An afternoon with science and Iqhosha Eliyimfihlelo KaGeorge Kuzungezo Lwendalo
PRAESA, in partnership with UCT, held a Science Book Event at Molo Mhlaba School in Khayelitsha's Harare Square on Wednesday, 13 June 2018.We had 300 copies of Iqhosha Eliyimfihlelo KaGeorge Kuzungezo Lwendalo (George’s Secret Key to the Universe), written...
A sad day when children felt unsafe in class
As I get to the class, the three men are searching the children’s bags and the children are sitting quietly on the mat and looking at the men. This is their classroom, their place of learning, their place of having fun but for those five minutes or so it doesn’t feel like their classroom.
Lucy Hawking’s visit to South Africa!
PRAESA has published with Jacana Media the isiXhosa and isiZulu versions of George's Secret Key to the Universe, translated by Xolisa Guzula (isiXhosa) and Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi (isiZulu). Author Lucy Hawking visited South Africa in October to highlight the...
Giving children choices helps grow healthy democracies
Sive Mbolekwa, PRAESA literacy mentor, reflects on his day in the classroom and the emphasis on obedience over choice that he observes. How will the children whose choices are so curtailed become the active citizens South Africa needs, he wonders…
Intersecting domain of children’s literacy and literature development
PRAESA director Dr Carole Bloch recently published a column in the Sunday World on the Nal’ibali campaign, aimed at developing multilingual children’s literature: We are all aware that increasing attention has been focused on the development of reading culture and on...
World Read Aloud Day with Mzansi Flair
Teaching children with great stories offers the chance to counter prejudice and bigotry, by encouraging empathy and nurturing a sense of justice. This is why we need to know what stories are available, choose carefully and use languages children understand.
Why children need regular encounters with reading aloud
Socrates told us that all thinking begins with wonder. Nobody would dispute the need for developing thoughtful citizens, but just how do we develop a sense of wonder in children? Through stories, of course!
More damage predicted for educational outcomes: the case against approving only one textbook
A recent proposal by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is to do away with the national catalogue of eight books per subject per grade, and to approve only one book, is predicted to damage further South Africa’s already poor educational outcomes.
Brain food for growing minds
In South Africa, most of the adults who spend time with children in their various capacities as parents, teachers, caregivers, adopters or custodians, do not regularly read aloud to them. And even if they do, with repeated readings of favourite storybooks, most can’t sustain the activity long enough for it to become a habit.
Q&A with Carole Bloch
The aim of the Q&A series is to get an inside look into some of South Africa’s leading education academics, policy-makers and activists. This is the twenty-third interview in the series. Carole Bloch is Director of PRAESA.
