Each year, our facilitators strive to keep our curriculum fresh, exciting, and dynamic. It is constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of our learners, which is partly what makes our After-school Programme so successful. With the new school year in South Africa two months underway and our After-school Programme about one month underway, we wanted to give you an overview of what we’re focusing on for the year so we can keep you up to date on our progress along the way 🙂

Our Creative Learning Curriculum (outlined below) serves as the foundation for our After-school Programme, as it encourages a curiosity for learning and promotes open-mindedness. We approach education by looking at thematic elements from philosophers such as Plato, artists such as Ai Weiwei, and superheros such as Ironman as a lens for analyzing traditional belief systems, cultural identities, and active citizenship.

Education: This focus area covers everything from reading and writing skills to foundational maths skills. A single resource, such as The Mysterious Tadpole story book, can be used to practise reading, work on science & maths skills, and create art projects!All of our lessons are born out of a primary resource (typically a story book, encyclopedia, or news article) which all activities are then centered around to provide learners with ample opportunities for hands-on learning and practical application. After sitting in a classroom for the majority of their day, we find that children are much more receptive to this experiential learning style.

Creative Me: A very small percentage of our learners have ever coloured before, let alone engaged in some sort of structured artistic activity. Through this focus area, we provide fun and stimulating opportunities to develop children’s problem solving and creative thinking skills.

Sustainable Communities: This focus area teaches learners the importance of caring for the environment and the value of growing their own food. It affords them with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience and work collaboratively with peers at their school’s Classroom Garden.

Confident Me: The Confident Me focus area aims to encourage an appreciation among learners for themselves and the world around them. It develops a learner’s feelings of self-worth, teaches life skills & nutrition, and encourages children & youth to become active, contributing members of their communities.

The majority of our Creative Learning Curriculum is aimed at developing literacy and critical thinking skills, as we believe that the development of these skills is vital for all other learning to take place. We want to engender a thirst for knowledge while stressing that critical thinking and cooperation supports a more harmonious society, and that moving away from fear & violence is moving towards fulfillment.