Providing kindergarten children with quality education and care enhances children’s learning and their readiness for the primary grades.

"Since we opened the new kindergarten, the hours I spend with the children fly by," says Naayem Rasheed, a school teacher at the Um Abhara School in Amman. "Before, it was difficult to keep their attention. But now, the children don't want to leave the kindergarten."

Naayem's classroom is one of four pilot kindergartens refurbished with assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). One hundred kindergartens will be refurbished as part of the Ministry of Education's early childhood education expansion program, implemented by the USAID-funded ERfKE Support Project.

The classroom improvements create an exciting environment for children with a wide range of interactive educational areas. These include the Book Corner, Home Corner, Block Corner, Math and Science Corner, Arts Corner, and a Computer Area.

The impact of improvements in the classroom is reinforced by a National Interactive Curriculum training program required for all Ministry kindergarten teachers. "Before the training I didn't know anything about children's development or the types of quality experiences needed to enhance their learning. It was also difficult to spend time with them. Since then, however, I am able to plan activities according to themes and create learning opportunities in each of the classroom educational corners," explains Naayem.

	120 public kindergartens will be renovated through the USAID-funded ERfKE Support Program. The classrooms will also be equipped with child-sized furniture, educational tools and toys, a computer, books and flash cards, stationary, an electrical heater, carpets and curtains, and outdoor play equipment.

For the children, the impact of these changes is profound. In the past the number of stories was limited, and some teachers did not read to the children at all. Reading was just a way of passing time. Now, the children are able to choose from a variety of books available in the reading area. The same area also provides them with opportunities to experiment with Arabic and English educational picture puzzles.

Often the story is recreated by the children in the Home Corner. This area of the kindergarten is in many ways reminiscent of the children's homes, containing a child's cooking stove, refrigerator, plastic pots, pans and tableware. The contribution of discarded clothes by parents allows the children to dress up for their roles. The Home Corner can also be adapted to look like other environments; what was a kitchen yesterday can be the inside of a bus today and a collection of market stores tomorrow.

"I am now able to provide an exciting learning environment for the children," concludes Naayem.

	Parent and community participation is a key theme of the ERfKE Support Project (ESP).