By Elizabeth Sholtys | Director
On September 8th, 2016, we celebrated International Literacy Day at AIC!
The lead up to ILD 2016 was a very exciting book collection project wherein AIC supporters and donors from near and far sent books via AIC's Amazon.in wishlist during the two weeks prior to International Literacy Day. The books had been carefully selected and requested by AIC teachers, counseling staff, and volunteer librarians, and the children were absolutely beside themselves with excitement watching the packages trickle in and helping to unwrap their new reading materials.
On International Literacy Day itself, the AIC Education Centre was abuzz from early morning until evening with games and excitement. Early in the morning, the head teacher for the pre-primary school, Barnali, was the perfect host for the occasion. She conducted games and fun activities with the children and their parents, and also took the opportunity to educate the parents about the importance of their own ongoing education and development as parents, while also urging them to learn to read and write alongside their children and encourage others in the community to embrace literacy and education as well.
The activities were geared toward facilitating positive parent-child interactions through matching games related to literacy (letter matching, small words, phonics, etc), music, dancing, and storytelling. A number of fathers attended the program and actively participated in the games, which was a truly heartening development and the children loved having some special time with the dads, who too often play a minimal role in the parenting process.
Teacher Utkarsha hosted the second phase of events (Standards 1-7), which combined attendance awards and more parent-student activities. A particularly memorable moment was when parents were invited to stand up in front of the audience and share their dreams and aspirations for their children's futures. Pilots, and scientists, and teachers, oh my! The parents have high hopes for their children, as well as the faith that with AIC's support and guidance along the way, their children will have bright futures and the skills to achieve their ambitions.
Every child at AIC left with a new book that day, plus yummy treats and prizes for participating in the events. A fun end to a very meaningful day!
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