Parents get help to help their children

Twenty-one parents whose children attend Kleinberg Primary School have completed an eight-week programme to help them support their children’s language and early literacy development.

Kleinberg Primary School principal Denzil van Graan said the parents had diligently attended weekly Saturday morning sessions of the Home School Partnership programme run by Wordworks and had graduated on Saturday August 12.

Wordworks is a non-profit organisation that focuses on early language and literacy development in the first eight years of children’s lives.

“Come rain, wind, or taxi strikes, the parents were eager to attend the sessions, and some even walked from Masiphumelele or travelled by taxi from Red Hill to be equipped with skills to help their children,” Mr Van Graan said.

The course had focussed on supporting children aged 5 to 8, he said.

Kleinberg Primary School departmental head Belinda Smit-Wright said the programme helped to improve cooperation between parents and the school, and it showed how parents, as the first teachers of their children, could play a more pivotal role in their children’s language and early literacy development.

“Parents feel more confident and competent to play a bigger role in their child’s education,” she said.

Teachers at the school were trained by Wordworks to run the programme.

“I’m extremely proud of the teachers for availing themselves and sacrificing their Saturdays to present the course,” Mr Van Graan said.

Akhona Manzi, one of the graduates, said, “We really learned a lot and had a great opportunity to get the knowledge to help our children.”

Another graduate, Leona Hwenjira, said, “I can now use the skills in our community and share it with others around me.”