Family Literacy Initiative (FLI) in Liberia

FAMILY LITERACY INTIATIVE PROGRAM REPORT

FOR MARCH AND APRIL, 2021

Liberia has joined the global community to deeply understand the early relationships and experiences that shape children’s foundation. This global movement promotes the importance of early interventions to enhance children’s holistic development that enable them to achieve their full potential. The importance of children’s earliest years in shaping their learning and development cannot be over emphasized. With the g lobal Corona Virus pandemic, never before has the need for parents and caregivers’ capacity development to enable them to teach their young children been more pressing.

The Family Literacy Initiative (FLI) program, a literacy home-based highly effective multi-generational early childhood program, interacts with families in four economic challenged communities in Liberia: WestPoint, Caldwell, Duazon and Neezoe. 85% of the families are headed by single mothers that are unemployed and make their living through petty trading. The program works with parents through home visits, giving them the skills, tools and confidence, they need to become their children first teacher. Moreover, it prepares children for success in school and life and also provides opportunity for empowerment, through employment of home visitors from the four communities.

FLI completed its fifth year with 180 families in four economic challenged communities in two of Liberia fifteen counties (Montserrado and Margibi). Over the five years of FLI implementation, 418 families with 420 children have participated in the program. Of this number, 153 children have graduated successfully from the three-year curriculum program and 125 children, representing 82% of the graduates, are enrolled in formal school. Due to poor economic condition faced by families, 28 of FLI graduates have not enroll in formal school. A family needs about US$150.00 (this amount includes school fees, uniform and books) to send a child to school for one academic year.

FLI has begun the implementation of year six with expansion in the same four communities: WestPoint, Caldwell, Duazon and Neezoe. The program recruited 78 new families with 80 out of school 3-years old children from the communities. The program will be working with a total of 197 families with 201 children in year six.

As a means of documenting and tracking the progress of the children learning outcomes while they are participating in the FLI program, a pre-assessment using the Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) tool was administered to the 78 children recruited to set their baseline. The BSRA provides the overall school preparedness skills per individual child and age group.

To maintain the quality and standards of the program, annual refresher training is conducted for the home visitors. A five-day home visitors’ refresher training held March, 2021 for 21 home visitors focused on the program overall goal and the goals for the parents, children and home visitors. At the end of the training, the home visitors were able to articulate the goals and identify indicators on how they will know that they are meeting the goals of the parents and the program as a whole. The role play technique use to teach families during home visits was also practiced.

To prepare for the commencement of home visits to the 197 families and group meetings, the required number of books, shapes, instructional and learning materials were procured and the curriculum booklets for each family were produced.

The team is looking forward to an exciting and productive year six with their FLI families.

Thank you for your support making our work in Liberia possible. 

Links:

• WE-CARE Foundation
• Friends of Liberia

     Liberia, with a low literacy rate and a large number of out of school children, is struggling to strengthen its quality of education. Presently, the early childhood education level is the least prioritized, and the focus on nurturing care is high on the agenda, working with children from 0-3 years as reflected in the strategies plan for early childhood development. However, with the evidence that the formative years are the most crucial years of growth and development of a child that is going to assume the leadership of the nation in the future, a concerted effort must be made to educate the Liberian children through every process possible. FLI intervention is an intergenerational home-based approach to literacy for school readiness. The program provides the necessary instructional materials and most interestingly the skills and confidence parents need to be their child/children first teacher. Presently, the program as developed in its fifth year, working with 180 families with in four communities in Monsterrado and Margibi County, respectively. The program carried out its regular activities but also included a students’ writing corner, worked fifteen minutes with both parent and child together, and carried out the necessary measures to prevent COVID-19.

     WE-CARE/FLI/HIPPY Family Literacy Initiative program has come to the end of their fifth year within the four communities, located in Montserado and Margibi Counties: Caldwell, Duazon, West Point and Neezoe. The initial families recruited in the program were 187 families and 189 children, the program has successfully ended year five with 180 families and 182 children within the four communities. Considering the four communities, (57) fifty -seven children had completed year three and graduated from the program and are ready for kindergarten and lower primary. FLI experiences over the years enabled proper implementation of year five with much flexibility and measure enabling us to meet our goals, lessons learned, and challenges.

 Closing program

     Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FLI program had to be extended to the end of January 2021 to accommodate make-up days for families, internal ten-week weekly and Bracken assessments, collection of final pulls out pages, and completion of all the FLI children practice activities. The program completed all its closing ceremonies by the end of January, thus allowing all goals to be met. The closing programs were conducted in the four FLI communities, West Point, Neezoe, Caldwell and Duazon respectively. Fifty- seven (57) children successfully completed 90 weeks family Literacy home-based curriculum and skills activities as graduates and for others it was the moving forward to the next level. In Year 5, 182 children and 180 parents ended the program. 57 children graduated from the program while 127 children were promoted to level two (Age 4) and level three (Age 5)

      The closing programs were conducted in a sequence starting with West Point, on January 24,2021 and was followed by Neezoe on January 29, 2021, Caldwell and Duazon were conducted on January 30^th and 31^st 2021, respectively. Certificates of participation were presented. In attendance were parents, children, Coordinators, home visitors, stake holders and community residents.

      Preparation, training enrollment, and assessment are underway now to begin Year 6 Family Literacy programming in the four communities. One-on-one sessions with the home visitors visits are scheduled to begin at the start of March.

           With the dollars raised from GlobalGiving and Friends of Liberia, WE-CARE Foundation’s Family Literacy program will continue. We still have a way to go to reach our financial goal and continue to look for grant funds and individual donations. This important program is making a difference in the lives of Liberian families and students. Thank you for your support.

Direct Beneficiaries of the Family Literacy Program Year 5

• Caldwell: Parents 44 Children 45
• Duazon: Parents 45 Children 45
• West Point Parents 46 Children 46
• Neezo: Parents 45 Children 46

     Total: 180 Parents 182 Children

Children by year in Family Literacy

• Caldwell: First year: 24; Second year: 11; Third year: 10 Total: 45
• Duazon: First year: 24; Second year: 11; Third year: 10 Total: 45
• West Point: First year: 25; Second year: 12; Third year: 9 Total: 46
• Neezo: First year: 10; Second year: 8; Third year: 28 Total: 46

     Total: 180 Parents 182 Children

Links:

• Friends of Liberia Family Literacy Initiative