“La Aldea is a tool that allows us teachers to implement another way of motivating reading. In addition, boys and girls learn to build challenges and find solutions to everyday things. It allows us to reinforce knowledge and gives us the possibility of working in a different and educational way. I think it is a book that impacts us all. Both the students and us teachers.
Julieth Villamizar Daza, Spanish and social teacher at the Puerto Santander School (N. de Santander, border with Venezuela)
“I find La Aldea very educational and it can be of great help. Especially now that we have lived through two years of a pandemic. Through stories, La Aldea helps us get students back to class and take ownership of learning. It is definitely a tool that allows us to help children to adapt more easily”.
Blanca Zulima Payares Santiago, elementary school teacher at the Colegio Puerto Santander Educational Institution (border with Venezuela)
La Aldea is very beautiful. Boys and girls like it because it keeps them active and creative. The book and the stories of La Aldea are acted out by animals that live together in a space that, in real life, could be our neighborhood, the municipality, the department, Colombia or the world. The stories represent what we are living now. In addition, the text is very transversal, since practically all areas can be worked through.
Alirio Reyes Beltrán, coordinator of the San José del Trigal Educational Institution (Cúcuta)
Since we implemented La Aldea in the institution, the attitude of the students has been one of motivation. They are always willing to participate because they love the characters and identify with them.
La Aldea is a valuable tool because it has allowed them to improve their reading and comprehension processes, while working in a very didactic way. And the best thing is that it can be used in any area, since it has a transversal approach. From math, science, caring for the environment, reading, ethics, to sharing.
Marlobi Barrera Gómez, teacher at the San José del Trigal Educational Institution (Cúcuta)
“La Aldea is a very good program. The teachers are delighted and are asking to expand it. The teacher who leads the process (Tatiana Mendoza) has been a very good leader. La Aldea served as the basis for a significant experience to be created in the elementary school for the municipality of San José de Cúcuta, which was selected as a finalist; This allowed teachers to understand that new tools and trainings such as these can generate new and better results. Also, the students are fascinated; the readings and all the activities are nice, and are adapted to the context”.
Miguel Orlando Peñaranda, principal of the San José del Trigal Educational Institution (Cúcuta)
“La Aldea is like a family to me. Thanks to La Aldea I have learned to take care from Covid, I have learned to read, and I have shared with others. I like it because I share my feelings with others. I have learned that I can feel sad because I am afraid, or that I can feel angry because I am angry. My favorite character is Carmen the bear.”
Manuel, child from La Guajira
“The training processes of La Aldea have allowed me to acquire an experience to be able to work better with boys and girls. It is a tool for talking with them about everything. It allows me to start a meaningful conversation, from fantasy, but always closely linked to reality. In the long term, this tool enables boys and girls to train and grow as more conscious people, more active in their exercise of citizenship, in their duties, in their rights. In addition, boys and girls manage to relate the characters of La Aldea with people in the community. For example: Lorena, for them, is the president of the Community Action Board. La Aldea creates an environment that connects boys and girls with the world of adults, opening space for analyzing and understanding real situations in the environment”.
Betsabé Moler, leader of Pondores, La Guajira.
In December 2021, we were in a meeting with the teaching directors of the Pasto institutions, with the Municipal Secretary of Education and UNICEF, to close the teacher training process and make a projection as to how to work with La Aldea in 2022. The directors began to think about different ways of working with La Aldea and they promised to help the teachers so that the application is a success in the coming school year.
In the last session of 2021 with teachers from four educational institutions in La Guajira, more than thirty teachers gathered together to explore the story “Between chaos and order.” A great success!
“La Aldea is not just a strategy for the pandemic or the return to school. It can and must be a continuous educational strategy. We are interested in using this material to support a fun learning experience for children”.
Miguel Merchán Moreno, school principal of the El Empalme educational institution
