Education South Africa Project #36214

Helping Rural Xhosa children become literate!

by Ncinci One's Montessori

Helping Rural Xhosa children become literate!

Project Report | Feb 14, 2023
2023 Starts on a high for Ncinci Ones Montessori

By Dawn Brochenin | Project Leader

The 2022 Graduates

2023 Started very well for our school and especially for our Cook, sis Nikelwa.....during the Christmas holidays, our school kitchen underwent a much-needed refurbishment. We got a gas stove and cooker and running water in the kitchen for the first time ever! Tiles were put up where they were needed and the floors and walls were fixed and painted. The kitchen looks lovely and sis Nikelwa is very happy! This means that our children can now also do baking as an activity, which is wonderful.

We celebrated the Graduation of 12 ncinci ones in December 2022 and they have now gone onto Grade 1 at two of the local government Junior Seconday Schools in the area. The Graduation was held down at the river in front of the Hole in the Wall and all the mamas, guests, children and staff enjoyed a delicious braai with salads and rolls. Ice cream was served for dessert, which was definitely the highlight!

All the children had 3-day de-worming at the end of last year and Grace Vision came and tested the children's eyes.

Book Dash kindly donated isiXhosa story books to us in late November and each of the 30 children were able to choose 4 books to take home.

7 of the children were assessed late in 2022, using the ELOM.

Our practitioners attended two workshops at the end of 2022, one on "Observation and how to observe a child" and a Hand Crafts workshop, where they learnt weaving, knitting, crocheting, sewing and origami. Both workshops were well enjoyed and the practitioners have introduced some of these new skills as activities at our school. This is so wonderful to observe.

4 New children have started at Ncinci Ones Montessori so far this year and another 8 children will be joining during February and early March. It is so lovely to observe how the 'old' children enjoy teaching the new children how to carry and do activities. All the children are receiving a Measles booster, due to an outbreak of Measles in South Africa in early February.

Thank you for your support and we are looking forward to the developments in 2023.

Kind regards

Dawn

Reading isiXhosa, the mother tongue

Thank you Book Dash

Our garden

Order being displayed

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Oct 27, 2022
Busy, happy days!

By Dawn Brochenin | Project Leader

Children make their own breakfast

The children and staff have been enjoying busy, happy days at Ncinci Ones Montessori.

The children have started making their own breakfast in the morning. They wash their hands, then go and scoop up the amount of porridge they want. They pour the milk and then mix the porridge carefully. They go to the Yann Eric room to enjoy their breakfast. After breakfast, they wipe their table and go and wash and dry their bowl and spoon. Then they collect their toothbrush and face cloth, brush their teeth and clean their face. Happy, independent children now ready to work.

We celebrated Maria Montessori's 152nd anniversay on 31 August and the children and mama's listened to a story about Maria Montessori's life, presented by the teachers. Everybody then went on a walk through the village, to the beach. On the way they all collected litter and by the end there were quite a number of full garbage bags. The children and mama's returned to school to enjoy their lunch together.

We participated in the GlobalGiving littlexlittle fundraiser in September and were blessed to raise $1047. Thank you very much to the 11 donors who supported us.

The teacher training transport challenge is sorted for now - fingers crossed. It is causing a bite out of our budget, but we have no choice. The teachers are motivated and enjoying their weekly 3-hour training sessions. It is wonderful to observe them implementing and presenting to the children, what they learnt at their training. Some of the children who are graduating are currently working with multiplication on a daily basis.

We have introduced Fruit tasting for our children. We have fruit cards for matching in our environment and we are now bringing all the fruits on the cards, to the children, to exprience them sensorially......touching, smelling and eating! The children have experienced pineapples, papayas, lemons and nectarines and are loving the experiences. We will continue bringing all the fruits to the children and will then proceed in the same manner with the Vegetable cards. Our children need these experiences!

We hosted a Practitioner Development Workshop for 20 practitioners in Septeember - the workshop was an introduction to Perma-Culture and imifino. All the practitioners that attended gave very positive feedback.

Hoping you enjoyed our news.

Stay well and thank you for your support!

Dawn

Children brush their teeth after breakfast

Building concentration

Addition with the Golden Beads

9 Times table

Practitioner Development Workshop

Learning to dress myself

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Jul 5, 2022
Ncinci Ones in action - Winter 2022

By Dawn Brochenin | Project Leader

Preparation for Algebra

Greetings to all our supporters!

We trust you are staying well. Herewith a catch up from Ncinci Ones Montessori.

The 30 young rural Xhosa children attending Ncinci Ones Montessori are blossoming on a weekly basis! Their attendance has been very good, as they love their school, their environment and their teachers. The young ones are busy building concentration and refining their movements, while the older children are learning numbers, sounds and things about their world. All the children had 3-day deworming last term and they still enjoy their daily Vit C/Calcium supplement.

The teachers have been attending their Montessori training two afternoon per week and they are motivated and eager to continue and finish their training. They have huge challenges getting to training, as there is no transport from Hole in the Wall to Coffee Bay (10km) and often have to walk.

We have hosted 2 Parent Workshops this year and the mamas are really enjoying the interactive, practical workshops. We had a 72% average attendance and there is always a voucher as a lucky draw, which they love! A full meal and socializing takes place after the workshop.

Nosandise, one of our teachers, had the amazing experience of attending the South African Montessori Assocation National Conference in Cape Town, where we were blessed to hear Lynn Lawrence, the Executive Director of AMI speak. Nosandise absolutely loved her wonderful experience and is sharing her story with all.

The children are currently on a 3-week Winter break and we will be welcoming them back to school on 19 July.

Thank you for walking this road with us and giving our rural children this incredible educational gift!

Gratefully yours

Dawn

Animal and plant sorting

Say it, write it

Concentration....where it all starts

Teacher training - teen numbers

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