There are lots of exciting developments happening in the field of early learning, both at SmartStart and in other organisations and other countries. Watch this space to get the latest blog article, a piece of interesting research or an announcement about an upcoming event.
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Most recent
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02 May 2017
What makes a successful SmartStart club?
This is a question we recently asked all our club team leaders. They agreed that good clubs:
Meet regularly Take action (i.e. organise events for members) Are creative Are brand ambassadors Leave no one behind. They support each other to get green Programme Quality Assurance (PQAs)Although members are aware and understand what is required of them as SmartStarters, they often let some activities fall back, or don’t give them enough priority, for various reasons.
Introducing the League of StarsTo encourage teamwork and increase excellence in these five areas, we have formed a new club league competition. The objective of the league is to encourage a support network, where clubs can collaborate, solve problems and...
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17 Jan 2018
Four-year-old Sisanda Chilli, was born with Cerebral Palsy and because her development was different it caused difficulties in her learning and interacting with other children. When Phumzile Mngadi, a SmartStarter trained by TREE from Umdoni district, started her playgroup in August 2017, she was determined to help improve Sisanda’s life. In rural societies disability is often kept a secret, with many disabled children being hidden away. However, when Sisanda along with five other children joined the playgroup in August, Phumzile was excited.
Sisanda’s condition limits the control she has over some of the muscles in her body. When she first joined the playgroup, she was unable to talk or feed herself. Hopes were low of her being able to do things for herself. After only a few...
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17 Jan 2018
If you walk into any SmartStart programme, you are likely to see one of three things:
1) Children interacting with toys and objects
2) Children listening to a story
3) Children playing with their friends
On the surface, the children don’t seem to be doing anything too groundbreaking – do they? However, during each of these activities, children are in fact developing complex cognitive and character skills, which are preparing them to become productive and successful adults.
But how?
Let’s consider a three-year-old child building a puzzle with a friend. They are each taking turns to complete the puzzle, break it down and build it up again.
What to us might look like a simple (and very repetitive) game, is actually helping...
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Get involved! Find out more
To find out more about SmartStart and how you can get involved, contact the SmartStart office on 010 595 3902 or email us at hello@smartstart.org.za.