Literacy for Dominican-Haitian Youth in the Batey

This spring, Yspaniola won the first Montessori award from The Dream Project and Cigar Country. This award consists of the provision of equipment, furniture and materials, as well as support and training for two years for the installation of a Montessori classroom. This will allow us to receive training in the Montessori Method and apply it in our preschool classrooms.

This award will help Yspaniola boost our early childhood education initiatives. This was our first year working with 3-year-olds who started in our pre-kindergarten classes, because we understand the importance of early childhood education and have had great results.

For example, now that the school year has ended, most of our children can say their first and last name (55%), name parts of the body and count objects from 1 to 5 (73%), they can also recognize weather conditions ( 55%) and eat by themselves with a spoon and wash their hands (82%).

We are excited about this expansion project, because it will help our students to continue advancing with a new methodology and in a renovated space.

As a first step, some members of Yspaniola visited the Dream Project facilities on May 11 and 12 to make the first observations of the Montessori Method. The purpose of this visit was to learn how the classrooms are organized and thus prepare ourselves to make these changes in our space at the end of this month and beginning of September.

We have already collected our space and although it looks sad and empty without children or furniture, we are preparing with great enthusiasm for the next school year. What a thrill! The remodel of our preschool is starting soon!

Links:

• Winning the Montessori Prize (Monthly Newsletter)

In Yspaniola’s Learning Center, our classes often focus on learning through play! We believe in the psychological fact that children learn through play, as it enhances their brain development as well as their imagination. For this reason, our teachers are constantly seeking new games and activities that are both fun and conducive to our students learning. From Bingo to Matching Pairs, our students love a game, but there is one game that is particularly popular with children in our “Introduction to Reading” class. It’s called “Rotten Bananas” or in Spanish “Plátanos Podridos”. 

To play this game, you need yellow pieces of card shaped like bananas with words written on them. In addition to the yellow bananas, there are a few brown bananas with no words: these are the “rotten bananas”, and nobody wants a rotten banana!

The students all sit with their hands behind their backs. So that the students can’t see the bananas, the teacher passes behind each student with the bananas and the students must take turns picking one out, If they pick a yellow banana, they have to read aloud the word written on it. If they read it correctly, (sometimes with a little help from the teacher to sound it out), they get to keep the banana. The game continues from one student to the next. If a student picks up a rotten banana, the whole class shouts "rotten banana", and that student loses their turn. The game continues until the teacher has no bananas left.  

The aim of the game is to avoid choosing rotten bananas and to read as many words correctly as possible. At the end, the teacher does a recap of all the words, especially the ones that the students found most difficult! The winner is the student with the most bananas. The great thing about this game is that even students who are shy about reading aloud in class don't mind reading aloud during a game of "Rotten Bananas", because nobody ever wants to pick a rotten banana and miss a chance to win the game!

While the students told us they love this game because it’s good fun, their teacher, Mayra, said: “I think the students love this game because they love the idea of other students picking the rotten bananas! For me, this is a fantastic game not only because it makes everyone laugh but it is also a great way to get children enjoying learning to read.”