SEEDING THE FUTURE
Through this initiative, United Way of Puerto Rico promotes alliances, strategies and projectors directed to promote the collective impact in the community that needs a care environment and support for the young ones in the ages of 0 to 6 years.
The model of prevention has as main purpose to create a community that understands the importance and investment strategies in early childhood.
Started in 2014 in Dorado and Cataño, Puerto Rico and later on it extends to Toa Baja. The 13 strategies in this plan promote the necessities of different sectors of the community such as: the government, church, private companies and community organizations, to work in a coordinated way to promote the development of the childhood in early age. Between the strategies found: promote the folic acid consumption, prenatal care, breastfeeding, cognitive stimulation, reading promotion, testing ASQ-3, ASQ-SE-2 and M-CHAT, healthy nutrition, the socio-emotional development of children, among others.
In addition, community tables are held to promote support for early childhood. Likewise, national initiatives as: Child Friendly City and alliances with collaborative groups as: Coalición de Lactancia, Asociación de Centros de Cuido Privado, Unidos Por la Niñez Temprana, Niños ConSentidos, Alianza por los Derechos de la Niñez, Puerto Rico Human Building Research, Proyecto Launch, Plan Integral de Desarrollo Social, Comité Amigos del Barco de Vapor, Comité PRAMS, Alianza para la Prevención de Defectos del Nacimiento, Voces por la Niñez, Plan Decenal de Educación, PRAYEC, SePare, among others.
Our Programs
APRENDO (Adiestrando al Personal Responsable del Éxito de la Niñez y su Desarrollo Óptimo)
The goal of the program is to capacitate people who work in the Care and Development Centers in Puerto Rico to offer learning experiences to promote a healthy childhood through sensitive and respectful relationships. At the end of the program we expect that the centers develop and integrate a service improvement plan focused on what was learned during the workshops, and thus generate actions that pay for the care and support of children towards a favorable socio-emotional development.
The Program consists in 7 workshops:
- Teamwork
- Relationships: “Corazón del Desarrollo”- Parte 1: Bebés e Infantes
- Relationships: “Corazón del Desarrollo”- Parte 2. Preescolares
- Collaborating with the families
- Health and Security
- Talk about the implementation of Ages & Stages Questionnaires
- Talk about emergency management in atmospheric event
It also includes a workshop for the families about the topic of the social-emotional development of the kids. Each workshop integrates teaching methods for significant and collaborative learning through a combination of conferences, work in small groups, case and topic discussions, role play, demonstration, illustrations, analogy, questions and answers, drawing, among others. To stimulate the cognitive activity of the program participants go through a process of exploration, conceptualization and application is that is carried out in all sessions.
Through APRENDO, trainings have been given to 1,900 directors, teachers and caregivers who work in 500 centers, with an estimated impact in the life of more than 19,700 children.
Born Learning is a supported program by an educative campaign that emphasizes in early learning and to promote the use of everyday activities as learning experiences. It provides kids a fun scenery, full of ideas and concepts of quality learning during early childhood, which is composed of kids between of 0 to 6 years. To support this cause Comporate Partners have developed educational paths called Born Learning trails, which consist in a insertion of educational elements in recreational parks, to form a group of compound games, physical and educational activities. At first, Born Learning was possible thanks to the cooperation of Women United in alliance with the leaders of social responsibilities in different municipalities through the island.
At the moment, we have 19 Born Learning Trails in the municipalities of Bayamon, Dorado, Guaynabo, Florida, San Juan, Mayagüez, Juncos, Ponce, Cataño, Loiza, Salinas, Lajas, Barceloneta y Yabucoa; this road has been sponsored by Goya, Triple S, Pharma Bio-Serv, Nestle, AT&T, Doral Bank, AMGEN, Ford, Plaza del Caribe, Pfizer, PEPSICO and Carnival Cruise Line.
Born Learning – Opening Parque Paseo La Princesa, Old San Juan
Born Learning Educational Trails
Another goal for Born Learning initiative is to support the community by rescuing and maintaining the parks, games installation, the innovated concepts that involves the recreation and promote the education. The parks transform a passive recreational area into an educational one, thanks to resources that stimulate learning through interactions between children and adults, as a reminder that every day moments are a learning opportunity for our children and that it is everyone’s responsibility. We encourage and offer good learning bases for our children.
To complement the Born Learning message, Born Learning educational parks have been installed around the Island.
Here is a list of public access parks for everyone:
Goya:
Bayamón: Parque de los Niños
Ford:
Santurce: Parque Jose Celso Barbosa
Triple-S
Guaynabo: Parque Hospital de Niño
AT&T
Dorado: Parque Mildred Lugo- Dorado del Mar
Loiza: Parque Santillana
Pfizer:
Barceloneta: Parque Infantil Lucila Águila
Pharma-Bio Serve Inc.
Dorado: Parque Agroturístico, Ecológico y Recreativo
Amgen
Juncos: Parque de los Ninos
PepsiCo.
Cataño: Parque Juana Matos
Nestlé
Guaynabo: Parque Caparra Heights
Caguas: Parque Forastieri
Plaza del Caribe Ponce
Ponce: Parque la Guancha
Salinas: Edu Parque Tematico
Lajas: Parque Pasivo en Plaza Artesanal
Carnival Corporation
Guaynabo: Parque Bosque San Patricio
Florida: Parque Recreativo Jeanette Gonzalez
Yabucoa: Parque del Niño
Rio Piedras: Parque El Sueño de los Niños
Mayagüez: Parque Infantil Urb. Alturas de Mayagüez
San Juan: Parque del Niño – Paseo la Princesa
Cataño: Parque Educativo
Child Friendly City is an initiative of Seeding the Future that aims to raise awareness and promote collaborative work partnerships between government representatives, private companies, non-profit organizations and the community in general, for the benefit of children at an early age. It consists of a recognition of municipalities that are friendly and sensitive to the needs of children.
For years, United Way of Puerto Rico has been dedicated of the support of the childhood of early age, novel initiative in Puerto Rico, follows the model developed by the UNICEF in other countries. During a process of calling the 78 cities, meetings take place in different points of the island to explain how to participate and the focus areas of the project.
The process of evaluation is led by experts in the topic. United Way of Puerto Rico recognized the cities of Culebra, Mayagüez and Carolina as the winners of the Child Friendly City 2019. These three cities have demonstrated their commitment with the optimal development of the childhood, their capacity, leadership and compromise to promote services, collaborations and opportunities to advance in the development of childhood in early age.
TODAY, MORE THAN EVER YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
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