“He writes really well! And he hasn’t forgotten all the colors and shapes he learned!” said proud mother Rosemarie ‘Rose’ Briones Boras about her kid in Kindergarten.

Rose’s two youngest children, now 8 and 5 years old, received their early childhood education through Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP), which was set up by ChildFund and local partner Federation of Associations for Communities and Children’s Empowerment, Inc. (FACE, Inc.) in their town of Barangay Balogo, Sorsogon City in the Philippines’ Bicol region. SNP is an alternative form of daycare in areas without formal child development centers and utilizes play to help children learn.

“My kids liked going to SNP! That’s where they started interacting with other kids in the neighborhood and developing their social skills. They were given school supplies and toys. They had so much fun playing, singing, drawing .. and learning to read, write and count.” She also appreciated that the SNP facilitators brought modular materials to the kids’ homes during the COVID-19 lockdowns so that their learning wouldn’t be interrupted.

Rose acknowledges that SNP gave her kids a strong foundation in preparation for formal schooling. They had no trouble adjusting to it because they had already built their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as social and emotional skills. She is just as proud of her child in Grade 3, who has consistently received ‘Best in Writing’, ‘Best in Conduct’, and other awards since Grade 1.

When asked what her aspirations for her children are, Rose replied, “We may live a simple life, but I want them to finish college and find good jobs. My kids have my full support all the way. I’m so grateful that we have SNP here to help me set their lifelong learning and well-being in motion. Thank you to all the SNP facilitators and, of course, to ChildFund.”