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Early Childhood Development
Building bright futures and empowering Young Minds!
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In Kenya, the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) primary school program plays a fundamental role in learning and development. This Kenyan curriculum focuses on holistic growth, incorporating cognitive, physical, and emotional exercises. The ECDE program is designed to be child-centered and activity-based, encouraging exploration and discovery. Already speaking the traditional language Luo at home, they learn basic language skills in both English and Kiswahili. Singing develops numbers familiarity. The program stimulates knowledge about the immediate environment, encourages creativity with art music and dance, and uses physical activities to develop
motor skills through structured play.
ECDE teachers in Kenya are specially trained in early childhood education and child psychology. The quality of training can be inconsistent in different parts of Kenya, but Bright Light Academy has a loyal, dedicated, highly trained staff of teachers, most of whom have been with us since our school began in 2019. Improving our student/teacher ratio is an important goal. Additional teaching staff will help ensure that every student receives the individual attention and instruction essential for their academic and personal development.
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The next step in primary education is when students aged six to nine years old attend Grades one to three. The curriculum continues to emphasize a holistic learning experience, adding greater literacy skills and the beginning of scientific principles and mathematics. The establishment of values such as kindness and respect are introduced with classroom discussions and guided student interactions.
Today, ECDE programs in rural areas like Rusinga face significant challenges. Limited resources and infrastructure, a scarcity of learning materials including books, writing tools, teaching aids and technology. There is a shortage of qualified ECDE teachers and low salaries. The result of insufficient government funding of many schools’ basic needs is that parents must pay for learning materials study supplies, uniforms, and any food provided during the day that a public school offers. In Eastern Rusinga most parents cannot afford these costs.
With no local transportation many primary age children in Rusinga cannot walk the long distances to reach the nearest government school. Whether it’s because of economic privation or because there are too few public schools in marginalized areas, many children do not begin an education. Unfortunately, in some areas of rural Kenya cultural attitudes and practices may not prioritize education, particularly for young girls. Sometimes even the youngest child is seen as more important to the economic survival that puts food on the table for families that may have as many as six or more children. In Rusinga this means a child begins to work at the lake, following a parent into the only work providing a source of the family’s subsistance income – fishing, where it is often not safe for young girls.
Become a Partner with Bright Light. Help Young Kenyans stay in School!
Early marriage for these young girls who leave or cannot attend a school is still prevalent in Kenya, most commonly in rural areas where social and cultural factors perpetuate the practice. Even when a girl is attending school, early marriage is a leading cause of school dropouts. Bright Light Academy’s empowerment program mentors our young girls to raise their awareness of alternative life choices. We encourage their mothers to separate themselves from the tradition of early marriage they may have experienced themselves and support their daughters’ growing independence by insisting they stay in school.
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Equality and respect between boys and girls, appreciation of diversity among tribes and cultures, an eagerness for learning and building confidence are elements of Bright Light’s own curriculum. By starting their education at a young age and providing so much more at no cost or hardship to our students’ families, Bright Light Academy holds the promise of a “brighter” future for all its students.
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