Ubongo Launches Words and Sounds with Akili to Promote Pan-African Early Literacy

Africa’s leading creator and producer of children’s educational media, Ubongo (www.Ubongo.org), is delighted to announce the launch of Season 4 of Akili and Me: “Words and Sounds with Akili” to encourage kids and their caregivers to re-discover fun learning through words and sounds.

he popular African preschool show helps kids discover new ways of learning that harnesses their creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking. Aimed at 3 to 6 year olds, Akili and Me helps young learners develop their vocabulary, literacy, counting, social emotional and life skills like empathy and conflict resolution through the adventures of Akili, a 4 year old who travels to a magical world of learning when she falls asleep.

Created and first aired in Tanzania in 2015, Akili and Me was an instant hit with Ubongo’s youngest audience. “Season 4 of Akili and Me builds critical early literacy skills by taking children through a series of fun songs and stories, crafted to provide the key foundational building blocks needed to learn how to read. The foundational building blocks we included in the season are phonological awareness through rhyming and syllable segmentation and alphabetic principle through the recognition of letters and letter sounds,” said Ubongo’s Head of Education, Cliodhna Ryan.

“Words and Sounds with Akili is all about emphasizing the importance of kids and caregivers reading and learning together. It goes into helping the audience understand how sounds come together to make words and words come together to create the stories they love,” she added.

Ubongo is a pan-African, non-profit social enterprise aimed at significantly improving school readiness and learning outcomes and promoting social and behavioral change communication through localized edutainment (educational entertainment) for kids and their caregivers.

Kids and caregivers can look forward to nursery rhymes from different countries, caregiver segments to promote reading and learning together and learning outcomes that will be highlighted at the beginning of each episode of the new season.

“We are already elevating learning for over 24 million African kids, and our vision is to equip the 500 million kids in Africa with the educational foundation, critical skills, and mindsets to change their lives and the world,” concluded Ms. Ryan.