Lets Be Ready

June 27, 2017

Hi, Marshon, how are you?

I hope you are well…

I want to start by writing about 2 important activities that occurred last month, that I did not mention in the in the last report, because I thought it was necessary for you to know about the outstanding progress of each of our children.

The first is that a group of Aula Magica teachers arrived at our school on May 22. We demonstrated for them how we work in Pequeños Pero Listos. We showed them our materials and how we work in small groups All the teachers who visited us were very happy for the welcome that we gave them and were eager to put into practice the ideas that we shared, The children had a lot of fun well.

The second had to do with the new nutrition project. This year we included a new atol, which has many of the nutrients and vitamins they need at this preschool age and earlier. The atol is called Chispuditos, is very nutritious and is proven to work. What we want to achieve with this new innovation is for our children to have better nutrition so they can be more awake to learn and free from malnutrition. We collected data about their health (size, weight, diseases) and diet, so they can see how they are now without taking the atol, and then be able to see the changes after they took it. I will send you a report at the end of the year on this, so that you see the benefits obtained with Chispuditos.

We are working hard with learning numbers. This was our general theme during this month. We did significant activities and worksheets. So far they have learned the numbers 1-10, stroke and quantity well. Some are finding it hard to learn the numbers, but we do activities with moms on numbers so the children can also go over and work from home. It has worked very well for us;. For example; we have a child named Anderson .He had very difficult time understanding amounts and strokes, but with this material at home his progress has been very noticeable. He now is successful in the sequence, the stroke and quantity.

The class is working on fine motor skills, using the plasticine to mold and form their name, figures, shapes. We are learning to use scissors too, We make simple worksheets to use the scissors. The boys who were with us last year were very easy, however the new ones took more time, but they can now use and cut, Of course I have been very careful with them because they can be mischevous.

Loaning of books to the parents has been very useful for the children to stimulate their creativity, imagination and reading. To make learning more meaningful we will begin to teach the vowels and and some consonants with the older students, to continue to stimulate pre-reading and pre-writing.

If you have any suggestions on what more activities we can do regarding numbers, welcome ...

Thank you, thank you very much for your all your support and God Bless you!

I'll write you next month, see you soon ...

Margarita

Greetings to all, I hope you are very well ...

It is a pleasure to write again and tell you our joys and achievements this month, in this case the conversations of what is happening at the San Rafael "El Arado" school in Sumpango. Parents are very happy that their children are studying preschool, since some years there was no preschooler in this community; Teachers Claudia and Betzabé have been working hard these last few years, because the children study in better conditions and much support from their parents.

During this month the children have many activities to do, they are learning the numbers, the vowels, the geometric figures, the colors, they already identify what their name is and they can write it, they have done fine motor exercises and exercises. They are also working with books to continue the stimulation to reading, and they learned a solo reading by observing the images, without having to read. This is a very big and surprising advance for them, because they feel very proud to be able to read without the help of their teacher.

In Guatemala on March 8, International Women's Day is celebrated, a very important day for all Guatemalan women. The teachers of this community planned a very fun day for the mothers, so they would enjoy that day and with the objective of giving them an idea of how important and valuable they are; A picture was done and they played with their children through dynamics that the teachers taught to have fun.

The effort of the teachers to look for support has been rewarded! Because of their initiative, the children have their Physical Education uniform, which is of great benefit to this community and is also possible thanks to the Rotarians of South Guatemala, who made this donation. This Association aims to help Guatemalan education and in this way help communities in which it is very difficult to have uniforms. Clothing, pants, jackets and tennis shoes for this class, children were very excited and grateful for this amazing gift, as many of them love to exercise.

Thanks to donations like these and the support obtained, children can better enjoy this stage of their life, in preschool; They can be the same, have fun and most importantly learn by playing ...

We thank all people at heart for all the support they give us, and if they want to do so do it and change the future of our Guatemalan children.

"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual." Or as the saying goes: The Union makes the Force.

 Precisely that is what we will talk about, support, unity, cooperation and teamwork. The things we did not even imagine we would do.

 We are very happy to have started the school year very well, all the teachers are very enthusiastic about the group of children they have this year, the progress they have had and everything that each group is ready to do: To reach the most distant communities and where there is no preschool.

 During the time this year has taken place, there have been some transfers of schools, in new communities, more distant and rural. An example of this is the new school in the community of CHURRAMOS in San Martín Jilotepeque, which has had great acceptance in this area, the parents are very happy and willing to collaborate with the teacher.

There is certainly much support, but it has not been possible without the help provided by our sponsors; And the fact that they visit our schools is a new adventure and experience for them. As happened to John who is the sponsor of this new school, he was in Guatemala last month, to see what work is being done in this community. He was very excited, admired the community, and he was very moved by the children; The children were also very happy and a bit intimidated, as they are not accustomed to foreign visitors.

 We also had the visit of a volunteer Kathy; She was very happy comparing with the children, and not only with our children but also with the children of Primary. She comments:

“On my annual trip to Guatemala this January, I accompanied Sara, the Project Director for Lets Be Ready, to deliver supplies she had purchased in Antique along with the wooden puzzles, blocks, preschool books in Spanish, and stickers I brought to donate. We traveled to two schools near Patzicia, a commercial agricultural area of Guatemala, as well as to the home of one of the teachers where three more teachers would pick up supplies on their way to their even more rural preschools.

 The two classrooms we visited are next door to homes of two of the children, in keeping with the philosophy that the community needs to provide the space for the preschools, keeping financial donations for just teachers and minimal supplies. The day was cold. Sara explained that it is always cold there due to the altitude. In both classes children were missing due to illness; colds were going around everywhere.

 This was my 9th trip to Guatemala and each year I bring a suitcase or two full of educational toys and books for the preschools. I love garage sales and thrift stores and it gives me a reason to shop. While visiting in town I asked a 2nd grade teacher at one of the three local elementary schools if she could tell which children had been to the LetsBeReady preschool. She gave a resounding yes, but also commented that she wished the public schools had the materials that our preschools have. I love watching the children play with the well stocked preschools. But I am aware that more sponsors are needed to maintain the 23 teachers. It only takes $2000 a year to sponsor a preschool of 15 to 20 children. Or for two people to each give $1000; or four to give $500 each.

 Donations of goods and money are critically needed to continue giving children the opportunity to succeed in school and overcome the crushing poverty especially dominant in rural Guatemala. Any help is welcome.

A fan of Lets Be Ready”

And the truth is this, we need a lot of your support, Guatemala can have a universal preschool, quality and very effective. Support us! Make your donation

Hello everyone, it’s a pleasure to write you again and be able to share our accomplishments from 2016. As a continuation, the following is a short summary of the communities and number of children we worked with this year:

During the year of 2016, Let’s Be Ready worked in 20 communities total, with 23 total teachers in charge of the schools, and 3 communities with 2 classrooms. It was a year of hard work, but with very satisfying results.

In San Martín Jilotepeque we had 5 schools, each in a different community. In the community of Pacoxpon, Dina taught a group of 12 very attentive students. In Santo Domingo the teacher was Glendy, who had 12 students as well. In Panatzán, Beatriz was in charge of 13 children, and in Chuisac a teacher named Oscar taught 14 kids. In El Sapito, María was the teacher of 12 students.

In Patzicía we had a total of 7 schools. In the community of Sajcap, teacher Evelyn was in charge of 15 kids. In San Lorenzo, Roselia taught 11 children. In Pahuit, Elba taught 17 kids. In Las Parcelas, Heidy taught 8 students. In Los Cerritos, Noemy Xicay taught 12 children. In the community of La Canoa, María taught 15 children. In Xejuyú, Nery taught 8 kids.

In Santo Domingo Xenacoj we had 3 schools. In San Antonio, Diana  taught 15 students. In Los Izotes there was Lidia  with 14 children. In the center of Xenacoj, Cindy taught 18 students in the morning; and Gloria taught 18 students in the afternoon.

In Sumpango we had one school with two rooms, in the community of San Rafael El Arado. There Claudia taught 15 kids and Betzabé taught an additional 15, both teaching in the morning.

In Patzún we had 2 schools: one in the community of La Pila, where Lucrecia taught 13 children, and the other in La Vega, where  Johana taught 15 children.

In Antigua we had 2 schools. In San Juan del Obispo, Paola taught 14 kids. In Alotenango, Annelise and Margarita taught 24 children total, both in the afternoon.

By the end of the year all of our young students had made great achievements, thanks to the presence, patience, creativity and persistence of every teacher and the attention they gave to each individual child.

In order to accomplish our goals and objectives, we conducted 2 trainings during the year: one in January and the other in July, with the intention of improving our teaching methodology and understanding of preschool education. In these trainings the teachers learned new ideas and activities to implement during the year. The Common Hope foundation in Antigua is a large supporter of Let’s Be Ready, and they provided us accommodations and the conference room in which we conducted the trainings.

It was a dynamic year for the students and teachers alike, and was worth the effort, making the most of the support from our sponsors. Because of this, we are always grateful for the unconditional support, council and suggestions we receive, and do all that we can to keep them informed with monthly reports discussing our goals and accomplishments with the children as a group or as individuals. In this way our sponsors are always a big part of what goes on in our classrooms.

Ultimately, we can say that we achieved all of our goals during the year, thanks to the support of our sponsors and founder who has given so much to help this country.

Thank you for your support- not only of Let’s Be Ready but of the entire country. Thank you for everything.

(This report was written by Sara, and translated from Spanish to English by Drew)

A letter from a teacher to her sponsor: Translated from spanish:

How are you? I hope that very good. Happy New Year 2017 that is full of blessings, receive a strong hug from me, I have much to tell you but I will be specific.

After 7 years supporting the community of the heap, the parents very grateful for the great help that has been given to their children for 7 years when Pequeños Pero Listos entered the community supporting with a teacher for preschool children because At that time did not have a pre-primary teacher, this year 2017 thank God children already have a teacher who is hired by the government, for that reason I decided to support another community that is in need.

This year I will be working in the community called La CIENAGA, the school does not have a preschool teacher and there are only two teachers to attend the elementary children, each of them is in charge of three grades. It is a very beautiful community, the parents are collaborators, they survive planting milpa, beans and other vegetables to support their family, has approximately 25 families. The school was built thanks to the help of Milagros in Action in 2011, That means that thanks to his person and the family of Milagros en Acción that this community has a school where children can study.

In my classroom I have 6 girls and 7 children that makes a total of 13, it is a great joy and happiness to have this group of little ones, to be part of their dreams in wanting to learn many new things.

During the month of January, the second week, I attended the training sessions at the Families of Hope Foundation, it was a very beautiful week and a lot of learning, with the experiences and the new ideas that were given about how to teach math to the children was very interesting. Each of us as teachers of Pequeños Pero Listos had his presentation with a storybook showing activities we can do with our children. The next week we were cleaning the classroom and fixing the learning corners we are going to have in the classrooms always supporting the Creative Curriculum.
It is a true pleasure to be able to greet you in this little letter, wishing you many blessings in your life, I have no words to thank you for the great work you do for the children of our country and our communities.
See you soon kisses and hugs.
Att. Lucky. ( Teacher)