Lets Be Ready

"Even what seems impossible, becomes possible when trying"

Hello everybody!

The Lets be Ready team wants to express its gratitude to all our sponsors for their donations, we know that it has not been easy due to the pandemic, but even so, you have not left us in these difficult times. So "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for your contribution.

We want to tell you that we are very happy, because almost the majority of the communities in which our teachers are located are already working in person. Obviously following the prevention measures and biosafety protocols. The children are attending in small groups, with a maximum of 5 children per group and 3 days a week, for two or three hours (depending on the location). There are only two communities that are working from home, this because the authorities still do not allow it. Without a doubt, we are in a better situation than last year. And it can be seen in the results that have been obtained in the last month.

Our teachers have been very resourceful and creative, each in their own way, having endeavored to put Bloom's Taxonomy method into practice. Some have had very good results with this method and others continue to explore it. Adapting to a new way of teaching is not always easy, yet teachers are working hard to change the traditional for the new. There are those who are always looking for new ideas so they always work with recyclable materials. An example of this is our dear teacher Evelyn Loch, who teaches classes in the “Patzicía” community. She is very creative and every year she changes her activities, without a doubt she is a leader in her community. In the photos below you can see what I mean ...

The progress of children is very noticeable, many already know how to write their name, they know the colors, shapes, lines and they already know how to follow a pattern. Progress is clearly being faster and broader than last year. Parents are very grateful for our work and the support we always give them.

The first delivery of the nutritious drink "Chispuditos" has also been made and in some communities, the weight and height of each of the children was carried out. Parents and children are very happy and grateful to have this help. Each mother prepares it at home and sends the Atol cup to her son to drink at school. It is being done in this way so that there is no contact between the other mothers when preparing the drink, and thus avoid the spread of the virus.

Now we are working with a small group of 6 teachers, in a pilot program for the “Early Stimulation of Reading from Home”, we already had our first two meetings, one virtual and one face-to-face. We were talking about the possible obstacles that we could find in our communities and what we could do to face them. We have two people who are analyzing the information, Jeff Barnes and Jacqueline Figueroa, experts on the subject. This new method will not only work with children, but also with parents. It will be very interesting, but later I will have all the details already put into practice.

Once again, we thank you for your support and the great heart you have in helping us. May God continue to bless you! And we wish the well-being of your entire family. See you next month, see you soon ...

"Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the World" (Nelson Mandela).

Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to write to you again. I hope you and your families are doing well. Everyone in the Let's be Ready program is very happy for this new school year, we hope to meet the expectations and goals proposed for this year.

The directors of the Let’s be Ready program organized a small two-day workshop last January, taking into account all the biosecurity measures due to the pandemic; this in order to share ideas of how it was worked during the 2020 cycle, and to show you a new method to work this year.

With the help of Nancy Carpenter, Lucy Diaz and I (Margarita Bejarano), we shared new ideas and a new method for teachers called “Critical Thinking”; based on the steps of Bloom's Taxonomy. We do a lot of research on this topic to understand it and thus explain it in a simple way to our educators. Surely you have heard it, it consists in ensuring that students acquire meaningful learning that lasts a lifetime; Making the child learn new knowledge and skills, after carrying out a learning process. We are all very excited to apply this new method.

As it is very extensive, we are going to start applying it in reading; that is why during these first 5 months we will work with 5 star books, putting into practice the steps of Bloom's Taxonomy and thus achieving an effective “Critical Thinking” in our children. We hope to have good results for the training in July, where everyone will share how it went, if it worked for them or not.

Due to the Pandemic, the government of our country has given instructions on how schools, colleges and institutions will work to teach during this year. Colors are being used to mark the places with the most infections, such as the traffic light. For example, if my community is in red, the boys still cannot attend classes. But if it is green, it can, but in small groups and only on certain days of the week, not every day. That is why we are working differently in each of the communities where our schools are located.

Some are giving face-to-face classes in small groups three times a week, others are making home visits every 15 days to leave homework and reinforce topics. And others are working with job guides; because the community situation is still at risk of contagion.

It has been a bit difficult to start this way, but we are willing to do everything we can to help our boys get ahead together. Even though some of us will continue to work from home, they are very excited and that is one more reason for me not to give up.

We have already started classes and it has been a success; I hope I can tell you more in the next report. Thank you so much for giving us another year of support and not leaving us. May God Bless you and allow you to meet your proposed goals for this year.

Greetings to everyone from Guatemala.