Al abrir un libro is a project that seeks to strengthen reading as a culture among the educational communities at the Early Childhood Care Centers (C.A.I.F.), engaging them in meaningful experiences where the oral and written word, literature and other expressive languages are promoted. In 2021, the participants included 12 CAIFs from Canelones, 1,400 families, and 140 CAIF teachers. More than 800 books were delivered.
The project has always involved four components: Training, Staffing, Coaching and Monitoring. These four components apply both to the teachers and technical teams of CAIFs already working with the project, interested in moving ahead in their process, as well as new CAIF centers that join in. Hence, in the case of teams that have already participated, these components are preserved, but their contents and proposals delve into themes and modes of approach that have to do with early childhood, and new tools are proposed to promote interaction with all the participants.
The support of Fundación ReachingU is essential in this type of projects, since it implies guaranteeing the right of children to get educated as self-governing readers and to provide them with full access to expressive languages, play and culture. This right becomes apparent when you see the selection of books, especially chosen to enhance and enrich the children’s reading experience. This allowed to generate significant situations around reading among children and families as well as among the educators of each CAIF.
Likewise, the workshops for educators were an opportunity to identify teaching and reading promotion strategies, by incorporating new tools and knowledge. By including music workshops in timely experiences, families became even more involved with a common project.
In short, due to the characteristics of the project, the support of Fundación ReachingU makes it possible to support the education community closely. Hence, the mediation processes implemented by the teams are enriched not only by the presence of books, but also by concrete actions related to reading and by supporting the parenting and educational practices in the hands of families and teams; in the end, all this increases bonding and face-to-face meetings between children and adults leaders.