Seven months ago, Harmony arrived at a KKOOM-supported children’s home. Her expressions within two months brightened quickly. Now, Harmony is 27-months-old and has been flourishing in preschool since March 2021. We asked Harmony’s house mother to answer a few questions on her progress in school.
By giving to our preschool scholarship program, you are directly impacting Harmony’s life now but you are also positively improving her future. Toddlers in Korea’s social welfare system have fewer opportunities to start school at the same age as their peers. The Korean government does not fund their preschool education until they are four years old.
Thanks to your loving kindness, Harmony started fine tuning her fine motor skills and social skills in preschool at 20-months-old. We are grateful you believe in the power of an education and help KKOOM close the opportunity gap for young Korean children.
With gratitude,
-Grace Lee, Executive Director
Every day has a new beginning, a new blessing, and a new hope. In March 2021, a 22-month-old toddler arrived at a children’s home we support. Giving the child a fresh start, KKOOM provided a Welcome Boost Fund of approximately $125 so the house mother could buy new clothing and basic necessities. The young toddler’s name is Harmony and we are proud to announce she is KKOOM’s newest preschool scholar. To protect the privacy of the child, we have given Harmony an alias name and masked her Korean name.
Harmony started preschool immediately upon her arrival thanks to your generosity. Typically, the Korean government does not provide financial support for toddlers growing up in Korea’s social welfare system to attend preschool until they are 4-years-old. Getting acclimated to a new learning environment as a 2-year-old, we want to share some of her personality traits and things she enjoys doing.
What she enjoys the most out of anything else is eating. Now, she tries to eat more snacks in between meals. The children typically have a snack a few hours before dinner at the children’s home. We asked Harmony’s house mother to describe her in one word. She said, “Bright and playful.” When she first came to the children’s home in March, she hid her expressions or forced herself to laugh. Gradually, her expressions have brightened in two months.
Funding Harmony’s preschool education is a transformational opportunity because it is strengthening her lifelong skills. We asked her house mother, “If you could say one thing to KKOOM supporters, what would it be?” Here is her response translated into English.
“Thank you for funding Harmony’s preschool scholarship so quickly after her arrival. The scholarship helps the children a lot. Living at a children’s home during the pandemic and government restrictions, it is hard to build social and emotional skills. If it was not for KKOOM, Harmony would not be attending preschool due to her age. Despite the lack of educational attainment and though it’s incomplete sentences, her speaking ability has improved. In less than 2 months, her babbling has turned into short words like, “me too, with me, or give me.” If KKOOM continues to support her educational opportunities, there is much growth expected in her educational endeavors in the future. Thank you!”
In a short amount of time, Harmony has blossomed in her self-confidence through emotional and verbal communication. You play a vital role in making knowledge accessible for our preschool scholars, like Harmony. According to the Wyoming Department of Education, at-risk children are 25% more likely to drop out of school or 60% more likely to never attend college without a high-quality early education.
"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all," a famous quote from the Disney movie Mulan. Despite her life circumstances, Harmony has access to early childhood education because of you. Thank you for giving her the chance to thrive in preschool. You are reshaping her destiny to flourish in education so her future dreams can come true.
Gabby is turning four-years-old in March and Hank is 28-months-old. Your support has allowed us to fund their preschool education for the past three to four semesters. We also wanted to make a special note that Gabby and Hank are siblings. They both arrived at a children’s home we support in May 2019. By asking their house mothers about their progress in school, we recently found out that they attend school together as brother and sister.
At a young age, developing social skills is an integral part of a child’s development. For Gabby and Hank, their social interactions are improving because of daily instruction and socialization at preschool. Both of their house mothers recently shared how preschool is positively impacting their lives and they see the benefits of these changes.
While Hank can still be shy at times, his social skills are improving gradually. He does a better job of waiting patiently. Gabby’s social skills have improved significantly. The teacher sees her as the “assistant teacher.” Her teacher praises her strong ability to lead as she helps classmates who may be struggling cognitively in the classroom.
They are learning a variety of skills and gaining unique experiences inside the classroom. Gabby has daily specials Monday through Friday such as music, sports, forest exploration, Chinese class, and performance class. During national holidays, she engages in cooking activities like making plums, songpyeon rice cakes for the Lunar New Year, or making kimchi.
Can you guess what is their favorite thing to do at school? Play outside! Hank likes to take walks and play with the ball during physical activities. Gabby is the first to go outside, sometimes even going before the teacher. Recently, she really enjoys playing on the train with her friends. Even after coming home, it is a daily routine to line up all kinds of toy containers and sit on top of the lid of the toybox called the train.
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health says that the biggest indicator of success in adulthood is based on a child’s social and emotional skills in kindergarten. Thank you for helping Gabby and Hank thrive in their educational environment. You are giving them access to a better future through your kind giving and generosity. These two young toddlers as siblings are truly flourishing academically and socially thanks to your investment in their lives.
Many new conversations started this summer about equality, equity, and race. For KKOOM, education equality is important and something we directly address by funding preschool scholarships for at-risk toddlers at Korean children’s homes. Government funding for toddlers in the social welfare system to attend preschool starts at age four. KKOOM provides the necessary funds, thanks to our amazing friends and supporters, so a young child can start preschool at the age of two. Without your generosity, the children we support would not have early access to preschool to build stronger academic and social-emotional skills. KKOOM is currently funding two children to attend preschool.
While COVID-19 affected the start of preschool for Gabby and Hank in 2020, they were able to start in mid-May. We want to share more of Gabby and Hank’s personality traits with you, so you can get to know them better. Gabby has been a KKOOM preschool scholar since spring 2019 and Hank is a new preschool scholar in 2020.
Gabby who is forty months old loves her playtime inside and outside the classroom. She enjoys playing with blocks, dolls, and houses the most. Storybook reading time is also one of Gabby’s favorite things to do. Staying healthy, she is not a picky eater. She especially loves cucumbers and vegetables. When we asked Gabby’s house mother to use one word to describe Gabby’s personality, she said, “very active and active.” One of the biggest improvements in Gabby since arriving at Emmanuel Children’s Home is that she is healthy, socially, and physically, while not being in diapers anymore. When Gabby first arrived in May 2019, she was very shy and barely let anyone hug her. Now, she is always seen with a smile on her face, trying to play with friends at school, or making duck faces while at the children’s home.
Hank arrived at a children’s home we support in May 2019 and is 23 months old. He turns two years old on September 14th. When we asked his house mother what he likes to do the most, she said that Hank is very curious and loves to play with his toys. Hank loves fruits and meat but does not like eating vegetables. His character traits are uniquely described as, “Hank has a brave personality without fear.” Shortly after arriving at the children’s home, the staff was concerned about a potential physical challenge because his eyesight was out of focus. In a year, his eyesight has improved. Compared to his peers, he is healthy and has a bigger body.
Our two KKOOM scholars are very active and have no fear. While circumstances beyond their control have shaped their early experiences, thank you for giving Gabby and Hank a better tomorrow. You give them a chance to have equal access to a preschool education they would not have otherwise. The scholarships allow them to shine brightly for many years to come. You and other devoted individuals give opportunities for a two-year-old and a three-year-old to let their light shine. KKOOM appreciates your giving, positive thoughts, and the outpouring of love to support our preschool scholars.
KKOOM is so excited to share we received a $20,000 donation this spring through GlobalGiving, who recommended KKOOM to a family foundation. This generous donation from the Hugh C. & Thomas Lord Fund will be used to fund several of our educational projects and programs -- one of which is an exciting project we are planning for the summer! Our long-standing programs, such as the educational scholarships will also benefit from this donation. We are grateful to impact move lives through our preschool scholarships so Korean children can dream bigger!
The children we support in South Korea will return back to school on April 6th, a delay to their original start date in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. They have been on mandatory quarantine for the past five weeks, not being able to leave the children’s homes to help control the spread of the virus. Due to the recent events, our generous friends through Facebook and our website have funded snack parties, along with chicken and pizza parties for the three children’s homes we mainly support.
Your generosity helps us fund two toddlers to attend school during the spring semester. In our last report, we shared how Minnie, Jay, and Gabby have been thriving inside and outside of the classroom. Minnie and Jay are now being funded by the Korean government to attend preschool.
Our current preschool scholars, Gabby and Hannah, live at Emmanuel Children’s Home. Both girls arrived at Emmanuel in 2019. Hannah arrived in March 2019 as a 100-day-old baby being a victim of abuse. Gabby arrived in May 2019 and we shared in our last report how her favorite song is the “Three Bears Song,” which is called “Gom Se Ma Ri” in Korean.
When I visited South Korea in December 2019 to help plan the inaugural Christmas Talent Show at Emmanuel, I had a chance to hear Gabby sing the “Three Bears Song” live as the youngest participant at the talent show. She captured the attention of every audience member and judge as she confidently sang the song with the assistance of one of the staff members.
Your giving has made a profound impact on Gabby, providing her the opportunity to attend preschool in the fall semester. When she first arrived, she was a shy, little girl who barely spoke and had a hard time allowing people to hug her. Now, she is not afraid to sing in front of a crowd of her family, siblings, house mothers, and KKOOM volunteers. Thank you for giving Gabby a safe environment to learn, grow, and get outside her comfort zone.
KKOOM is grateful that you believe in our mission to support these two young toddlers to thrive in a positive atmosphere. When the children are able to start the new semester, we are excited to see Gabby and Hannah foster creativity and develop positive connections with their classmates and teachers.
We hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe.
With gratitude,
Grace Lee, Chief Administrator
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