Early Literacy at Your Fingertips: AGFI's New Digital Repository
Our online early literacy materials are here! The four components of the Eager Reader Platform are accessible to anyone, anywhere via the Internet. These resources are designed to support Filipino children and their learning partners.
Maria is a talkative, bright young girl. At four years old, she knows how to follow simple instructions to create arts and crafts. By now she has heard many stories and knows her favorite book, Araw sa Palengke, by heart. Her younger brother, Miguel loves playing with toys that make sounds. Despite being only two years old, he wants to be grown up just like his sister. He often sits beside her during their afternoon reading sessions and uses his little hands to flip through pages of a colorful board book.
To encourage learners like Maria and Miguel, the Adarna Group Foundation, Inc. (AGFI), created an entire array of free resources called the Eager Reader Platform. Here, supportive parents can find all they need to learn about early literacy and can access free resources to promote reading in their homes.
WHEN IT ALL BEGAN
Five years ago, educators, parents, and child advocates gathered in a room to discuss ways to help children reach their full potential. Experts in early childhood care and development imparted their knowledge on how to nurture healthy children with a love for learning. These in-person events organized by the Foundation were called the Eager Reader Conference.
Despite the growing demand for more sessions and a wide array of topics to explore, the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic halted further Eager Reader Conferences. This precarious time heavily constrained in-person interactions, affecting all sectors of the economy and everyone around the world–particularly children. In the Philippines, where one of the world’s longest COVID-19 lockdowns was implemented.
As a result, young learners have experienced many major changes in their lives at school and home, interfering with routines that are important for their sense of stability. For AGFI, the beginning of the lockdown meant a full stop of our face-to-face operations and program implementation, directly impeding our mission to help Filipino children, many of whom were already struggling with literacy at the time.
WHY WE CONTINUE
Determined to uphold our commitment to early childhood literacy, AGFI used the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to reimagine the ways we could reach our stakeholders. The Foundation believed that if young learners had to resiliently cope with the changing times, so did we. Recognizing the need to go digital, the Foundation strived to create research-based, stand-alone learning materials that possessed the child-friendly appeal that its print publications had.
As an online initiative of AGFI, all of the Eager Reader Platform resources and developmentally-appropriate events are available to anyone with internet access. Aside from transcending geographical barriers, the Eager Reader Platform also demonstrates the Foundation’s preparedness to adapt to new trends in learning. This will serve as a repository of supplementary resources as we continue to implement in-person programs to reach marginalized sectors.
Eager Reader Fam Day Participants
February 11, 2023
Young learners raise their self-made instruments as smile at the camera at the end of an Eager Reader Fam Day session filled with music, movement, and crafts.
WHOM THE EAGER READER PLATFORM WAS MADE FOR
What once began as a one-for-all conference has now grown into a vibrant platform with four components, each catering to a unique segment of our audience. Grounded on a thorough needs analysis and enriched with previous experiences, the Foundation recognized the need to tailor-fit its online content to four main stakeholders: early childhood educators and practitioners, early literacy advocates, children, and their families. With this refined strategy, we devised innovative ways to involve a child’s entire community–making sure no one gets left behind.
WHAT WE’VE DONE FOR THIS YEAR
This year has been full of milestones and memories ever since the official launch of our complete Eager Reader Platform in January. Here is a quick look at what we’ve done this year:
WHERE THE EAGER READER PLATFORM IS HEADED
As this fun and productive year comes to an end, we can’t wait to see where next year’s journey will bring us. While the Eager Reader Platform’s next line-up of stories, learning activities, and materials are yet to be revealed, the Foundation is looking forward to bringing early literacy to even more young learners by expanding our reach.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US GROW
Our Eager Reader community keeps on getting bigger and it’s all thanks to the support we’ve received this year. Yet, to achieve our goal of every Filipino child a reader, there is still so much work to be done.
To share a testimony on how Eager Reader has impacted you, pitch an idea and collaborate with us as a session speaker, or partner with us in bringing early literacy to communities, send an email to adarnagroupfoundation@agfi.com.ph.