The Beginning of a Lifetime Love of Learning
Early childhood education programs are an essential step to help poor children progress out of poverty in the Philippines and beyond. Yet families in ultra-poverty face overwhelming challenges that put their children’s education and futures at constant risk. ICM’s Family Academy provides a preschool education for poor children in these communities, instilling a love of learning and preparing these at-risk children to excel in school.
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Parents see the change
“They learn their ABCs, colors, and numbers. And best of all, they learn how to mingle with other children their age. I don’t think it would have been possible without the training of ICM’s Family Academy.”
Theresa’s story
A Generational Challenge
Among the households ICM serves, only 17% of parents graduated from high school. Most ultra-poor families do not possess a single children’s book. As a result, parents feel inadequate to teach their own children, and the challenge of keeping food on the table means parents are unable to prioritize their children’s learning.
As a charity focusing on education, ICM’s Family Academy initiatives focus on providing education to poor children in the Philippines. ICM also believes that it is important to engage parents alongside their children, to help influence long-term thinking and achieve the best results.
The Solution—ICM’s Family Academy
Family Academy is ICM’s innovative parent-child community coaching program that trains and empowers parents to be their children’s first teachers. Family Academy equips children with the knowledge and social skills to excel in school by providing families with:
- Trained coaches who conduct parent-child learning sessions
- Learn-through-play math and literacy games
- Colorful math and phonics flash cards
- Educational games that can continue at home
- Proven parenting skills for mothers and fathers
Thrive Churches Weekly Offering
Developing Proficiency Scores Before and After Family Academy
Before Family Academy
After Family Academy
Family Academy graduates see a marked and sustained improvement in their readiness for school in Math and Phonics!
Off to a Good Start
Growing up with a physically abusive father who’s now serving time in jail, 5-year-old Ella Mae has found refuge in her mother who cares deeply for her. Ella Mae lives in a bamboo house near the river with her mother and her three older siblings where access to education is hard.
Teacher finds joy serving the ultra-poor
Because of the pandemic, distance learning has been the norm for all the students in the Philippines. While this has kept children safe from the COVID-19 virus, parents had to bear most of the responsibility for their kid’s education.
Extraordinary change amidst the pandemic
The shift to distance learning during the pandemic has been difficult enough for most families, but for the ultra-poor, distance learning often feels like an impossible task.
Mother Empowerment
Here in ICM, we have found that one of the best ways to promote economic growth among the poor is to empower women for greater productivity. In fact, 88% of our Transform participants are women.
Changing Attitudes
Toward Learning
and Education
In addition to improving test scores, both parents’ and children’s attitudes toward learning and their educational interactions see consistent positive changes after participating in Family Academy.
The Philippines’ DepEd formalizes partnership with ICM to train parents to teach early learners
Manila, Philippines — The Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) virtually signed a Memorandum of Agreement with nonprofit organization International Care Ministries (ICM) on December 4 to train and equip hundreds of thousands of families across the country with distance learning skills during the pandemic.
DepEd partners with ICM to help parents nurture kindergarten learners
December 10, 2020 – The Department of Education (DepEd) virtually signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the International Care Ministries (ICM) last December 4 to cement a partnership to assist parents of learners, especially in Kindergarten, on a better understanding of the modules provided by their schools.
Family Academy in the Time of COVID-19
Week after week, month after month, COVID-19 forced Rhodora and her family of nine to stay at home. Problems threatened to overwhelm them. Rhodora’s husband lost his job. Food was scarce. The fear of the virus was always with them. “It is only by God’s grace that we survived,” Rhodora shared, thinking back over the last few months.
ICM in ZEP 2030 6th General Assembly Learning Sessions
This month, ICM took part in Zero Extreme Poverty PH 2030’s 6th General Assembly Learning sessions on poverty alleviation programs— our Director of Education Anna Alegre was one of the speakers for the education learning session: From School to Home.
Your Donation Helps ICM’s Family Academy Provide Education for Poor Children in the Philippines
Consider your support
Every $50 will educate one child, putting them on a journey for a lifelong love of learning!