Expanding Nurturing Care for Early Learning-Opportunities for School Readiness

• In Event: Strengthening parenting and the role of caregivers: a sustainable approach to young children’s success in early childhood

Proposal

It is estimated that 250 million children (43%), under the age of five, in low and middle-income countries are at risk of suboptimal development due to exposure to extreme poverty, stunting, and poor learning.1 Children in low-income countries such as Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia (KMZ) face such adversities with Malawi ranking 171 out of 189 countries on Human Development Index (UNDP 2018) and Kenya and Zambia ranking 142 and 139 respectively.
When delivered with coordinated services, quality early childhood care and education beginning from prenatal to eight years of age, can break the cycle of poverty and contribute to closing the equity gap for children in disadvantaged communities. Early childhood represents a unique period for early learning intervention because 80 percent of brain development is completed during the first 1000 days of children’s life since conception, and 90 percent by age five.2 Catholic Relief Services through a partnership with three faith-based organizations (associations of sisters) in KMZ, has adopted and implemented the Nurturing Care Framework3 and Early Childhood Development (ECD) Program to ensure the well-being and prospects of children in the three countries. Through targeting families, children’s first and enduring teacher, the program highlights their integral role in early learning and school readiness.
Using the Framework’s strategies, the ECD Program applied a-two-pronged approach to support families in addressing the needs of their children holistically and across the child development continuum. The first approach, teaches families care and stimulation strategies that will support their young children’s development during prenatal through age-3. The second approach, supports families to provide early learning opportunities which promote positive transition and school readiness to and through early care, preschool-years and primary. Target households (HH) and children supported with nurturing care and early learning opportunities include: Kenya (1036 households with 512 children, age 3), Malawi (1374 HH with 687 children, age 3), and Zambia (1632 HHs, 816 children age 3).
This panel shares the second approach of the ECD Program, which builds on the foundation of the early care intervention and facilitates continual early learning and school readiness opportunities for target children at family, community and national level:
At the family-level, early learning activities include, print-rich home environment (e.g. home-made storybooks, alphabet/number charts), grandparents storytelling; play space in the home for manipulating objects and social interaction.
The community level activities include Care-group mothers receiving information on benefits of early learning on children’s schooling; engaging community members, particularly fathers in making play and learning materials appropriate for 3-5 years old children; play, early literacy/numeracy and social groups for caregivers and children in the neighborhood; organized visits for families and preschool-age children to local or school libraries; community resource center for children’s story books.
At the institutional level, equipping daycare/ECD centers with safe and quality learning materials; training for ECD caregivers and community workers; meetings between parents and ECD caregivers/teachers; preparatory visits by families and preschool-age children to early learning centers/primary; advocacy on platforms for quality and affordable early childhood centers for children with transition and school readiness activities.

Author

• Fidelis Chasukwa, CRS