Reading Eggs and Mathseeds

Reading and Maths immediately come to mind whenever problems in education are debated. Unless a solid foundation in these two crucial skills has been laid during the first three school years learners will have an uphill battle for the rest of their lives. This may very well contribute to South Africa’s education crisis.

We therefore welcomed Mathseeds as part of the Click Foundation’s 2016 offering to participating schools. Not only would it support the curriculum and the school’s teaching but the use of good technology will help our learners become savvy citizens of the 21^st century.

Mathseeds is the sister of Reading Eggs. In the same playful way children are introduced to the key concepts of Maths: number sense, operations, measurement, data, and geometry. Every lesson deals with one concept which is taught, explored and practiced over and over in different ways and ends with a short e-book which recaps and consolidates the new knowledge. The playfulness, variety and colourfulness of the Mathseeds characters and environment provide motivation and learners are rewarded with the appearance of a new pet which is hatched at the end of each lesson as well as certificates at the end of every ten lessons. (http://mathseeds.com/schools/white-paper/)

But first of all a lot needed to be done in the background: The timetable had to be renegotiated for every learner to have a period each of Reading Eggs and Mathseeds on Tuesdays and Fridays. A bigger data package was needed and we had to find space and furniture for the additional 15 computers. During the winter holidays our reading room was revamped. We can now accommodate 31 learners at a time.

The new classroom is full and lively.

Oom Piet spent three weeks which ended on Madiba Day and thinks he has done his share for the rest of his life.

Extra attention to and opportunities for reading is also part of our agenda for this year. During the holidays Jaqueline and Monica cut and stapled Nalibali booklets which are handed out on Fridays for our learners to take home.

We build the road by walking it

This African proverb has served as a motto for many big and small projects throughout my life.

I seem to love starting out with a good idea, lots of enthusiasm and few resources, imagining something good in future, feeling my way, borrowing staff and money here and there until a plan takes shape. In the same way that a footpath becomes a two-track, a gravel road and eventually a tarred highway these projects with their meager beginnings and vague plans later became viable, impressive enterprises.

The same is happening to our reading project. Scarcely two years ago we started out with four laptops and sixteen learners at the Kameeldrift Early Learning Centre. Today we have thirty laptops and 150 learners in two schools in our thriving reading project. In the near future the Grade R class of the Leeuwfontein Primary School will be added bringing another 38 children to the project. This phenomenal growth can be attributed to the generosity of our sponsors.

In April we received another grant from Beeld Kinderfonds. This money covers our running expenses for the next year. This time it also provides for four new laptops. Baie dankie Beeld en al die lesers wat elke jaar kaartjies koop!

On Thursday 6 May Nicola Harris, founder of the Click Foundation and Martine Schaffer, CEO visited us to meet the teachers, to observe us in action, and to talk about future plans. They brought ten brand new laptops, in fact chromebooks, with headphones and mouses/mice. This very generous gift will allow us to add the grade R class and to start Mathseeds, the Maths module for one of the classes.

We are just so fortunate to be part of the 16000 South African children for whom the  the Click Foundation is creating new opportunities.

Martine and Nicola with Liezel Landman, Kamcare manager, and Mrs Mavundlela, principal of the Leeuwfontein Primary School

     
Ms Maggie Malatji, grade R teacher, and ms Inolda Makhubela, grade 1 teacher, admire the new chromebooks.
Martine gives Boitumelo a high five for getting 100% for his reading quiz.

On top of that we also recently received four smart phones with Xander apps, created by Tribage App Studio, which help kids to get a grip on numbers, shapes, colours, ABC and basic vocabulary (xander.co.za).

The matric class of 2026

Recently I was watching adv. Thuli Madonsela, South Africa’s much admired Public Protector, in a talk show. So the host asked her about her siblings and made the remark

Adv. Thuli Madonsela Photo: Network24

“… but you were the brainy one …” to which she responded “No, they were as clever but I read more”.

It was wonderful confirmation from such a successful high profile person of the power of words, of books, of reading. It confirmed to me that one of the greatest gifts a child can get is a love of reading combined with the ability to read well. We are indeed doing the right thing and with the help of the Click Foundation and Reading Eggs we are also doing it well. As we say in Afrikaans Ons doen die regte ding reg.

At the Leeuwfontein School we now have 55 Grade 2 and 60 Grade 1 learners who keep us busy from eight in the morning till two in the afternoon on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Francis Ledwaba joined us permanently and on Tuesdays. Lala-Marie Human joins us for the morning session. We will be paying particular attention to the reading of the Grade 2s this year.

       

At the Kameeldrift Early Learning Centre Jaqueline is on her own with the 14 Grade R learners on Mondays and Wednesdays.

On Friday 12 February Carrene Paiken of the Click Foundation paid a visit to the Leeuwfontein School to discuss future plans with the principal.

Last week Wednesday was World Read Aloud Day. Although we did not have time for a celebration we were able to send the Grade 2s home with Nal’ibali’s beautiful newspaper supplement with the WROD story Neo and the big, wide world / Neo le lefase le legolo, le lephare, in Sepedi and English. In January, when the new school year kicked off, a columnist in one of the newspapers described her daughter’s first school day as the start of her career. This made me think about the kids who have been with us these past two years. They will write matric in 2026. Will their names be in the paper and will I still be around to read it? Will they pass with distinctions? Will they be able to go to university and have the means to do so? Which careers will they follow in their adult lives? Last year we asked them what they want to do when they are big. We will repeat it in the middle of the year and I will then write about it.

It was a very good year

Last week the report of the Annual National Assessment of the South African Department of Basic Education was released. It is the result of a process whereby the literacy and numeracy of 7.3 million school students were tested earlier this year. Overall the results are not good and in some cases rather shocking (mg.co.za/article/2014-12-04-grade-nine-mathsaverage-slips-badly-in-2014). The inability to read with understanding is one of the main reasons for the poor performance, even in Maths, was a comment made by different educators in the media. According to one education leader students start falling behind from day one and by the end of grade 3 many are already one year behind with very little chance to rectify the problem which then grows exponentially by the year.

This confirmed to me once again that we are absolutely on the right track: we are doing the right thing by giving these kids a reading head start and we are doing it well by using the very excellent Reading Eggs combined with our commitment, enthusiasm and love. In Afrikaans we have this definition for quality and excellence: om die regte dinge reg te doen. Dis presies wat ons hier doen.

Our first year was a resounding success. We started timidly with 15 learners and 5 laptops in March, optimistic but somewhat wary, not knowing what to expect. When the school year ended on Monday we could marvel at these 23 children who did not know 10 English words in March and now can read simple books. We are proud of the 30 reading certificates which were awarded to them. We are glad that they have learned something about the power of computers and the internet. We are particularly pleased that they had a taste of independent learning. We cherish their self-confidence and openness which grew as a result of this success and we share their excitement for the big school in the knowledge that their chances are so much better.

This success is the combination of various components that came together:

• Reading Eggs (www.readingeggs.co.za) which combines all the latest knowledge and knowhow of reading with sophisticated technology
• Access to Reading Eggs provided by the Click Foundation (www.clickfoundation.co.za   )
• The Kameeldrift Early Learning Centre providing access to the children and a suitable venue
• Kamcare (www.kamcare.org) for providing and maintaining the infrastructure: funding, computers, Internet access
• Friends who supported us in various ways by showing interest, donating money and books, help with transport, sharing, and above all, by praying for us.