“My dad also goes to kindergarten with me”

“In the kindergarten, I play games with my little friends, and I enjoy reading here. I like my kindergarten.” Five-year-old Xiao Xi said happily.

Xiao Xi lives with her parents and grandparents at a small village of Duan County in Guangxi. In the village, the caregivers have less knowledge of early education, so they don’t send their young children go to school. Therefore, many children under seven usually wander around the village.

Three years ago, a villager (Kindergarten Principal Shi) realized a gap of early education in the village. Therefore, the Principal raised funds and founded a private kindergarten. However, the kindergarten couldn’t offer teachers with early education background due to shortage of funds, either childhood orientated toys and facilities. The caregivers had little knowledge towards early education and didn’t pay attention to it, so seldom children were sent to the kindergarten.

In order to improve the quality of early education in rural villages, World Vision invited professors to design a training course and organize rural teachers from ten kindergartens in Duan County to attend the training events several times, contents covering theory of early education, daily management of kindergarten, how to lead a child’s game, how to teach a picture book and introduction of appraisal education.

Principal Shi insisted to organize her teachers to attend the training events. She said, “The training events help build up our capacity. We have better understanding of the concepts and practices of early education. Also, I realize that caregivers should involve in early education. We should improve their understanding of early education. Both caregivers and kindergarten teachers make joint efforts to develop little children’s good learning and living habit, laying a sound foundation for entry of primary school.”

After the training events, kindergarten teachers launched exchange meeting on fixed time and organized caregivers to attend it so as to enable the caregivers to know more about the targets and learning contents of early education, and involve them in early education. Finally, the number of children in the kindergarten is from originally 30 up to now 100. Xiao Xi is one of the lucky girls. Her parents sent her to the kindergarten when she was four years old as they were impacted on the environment of early education in the village which was gradually built.

Xiao Xi borrowed a picture book after class.

In the exchange meeting, the kindergarten teachers spread early education knowledge to the caregivers. “We raised our children without any ideas of education in the past, just like herding goats. I’ve attended the exchange meeting three times. I’ve learnt the importance of early education from it. I’ve also learnt experience in educating children, such as showing our encouragement to our children, holding rationale expectation of children’s performance in arithmetic and writing characters; keeping reading with them, and so on.” Xiao Xi’s father once shared in the exchange meeting.

Xiao Xi and her father participated in parent-child reading exchange meeting. They read a picture book together.

World Vision also donated picture books and facilities to the kindergarten so as to enable children to enjoy the kindergarten life. Xiao Xi borrowed a picture book from the kindergarten and said happily, “There are many beautiful books in my kindergarten. We can borrow books and take them home. Every night, my dad reads with me. I really enjoy it.” (Written by LU Zhenyan)