#DREAMenCASA
Our Response to COVID-19
The DREAM Project has served as a community leader since being founded in 2002. Through natural disasters, economic hardships and countless moments of need, DREAM has been there for our 15 partner communities. In this tradition and in response to the Dominican Ministry of Education’s announcement that distanced learning will be mandatory during the COVID-19 pandemic, DREAM is providing educational materials and online resources to thousands of children, youth and community members while they remain safely at home through #DREAMenCASA (#DREAMatHOME).
DREAM is able to provide programs like #DREAMenCASA because of your generosity. To support our our efforts, please consider making a donation.
How we DREAM from home
At-home Instruction
To best engage students while safely at home, DREAM created accessible educational materials that are age-appropriate and address various learning styles. These #DREAMPaqs contain printed workbooks created by our teachers, for both Montessori and primary school learners, with arts and school supplies distributed to all participating families every other week. DREAM is also producing videos that provide quick lessons on a variety of academic topics that will be distributed via social media and WhatsApp, along with our weekly social media series “#DREAMenCASA Live,” which includes live, interactive workshops for the whole family.
Parent Support
With schools closed and many parents working from home, we know how tough it can be to come up with a new routine. The parent support component of #DREAMenCASA is our way to help parents educate their kids at home. DREAM provides one-on-one instruction to preschool parents about how to best utilize the #DREAMPaqs at home. Additionally, DREAM’s newest program, Tutor en Casa, trains public school parents on how to be teachers at home through 18 instructional videos over a six-week period in reading, writing and math. DREAM continues to provide our online parent resource library filled with books and activities that can be downloaded at anytime, anywhere!
Literacy Promotion
Even though schools are closed, the DREAM library remains open in a contactless, “take out” form, so that students can continue to access their favorite books. DREAM students will continue to create their own home libraries through DREAM’s My Very Own Library book fairs that will occur in an updated format to maintain our students’ health and safety.
ACTIVITIES
READING
Youth Development
Our older students cannot simply wait at home: they have an immediate need to gain new skills, seek employment and further their civic engagement. Select graduates from DREAM’s A Ganar program were invited to participate in additional job training and English classes throughout Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, and we are resuming our full A Ganar program in Fall 2021, maintaining appropriate healthy and safety measures. DREAM has also designed a mobile application for Única, our girls empowerment program, which is available for download on smartphones everywhere. Virtual learning sessions have been running with youth networks on civic responsibility and prevention of child marriage, which includes work with teachers and community leaders from the Ministry of Education.
Need some inspiration?
How to talk to your kids about COVID-19
Unsure how to talk to your child about COVID-19? Here are five tips from our school psychologist, Pablo Ramos.
#StorytimewithDelmy - Read Aloud
Delmy, one of everyone's favorite story teller! Watch as a family and DREAM on.
Relief to over 2,000 families
Cabarete Sostenible
Teamwork makes the DREAM work. Early on, we recognized that forming a coalition of non-profits would allow us to collectively pool resources and reach more vulnerable households during this great time of need. Cabarete Sostenible is a coalition of local non-profits, volunteers and municipal authorities that was formed in 2020 and is responsible for food distribution and the development of gardening and local food production that will provide a replicable and sustainable model that addresses food insecurity in the community.