Sourcing Kreyol Texts For Schools
The items schools are looking for:
Primary readers for beginning readers
Picture books
Haitian and World History texts for primary, middle and high school
Science texts for primary, middle and high school
Math texts for primary, middle and high school
Fiction for primary, middle and high school
The source choices are:
Publishers in Haiti
Publishers in the U.S.
Other schools who have created their own Kreol Curriculum
Nonprofits who have published books
Nonprofits offering books via electronic devices
MIT open source educational resources in Kreol.
Most Kreol educational materials are literacy works for the primary grades. That said, there are sources out there for other items. These are listed below.
Ideally, the best source would be a vendor in Haiti. These publish a mixture of French and Kreyol textbooks.
1) Maison Henry Deschamps
2 Rue T Jean-Gilles, Angle BD Toussaint Louverture, PAP - +509 2813-0214
2) Editions Zémès
info@zemeshaiti.com. Phone. 3701-0883 / 84.
4) Editions CUC Universite Caraibe
Delmas 29 #7, PAP Tel. [int. +509] 249 6941
5) Marketplace vendors
Sources in the U.S.
Amazon - use search terms - Haitian+Creole+worldreader or search term: NABU
Educa Vision in Florida has a wide variety of Kreyol texts. They’ve just recently published a Science Encyclopedia in Kreyol. One of the unique things they have is the alphabet song for Kreole - Chante Alfabe Kreyol La
Star Bright books has bilingual Kreyol-English books
These schools and nonprofits have created their own Kreyol resources. Some are for sale; others may be available for free.
Haiti Now Library of Online Resources
Partners in Literacy Haiti (has a Kreyol alphabet chart)
Electronic resources include access to mother tongue books on ereaders, other type of content and preloaded ereaders
The Neighborhood Library uses resources from NABU to access mother tongue books
Open Source Content
MIT has created a platform where educators can upload texts and teacher resources in Kreyol free for anyone to access. These are vetted in 3 ways. They must match the state’s curriculum; incorporate active learning and use proper Kreyol. It is overseen by Prof. DeGraff who is an expert in Kreyol pedagogy. It is not necessary to have advanced technology to upload to the repository - the MIT staff assists in all ways to remove barriers to uploading. This means an expert Haitian teacher can share their knowledge no matter where they are in the country.
Book Discovery
It can be hard to even know what is available in Kreol. One way to investigate this is to contact libraries. These are school that have websites in English that have libraries:
Summits Education (extensive collection spread over several schools)
This is a community library that has website in Kreyol:
This is an organization that creates libraries:
These are other community libraries:
Do You Know of Other Sources?
Let me know in the comments so I can share them. Email me at: winifred.flint@gmail.com
General Comments
Incorporating Creole texts into the classroom can be tricky if the teacher is not trained on how to use them. For teachers used to rote memorization and lack of materials, they may be hesitant to incorporate them. An interesting dilemma is that the use of Kreyol texts can change the dynamic of the teacher - student relationship. Learning in Kreyol typically raises the volume and liveliness of the class making the students less fearful of the teacher (a common situation in Haitian classrooms, unfortunately. ) Teaching in French can lead to a quieter, less engaged student - easier to manage. Excited students in Kreol may require teachers to not only be trained on how to use Creole texts but on new classroom management techniques.
Image Source: UUSC4all Haiti Justworks
One of the ways to acquire Kreyol texts may be to share this need with short term visitors. Short term visitors are normally eager to support the organization and would be happy to help in a specific way. Letting them know exactly what you need and where they can get it may help you build up your Kreyol collection. This eliminates the cost to the school but also avoids shipping and transportation problems for the books coming from PAP, for example. They are likely to be most excited about providing a whole type of something -for example - all the math texts for third grade. And then putting in a bookplate into each book acknowledging the gift would be appreciated.
For More Resources to Help Haitian Schools
Go to this Website.