Project Name
Project TREE: Transforming Reading in Early Education for Deaf Children
Location Implemented
Fiji Islands, Papau New Guinea, Philippines
Technology Used
Hardware, Software/Apps
Competition Entered
Ready2Read Challenge
Reading Skill Targeted
Foundational
Status
Winner
Amount Award
up to $300,000
Collaborators/Partners
Deaf Consultancy Pacific – Papua New Guinea and Fiji; Deaf PH Team – The Philippines.
The Challenge
Deaf children worldwide do not receive sign language play to build language foundation skills before they arrive in kindergarten. In short, they are not ready to learn when they start school. They also do not have crucial shared reading opportunities at home to develop emergent reading skills and a family bond. Early childhood professionals often face challenges in finding multilingual instructional strategies, curriculum materials, and assessment approaches for young deaf children.
The Big Idea
Project TREE will produce Sign Language Rhythm and Rhyme (SLRR), an innovative way to play with language visually), and Shared Multilingual Reading Strategies (SMRS), a set of best-practice interactive reading, materials for deaf children and their families. Project TREE will provide training to deaf trainers in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines for project implementation and evaluation.
