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Learn and Do
Facilitator’s Guide
Term 1
Grade R
Dr N Scheepers A Venter R Venter
CAPS aligned
Introduction
Dear facilitator
Welcome as fellow traveller on the learners’ journey of development and growth towards becoming a balanced adult. This journey is an enjoyable experience for both you and the learners and from which both of you will learn and grow continuously.
This guide introduces the facilitator to the Optimi curriculum. The first section provides an overview of Optimi’s approach towards teaching, facilitation and learning, and discusses how Grade R learners learn and develop. It also outlines what Grade R learners should be able to do by the end of the year.
The focus of the Grade R year is to develop children into life-long independent learners. Consequently the curriculum is structured to build learners’ confidence to learn, and to encourage them to explore the world around them. Optimi seeks to develop confident young learners who are adaptable and resilient, who know themselves and their abilities, and who are able to think and function independently. The programme was designed to develop emergent reading, writing and mathematical skills, but also to develop personal values, social skills and to prepare the young learners to deal with the challenges and demands of their learning experiences.
The Optimi approach to teaching, facilitation and learning in Grade R
Effective teaching and learning in Grade R requires the design of learning opportunities and interactions that facilitate children’s inquiring thinking and understanding, as well as to stimulate knowledge of concepts. The curriculum was designed on the basis of four fundamental principles:
• Young children are naturally curious and want to explore their world.
• Learners who are actively involved, construct knowledge and regulate their own learning process.
• Learning takes place via concrete experience and the use of senses.
• Teaching and facilitation needs to be balanced.
SampleThe above principles imply that children learn best when they are challenged to explore their environment and construct their own knowledge. The more experiences they are exposed to, the more they are able to learn, because children grasp and internalise new concepts and skills as they integrate new knowledge and skills with existing knowledge and skills. Children use what they already know to understand new concepts, solve problems and to apply in related situations.
Children in Grade R are active learners. They are interested to master skills through trial and error, representing what they are learning by integrating concepts, doing art and playing. They then give expression to what they have learned through language and as such reflect on their learning process. As they gradually master skills and understand the world around them, they become more focused on other people and the outside world. They like to discover things on their own through observation and become aware of those skills that they do not have, such as reading, writing, numbers and counting, but would like to acquire. When they are encouraged to try out these new skills at their own level, they become enthusiastic and embrace their own learning.
Young learners learn best through concrete experiences, because they are exceptionally sensorially inclined. This means that their learning should include sensory experiences such as touching, tasting, hearing, smelling, and moving their bodies. Play is necessary to strengthen their hands-on experiences and therefore, play is an important component of the child’s learning processes. Whether reconstructing real situations or building imaginary worlds, creative play develops their thinking, language, imagination, speaking and listening skills. These skills prepares them for communicating and interacting socially with others.
The key is to stimulate the child to learn by means of facilitation and not instruction. Young children do need a lot of guidance and examples, and therefore opportunities where they explore the unknown and solve problems by themselves are very important. The Foundation Phase thus requires a fine balance between the guidance of the facilitator and the process of self-discovery.
Objectives of the Grade R curriculum
The Optimi Grade R curriculum was designed to provide an integrated play-based learning experience that promotes the holistic development of the young child. The curriculum covers a yearlong programme that provides step-by-step guidelines to facilitate the learning process. The programme provides opportunities for learners to observe, explore, and to express their experiences, which promote their cognitive, social, emotional and physical development.
By the end of the Grade R year, learners will be able to:
• listen and respond to communication
• communicate clearly in oral, artistic, written, and non-verbal format
• use appropriate language to describe events, objects, people, ideas, and emotions
• demonstrate phonological and phonemic awareness
• observe, sort, and classify objects
• count objects and demonstrate number sense up to 10
• use mathematical concepts to communicate ideas
• demonstrate reasoning and sequencing skills
• demonstrate a sense of curiosity and willingness to learn
• share and take turns with co-learners or the facilitator
• display persistence in developing fine and gross motor skills.
Organisation of the learning programme
Sample
The Grade R programme is based on 20 learning units that cover 40 weeks of the academic year. Each learning unit is linked to a theme, providing for stories, rhymes and discussion points to introduce the new topic to the learners in order to master new concepts (cf. Table of Contents for the list of themes).
Learning units and themes
A learning unit stretches over two weeks and comprises of 10 detailed daily lesson plans. A subtheme is assigned to each day and numbered to allow for easy navigation through the learning programme. For example, the theme for Learning Unit 1 is “Who am I?”. The 10 days in the learning unit are numbered from Day 1 to Day 10 and each has a sub-theme, such as Getting to know yourself (Day 1), My body (Day 2) and My senses (Day 3). (See the Table of Contents for a comprehensive list.)
At the beginning of each learning unit, you will find a mind map that indicates the content areas that will be covered during the next 10 days, as well as the knowledge and skills that the learners need to acquire during the unit. The facilitator will be able to determine the focus areas for the learning unit and subsequently link each day’s activities to the learning aims of the entire unit.
Each learning unit includes rhymes, recipes and tips linked to the theme and which are used throughout the unit as part of the daily activities. The daily lesson plans clearly indicate where each of the rhymes, recipes or tips should be used. Refer to the daily lesson plans for examples.
The daily lesson plan
The daily lesson plan serves as a step-by-step guide that indicates the content and activities that will be covered per day. The daily programme provides an integrated lesson plan that supports the development of literacy, numeracy and life skills while the learners engage in routine tasks, physical activity, creative activities, free play sessions and facilitator guided activities. The table below outlines a suggested daily schedule and lists the activities for the day. The schedule provides an indication of time that could be spent per activity, as well as the sequence of activities. Although specific times are scheduled for the activities, a facilitator may adapt these to suit the individual learners’ needs or the learning circumstances.
Schedule: Suggested Grade R daily programme
08:00 – 08:30 Free play (inside)
08:30 – 08:45 Routine activities e.g. calendar, weather chart, birthdays, etc.
08:45 – 09:15 Life Skills
Discussion session where the facilitator introduces the topic to the learners
09:15 – 09:45 Focus area: Mathematics
09:45 – 09:55 Toilet routine
09:55 – 10:10 Refreshments
10:10 – 10:55 Free play (outside)
Tidy up
10:55 – 11:40 Creative activity
11:40 – 11:50 Routine:
Clean the working space and put away the materials
11:50 – 12:00 Toilet routine
12:00 – 12:30 Focus area: Language
12:30 – 13:00 Story
Sample
Quiet time / playtime till the end of the school day
The relevance of the daily programme for the development of perceptual skills
The daily lesson plans are based on structured activities that will be guided by the facilitator, such as routine activities, free play sessions, creative arts and story time. It is important to take note of the importance of EACH session for the child’s learning experience.
The development of perceptual skills in young learners are extremely important in laying a foundation for all future development and learning, as the usage of the senses is necessary to acquire information about the surroundings, environment or situation. The daily activities in the Grade R programme is structured towards the development of the young child’s perceptual skills.
The following are key perceptual skills that facilitators should pay attention to:
Visual perception – acquiring and interpreting information through the eyes – accurate visual perception enables the learners to read, write and do mathematics.
Visual discrimination – the ability to see similarities, differences and details of objects accurately. Visual memory – the ability to remember what the eyes have seen and the correct sequence in which things have been perceived.
Auditory perception – acquiring and interpreting information through the ears – accurate auditory perception enables the learners to give meaning to what is heard.
Auditory discrimination – the ability to identify similarities and differences in sounds.
Auditory memory – the ability to remember what the ears have heard and the correct sequence in which sounds have been perceived.
Eye-hand coordination – the hands and eyes working together when performing a movement, e.g. throwing or catching items.
Body image – a complete awareness of one’s own body, i.e. how it moves and how it functions. Laterality – showing an awareness of each side of the body (left and right), e.g. which hand is waving.
Dominance – preference to use a specific side of the body, i.e. either right or left dominant. Crossing the midline – being able to work across the vertical midline of the body, e.g. being able to draw a line from one side of the page to the other without changing the tool from one hand to the other.
Figure-ground perception – being able to focus attention on a specific object or aspect while ignoring all other stimuli, the object of the attention is therefore in the foreground of the perceptual field while all the rest is in the background, e.g. to focus on one flower against the background of a larger garden or being able to concentrate on one word in a sentence.
Form perception – the ability to recognise forms, shapes, symbols, letters, etc. regardless of position, size or background, because it has a unique shape, e.g. can recognise a circle among a number of squares.
SampleSpatial orientation – the ability to understand the space around the body, or the relationship between the object and the body, e.g. the hat is ON my head.
Free play activities indoors and outdoors
Free play activities can take place indoors or outdoors or both. The time allocated to free play must be used for this purpose and does NOT include computer games and watching television. It provides an opportunity where the child can engage in playful activities that have an educational or developmental purpose.
Examples of free play activities (inside or outside) include:
Free art (painting, drawing, modelling)
Water (and mud) play
Sand play
Lego or other blocks
Fantasy play or drama
Fine motor activities (pencil grip activities, tongs, tweezers, puzzles, threading, weaving, dressing frames, etc.)
Gross motor play (climbing, swinging, balancing, etc.)
Sand box
Ball play
Wheel toys
Discovery area (matching /sorting cards, sensory activities, music instruments)
Construction
Gardening
Caring for animals
Creative arts
The main purpose of creative arts is to develop learners as creative, imaginative individuals, with an appreciation of the arts. It also provides basic knowledge and skills to be able to participate in creative activities. Foundation Phase learners are inherently creative and play is their natural way of learning in the arts. Learners should be guided to use their natural inclinations to use their imagination, manipulate and work with materials, move and make music and tell stories.
Learners should explore their own creative ideas by using their senses, emotions and observations. The focus of the learning should be on the development of skills through enjoyable, experiential processes, rather than on working towards producing highly polished products in each term. The introduction of these creative skills is essential in refining and controlling the gross and fine motor skills, as well as the enhancement of creative, cognitive, emotional and social development.
Through the manipulation of materials and the mastery of a variety of art techniques and drawing, the learners’ life is enriched and they experiences the real world through visual and sensory stimulation, discussion and stimulating questions. NOTE: There is no “right” way to draw, and learners should be encouraged to express themselves freely, without fearing criticism.
Three-dimensional (3-D) work develops the concept of shapes in space through, for example, joining pieces of clay, gluing or pasting of paper onto paper, cutting out shapes, folding, tying and wrapping. Other learning activities must be integrated with creative work, e.g. learners should be encouraged to talk about lines, shapes and colours and then to apply that knowledge in other activities.
Routine activities
Routine activities take place at a regular time each day. The Optimi daily programme makes suggestions of how the specific sessions can be accommodated within the daily programme.
Routine activities include: arrival and departure greetings toilet routine a birthday chart a weather chart the calendar (today’s date) preparation for creative art and physical education activities e.g. putting on aprons, taking off shoes tidying up time after creative arts and free play.
The facilitator integrates the learning opportunities, e.g. numerical thought can be stimulated while talking about the weather, the day and month on the calendar. One can also use the weather chart to inculcate life skills (such as warm and cold and how to dress accordingly) and basic science (such as the change of the seasons and the change in weather conditions).
“Tidying up” is a very important life skill and must not be neglected as children learn responsibility and how to take care of toys and their environment.
Physical Education and movement play
The development of the learners’ gross and fine motor skills and perceptual development is fundamental in the Foundation Phase, as it is integral to the holistic development of learners and makes a significant contribution to learners’ social, personal and emotional development. To play, move, participate in games and sport contribute to developing positive attitudes and values. This area focuses on perceptual and locomotion (movement) development, rhythm, balance and laterality. It is subsequently important to also focus on games and activities that can form the basis for future participation in sports, while emphasising physical growth, development, recreation and the joy of play.
How do I use this product?
The Grade R curriculum consists of the following products: four facilitator’s guides (one for each term) and a learning aid for the facilitator, and two workbooks for the learners.
The facilitator’s guides
Each term is divided into five learning units and each learning unit consists of detailed lesson plans for 10 days. Each day’s lesson plan is in turn divided into seven or eight sessions:
Session 1: Free play inside
Session 2: Focus area: Life skills
Session 3: Focus area: Mathematics
Session 4: Movement play / Free play outside. It is important to note that these are two separate activities. The learners must first complete the movement play before playing outside for approximately 40 minutes.
Session 5: Creative activity
Session 6: Focus area: Language
Session 7: Story time
Sample
Each learning unit starts with a mind map of the activities and skills that will be covered in the unit, followed by rhymes, recipes and tips where resources for the learning unit are provided. This includes rhymes, songs, stories, recipes and examples of activities that are used in the lessons.
Where applicable, each session contains two information text boxes – “Conceptualisation” and “Resources”. The conceptualisation text box provides a summary of the concepts that will be embedded, while the resources text box provides a list of items required and/or supplied to present the lesson.
Note:
Æ indicates a resource that the facilitator must supply.
і indicates a resource that is supplied. This could be rhymes, recipes and tips at the start of a learning unit, an activity in the learners’ workbook, or an item in the learning aid.
The following three symbols are used in each session:
The owl indicates what the facilitator must do.
The pencil indicates what the learners must do.
Handy tips or additional information for the facilitator.
The facilitator aid
The facilitator aid contains anything from sound and symbol cards to pictures to enrich the lessons. A detailed table of contents ensures ease of finding the facilitator aid in question. Every effort was made to insert the facilitator aids in the order that they are referred to in the facilitator’s guides.
The workbooks
The learners’ workbooks consist of activities 1 to 182, a news book and a weather chart. Workbook 1 contains the activities that are not printed in colour, while Workbook 2 contains the activities printed in colour. The facilitator keeps the workbooks and only provides the learners with the activity/activities required for the day. The workbooks are bound in such a way that it is easy to tear off individual pages.
Learning unit Sample
Focus of learning unit 1
Listening and speaking:
• Listens to and performs instructions
• Recites poems
• Listens to stories for fun
• Uses language to develop terms
• Identifies parts of a whole, e.g. body parts
Emergent writing:
• Fine motor control
• Strengthens hand muscles and fine motor coordination with play
• dough
• Repeating patterns (zigzag)
• Using writing equipment e.g. crayons and paint brushes
• Development of sense of direction
Creative arts:
• Draws and interprets pictures
• Fine motor coordination
• Identifying colours
• Spatial awareness
• 3-D designs with play dough
Emergent reading:
• Direction activities – read the arrow chart
• Recognises own name and the beginning letter of own name
• Draws pictures to convey thoughts
• Phonemic awareness: recognises the beginning sound of words
• Listens to the ‘s’, ‘o’ and ‘a’ sounds
Sample
Who am I?
Physical education:
• Balance
• Gross motor development
• Spatial orientation
• Awareness of the two sides of the body: laterality
• Uses senses to observe
• Visual perception
• Auditory perception
Beginning knowledge and personal and social well-being:
• Beginning knowledge and personal social well-being:
• Personal details – name, address, telephone number, age
• Differences regarding gender, physique, likes and dislikes
• Identifies and names the parts of the body
• Discovering the senses
• Uses smell, taste, sight, hearing and feeling
• Who may touch my body?
• How to look after and take care of your body
• Safety
• Personal hygiene
Mathematics:
• Counts concrete objectives
• Number concept development –number 1 and 2
• Problem-solving with concrete apparatus
• Copies geometric patterns
• Position in space
• Symmetry of the body
• Recognises two-dimensional forms and pictures, e.g. initial letter of own name, parts of body, etc.
• Identifying colours
• Informal measurement – longer, shorter
Rhymes, recipes and tips
Play dough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sunflower oil food colouring
1. Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the water, food colouring and oil. Mix well.
3. If the mixture seems too dry, add water and mix until the desired texture is achieved.
This Little Piggy
This little piggy went to market, This little piggy stayed home, This little piggy had roast beef, This little piggy had none, And this little piggy went, Wee-wee-wee-wee-wee, All the way home.
Ten Fingers
Fingerplay from http://www.preschoolrainbow. org/preschool-rhymes.htm
Body Rhyme
Mart Meij - All-in-one
Look at my body, how it swings. Look at my fingers, full of rings. Twist and turn high on my toes, Up and down my pretty head goes. See the new shoes on my feet, This is me, am I not sweet?
SampleI have ten fingers (hold up both hands, fingers spread) And they all belong to me, (point to self) I can make them do things Would you like to see?
I can shut them up tight (make fists) I can open them wide (open hands) I can put them together (place palms together) I can make them all hide (put hands behind back)
I can make them jump high (hands over head) I can make them jump low (touch floor)
I can fold them up quietly (fold hands in lap) And hold them just so.
Toothbrush Song
Translated by Cicely van der Merwe (Allin-one)
I’m brushing my teeth, ka-swoosh, ka-swish, I’m brushing my teeth, ka-swoosh!
I’m brushing my teeth, both up and down, They’ll stay as good as new.
Rhymes, recipes and tips
If you’re happy and you know it
From http://sunflowerStory time.com/ weekly-toddler-songs/#happy
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, jump up and down …
If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet …
If you’re happy and you know it, s hout ‘hooray’! …
This is my body
Translated by Nalize Marais (adopted from a rhyme by Riana Scheepers)
This is my body
No one may touch me If you dare to do so I will run and tell my mommy!
Sample
Example: Activity 1
Week 1
Day 1
Know yourself
Session 1: Free play inside
The facilitator supplies toys that promote perceptual development, e.g. a puzzle, blocks/Lego, colouring book and crayons, or any activity that promotes perceptual development. Use puzzles and pictures that are related to the theme of the learning unit: Who am I? E.g. a picture of the body, body puzzle, colouring book, clothes, personal hygiene items, etc.
Session 2: Focus area: Life skills
Let’s talk: Who am I?
Facilitate a conversation to help the learners discover more about themselves: We are all born and that is why all of us have a date of birth. Every year, that date of birth is the day of your birthday. Your date of birth is indicated on a birth certificate and your identity document or card.
Mommy and Daddy chose your name. You may get Grandma or Grandpa’s name, or Mommy and Daddy may choose a name that suits you. We all have our own fingerprint. No one’s fingerprint is the same as yours.
Guide the conversation to help the learners discover and discuss themselves. E.g.
• What is your name?
• Do you know where and when you were born?
• Do you know where you get your name from?
Sample
• Can you write your name? (The learners do not have to be able to write their names at this stage.)
The learners do not have to be able to write their names at this stage. Have flashcards with their names on hand. Remember: learning to write is a gradual process.
Write the learners’ names on flashcards or piece of paper. Now ask each learner to recognise specific properties of his/her name.
• With what letter does your name start? Let’s see if we can recognise the letter on the sound cards on the wall.
• How many letters are there in your name?
• Emphasise the uniqueness of each person, but also that people are the same in some regards.
• I am a boy. Do you have a friend who is also a boy?
• Do you have a friend who is a girl? What is her name?
• How old are you? Do you have a friend who is the same age as you?
• Guide the conversation to information that the learners should know about themselves. What are your mom and dad’s names?
• Do you know their telephone number(s)?
• Where do you live? Do you know your address?
The learners do not yet have to remember or write down the information. Not all learners will know their addresses and telephone numbers. The lesson plan makes provision for this and the information is reviewed again later.
Session 3: Focus area: Mathematics
Facilitate a counting activity: Count to 5 with the learners and clap 5 times. Clap once for each number name that is said.
E.g. 1 – clap, 2 – clap, 3 – clap, etc. Take 5 steps forward and 5 steps back.
Use the learners’ names for the mathematics session. Write their names on flashcards. Ask the learners to provide a friend’s name:
• What is your friend’s name? Write down the friend’s name as well. Make sure that the letters in both names are the same size.
Use the two names to facilitate a mathematics activity.
• How many letters are there in your name?
Sample
• Use a number card: Let the learners point out pictures on the number card that correspond with the number of letters in their names. For incidental number recognition, point to the number on the number card.
Peter PETER
• How many letters are there in your friend’s name? The learners press their fingers on each letter as they count. The facilitator may support the learners during this activity.
• Put a counter on the table for each letter in the name. Count the counters.
• Which name has the most letters?
• Which name is the longest?
• Which name is the shortest?
• Why is that name the longest? (It has the most letters.)
The learners do not need to have number concept for the number and will probably not show understanding of more, less, longest and shortest. The learners are only being introduced to the concepts. The facilitator has to support the learners and demonstrate how to arrange the counters for each letter.
Session 4: Free play outside
Allow the learners to play freely and according to their skill during free play. The facilitator can provide specific apparatus, e.g. balls, hoops, sand play and water play. The learners develop important skills through play, making this is a very important part of the daily programme.
This learning unit focuses on the body and what the learners can do with their bodies. Provide apparatus that will enable the learners to use and become aware of what they can do with their bodies. Allow the learners to climb and clamber, seesaw, swing, balance, run, etc.
Notes:
Session 5: Focus area: Language
Use the learners’ names on flashcards to facilitate the language session.
Ask each learner: With what letter does your name start? Let them point to the letter on the sound cards on the wall. During the conversation this morning the learners identified and pointed out the beginning sounds of their names – see if they can find it again on their own.
Use the sound card with the first letter of each learner’s name to facilitate the following activity:
• e.g. Susan – use sound card with ‘s S’.
• What is this sound called? Look at the picture – e.g. sun. The sound is ‘s’. Let the learners say the ‘s’ sound out loud.
• What words do you know that start with ‘s’? Give the learners the opportunity to say words on their own.
• The facilitator says words aloud and the learners must listen and indicate when they hear a word that starts with ‘s’. The learners can clap or raise their hands to indicate that there is a word that starts with ‘s’.
• dog, boy, sand
• cat, sun, hat
• bag, nail, say
• man, dry, soup
Repeat the listening activity. The learners must listen and indicate when they hear a word that begins with ‘s’. Repeat about five sound activities where the learners must listen to the words and indicate when the initial sound is not the same.
In cases where a learner’s name starts with X, Z or Y, it may be difficult to facilitate the phonemic awareness exercise. Choose another letter that allows for more familiar words.
Sample
Session 6: Creative activity
Play with dough: Build your name
Prepare the table where the learners will build their names with play dough. Buy play dough or you use the recipe in Rhymes, recipes and tips to make your own. Cover the table with a plastic tablecloth, or use plastic cutting boards.
• The facilitator writes each learner’s name on a flashcard. The learners form their names using play dough.
• Support the learners and demonstrate how to roll snakes and shape the letters.
• Emphasise the shape of the letters. Refer to round tummies, straight lines, diagonal lines, long necks and feet that dangle in the water.
Note that the learners should not know the letters at this stage. This is a first introduction to letters.
When the facilitator introduces learners to letter shapes, it is important to describe the shape of each letter in detail while it is being formed. There are three types of letters:
- letters that stand on the ground, such as a, e, o, r, n, m, i, v, w, s, u, x and z
- letters that have their heads in the clouds, such as b, d, f, l, k and h
- letters that dangle their feet in the water, such as g, j, p and y
Letter shapes can be explained by referring to tummies (b, d, a), lines (i, l, f) and dots.
Session 7: Story time
The facilitator reads a story at the end of each day. If it is a long story, it may be broken up into instalments. The story then ‘continues’ and is read over a number of days. Choose a story that relates to the theme or choose one of the learners’ favourite stories. If the facilitator/school does not have enough books, join the local library. It is a wonderful outing and a great experience for the learners.
Story time in Grade R encourages the development of important learning skills:
- Learners are exposed to books and reading
- They learn to listen
- They learn to recognise characters and sequence of events
- It expands their vocabulary
- It develops language
- Story time is a calming activity and learners relax at the end of the school day
Notes:
- Stories are a good starting point for a conversation or lesson. Use stories to prepare learners for activities in learning units.
