Read with Me in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan

In coming academic year Read with Me will be implemented in Mazar-e-Sharif for about 400 children with the cooperation of Future for Afghanistan Children Organization.

Since summer 2016, the authorities of Future for Afghanistan Children Organization showed interest in the implementation of Read with Me project in Mazar-e-Sharif. Afterward, the Institute for Research on the History of Children’s Literature accepted to run a complete series of Read with Me workshops for tutors, social workers, and volunteers in Mazar-e-Sharif for free in addition to sending quality books for children so that tutors can hold reading aloud sessions in Mazar-e-Sharif according to Read with Me program.

This project will be implemented for about 400 children in preschool and first and second grade of elementary school in Mazar-e-Sharif and some villages around the city.

In September 2016, Maryam Karimi from Future for Afghanistan Children Organization with two other tutors from Mazar-e-Sharif traveled to Tehran to take part in Read with Me workshops. These workshops were held on 21-22 September 2016 in Supportive Education Center of MahmoudAbad for a group of Iranian-Afghan volunteers and tutors. The trainees were from Supportive Education Center of MahmoudAbad and MahmoudAbad Kids House (Pooyesh) where mostly Afghan children are covered.

“Children’s literature and quality Books”, “Story Elements”, “Reading Aloud”, “Role Playing, Facial and Body Expressions”, “Basic Literacy”, “Learning sounds”, “Learning Alphabet”, “Dictionary of Riddles” and “Learning Math” workshops were held on these two days.

On 24 September 2016, the tutors from Mazar-e-Sharif attended at the IRHCL Office. In this session, experts from the institute held “Basic Literacy and Read with Me complementary workshops”, “Peace and Living Values workshop” and “Making Masks Workshop”. They also discussed the methods of implementation of RWM project and the ways to improve and adjust the project for situation and needs of children in Afghanistan.

Based on the plans, these trained tutors will hold reading aloud sessions in 5 urban and rural schools in Mazar-e-Sharif and its suburbs and they will train 12 other volunteer-tutors.

In the first phase of this project, more than 500 RWM selected quality books, 50 Basic Literacy Learning through Literature packages and 80 books for teachers and tutors, with book-related activities and handbooks are sent to Mazar-e-Sharif.

In Afghanistan, school holidays are in winter and the school year starts in March. By planning, training, and periodic inspections, Read with Me and Future for Afghanistan Children Organization hope to continue this cooperation so that they can help afghan children to experience a new approach and a different atmosphere in coming year.

   

This post is also available in: Persian