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Even Start Family Literacy Program

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A school year has spun by so quickly since we began Souns with the Even Start Family Literacy Program in Georgia. Five counties participated, with one center in each. The centers ranged from childcare settings which met daily during the week to centers with once a month visits by families. Almost every site included home visits by Even Start teachers.

From my experience, the people involved in ESFLP are an inspiration and such a positive reflection on the efforts to build literacy in Georgia. Each site is unique in its style and population. I have delighted in the eagerness of a parent watching her four-year-old child demonstrate letter-sound knowledge while she, herself, was on her way to a classroom to study for the GED. She is determined her child will have a head start in school. A home visitor shared the success she was having with a family whose child was not succeeding in school because of reading issues. There are abundant anecdotes of how Souns made a difference for children and their families. One teacher bemoaned the fact that the Even Start Family Literacy Program did not have Souns until this year, saying it would have made a tremendous difference had they had it during previous years.

We also learned about the conditions that make it harder for Souns to succeed. Souns works best when a child has regular exposure to the program. Souns once a month does not give as positive results as Souns being taught each day. Home visits were successful where the family supported the program between visits. Children who miss many days of school are clearly in jeopardy of not progressing as well as their classmates who attend regularly. The teachers voiced this frustration many times, “The program works if the child is here.”

Souns is an early literacy program that teachers love and children love if we can get the teacher, the material, and the children together on a regular basis. An exceptional academic program and great teachers are two critical legs of a stool that will not stand without the third leg – the child, supported by their family. The issues that challenge families who qualify for Georgia’s Even Start Family Literacy Program are clearly issues that are not easily remedied by the best of intentions or the greatest of programs and teachers. We must find a way to intercept families earlier and in incidental ways that adapt to the needs and schedules of very determined parents with complicated daily lives. How can we reach the most predictable teacher for a child  – the parent – with the right information to build literacy at home? This hope I gained from this year. That is our goal, and I thank the Even Start Family Literacy Program for giving us such a clear direction for helping children. Every parent wants their child to read!

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Souns/Peace Corps – Seeds Sprouting!

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 Souns Approach to Learning Phonetic Sounds without Souns symbols.

This is the Souns program through the words of one Peace Corps volunteer as he is helping teachers around him build a more literate world for children in South Africa. He is introducing the Souns program across environments. Children will read in South Africa thanks to the collaborative effort of  the Peace Corps and Rotary Districts 9400/6900.


I.  Introduction

Children often have a difficulty with reading because they learn words through rote memory of high frequency words.  These children have difficulties when coming across unfamiliar words.  If children are exposed to individual phonetic sounds at an early age, such as the cretche age, they will be a more balanced reader, able to read with fluency and decode.

II.  An Approach

There is a program called Souns that utilizes hard plastic representations of phonetic sounds and a progression of phonetic sounds that allows a young child to learn high frequency sounds first.  The progression is as follows:

o  m  s  t  p  e  i  h  a  f  u  b  w  n  d  j  l  c  r  g

Learners are introduced to the first four sounds “o  m  s  t.”  Groups can be from 1-8 learners.  The preferred method is to be seated on the floor.  The teacher has the four sounds in a bag and pulls out one sound (the plastic representation of the sound) and says “o.”  The learners will repeat “o.”  Then the teacher goes from learner to learner, saying “o” and allowing each learner to touch and hold the sound.  After all learners have touched and said the “o” sound, lay the sound on the ground and repeat with “m” and then the rest of the four sounds.

After all 4 sounds have been introduced and laid on the ground in from of the learners, repeat the sound and give one to each child.  Now that each child is holding a sound, ask, “Can I have the “o”?”  The child with “o” will hand you the “o” and you will place the sound back in the bag.  Say “thank you” and ask for the “m” and so on until all the letters are in the bag.  Give each child a “high five” and say “thank you”.

III.  Notes on the Approach

Each session should last less than 15 minutes and done only once a day.  The sessions should focus on being fun and not dispensing of knowledge.

A teacher should never say “no.”  If a learner says a sound incorrectly, such as “o” when the sound is “m”, say, “This is “m,”” and continue with the session.  If a learner points at a sound, such as “m”, and says it incorrectly, say, “This is “m,”” and allow the child a chance to say it correctly.  If they continue to struggle, say “Good job,” make a note, and continue with the session.

It is important that each sound is not drawn out too much.  If the learners are learning “t”, make sure the learners say “t” once and not “t, t, t, t”.  If they are learning “s,” make sure they say “sss” and not “sss, sss, sss”.  This is because the child will soon be reading and they need to learn how the sound sounds naturally when read.

Never add vowel sounds to the end of consonant sounds.  If teaching “s”, it is never “sa” or “se” or “si”, it is “sss” and only “sss”.  This will help the child break words down and be able to learn other languages that do not follow the Bantu word formation of every syllable ending in a vowel.  “sa”, “se”, “si”, “so”, “su” is a helpful approach for reading intervention and can be done at a later stage, but it is not beneficial when a child is first learning phonetic sounds.

When showing the learners a sound, be sure to display the sound in a way that it is proper for the child viewing it.  This way they do not confuse the sound.  This is especially imperative when doing b, d, p, and q.

IV.  An Amended Approach for LEAP 5 and Local Cretche

Working with the plastic representations can be substituted by drawing with a stick in the dirt.

Each LEAP learner could work with a group of 4 or less.  I suggest 4 or less so the cretche learners receive equal exposure.  You can adjust this if need be, of course.  Here is a suggested process:

1.  The LEAP learner will take their group and a stick to their designated spot in the yard.  In this case, they will sit down in a line with students beside the teacher. Greet each student, ask a simple question, and say something to get them excited, such as, “Ready to have some fun?!”  Be sure the learners can each see the patch of dirt in front of them and the LEAP learner.

2.  They will go through the introduction process, as mentioned above, but instead of displaying a plastic representation of the sound, the teacher will slowly write the sound in the dirt in front of the learners.  Form the letter slowly, so the child is able to watch how the letter is formed.

3.  The LEAP will point to the representation of the sound drawn in the dirt and say it to each learner.  After saying it to one learner, allow the learner to attempt drawing the sound in the dirt also.  As noted under “Notes on the Approach,” be sure to not say “no”.  Just allow the learner to try their best and move along, keeping their excitement high.

4.  By the end, you should have 4 sounds drawn in the dirt, facing the learners.  Go through each sound saying, “Can someone touch the “o”?” and then erase after choosing one child to touch it and then move to the “m” and so on until all sounds are erased.

5.  Give each learner a sign of congratulation such as a “high five” and end the session.

V.  Resources

Please visit souns.org and read more about souns.  Then go to souns Resources on the left hand column.  Once on the souns Resources page, click on the souns Tracking Sheet and start one tracking sheet for each cretche learner that is kept track of by their LEAP learner.

                   *Mastered, shading in the whole box, should be filled in only when you draw the sound in the
dirt, and without any prompting or prior teaching that day, the individual cretche learner say the
correct sound.

VI.  Activities to Add to the Approach

If learners are having difficulties with sounds, it often helps to change your approach.  Here are a few suggestions to make learning even more fun:

1.  Get a marker or pen and lightly write the sound on the hand of each learner.  Be sure to write the same letter on the same part of the palm.  This will allow you to write four sounds (2 on top of each hand and two on the bottom of each hand).  Be sure to sit behind the learner and slowly write the sound, allowing them to see how the sound is formed.  After this, you can ask them to match their sound to their friends’ same sound.  It is a fun way for them to take their learning home and show their parents what they learned that day at school.

2.  As a review, draw each sound apart from each other in the yard.  Say a sound and have the group run to each sound, look at it, and shout it out.  This is a good way to get them excited about the sound and can even be done individually as a way of review.  Be sure to demonstrate first.

3.  Get large representations of sounds already learned and spread them out in your learning area.  Ask learners to find the different sounds on the paper and/or have them show you the sounds.  This will be a pivotal step in their understanding of how sounds connect to the world they live in.

4.  Once learners attain the first 8 sounds, it is a good time to create some words.  From the first 9 sounds, in Tshivenda, you can say the words mme, ita, sita, sema, and many more that I don’t know.  Say the word normally and then say it slowly, making sure the learner hears each individual sound.  Ask the learner what that word means and if you have a physical representation of the word, show it to the learners.  Allow the learner then to do say the word normally and then slowly.  Say it again together, pointing out the first sound, and then you or, if able, the child writes the sound in the dirt.  Do the same for the next sound.  When the entire word is written, sound out each sound and then say the word again normally.  Congratulate the learner and tell them they built a word.  This will be a big step for the learner and should be used only with sounds mastered.

VII.  Final Note

This is an easy concept that will be great for the LEAP learners to share with the cretche learners.  It will be most beneficial when mixed with reading of stories, singing of songs, and playing of games.

© 2012 by SounsⓇ All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Souns.

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Birth To Three Institute in D.C.

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What invigorating conversations with beautiful, passionate people were enjoyed at BTT Institute, June 12-14. Souns is committed to making a difference in early literacy for children, and open hearts and like-minded educators at this event were like a stream running through it without end. Another wonderful BTT Institute, another year toward a better world for children learning to read and write.We learned and laughed together as we played being the child for a bit! It was a very good thing. (1066 and all that)

 

 

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Rotary / Head Start – Literacy in Puerto Rico

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What a memorable Souns training trip.  It is exceptional to find as supportive a combination of teachers, supervisors, and administration as I have experienced in Head Start in the San Juan Municipality. As a Rotarian engaged in a collaborative early literacy effort between Rotary Districts 7000, 6990, and Head Start, this work seems scripted as if by the angel on each child’s shoulder.­­

This training trip is one of several and will add to the growing list of classroom teachers prepared to implement Souns in their classrooms at the beginning of the coming school year. Additionally, we had a training session for Center Supervisors.

In early training for Souns, it is best to demonstrate how the symbols are initially presented with children in the classroom. While our teacher training was held in a Head Start Center open in June and not yet implementing Souns, the Supervisors’ training the next day was held in a facility where no children were available Fortunately, a mother volunteered to bring her child for the demonstration. The child was one from a class whose teacher has had Souns for a month. As my planned initial lesson was not possible, I chose to present a simple Souns evaluation. What a delight to see the ease with which this three-year-old child demonstrated her confidence with the five letter-sound associations I presented to her. She has only been exposed to Souns for one month. Imagine this young person’s future as a reader.

The training also included a serendipitous testimony – the unscheduled visit of an Early Start teacher who has had Souns materials for several months and wanted to share her students’ progress as they graduated from her class. “These children were building words with Souns like mama and papa and stop by listening to the sounds in the words,” she said. This teacher was so happy with the skills her departing three-year-olds had gained through her implementation of Souns.

The future is waiting for many, but not for these children and not for these teachers. Teachers with the support they are getting in San Juan Municipality Head Start are teachers who go home feeling like they truly have made a difference.

Thank you Rotary and thank you Head Start of San Juan Municipality! Because of you we all celebrate this moment of success in a world that needs to know how simple it can be for Every – YES, EVERY – child to read!

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Souns in “luv” with Colorado Springs!

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What an energetic and committed group of literacy minded folks are to be found in Colorado Springs. We trained teachers and volunteers and presented Souns for three days. I had little time to catch my breath, and that was not a result of the altitude. The beauty of the natural environment is only matched by the drive for every child to read in that bustling community. I applaud my new friends and the birthing possibilities for literacy through such a powerhouse of community support.

A fellow Rotarian determined to pave a road for literacy in Colorado Springs says:

What a delight it was to host Brenda Erickson on her great first visit to Colorado Springs, CO! She came to train and inform about thirty volunteers of the “GET SET!” program at First Pres Church. “GET SET!” provides one year of school to thirty-four youngsters from economically-challenged families of our inner-city area, preparing them for the following year of kindergarten. The teachers see SOUNS as an excellent opportunity to enhance the reading readiness of the two “Get Set” classes.

Brenda also presented SOUNS to our Rotary club, to the Director of our Public Library’s program for infants, toddlers, and young children, and was invited to present SOUNS to a meeting of a large ‘Alliance for Literacy’ group. Great groundwork was laid, and a solid foundation awaits Brenda’s future returns to our city/county area of about 650,000 people, scheduled for sometime in August or September.

I must say that we had great fun in these three days of connecting with other folks who are passionate about literacy! —Robbydale and Minor, June 6, 2012

Thank you all for making this trip so worthwhile. Every – YES, EVERY – child will read!

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“Our Children Are Thriving!”

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The communication below is from a family who received the Gift of Literacy, a program sponsored by Counterpane and facilitated at the Peachtree City Library by Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Peachtree City, GA, in RD6900. Funded by the Counterpane Golf Classic and community donations, the GOL gives participating children a Souns symbol each month until they have all 26 letters.

Dear Souns Folks!

I wanted to give you an update on [my daughter] – we joined the program through the Peachtree City Library when she was 9 months old and have since moved away. The attached picture is of her and her 17 month old sister. I have always kept the Souns materials available, but not pushed the subject in a formal sense. We have decided to homeschool and have recently started [my daughter] on the Kindergarten curriculumn. We owe a large part of our decision to your program – [she] started reading 3 months ago and today she sat on the floor “teaching” her sister [to write] her name! 

She learned phonics, simple sounds that connected to a physical presence (we also used oversized, lowercase refrigerator magnets), and read at least a dozen books a day (and every other sign, magazine, and written word) because they’re fun. She now knows letter names (they came easily and there was no struggle with connection, which I feared.

Now, [her little sister] wears Souns as bracelets and though she is a late talker, she has no problem making the sounds her sister has taught her – [the little one] is far more physical and having the souns to manipulate is vital for her.

I apologize for not corresponding more, but thought you should get a Thank You from myself and my family. We never could have afforded a program like this on our own but our children are thriving with it. 
I wish you only the best!
Thank you!

One Souns family with two little girls (and a future Souns baby on the way)

Every – YES, EVERY – child will read!

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“Souns like…..” A Peace Corps Reflection

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SOUNS Like… “Sesi Nyeleti! Sesi Nyeleti!” All of the Grade R learners shout my name, and jump up and down in unison as I walk from the staff room across the school yard to the Grade R classroom. They are all very excited, because they know that when I come to Grade R it is time for SOUNS. As we walk (or they sprint) over to the spot where we practice our SOUNS, they animatedly yell the most recent sound we have mastered. SOUNS, a literacy program that was introduced during my PST, has become a major part of my day at both primary schools where I teach. On my days at both primary schools, in between my other classes and helping the teachers at the school, I wedge in time to take three groups of about eight Grade R learners per group to work with them on SOUNS.

I had trouble implementing the program. I wanted to make it fun for the kids I was working with, but at the same time effective and educational. After all, learning is the major goal. Literacy is what this program is after. I found myself a tad frustrated, using the same activities day after day and making it far too tedious for the learners. Luckily, at a meeting with my fellow PCVs we had the chance to swap stories and ideas on how to better implement the program. Since returning to site after the meeting, SOUNS has been going wonderfully. Activities like drawing the letter (woops, sound!) on the learners’ hands, having the learners run to the sound, and having the learners sing in unison what sound you have just pulled out of the blue SOUNS bag all make this program very enjoyable for the kids.

What’s more is that they are actually learning. They are connecting the shape/visual of the letter to its sound. A few weeks back, as I was walking with one of the women I am friends with in my village and her son (Grade R), my friend asked her son what he was learning in school. Her son stopped right there, leaned down, and drew the shape of the sound “t” in the ground, voicing the “t” sound. I felt successful, even if it meant I had only reached one learner.

Since starting SOUNS, more PCVs have jumped on the SOUNS bandwagon. From hearing the positive effects it has had on the learners we work with, other PCVs hope to obtain a SOUNS set for their school. In the future and in an effort to make this a sustainable resource, I plan to work with the Foundation Phase Educators on how to implement this program into everyday teaching or as a remediation tool. For now, however, I am quite content as the learners skip back to class after our SOUNS session, happily chanting “mmmmm” and “ssssss.”



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Rotarians ● Peace Corps Africa ● Literacy

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Rotary Clubs, join hands with the Peace Corps! Children need us!

The following letter is from Dick Day, Regional Director of The Peace Corps in Africa.

Dear Rotarians,

Early childhood development is such a critical need across Africa. While we have some Peace Corps Volunteers working with local non-governmental organizations to support ECD with orphans and vulnerable children, they have little training in early childhood development and fluency teaching and few resources.

Thank you for helping equip our Volunteers on both fronts through the Souns program, and thank you for touching the little ones who so desperately need love and training.

Dick Day                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

This letter is the result of a pilot literacy project in South Africa, promising the fundamental skills of reading and writing for children. A collaboration between the Peace Corps and Rotary (currently including D9400 and D6900) means a door is open and the light is shining through it. A sustainable path to impacting literacy is visible. We have two amazingly dedicated organizations and a tool designed to teach children to read in any African language.

How can you get involved? There is a Global Grant option, as well as ample opportunity for any Rotary Club to support one or more Peace Corps volunteers in Africa. Please email: everychildwillread@gmail.com to discuss the possibilities. You might even consider joining in the training at some point. Once you have experienced the eyes of these children as they learn, you will see many things differently.

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Global Grant Option for Rotary Clubs

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A Global Grant to help 12000 children read in South Africa!

The past and the present! Global Grant #25244 has been extraordinarily successful in building fundamental literacy skills for almost 8000 children of Mamelodi in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Such success has led to a new Global Grant proposal to provide Souns literacy materials to 250 classrooms in Gauteng and surrounding Provinces via the University of Pretoria, University of Venda, and the Peace Corps. This new grant will provide materials initially impacting almost 12,000 children through primary schools and creches, as well as equipping Peace Corps volunteers with Souns materials to better serve them as a resource for their communities.

Since Souns materials are not expendable, the overall impact as the years go by will be exponential. The grant provides funds for classroom materials only and is matched almost dollar-for-dollar by experienced Rotarian volunteers training local teachers to implement the program. Teaching teachers ensures long term sustainability.

The almost completed Global Grant 25244 ($34,200) was initiated by D9400, Host Club Pretoria East, and D6900, International Partner Club Peachtree City, along with Rotary Clubs Carrollton Dawnbreakers, East Cobb, and North Fulton. This international literacy project is changing lives for children. Clearly, this is a demonstration of the power of Rotary.

The new, proposed Global Grant ($50,000) is being initiated, once again, by the Rotary Club of Pretoria East. This project builds on the collaboration between D6900 (International Partner) and D9400 (Host) and promises an even larger impact by Rotary on the fundamental literacy skills for young children in South Africa.

If you are in District 6900(USA) or District 9400(ZA) and are interested in your club participating in this international literacy Global Grant, please email everychildwillread@gmail.com. If you are in another Rotary District and want to get involved in this effort, contact me and we will find a way to make that happen. The world is filled with children who want to read, and we need as many hands joined as possible. The ability to read and write is the peacemaker, and we must ensure that every child – YES, EVERY – child will read!

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Peace Corps, “Souns has been the calm in my sea!”

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Greater words to share hath no person than these: I have helped a child! Working with the Peace Corps on this Rotary District 9400/APC pilot for future literacy work has inspired me beyond expectations. What beautiful people demonstrating the very best of humanity. Thank you PCV’s! You are our promise of calm in the world’s turbulent sea! One PCV’s words on his work with Souns:

Souns has been the calm in my sea of first year turbulence. It has been a solid start to everyday, and seeing youth progress in something tangible has been rewarding to push forward in the times when content doesn’t not come so fluidly. Even teachers are picking up the concept of putting learning into the child’s hands.

I have seen the most success in my two days at the cretche. The learners have almost no formal exposure and are taking to it like fish to water. I still have a slower moving group, but even the parents of these children are coming up to me saying their child plays in the sand making their souns.

As mentioned above, teachers are picking it up. The principal of my own school slid in a challenge to his teachers to use more visual aids and study aids in order to improve learner’s retention. He proceeded to make a connection with souns and the vocabulary notebooks he was starting with his Grade 5 learners.

Moving forward, I need to improve my communication with the Grade R teacher in order for them to more congruent follow up during non-souns days. I also need to figure what to do with my grade 1s who have mastered their souns and are progressing quickly with building words.

I see souns not only having a lasting impact on literacy, but also parental and communal involvement. Being visible and informally teaching is broken down barriers to school. In my own house, the parents are talking more with their child about what they are learning and challenging them with new knowledge.

I think we could use a little more shop talk with each other, but I obviously haven’t been able to prioritize it.