Sharing the joy of reading at Nal’ibali training workshops
One could have easily mistaken the adult reading workshop for a pre-school class as grown men and women jumped up and down, sang and performed theatrics – all in the name of promoting literacy.
The Nal’ibali regional training workshop hit the Grahamstown area at the weekend as part of a national drive to get children and adults reading for enjoyment in a bid to inspire…
Great stories to help our country grow
One of my favourite storybook characters as a child was Mrs Tiggywinkle from The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle by Beatrix Potter. She was a hedgehog who miraculously reinvented herself daily – without ever compromising her true identity – into an industrious entrepreneur who ran a laundry service! There she was bustling across the rolling green hills of the English countryside, a world that for me…
Harnessing the potential of social networking for literacy development
Reading with comprehension is a human right that doesn’t happen for most South Africans. Is this blanket statement really true or are we ignoring the fact that significant numbers of people are reading in a different form of language than is expected of them – particularly the younger generation criticised for writing CVs and matric exams in so-called txt-tese, SMS language or chat speak?
Are…
An alternative approach to literacy learning
Illiteracy in South Africa is a grave problem and we’ve tended to approach it with the solemnity it deserves. Each year, we hold up the grim results of the national assessment of literacy in schools and design serious plans to improve them. We stack the curriculum primly with words and phonics, all in the correct order and printed on worksheets.
All well and good, but where…
Promoting multiculturalism through stories
According to the US Census Bureau, minorities represent almost half of America’s population under the age of 5. This statistic portends a more ethnically diverse America, with new and growing populations playing more significant economic, social and political roles. Perhaps it’s no surprise that kindergarten and elementary school teachers today recognise the importance of teaching a curriculum that reflects this multicultural and multiracial world.
Culturally responsive teaching means providing learning…
Redang is intrasting…
redeng is intrasting it hulps you to lorn. I stortd with go, dog, go,
and then I cared on with mor hoda books, now I take books owt of the libery wich mens you or a good reda. my hol Lif
my mom has ben reding to me evan sans I wos 1. I lict The owl and The poose cat. my mom hato ryd it…
Start a storytelling tradition at home
After publishing my first book on family storytelling and parenting over a year ago, many friends and readers have asked me, especially around Father’s Day, to offer my advice to new dads. My first reaction is, “I wouldn’t presume,” because as the father of two boys—ages 14 and 11—I’m still learning the ropes myself.
So I’ll refrain from offering any advice. But what I will do is…
The gift of giving… books & stationery
Nal’ibali is about creating conditions that support learning. Children have to experience reading in the same way that adults do. They have to be able to choose books they like, read in the languages they want to read in, write what they like and find comfortable spaces to read in and feel nurtured. In reading club spaces, children have to feel the excitement we…
The magic and power of stories and play
I remember ‘pretend’ play as a child. Sometimes alone, murmuring quietly to myself in a story, slipping through characters and time, being whoever I wanted to be and making things happen in ways that were larger and brighter than life. Or with my sister, moving in an enchanted space where I’d be the princess and she, being the youngest, would have to jump at…
The retelling of the classics
In the May issue of Fairlady we featured a great article entitled ‘Good books bad feelings’ that posed the question whether you should read scary or sad books to your children. Now we take the question a bit further. Should children’s books also have a distinct African flavour?
What if Snow White was living with seven dwarfs somewhere in the Lesotho mountains and what if Rapunzel…
