Longitudinal studies have shown that early readers continue to get higher grades than their peers through grade school.Reading opens the door to your child's early academic success, imparts a love of learning and leads to higher grades in every subject. Sadly, in South Africa ,there are just too many Early Learning Centres who are under resourced and overcrowded. Township parents simply cannot af
ford to send their children to well resourced Early learning Centres. Furthermore:
• Approximately 50% of children below the age of 5 are affected by abject poverty, 6% of them have special needs •
• Less than 50% of learners who enrolled in Grade 1 in 2002, graduated grade 12 in 2014 •
• 60% of children under the age of 4 do not have access to any form of ECD programs •
• Almost 21% of children under the age of 5 are stunted through malnutrition •
• 66% of the population, under the age of 35, are unemployed ( J0bs created at local Social Enterprise ;Hands of Honour)
Our Solution : The African ECD Classroom on Wheels.The team at Hands of Honour have collaborated with Cherry Howell ,an early education practitioner and expert with a string of qualifications including :P.T.D ; DSE (RE) ; N.I.L.D (Post Graduate) ; Cognitive Therapy - Level one plus Level 2.Cherry played a vital role in the creation of the Angel Classroom on Wheels. Here is a summary of the benefits of the Angel Classroom on Wheels :
* A compact and secure storage unit for books and teaching aids
* A central point from which the Educator delivers lessons (Something vital in overcrowded Edu-Cares)
* A place where Learners can explore the concepts taught ,using the stored teaching aids
*A mobile classroom library with age appropriate reading material
1. COMPACT STORAGE UNIT:
The unit comprises three folding sections which opens up to a U shaped shelved book case .The two opening doors have chalkboard surfaces ,used by the educator or learner during or after lessons.There are several pockets for the display of reading material and books which develop language and life-skills.In the central panel ,there is an open -sided area at the top ,for book display as well as for the use of puppets in a Puppet Theatre.These are manipulated by the educator ,seated in front of the Theatre or by Learners standing behind it.There is a fold-away bench for learners to sit on while reading.This bench can also be used as a work desk ,for two Learners as well as for kneeling learner involved in numeracy work ,using the beads on the wire situated just above the bench ,as an Abacus... Hanging from hooks are several laces ,to teach plaiting skills ,an important motor -sequential activity.At the back of the unit ,there is a large pin-board for placing pictures and posters. When the Classroom on Wheels is not in use ,the entire unit can be locked and turned on wheels to face a wall ,so that the contents of the unit are out of reach of the learners ,and the posters are on display.
2. MINI -LIBRARY on WHEELS (Angel Book Nook) :
There is ample space for book storage and display if the intended usage of the unit is a mini library .
3. CLASSROOM ON WHEELS ( Angel COW) :
The unit can be used in a pre-school ( aged 2-4 years) ,foundation phase (Grade R - Grade 3 ) or intermediate (Grade 4 - Grade 6 classroom). It supports THREE main learning areas
*Numeracy
*Literacy
*Life -Skills
There are eight activity boards affixed to the rear that support the main pillars of Early Learning .The unit easily manages to keep a whole classroom engrossed in an educational activity at any given time.See the concentration on the children's faces and as they play they learn a whole range of skills including literacy ,numeracy, life skills ,fine -motor skills ,spatial skills ,sequential skills, shapes ,sorting and matching by colour and shades of colour ,motor control and co-ordination through threading small pieces, pincer grasp, hand:eye co-ordination , concentration, thinking skills, perseverance,
Creativity: making new creations from combined materials. When not in use ,the unit is closed up ,padlocked shut ,and turned to face the wall ,so that the posters on the unit are displayed.A real space-saver . There are also educational aids that also provide activities which develop FINE MOTOR SKILLS ( ie .Finger dexterity with bead threading ,plastic construction ,connecting plastic links in a chain ,plaiting laces ,jigsaw puzzles etc ,MOVEMENT & BALANCE (eg ,the use of bean bags) and SPATIAL development (copying patterns from an abacus ,completing a jigsaw puzzle by copying a picture).
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This Angel Classroom on Wheels ,as presented ,provides an educational Hub for a Pre-schools class of up to 30 learners. NUMERACY - The Angel C-O-W provides a built in abacus for counting and sequencing patterns + charts ,aids ,games ,dice for developing sound and number concept.Two children can kneel at the bench to work with the Abacus or counters while writing in school books. Teachers can make use of the chalkboards on the two opening door and flash Cards and games to consolidate basic numeracy.Numbered bean-bags are used to provide physical interaction and addition and subtraction skills. Perhaps the most obvious and the most popular teaching aids are the puppets (2 moving mouth and/or three family members) ,which encourage communication skills ,and can be used in the puppet theatre by Educators and the learners.
