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Recent Project

The Just Right summer program

A community based early childhood education summer program was implemented for Syrian refugees (ages 4-6)in partnership with IRC:

    • 252 learners benefitted from ECE program within a safe and protected inclusive Community Based Early Childhood Education learning environments.
    • 144 hours of ECE learning opportunities took place.
    • 19 teachers received differentiated trainings and in class coaching sessions in order to adopt best practices in differentiated teaching.
  • 130 parents were supported in providing safe and enabling learning environments to their children in support of their continued learning. 130 parents completed 8 sessions of the parental program “I can also teach”.  The program provides parents the awareness and the knowledge for building the five critical early literacy skills that the children need to learn: oral language, vocabulary, story comprehension, print knowledge and sound awareness. The program also demonstrated for parents the importance of cognitive development through play as well as the importance of motor skills development.

Stories from the field

  • Mouaz

    Mouaz, 4 years old boy, Syrian Refugee currently living in Lebanon, is a learner in level 2 CB-ECE at CLC Ana Aqra center in Baalbek. He has three sisters and one brother; Nariman, Nour, Nada and Houthaifa. They live now in Shikan Street-in Baalbek after they fled from Syria because of the crisis. “We are new here and we don’t know anyone, I prefer my kids to stay at home and don’t socialize with strangers and other kids. I want to keep them safe” explained the mother of Mouaz to his teacher Ihsan Shamas. Mouaz fears the classroom and his peers. He refused to switch classes at the beginning of the cycle and participate in any activity. "It's really difficult at the beginning for children to catch up" admits Ihsan Shamas, Arabic teacher. “I started seeing change in Mouaz when I saw him looking at me in the eye, holding my hand and my clothes” said Ihsan. When a teacher loves her students she becomes like their mother, she can feel if they are sick and if there is anything wrong going with them. “I love my students, I'll be there for them, ready to be involved with their lives” the teacher says.
  • Sema

    Sema is a Syrian refugee who arrived in Lebanon two weeks after the start of the school year. She was admitted to Sad Al-Bouchrieh School for Girls and enrolled in a French language class in the after school remedial program with no prior knowledge of the language.

    Sema showed gradual but significant improvement in the program. After only a few short months, Sema was invited to the UNESCO celebration and wrote a descriptive story in French about her experience.