Our Work
What We Do: Creating Classrooms that Work
Child Aid partners with elementary school teachers and the schools where they work to create vibrant classrooms full of literacy and learning. Our programs focus on developing the core literacy skills and habits of reading that are so critical to lifetime learning. We stock classroom shelves with colorful, engaging books, train teachers in literacy instruction and support school programs that give students more opportunities to spend time reading and developing their skills.
The Focus of Our Work
Literacy and Education
Child Aid invests in literacy and education because we believe curious kids can change the world. For more than two decades, Child Aid has worked to improve the quality of education in Guatemala’s most poverty-stricken indigenous communities. From the start, we recognized the link between illiteracy and systemic poverty, and saw the possibility to make a lasting impact in children’s lives through education.
Primary Schools
We focus on primary schools because learning to read early in life matters. Children who develop basic literacy skills in the early grades, stay in school longer, have better economic opportunities throughout their lives, are more self-sufficient and are better able to adapt to a changing world.
Guatemala
We work in Guatemala because it is a place of great need and great opportunity. Guatemala has some of the highest rates of illiteracy, inequality and poverty in the world, but it also has people with a rich culture and tradition, great strength and capabilities and a desire to work for a better life for themselves and their children. We work in partnership with Guatemalans to realize our shared vision of a country with peace and prosperity for all its citizens.
Coaching
Coaching is the secret of our success. We know that working one-on-one with teachers in their classrooms is the key to building better educators. It’s how we build collaborative trust. It’s how we build the confidence to try new things. It’s how we rally around our common goal of helping children learn. Through coaching, teachers gain the experience and skills they need to succeed.
