Becoming fully literate is a pre-requisite to school achievement and success. The roots of literacy are established in the early years as the windows of opportunity for language development and learning are wide open before age 10.

Thus, learning experiences at provided at home and in the community through playgroups, day care centers and preschool programs are essential to planting the seeds of literacy.

However, many of the children who live in poverty are currently unable to attend the public day care or public preschool programs. Parents also need all the help they can get starting with information about the importance of their caregiving, support and interaction with their children in the first years of life and as they make the all-important transition to primary school.

Longitudinal studies and program experiences in many countries including the Philippines have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of investing in early childhood care and development (ECCD) programs that address both children and their caregivers and teachers.

This project seeks to achieve the twin goals of enhancing the public school’s resources for supporting literacy development and for providing a basic ECCD service for 5 year olds through the preschool program.

This will be done by providing the physical facilities and essential tools and materials that serve these dual purposes with a capacity-building program to motivate teachers and school heads to organize and facilitate developmentally-appropriate child and family-focused activities.

The project will also facilitate and promote the convergence of other essential child- and family- focused interventions such as supplementary feeding, health promotion, extended day or child care support, micro-enterprise for pare