Serving Students Through Early Childhood Care and Education
It is hard to describe just how far TCF’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) program has come in the last few years. When I first volunteered at RVCV in 2016, ECCE served only 16 kids between the ages of 3 and 6 years old. The program served the youngest members of the RVCV family as well as the children of Gyetighi Primary School teachers.
When I arrived, preschool was being run by our current Managing Director, Ali Carey, a volunteer at the time, and I was assigned to assist. Every morning, we spent over an hour preparing for class and repeated the preparations during lunch break, eager to give these kids our maximum effort. Ali and I quickly learned that over-preparing activities was our best defense against the chaos that comes with many toddlers and limited resources.
After Ali took a job in the office, I was on my own to lead the program with limited guidance, supplies, and support. There were more days than I could count that I was left alone in wrangling all 16 little ones. I had to be creative with how and what to teach, coming up with unique lessons to fill six days of classes each week. I brainstormed endlessly to develop themes and lessons that would provide these young students with useful skills such as gaining knowledge, focus, fine motor skills, social skills, patience, and more. While I did my best to create exercises and activities that were fun and educational, for the nine months I taught this class, success was often defined by everyone making it to 4 PM in one piece.
Success in our ECCE program is now defined very differently. The program has a robust year-long curriculum, three excellent Tanzanian ECCE teachers, and a group of 34 wonderful students. TCF is thrilled to offer this program to more of our staff and to have Tanzanians leading every lesson. The program has unique weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals along with assessments to ensure we deliver results. Our ECCE teachers are masterful at keeping these students focused and engaged while also maximizing every second of playtime to ensure each day is filled with joy.
Children enrolled in this initiative benefit from a structured routine, exposure to English, widened horizons, accessible medical care, consistent meals, and an abundance of creativity. The results become evident once they enter their formal education, with all graduates scoring in the highest percentiles of their Awali (Kindergarten) classes.
It is incredible to see this program's progress and the critical ways that TCF is transforming its approach to better serve students. While the ever-present touch of chaos can still be seen at Friday Dance Parties, every day is filled with an unlimited supply of smiles, laughter, and fun!
- Will Harrison, Communications and Sponsorship Coordinator