Lets Be Ready

Hello everyone, how are you?
I hope you and your families are well...

We are very happy and eager to start a new year with the program and to work with our children. And although classes start in February, we have prepared ourselves to welcome you with many ideas and activities.

We organize a workshop in January for our teachers, with the aim of reviewing and remembering some of the methods that we have been using in our schools; since these last two years, the classes have not been normal. In addition, we have 3 new teachers and one who had been there some time ago. Due to these changes, we found it necessary to focus on specific topics during the workshop.

Some of the topics to remember and review were: Critical Thinking, new ideas on Assessment, Reading and Writing Methods, Learning Centers, Small Groups, New Ideas for Star Books and a little about the Montessori Method. This workshop was held on January 26, 27 and 28.

For the presentations and exhibitions, we request the help of all our teachers; Of course, each one of them helped us in matters in which they are experts and that have had very good results when put into practice.

For example: Lidia, Gloria, Lucky and Roselia; who are part of the group of teachers with more years in the program, helped us with an excellent participation; exposing the methods we use: Learning Centers, Small Groups, Star Books and, Vowel Sounds and Alphabet.
Professor Edvin, who has been with us for 4 years, has been implementing the Montessori method, so we asked him to present us with some ideas that have been effective in his classroom.
Evelyn and Elba made a very good presentation about the Reading and Writing methods that we can use with 6-year-olds. By the way, this part, all the teachers loved it. The ideas you shared are very easy and effective. Personally, I learned the correct term for the method we use to teach reading, “Phonetic Method”.

In conclusion, despite the fact that it was only 3 days, due to the Pandemic; we left filled with many reminders, knowledge and ideas to do during this year. We hope to have good results by the middle of the year for our second workshop. Without a doubt, it was a lot of learning for everyone. Surely you will notice our excitement to start practicing these ideas in the images below…

For this reason, we always want to thank our beloved founder Fred Zambroski for his trust and support. Also for our dear donors, without you we could not continue helping to make Education better and of quality for all, despite the pandemic. Many thanks! For your contribution. May God Bless you and continue to give you health.

Hi all!
How are they? How are you? I hope well and I wish the well-being of you and your families ...

First I want to start by apologizing for not putting news about us on the page, we have been a little behind with the end of the school year and overcoming some of the challenges that have been put in our way.

We are very happy and satisfied to have finished another year with success, despite so many changes due to the Pandemic. It was certainly not easy for any of us; But believe me when I tell you that everything we did with our boys and we achieved was thanks to the fact that we did it with all our hearts; with the help of parents and obviously thanks to the donations that you willingly send us.

We were able to close the groups in the 25 schools that we had available this year. Without a doubt, it was very emotional for everyone, because despite the obstacles, the children obtained very good results in their development, in improving their skills and obviously in their learning. The work of each of the teachers was also noted, as they were very dynamic in the activities and in the methods they used to teach. In addition to also guiding parents so that learning continued at home and thus not losing the monitoring of teaching.

The parents were one more tool that we used for the children to advance. The truth was surprising to see their response, because the vast majority were always on the lookout or in contact with the teachers to do the activities with their children at home; Some even asked for ideas of what they could do to advance further or for their son to learn in another way if he was having a hard time.

So in conclusion, we were all part of the success achieved during this school year. We are proud of the progress made in our children. Once again, I repeat: it would not have been possible without your donations. Many thanks! You are part of the pillars that keep our program high. May God bless you and your families. From Guatemala we send you many hugs and greetings ...

Hello everyone, I wish you are well.

As you know, our program supports rural communities, where there is no school for children to study preschool, or schools where there is no teacher for this stage. An example of this is the community of San Antonio "El Frijolito" in Santo Domingo Xenacoj. One of the first centers where the Let's be Ready program was started. Let me tell you that the government of the country has already sent a teacher to take charge of the group of children in this community. Therefore, it is no longer necessary for the program to continue there. We are very happy that little by little the community is improving for the better. But we want to tell you a little history, about how the beginnings of this little school were. Below one of our star teachers: "Betzabé Tun" tells a story of how it was ...

“Thanks to FRED, our Sponsor, our director and advisor…
Like every story, everything has a beginning and an end. For this community our program has ended this month. We satisfactorily said goodbye to our children and mothers who trusted us by taking their children to classes for years and those who remained with us in times of the Pandemic. We are also very grateful for every sponsor who supported this community.

Thank you for trusting in our work and in us as teachers. Happiness is immense since we know that we gave 100% of ourselves, so that our children had meaningful learning, so we also try to encourage them every day so that they could be the change in their community, we know that these children will take us in their heart as we will carry them.

We have many memories together since 2009, where another colleague started the program in this community, Fred may remember Professor “Walter Andrés García” who was a pioneer in San Antonio. As the years passed, generations of children finished their preschool stage and entered primary school. Exactly 12 years have passed since Let’s be Ready supported this community.

For me Lilian Betzabe Saban Tun, who was working for 4 years in this community. Sad to leave you in this 2021 learning process; but I am happy, because I know that they will be able to finish the year and will continue studying, and will go on to first grade. We learned together, we had smiles, crying, screaming and many emotions within our classroom.

Definitely the Let's be Ready program has left “SIGNIFICANT” footprints in this community. To all of you who contribute, feel satisfied with all the work done in “San Antonio”; Together, in different ways we have contributed something to these children.

We are very happy as a program, since now this community has the square of the Ministry of Education to cover preschool. Therefore, children will continue to learn and adapt to their new teachers. There were 12 years of waiting for the Ministry of Education to send its teachers; meanwhile, for Let’s be Ready it was a pleasure to be able to spend all this time supporting and providing the teaching process to the little ones. We are deeply grateful to everyone who gave us their support, it was a pleasure to be agents of change in this community ”.

Hello everyone, I hope you and your families are doing well. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still a novelty despite the fact that there is already a vaccine to counter this disease. Sadly, the cases continue to increase and our country has not been the exception. For this reason, we have increased prevention and biosecurity measures, to protect our children, our families and ourselves.

It is impressive that we are already starting the eighth month of the year, we have been through a lot during these months, but even with the problems and concerns, there is always a ray of light. Lets Be Ready teachers are working hard and as a team for the education of our children.

It has not been easy to work and continue with many changes. The communities that are in rural areas and where the houses are widely separated, the teachers can give classes 3 times a week or regularly in small groups and for a stipulated time. This has contributed to the development of skills and abilities of our children, is much better than last year. In addition, another important factor for this to happen has been thanks to the skills, creativity, ideas and activities with which each teacher personally works.

Critical Thinking is a key method in these results. Perhaps each teacher unconsciously or inadvertently, if he was using this way of thinking with his students. But now that we are analyzing it in detail, we can realize that it is essential for our children to be able to make good decisions in the future.

Precisely on July 27, we met with all our teachers, to share ideas of how they are putting it into practice in their classes. Personally, it was very surprising to see the amount of ideas and activities that can be done with a single book or topic. Many of them made us see what else we can do to widely develop Critical Thinking in our children. In this meeting we also gave importance to the "Star Books", making it clear what they are and what activities we can carry out with each of them; they are part of the curriculum.

We are doing everything possible to ensure that our children have a better education, and this would not be possible without your donations. Really, thank you very much for your input. It has been fundamental for the children, because in this way they continue to learn and develop their skills. On behalf of the entire Lets be Ready staff Thank you! God bless you!

We also want to thank Nancy and Fred for the unconditional support they have shown to all the children of our country and to us as people. Without you, we would not be able to offer this support to the communities that really need it… Thank you!

Please continue to take care of yourself; Although many have already been vaccinated, there is no 100% guarantee to eradicate this virus. So wherever you are, don't let your guard down! And greetings from Guatemala ...

Hi everyone! How are you? Receive a warm greeting from the entire Lets be Ready group, we wish the well-being of everyone at home.

Have you heard the phrase "A child who reads will be an adult who thinks"? Surely yes, and you certainly agree with this one. And if he thinks carefully, perhaps the context of the sentence is fulfilled in yourself.

We are very excited and impressed by all the progress and improvement our teachers are making. It is incredible that we are already finishing the fifth month of the year and starting the sixth. As you know, an important part of our program's curriculum is “READING”, so we are working a lot on this.

Unfortunately, due to the Pandemic, in our country we are at a very low level with respect to the reading, lower than it was before the pandemic. Therefore, part of our goals for this year is to do more for children and give them a good early stimulation of Reading. In my last reports I told you that we are working on Critical Thinking with the help of our "Star" books. Teachers have endeavored to follow this method to the letter and have been very creative in implementing it. Many have already read the book "Brown Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Harold and the Purple Pencil." Through these books, children have learned about colors, shapes, sizes, the cycle of life, comparisons, nutrition, the classification of animals, concepts, and many more topics.

Although we have accomplished a lot by doing these activities, we want to continue to improve. That is why we are receiving a workshop on “Early Reading Stimulation”, as I mentioned before, 6 of our teachers were selected to receive this training. Taking care of our health and that of others, we have hosted the workshop by Zoom. The program is aimed at parents, as it seeks to provide them with the necessary skills to meaningfully share books with their preschool-age children. We will only be the ones who will give you the ideas to put it into practice, there are 10 sessions of one hour with a specific objective. Most impressive, parents do not need to read or write to participate in the program. It is proven, the children who have participated in this program have improved a lot and are better prepared for the first year of primary school. 4 communities have been selected to start. But in our next report we will give you more information.

Once again, thank you for the unconditional support, trust and generosity that you show the program and our children, who are the future of our country. "God bless you" and hugs from Guatemala.