Mother Child Education Program, Anne ocuk Eitim Vakf (AEV) Mother Child Education Foundation i

Location Turkey Nur Sucuka orap Bykdere Cad. Stad Han N:85/2 Mecidiyeky, 34387 stanbul, TRKYE 90 212 213 42 20-142 www.acev.org The Mother Child Education Program (MOCEP) is a home-based program designed to support mothers of 5- and 6-year-old children without access to preschool. MOCEP was developed according to an ecological framework that emphasizes the importance of childrens interactions in their environment. The MOCEP training entails three components: 1) a Mother Support Program, 2) a Reproductive Health and Family Planning Program, and 3) a Cognitive Education Program. MOCEP was designed by the Mother Child Education Foundation (AEV) and is now implemented by the Ministry of National Education in close consultation with AEV. The overall aim of MOCEP is to provide cognitive enrichment that promotes childrens optimal psychosocial development and school readiness. The program also aims to empower mothers by helping them cultivate skills and attitudes that will impact both their childrens and their own wellbeing for years to come. The program began in 1982 as a home-based intervention conducted as part of a 4-year research project. The intervention consisted of a mother enrichment component and a cognitive education component adapted from HIPPY (Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters), a program developed by the Research Institute of Innovation in Education at Hebrew University, Jerusalem. In response to promising evaluation results, the home-based intervention was expanded to a public programthe Mother Child Education Program (MOCEP)in 1991. The programs duration was modified from 60 weeks to 25 weeks. A new cognitive training program was developed to replace the one modeled after HIPPY, and a component was added to address reproductive health and family planning. In 1993, the Finance Foundation established the Mother-Child Education foundation (ACEV) to oversee and support MOCEP. That year, MOCEP was launched for the first time in adult education centers. Later, MOCEP was offered free of charge as an elective course at several universities throughout Turkey. After almost a decade of being run collaboratively by ACEV and the Ministry of National Education, MOCEP was formally transferred to the Ministry of National Education in 2002. MOCEP brings together groups of 20 to 25 mothers for weekly 3-hour sessions over a period of 25 weeks. Each session is divided to cover the three components of the program: Mother Support Program, Reproductive Health and Family Planning, and the Cognitive Education Program. Some of the topics covered at these sessions include: child development and the role of the family, active listening, social and emotional development, and the importance of play and its impact on development.

Contact information

General description

Goals

History

Services and activities

Evaluation results

An experimental study in 1998 found that children from trained mothers had significantly better outcomes than controls on: pre-literacy skills, prenumeracy skills, as well as literacy skills and numeric skills measured after their first year school. The study found that children whose mothers participated in the program had higher final grades in first grade as well as better teacher ratings of school readiness in both cognitive and social domains. The study also found a positive impact on childrearing practices (e.g., less negative disciplinary methods), stimulation index, provision of a positive study environment at home, improved communication, and mothers self-confidence.ii, iii Research on the long-term impact of the program showed that children of participating mothers achieved higher scores on intelligence and general aptitude tests; were more successful academically; continued their schooling for a longer period of time; developed a more positive self-concept; and, as adults, worked at higherstatus jobs and obtained higher salaries.iv Funding for MOCEP comes from the Ministry of Education. This effort highlights the importance of targeting both the child and the mother to enable mothers to continue supporting their children beyond the preschool years.v

Funding sources Lessons learned

CLASSIFICATION Program
Pedagogy Programmatic This initiative trains mothers to help their children prepare for school. This program is overseen by the Ministry of National Education.

Pedagogy

Policy
Policy

Information from this profile was collected from the following sources: http://www.acev.org/index.php?lang=en ii Bekman, S. (1998). A fair chance: An evaluation of the mother- child education program. http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/17/3e/80.pdf iii N. Sucuka (personal communication, January 29, 2009) iv N. Sucuka (personal communication, January 29, 2009) v N. Sucuka (personal communication, January 29, 2009)