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  • Kindergartens we have built
  • Kindergartens under construction
  • Kindergartens still in need
    • Kindergarten List 2007
    • Primary School List 2007
    • Future Educational Initiatives
  • Pledge a Playground
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Future Educational Initiatives

The BKP Children’s Libraries

According to a recent article in the Jakarta Post the literacy levels of Indonesian children is dramatically declining. The newspaper goes on to suggest that parents must take some responsibility for this decline. However, Indonesian parents complain that good quality books are expensive and well resourced libraries with an extensive collection of books are non-existent.  With this in mind, the Bantul Kindergarten Project is committed to promoting reading and literacy among children in the Bantul Regency who have suffered immense trauma as a result of the May 2006 earthquake. Besides the educational value of a children’s library, BKP feels that both children and parents alike will all benefit from this communal facility.

No one should doubt the importance of children’s libraries to children and their families wherever they live in the world. Unfortunately in many places such a fundamentally valuable asset does not exist for the community, let alone for children. The BKP would like to change this and provide the children of Bantul with facilities to encourage and nurture life long learning and introduce them to an exciting, rich and varied resource.

No child is too young to use the library. Children of all ages should find the library an attractive and exciting place to visit. A children’s library should be the place where children can meet and communicate freely, where they develop their potential creatively. A children’s library should also be an inviting environment encouraging children to utilize all of the library’s resources, to read and to linger in the library.

The responsibility of a children’s library is to meet the needs of children. If children can be inspired at an early age by the excitement of finding knowledge and by works of the imagination, they are likely to benefit greatly, enriching themselves and enhancing their contribution to society.

The BKP strongly believes that a children’s library also has a responsibility to support the process of learning to read and to promote books and other media for children. We also feel that a children’s library must provide special events for children, such as story telling, an annual book week, shared reading sessions and other activities related to a library’s resources and services.

The Bantul Kindergarten Project Children’s Library will have an impressive collection of books, magazines, newspapers, IT facilities, audio posts and furnishings that support learning and communication among children.

The BKP wishes for all Bantul children to be clever, creative and eager to learn – libraries play a vital part in this process. As long as reading is a necessary skill in order to communicate, the BKP Children’s Library has a significant role in Bantul communities.

Help us to help the children and parents of Bantul and improve reading and literacy in these communities.

The BKP Toy Libraries

Play is important to all children and toys are a major element in helping children to play and learn. Play provides opportunities for growth in all the essential developmental domains: social/emotional; perceptual/motor; intellectual; physical; and sensory. Overall, play gives children the chance to explore, to discover and to grow.

The idea of a toy library is of course not new – if you live in a developed country that is. However the concept of a BKP Toy Library is innovative, inspiring and offers a myriad of benefits to Bantul children. One of the less obvious benefits is the chance for children to learn how to make decisions. Decision-making skills are important for children to develop independence and self-confidence. Having the opportunity to make choices and decisions can give children a sense of control in their lives, which can help to improve communication and social interaction skills.  

Other benefits of a BKP Toy Library are:

• Providing good quality toys will help with the educational and developmental aspects of a child. This is especially important as many quality toys are expensive and are therefore unavailable to most families in Bantul.
  
  
• The BKP Toy Library will allow parents and caregivers to see first-hand the importance of quality toys so they are better informed and can make better choices.
  
  
• Some toys are for specific ages and development stages and are therefore only useful for a short period of time. The BKP Toy Library will offer such toys to children while reducing the cost to parents.
  
  
• The BKP Toy Library can also help children with specific learning needs (speech/ language difficulties etc) to access a range of toys.
  
  
• The BKP Toy Library can teach children the importance of respecting the property of others. The Library can further teach the notions of borrowing and giving back.
  
  
• By visiting and playing at the BKP Toy Library children can learn about themselves and the world around them while socializing with other children and parents.
  
  
• The BKP Toy Library can encourage children and their parents or caregivers to take part and enjoy shared play. Through shared play parents and caregivers are given opportunities to build relationships with their children and to enjoy each other’s company while taking part in a shared activity.
  
  
• The BKP Toy Library can also provide a safe environment for children and families to meet and play. This is particular important in Bantul as there are no facilities for children to play.

The BKP Toy Libraries welcomes children from birth to five years old and their families to come and enjoy well designed and made educationally rewarding toys, games and puzzles. A ‘good quality toy’ will promote ‘good’ play by helping in the development, education and imaginative capacity of a child and encourage in the child the ability to share and co-operate with other children. By opening the doors to a toy library, parents and caregivers can significantly contribute towards the development and education of their children at no cost. This is vital in an area where the majority of families are living below the poverty line.

An important note on annual budgets

The BKP Children’s Libraries and Toy Libraries need an annual budget to ensure they develop and grow. This budget should provide for the purchase of books, toys and other resources including magazines, newspapers, audio tapes / CDs, CD ROMs and furnishings etc.  We will continue to raise funding to support this vital resource.

The land for these libraries will be donated by villages throughout
the Bantul Regency.

Total cost of building the library, the furnishings, toys, the books and other media resources and equipment: U$50,000

These libraries should serve approximately 1500 children from the surrounding villages.

*The BKP Toy Library will be an additional room on the Children’s Library.