Amalinda Forest school stimulates young minds for a better future
FAILURE to stimulate a child’s mind from birth can be as detrimental to them as locking their little brains inside a dark, windowless prison.
These are the words of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioner and owner of Step Ahead Child Centre in Amalinda Forest Nondumiso Mpitimpiti.
According to Mpitimpiti, a child who has not been exposed to educational and social activities from a young age, has a sluggish brain and often struggles with imagination and basic coordination.
The emotional, social and physical development of young children has a direct effect on their overall development and on the adult they will become. Investing in very young children is important as it maximises their future well-being.
Mpitimpiti said ideally every child from 0-6 years of age should be introduced to the various forms of development as this was a crucial stage for learning.
Despite this, many children are either kept at home and looked after by a caregiver or enrolled in a playschool which is usually just a substitute for the caregiver and where there are few opportunities for educational stimulation.
Children enrolled in a registered ECD-compliant preschool, however, are taught skills that encompass the cognitive, intellectual, communication and socio-development fields to ready them for school.
Mpitimpiti’s little charges are also taught values such as caring, forgiveness, basic household chores, how to love, obey, listen and the importance of sharing.
The 104 children, aged from just a few months old to six years currently enrolled at the school, are taught in four classrooms by eight teachers.
Funding to run the school comes from the social development department which provides a stipend for a maximum of 60 children, as well as a minimal monthly amount paid by parents and donations.
“The most important thing we do here is to provide stimulation, thus ensuring brain development. That is what we focus on. We make use of a variety of different tools to achieve this from books and pictures through to educational toys,” Mpitimpiti explained.
“I have on numerous occasions gone into the community to try and explain the importance of ECD to the parents and while some of them understand, others seem a bit reluctant. Even during parents’ meetings I explain why their children’s minds need to be stimulated and moulded way before they get to Grade R because this will open their minds up to learning for the rest of their lives.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 43% – or 249 million – of children under five in low- and middle-income countries are at an elevated risk of poor development due to extreme poverty, with many countries failing to invest in early childhood development activities.
In a report released earlier this year, the WHO said that a child’s brain developed faster in the first two to three years than at any other time in their life.
These early years are also a critical period of adaptability and responsiveness to interventions.
According to the report, when young children are deprived of nutrition, stimulation and protection, the damaging effects can produce long-term detriments for families and communities.
At Mpitimpiti’s centre, pupils receive all three.
Every morning at Step Ahead begins with each and every child receiving a hug.
“The reason we hug the children is also to look for injuries which may have occurred at home.
“It does sometimes happen that the child may have hurt themselves at home and no one may have noticed.
“They may then get to school with those injuries and they may be in pain. We hug them so we can pick up any pain or abnormalities so that we can either enter them into the incident book or contact the parent to alert them.
“After that, they eat their breakfast. Once they’ve eaten, we have something called “morning ring”. Morning ring is a time to share news, learn the day of the week, the month and a discussion of the week’s theme.
“Let’s say for instance this week’s theme is “caring for our world”. That theme will first be discussed during morning ring on Monday, as well as throughout the entire week by doing different activities related to that theme.
We can have exercises on energy-saving tips, recycling and how to reduce our carbon footprint.
That would all be discussed during morning ring. Here children are also getting a lesson in language because this discussion happens in both English and their mother tongue,” she said, adding that from there, the same theme was later expanded to other areas of learning, including drawing, physical exercise, music and dance.
“If they make a collage, it is based on the theme. Any picture they paint in art will have something to do with the environment. During music, the songs they will sing will be related to the theme as well. This is to ensure that children are learning the concepts, although we don’t expect them to be able to regurgitate the work by rote.
“We just want them to remember what they have learnt so if they see something related they can remember what they learnt at school.
“Our curriculum is Caps [Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement] based and we plan our lessons for the entire year in advance so we never repeat the same one.”
The importance of ECD has not escaped the attention of the city’s Rotary Club’s. In an effort to boost ECD centres in the city, the Rotary club of Gately teamed up with the East London, Arcadia and Bonza Bay clubs, partnering with an additional three Rotary clubs in the US to embark on a project to train 50 aspiring ECD practitioners up to NQF (National Qualifications Framework) Level 4.
According to Gately Rotary Club Foundation chairman Pieter Bosch, the practitioners are being taught by the Institute of Training and Education for Capacity Building (ITEC) over an 18-month period.
The first group of 25 graduated in August this year. A total amount of R3-million has been donated by Rotary for this three-year project.
“Funds will be utilised for tuition, educational toys, equipment, positive parenting and monitoring of goal achievement,” Bosch said.
“All 50 practitioners will be deployed to Early Childhood Centres based around East London and managed by Loaves and Fishes Network as well as Buffalo City Child Care Development Association. Some 3 000 children between the ages of 18 months to six years will directly benefit from this initiative with an additional number of 1 000 entering the system every year.”
Bosch stressed the importance of ECD as an intervention in every child’s life.
He said: “Early intervention in a child’s life will determine the physical, emotional, social and cognitive development and improve their chances on living a better life.
“Rotary views its involvement in this sector as a game changer and regards its commitment to Early Childhood Development as a quantum leap project that will provide the children of today a better opportunity in the future.”
Mpitimpiti urged the private sector to come on board to support ECD centres like hers.
“The grant we get from government does help, but it’s not enough. I pay my staff a stipend but it’s not a real salary and I’m afraid of losing them.
“If they left, it would hurt the children more than it would hurt me because they need stability. It’s important for them to see the same face day after day so I need my staff to stay. Constant change of teachers will bring different teaching methods and different attitudes which would confuse the children.
“I just wish I could pay my staff more because they are so good with the children and they have been so loyal.” — zisandan@dispatch.co.za