The project is designed for Rhodes University staff members who are caregivers of children in primary school with the aim to promote literacy development in the home.
What skills and resources were you able to draw from the community for this project?
collaborated with literacy development experts who present workshops to caregivers on how to encourage their children to become interested in reading for pleasure. The programme recognises that parents and learners already read magazines and newspapers at home, thus the workshops are aimed at building on this reading culture. Our community has libraries where caregivers can sign themselves and their children up for membership. These are also recognised as resources and assets that the caregivers can use in helping make the programme a success.
The challenges
Children who enter high school often struggle to understand and engage with the material being taught due to not being able to read for understanding. The programme therefore seeks to promote literacy development in early stages of education, to equip learners with the necessary skills to read to understand and engage well with literature.
Addressing the challenges
A library is set up in the Rhodes University Community Engagement Office where parents come and borrow book bags. Each book bag has 6 books in it and parents can return them after two weeks and exchange for another bad, which contains a different set of books. Parents read to and with their children at home and are also encouraged to join local libraries.
The achievements
Through the programme there have been caregivers who have recognised the value of literacy development in the home, and have seen the good results translate in their children’s school progress. These caregivers have become literacy activists in their communities, partnering with a local pre-school in Grahamstown where they interact with caregivers from that pre-school around the importance of literacy development and library memberships.
Johannesburg, South Africa