture now is extremely abstract and complex so it's good to prepare kids for that. But I think in more agricultural / less industrial societies, it is also very important that the skills families use for their livelihoods are passed on to the children early and actively. Learning needs to be very much tied to what is most important in a society. I am not saying they shouldn't learn reading, but that early learning should encompass more than just reading, it should extend to everything the kids will eventually need to know to be productive members of society.

[StevenBhardwaj]

Hi, GeniusExperiment,

(After writing this I went back to edit: I am noticing that Angelique has been (of her own accord) doing a lot of topical education for elementary-age kids hanging around the youth group, in addition to basic language with the 1-2y/olds. From the March 2013 hand written report, she mentions teaching some (probably elementary-age kids) about the water-cycle, about how to light a lamp, about good behavior, about good hygiene, about how to keep your schoolbooks neat, and some singing, dancing, comedy, and sport.  Ultimately I'm going to ask her to focus her efforts on the EL-age kids, though, as our goal is to pilot how to implement EL.)

(Hmm... while I agree with your sentiment, GeniusExperiment, about needing practical education as well as early academics, ultimately I haven't noticed a lack of education in Rwandan mothers in this vein, especially for low-income families. In the village families I've hung out with, the 6y/o boy helps his mom out like a 'manimal,' fetching water, helping bathe little brother, running errands to the market, cleaning dishes, etc. Anyways, I'll let the rant stand as is because it raises some useful points, I think)

I looked up "Orphans of Rwanda," and it looks like a great organization!  (It is now rebranding itself "Generation Rwanda" as the youngest genocide orphans are now 19 years old.) http://www.generationrwanda.org/  I think that a targeted merit-based scholarship grant program to 100 students/year is a great program. The higher-education system in Rwanda could always use some more subsidies, and merit-based scholarships are just wonderful in general.

For my own work, however, I want to take pot-shots at setting up business-models that replicate and scale themselves. Generation Rwanda pumps $800,000/year into graduating 100 students/year from university; that's $8000/child. Sounds good. On the other hand, the EL model should be able to get cheap enough to where the parents pay small fees for consultation, and the consultants train assistants to cope with the volume of demand, who then peel off and hang out their own shingle. Organic growth, and no international NGO.


In many situations entrepreneurial opportunities are stunted to the point that it feels almost reasonable for a parent to not invest in their childrens' academic education.  Not all kids will luck into being one of the 100 students/year recieving an "Orphans of Rwanda" grant to go to college. It makes you think about hedging your bets, and preparing the kid to grow up to be a farmer even while pursuing EL. Note that although Rwanda has a lot of its people employed in agriculture still, it is as densely populated as New Jersey, and land values are high. So it's hard to progress entrepreurially from a small farmer into a rich farmer.

I have a personal story about this: my grandfather had asthma growing up on a middle Pennsylvania farm, and his Swedish immigrant father pushed him to keep forking the hay, so he would build a stronger constitution. Great grandpa wasn't very interested in book-learning. My great-grandmother wanted her son farming less and studying more.  Eventually this drove her to change her name and run away from the family with this son, incognito, all the way to Florida. At least that's the way I was told the story.

This is a serious problem in many places:

• In the USA, as a Doman kid, I experienced a dramatic converging-back-toward-the-median during elementary and middle school. Overachievement in the structure of those classrooms was entirely unappreciated, and even a risk factor for social disgrace. I think this institutional reality remains the strongest and hardest-to-refute argument against Early Learning in general!
• I vaguely remember hearing somewhere about a dynamic experienced in some parts of India where if one child shows "promise" by performing well in school, a family may invest much more extensively in that child, because the returns to education are high for high-performers. Median performers derived much weaker gains from additional formal education.
• Perhaps the dynamic is the worst in places like Niger. I recently attended a talk in Boston on the topic of the Nigerien education sector held by a high-level diplomat from Niger. He pointed out during the talk that while many of the local-language, content-focusd education reform projects undertaken by Western NGOs might be wonderful in theory, in practice it didn't improve the livelihoods the students could achieve. The French-language private schools had a lockdown on the school-to-white-collar-job pipeline. Most everyone else was left to fend for themselves within the agrarian economy, comprising 80% of employment, where wage levels are constantly threatened by the volatile drought-prone climate. In the reception after the talk, I asked the speaker about secondary industry - what kinds of manufacturing industries might could start up in Niger. All he could come up with was tourism. In this context, if you can't get your kid into the French-language private school, perhaps EL is truly useless.

 

However, I've thought a lot about how EL might play out in different low-income-countries. (I didn't start going to Economics grad school for nothing!) First, let me note that Rwanda in particular doesn't have the problem faced by Niger. The minority ethnic government, despite being wracked by somewhat-justified paranoia and the resulting political repression, has so-far been investing reasonably well in infrastructure and human resources. Rwanda is the USA's darling - it has been compared to the Isreal of Sub-Sahara, and its manufacturing sector is burgeoning. The nation's culture of strong social institutions, the USA's geopolitical support, economic growth, and the resulting overwhelming might of the RPF's military combine to make Rwanda quite stable, in contrast to the maelstrom of the DRC, and the mud-hut significantly-worse poverty of Burundi next-door. Rwanda has universally free high school for families who can afford to not put their kids to work.  Which is most many families, thank goodness.  There are lots of colleges and universities, and a strong tourism sector to boot. In sum, a Rwandan child with a precocious education will likely receive even more encouragement to continue to accelerate that education than in the USA. In some countries, it's actually a bigger cool-factor to be smart than it is to be able to box out the defense and put one back in off the boards.

Now to the more difficult question of whether EL is appropriate for somewhere like Niger. The diplomat I mentioned described the Chinese workers the come to Niger to work the uranium mines and other extractive industries.  They ship laborers all the way from China to Niger, where the laborers live out of tiny apartments, built inside (you guessed it!) shipping containers which were themselves shipped all the way from China to Niger. Very very few Africans speak Chinese. Few Chinese speak French, and very very few learn African languages. I attended a talk by a South African diplomat on that much more successful country's relationship with China. He has a hard time even getting his diplomats trained to speak Chinese. Imagine a cohort of Nigerien Brillkids fluent in verbal and written Chinese, French, English, and Hausa by the age of eight. They will certainly never be unemployed.

And that's just languages. I agree with you about the practical questions, which need to be addressed by educated scientists. Niger needs educated scientists to figure out how to improve agriculture and stabilize sand dunes like they're doing in Ningxia. And how to add more value locally to their extractive sectors. And how to build a native secondary industry.

Ultimately, while I agree that EL would be an abject failure as a stand-alone project in many contexts, I believe that the power of EL is far too immense to let that discourage us from leveraging EL as a driving force for fundamental positive social change.

 Whew was that a rant or what!

[StevenBhardwaj]

EDUCATION DES TOUT PETITS- AVRIL 2013

A.ACTIVITES POUR LE PROGRAM DE DOMAN
Ce rapport comprend les activités réalisées entre le 01 et le 13 Avril 2013

Elaboration d’une série de suggestions aux mères pour la promotion de l’apprentissage des nourrissons.

Vu que les mères s’habituent petit à petit avec cette forme d’éducation, j’ai préparé une entrevue avec  chaque maman pour quelques sujets à propos de la qualité de l’éducation. Parmi ces  points, voici  l’essentiel.
  a)Planifier elles-mêmes les bons moments pour l’encadrement les leurs bébés. Ici, mon objectif était celui d’habituer les mères à concevoir la matière à transmettre à leurs bébés sans attendre ma présence surtout qu’on peut aller dans d’autres activités. Aussi le programme peut s’étendre et ainsi les mères n’ont pas besoins notre présences.
  b) Familiariser ce genre d’éducation aux papas aussi et aux autres agents familiaux de l’éducation. Comme ça, le programme peut s’étendre  plus rapidement dans une étendue considérable.
  c)Demander aux mères de prévoir une prime d’encouragement pour le superviseur qui se donne pour la bonne marche de l’apprentissage de leurs enfants

En général, le programme  est bien assimilé par ces mères. L’évolution est certaine même si le matériel didactique reste local. Il y a une Maman qui m’a dit qu’Il y a une Maman qui m’a dit que ça serait plus bénéfique si on possède des cassettes pour l’audition de l’enfant. Les vidéos pour la vue de l’enfant et quelques instruments de musiques pour l’ouïe de l’enfant.
Maman **** propose qu’on  disponibilise quelque livres pour les bébés.

REACTION DES MAMANS
*Maman **** est d’accord pour seulement 100fr chaque semaine
*Maman ****  est d’accord avec nous mais du fait qu’elle ne travaille nulle part, elle dit qu’elle demandera aux amis de la famille pour contribuer
*La mere de ***** quant à elle a accepté de donner 200rwf/semaine
*Maman **** a expliqué son problème en disant qu’elle a les enfants qui étudient difficilement qu’elle ne peut pas trouver la contribution surtout qu’elle n’a pas du travail où elle peut trouver de l’argent.
*Maman ***** aussi a dit qu’elle doit y réfléchir longuement pour ne pas confirmer les choses qu’elle ne sera pas  capable de remplir. Mais toutes ces mères sont d’accord de la nécessité de cette contribution. Seulement qu’elles nt des difficultés financières.

Autres activités générales
  -Travail au centre
  -Insertion du program de Doman chez les enfants dont l’âge est compris entre 2 et 2 ½ ans
  -Activités sportives au centre
  -Apprentissage des valeurs positives chez les enfants. Comme l’amour, le partage, le pardon, etc. On fait toutes ces activités en jouant.
Au moment du deuil
  -On a travaillé uniquement dans les avant midi car après midi tout le monde devait aller participer dans les conférences sur les effets du génocide

Recommandations
...(HR stuff)...
-Je souhaite que les mamans du forum continuent à nous faire part de leur métier d’éducatrice. Elles sont avancées plus que nous. Les mamans ici on besoins de leurs expériences. UN jour nous leur avons raconté ce que font les mères du forum c’était intéressant

Merci.
A.MUTUYIMANA Pauline.

[StevenBhardwaj]

RAPORT DES ACTIVITES SYNTHETIQUES SUR L’APPRENTISSAGE DE TOUT PETITS.
DU AVRIL AU 2 MAI 2013
DEPARTEMEN T DE L’EDUCATION

Ce rapport est les résultats des activités liées à l’apprentissage précoces de nourrissons  dans des pays en voie de développement spécialement au Rwanda.

Du 22-24 avril 2013
  -Elaboration du plan d’action sur les activités de l’éducation dans les prochains mois
  -Travail au centre : Nous remarquons que les petits commencent à diminuer au centre. D’après  notre investigation, peut être que les parents faute au moyen  de vie, ils ne s’occupent pas de leurs enfants et ces derniers sont autonomes. Vagabondent car ils ne sont pas suivis de leurs membres de familles.
  -Supervision à **** petite file d’une année et trois mois : Cette fille est intéressante. Elle manifeste la joie chaque fois que sa mère lui présente un objet à apprendre. Elle vient d’apprendre  15 noms des objets familiaux, 18 mots des objets en dehors de la maison, 5 couleurs, les matériels  de déplacement comme  i moto (moto), i gare(Vélo), i ndege (avion). Comme on est dans un quartier fréquenté, la mère utilise des objets réels. Elle se dirige vers le lieu où il y a des vélos et montre à son bébé. On habite près de l’aéroport de Goma, quant ‘avion vole, la maman en profite pour montrer à son bébé ce que c’est i ndege( avion).

Du 25- 27 Avril 2013
  -Travail au centre  de 9h à 11h30’. Planification et conception de nouvelle matière à dispenser aux petits qui viennent au centre.
  -A prés midi. Activités sportives avec les enfants. On a fait une sortie ver le terrain du groupe scolaire  umubano II pour  le divertissement. Avec ce déplacement, nous avons acquis avec les enfants beaucoup de choses sur le milieu environnent, le mouvement des personnes, des autos et des voiture. L’Object de ce divertissement est de promouvoir chez les enfants l’ouverture d’esprit.
  -Supervision chez *******. Cette fille est aussi amusante avec son gout nostalgique d’apprendre de nouveaux mots. Cette fois ci ce sont les mères qui se programment et enseignent leurs bébés sans que je sois là. Sa mère utilise bien le poupe qui représente un chat et le bébé sait de quoi il s’agit. Elle a appris plus de 25 mots dont les noms des objets familiaux, les noms des couleurs, a différence entre les choses, etc.
  -Du 29 avril au 3 mai 2013. Séminaire de deux heures avec les mères au centre. Aidées par le Directeur de l’Ojepac , nous avons élaboré une série de thèmes à développer pour l’apprentissage des bébé de moins de 5 ans.
* Les bébés doivent être initiés sur les réalités qu’on rencontre couramment dans la vie.
-géographie
-les différents signes
-le temps
-la religion
-les chants
- les animaux (domestiques et sauvages)
-sport
-transportation
-les aliments
-et même toute les constituants de la maison ou de la famille.

*géographie .les bébés doivent avoir les notions sur le climat(le vent, la pluie, le soleil, la lune, la montagne, la rivière, etc.)
*les différents signes. Les enfants (les bébés) doivent apprendre  les signes. Montrer en crispant le visage qu’on est content, fâcheux, …
*Sport. Dans ce séminaire nous avons   dit que les mamans doivent aussi promouvoir l’esprit sportif chez les bébés. Les bébés doivent connaitre les noms des objets sportifs. Les balles, la tenue de sport,  etc.
*music. Nous avons dit qu’il faut aussi éveiller la potentialité des talents que possèdent nombreux bébés. Les enfants par la musique vont devenir très camarades de leurs mères. Ce qui favorisera l’apprentissage.’
*Alphabet. Ici nous avons dit qu’il faudrait encourager ce programme d’enrichir le bébé avec les mots nouveaux. Il faut les prononcer et les répéter plusieurs fois en grandissant, le bébé magazine beaucoup de vocabulaires.
*Art. Selon différentes réactions des mères surtout les mères de ********, les enfants doivent apprendre différentes notions cars il y a les différentes potentialités qu’il faut développer chez les bébés.

La réunion a été très fructueuse dans les mesures où les mères se considéraient responsables de l’avenir de leurs bébés sur tous les plans.

[Ilala]

Thank you
For your effort and explanation

[queriquita]

This is so very exciting and encouraging! Thank you so much for sharing. :-)  I would like to start a group locally, too, ideally for first time teen mothers, so seeing this was perfect! Merci :-)

[queriquita]

Is there any update to this?

[StevenBhardwaj]

Queriquita, thanks for asking! Update it is! There were lots of attempted changes in how we were trying to manage the program during the summer, but now we're in the auspicious situation of daily reports! I have a backlog of about twenty of these, and I'll post translations of the first three now, and go like that until I get caught up!

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DOMAN 2013-11-12 A***********

DESCRIPTION OF THE BABY A*****

A***** is a girl born to a child-mother. (It's my understanding that "fille-mere" is a euphemism for the mother of a child born out of wedlock.)

The mother of A***** lives in a house right next to the **** market. (The market features a lot of small livestock like goats and chickens, and also has a great selection of basic household necessities, but lacks the computer cafes, banks, or extensive clothing selection as is available downtown.)

A***** did not encounter the education of Doman by accident. It was because of her grandmother that A***** loves Doman, because she had remarked on the changes in the behavior of a neighbor's baby. She came to the center to ask how she could introduce her baby to the education of Doman. She was welcomed by the organizers of OJEPAC, who gave her the directions.

The mother is named W*****. This mother hasn't had much time to spend with her baby but she has had the intention for some time, because she had seen how the child of a neighbor had adapted to Doman. After school, the mother of A***** sells manioc flower at the market to support herself. Then come nightfall, she chooses a good moment to study with her baby girl.

In her place of habitation, she lives among difficult people: prostituting girls, and drug-addicted youth. She lives like this. She cannot leave her baby alone, but she has wanted to enter the program for a long time. In effect, this mother is still young. She has strength and is dynamic. It's clear that she is intelligent, but she has had the problems of being without a husband, and she does commercial work to earn her rent, food, and health insurance for her and her little girl.

Finally, she has decided to start the program for her daughter. I started to help her how to use the cards and the timings necessary. She has learned this very quick, because she has had this thought of putting her daughter in our early education program. She is courageous, for sure!

She spends about 9 minutes every day on Doman with her daughter A*****. She prepares the food first, and afterwards gives the food to her daughter. After, she washes her daughter to freshen her up. Then, she quickly finds the cards, and she also makes her own cards as well. Her own carts have one word that she wants to teach the baby. It's super! She is really responsible for her task, she does not wait for me to come to help her. No. She started because I have given her all the techniques and behaviors that a mother or other educator should apply to introduce her baby to early learning for babies.

When she has the cards in her hands, she begins to review them with her daughter. She does twelve cards per session, a few seconds each so as to not tire A*****. After, they sit together and she sings briefly and teases her to prepare her enough. Then, she speaks a word face to face with her daughter. She says the word in a loud voice without showing the written word. The child is stimulated and her mother then directly presents the word, the child watches it and then she hides it and laughs joyously and her daughter does the same. A game and a joy begin like this. They play and play for two minutes and the mother calms down as if to invite the baby to pay attention. She speaks in a loud voice, she speaks it while fixing her eyes on the face of the daughter and reveals to her the word again on the card, the baby is also curious to see it, the mother speaks while showing the word, and the child watches it with interest as her mother does. All this takes two seconds.

When A*****'s mother presents her the words, it's good, she laughs and attaches much interest in the word already shown. When she shows the drawing, it passes quick so that the child doesn't love the drawings too much more than the words. I had also advised her of this. And this is the way that most of the mothers do it. That's what I always say when I supervise. (There had been a misunderstanding a few months previous, when the drawings were getting much more attention and the words neglected. Clearly this has been fixed.)

That's also how A*****'s mother does it for the other flashcards.

Who is A*****?

A***** is a baby girl thatis always joyful, that is about 2 1/2 years old. She has "irinde" hair, she likes smiling. She is always joyous. She has started to speak a few words, but when she is studing with Doman, her mother does not ask her to repeat. No. She sees the words only. A***** loves other babies and when she sees other people she runs to greet them and directly reproduces the words that her mother showed her on the flashcards.

She loves to play and doesn't cry almost at all, except for particular situations like an illness or not having had eaten, etc. Her mother proposed that A***** could come to OJEPAC when her mother is at school. We haven't confirmed that yet. (OJEPAC runs a kind of day-care for children too in-between toddler and elementary-school age. But not for 2.5 year-olds.)

But, the people who live near A***** admire a lot how she loves repeating the words for anyone who passes. The men say that this girl will be a minister [?] because she is beginning to be intelligent before her time. A***** also surprised me because she recites things a lot.

Her mother tells me that during the session, A***** doesn't eat. She loves just that only. That's why she prepares her the food first, and the session after. Because she's playing with mom, she loves that, etc.

But W*** the mother of A***** has a problem:
The men want to have sexual relations with her because she is poor, but she refuses in order to not have other babies when she is still in school. They want to profit from her weak social standing. Also when I speak with her, she tells me that studying without enough fees is a problem, and finding food to eat is difficult. She works to find food and doesn't have the time to review her studies. Also she lives in a bad place with people who dont give her a good sense of security.

She doesn't have a place to leave A***** during her school, and that's why she wants to leave A***** at OJEPAC. That's a little about A*****.

C’est Angelique

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DOMAN 2013-11-18 K******

K*******

This girl is the only child in her family so far. Her mother is a teacher, and her father a mechanic. She has been doing the Doman program for more than a year.

Her mother perseveres with the techniques of educating the baby. She has taught her daughter more than 40 words from the words that I have sent to you a while ago.

K******* is surprising for the neighbors. She has learned the words well, and she repeats the same words on the way to town, and even visitors to the house are surprised. The people who don't know the Doman program ask the mother how the child can know things like that.

Her mother uses the flash cards well, and respects well the length of their demonstration.

Dear Steven, I am describing the babies one after the other. Like that I will finish with the babies that are currently following the Doman and after that we will add new ones. I think that you like that.

So, for K*******, her mother gives thanks and appreciation to the Doman. She is proud of the fact that she has known about Doman before the others. It's an advantage for the family.

K*******'s mother doesn't live in her own house, she rents. But she is happy with the Doman. Today, K******* takes the flashcards with her mother and begins to show the words, it's not the drawings that are important, but the words.

K*******'s mom hopes to bring K******* to the kindergarten because her daughter shows the more potential than the other children of the neighborhood. (OJEPAC has grand ambitions to start a kindergarten.)

That's K*******. Thank you.
-Angelique

------------------------------------------------------------------
DOMAN 2013-11-19

Report on the first advantageous signs of the Doman for the child "Baby."

Baby is a girl that is 26 months old. She is the third in her family.

Her mother carries little dried "isambaza" fish across the border from the Congo to sell. Her father works in the brewery / beverage bottling complex as a mechanic. Her mother is named Q******* and her father is S*******.

Baby is a girl with two older brothers.

Baby shows characteristics of weakness; while they are not large you can see that her neck is out of equilibrium. We have brought the Doman to Baby. This girl could not even laugh. But it's superb. When the doman is brought, the mother has accepted quickly to teach her baby the Doman, though she did not believe in it.

Here come the miracles!

Before presenting a word to her daughter, her mother plays and laughs with Baby. Baby begins to laugh a little and to wach what her mother says and shows. Now, Baby surprises people. She sees mother, she brings any book, and gives it to mother to read. She begins to open her mouth and pronounce every time the words that mother has shown. It's as if she has developped her language, because the weakness, even if it was light, had prevented her from communicating. With the Doman, Baby found there as space to flourish, that will help her a lot.

We have asked her mother to bear a long witness on this. She tells us that she will prepare this tomorrow, and I will publish that!

Angelique

[StevenBhardwaj]

DOMAN 2013-11-19

Progress of the girl P*****

P***** is a 2.5 year-old girl. She is the first child in the family, born to a father who works at a hotel.  Her mother probably studies.

This child had a the sickenss of kwashiorkor, but she has healed. Her mother started the Doman program four months ago.

At first the mother had doubted the importance of the program, of its importane and its results. To understand the Doman, Elisee and I gave a training, and we presented her the book during a week. She read and loved the attestations that were found in the book. She instructed her husband about the program. "That's great," her husband said.

They live very near to the Congo DRC. As her mother studies and her father works, her mother chose to teach her baby in the afternoon. She began with some hesitation, especially because her daughter is quiet and frustrated because of her illness. As we familiarized the mother with the sessions, I was there to help her, especially for the creation of the joy between her and her daughter.

Before starting, her mother prepared an omelette to give to her daughter because she loves to eat that. The child became content. After, the mother began to sing for the child, while she ate the omelette. The mother used many methods to interest her baby in loving the Doman program. Then, the child became loud and obnoxious. It's good. She chases away the timidity and solitude. The cards are already distributed and P*****'s mother knows how to use them.  

P***** lived in difficult conditions and that had complicated things for her mother, as they entered into the Doman.

Things have changed

Slowly, as I said, the mother has used many methods like singing, making omelettes, playing with P*****, and P***** loves her mama and her actions toward her. This took two weeks to prepare the child who was solitary and quiet because of her illness.

Her mother keeps the cards well, as we taught her before. She presents not more than 10 per day. That is, 3 minutes from 2pm to 3pm assoiated with games and singing; 3 minutes from 4pm-5pm associated with singing and games; and 4 minutes from 6pm-7pm before dinner associated with games and singing and sometimes some simple food that the child loves. Her mother takes her to her room on the bed, to avoid the distraction of other nearby children.

Initial behaviors of P***** during the session

The mother presents the words in the bedroom, and P***** is curious, and watches her mother and laughs. Her mother cuddles her, plays and sings. She presents the words again, and P***** has the habit of pulling the card from the hands of her mother. Her mother cuddles her, flatters her, and sings for her. This presentation of the card doesn't last more than 20 seconds, and becomes an interesting game. Her mother continues to present the card, P***** becomes a little attentive and begins to speak and stutter, but the mother does not give her time to repeat. She prepares the child to see (the cards) only. This is the direction.

P***** begins little by little to love the Doman game.

Ah! The baby P***** is intelligent, says her mother, and this we all can see. P***** already knows the words on the cards. She even speaks. But also the drawings have helped because after presenting the word we present the drawing.
P***** speaks a lot of vocabulary in Kinyarwanda. A lot. She even pronounces the words well. The illness has disappeared and she plays, laughs, she is not shy.

Her parents love our program, they come regularly even to visit OJEPAC and take some small books in Kinyarwanda with the large, short words, and some drawings. So, they are also subscribed to habituate their baby to know the importance of books, even if she can not read, but she opens them to see. And, P***** is even capable of saying what she sees. If it's a person, an animal, a tree, an airplane, a bid, P***** knows how to illustrate everything she sees in the book.

The parents are happy, even her mother says that it's possible to leave P***** for some years and teach her many materials with the Doman progam, and she can surpass the others. This is their testimony.

[mybabyian]

Wow. Fantastic.  I am so surprised nobody has commented on this yet.  Congratulations.  Sounds like your program is having a great impact.    

I love how your coordinator talks about playing with the baby in preparation for doing the cards.  It sounds like great fun for both mom and child and a great way to make the cards themselves a fun game.  I bet the families are very excited to see their children learn.  I am sure it must give them lots of hope for their baby's future.

This is not a criticism at all.  As it sounds like what you are doing is working, just another perspective.  It has actually worked for my son in the opposite way.  When he started to learn to read I would de-emphasize the word and spend most of our time on the picture.  This is how he liked to do it.  And of course the words can be shown quickly so he still learned them.

Here is a video of how I taught him in case it helps anyone.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VsCS2J9Nnyg&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VsCS2J9Nnyg&rel=1</a>

I am very happy for you and the great work you are doing!  I hope you will continue to keep us informed!

[queriquita]

Steven,  I'm so thrilled to read about the progress that you guys are having with the program!  Please keep us updated! 

Question: for the second post, were those actually two children or the same child?  it seemed like two, but i'm not quite certain.

Also, why the discouragement of speaking the word?  On the one hand, i imagine that not speaking it can help increase speed reading, but on the other hand, i imagine that adding the additional association of how the word is spoken can help facilitate faster encoding of the printed word. 

I'm also wondering about the word presentation.  How soon are they being swapped out for new words? Is it weekly?  Or after the child has mastered them?  Or one at a time?  Is the parent provided a large stack?  How many words does the child who has been in the program for a year now know?  Is the child who knows 40 words limited by having only 40 cards or is that where her progress happens to be at this time, though she may have access to additional cards?

I'm quite fascinated, inspired, and grateful that your program exists, as i'm sure are the families who you also help.

Wishing you all the very best!

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