What we do
"Quality ECD that cultivates confident, capable children"
Investing in high-quality early childhood education is a powerful tool for transformation, to break the intergenerational cycles of poverty and to reduce crime, unemployment and inequality.
Learning in Reach is intent on delivering quality early childhood education that meets the ever changing world faced by today’s children, sharing dynamic teaching methodologies which use Montessori principles. Learning in Reach’s approach is to leverage community ownership and to drive geographical impact through empowerment, mentorship and education. This collaboration between educators, business people and community leaders is creating an ecosystem for the holistic development of the child in marginalised areas.
Pre-School
Global as well as local studies indicate that the most cost effective stage in the education process is realised through professional Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs in order to achieve optimal long term outcomes. Studies regularly show an 8:1 benefit ratio in investment.
In order to get better senior level results for South African learners, this earlier stage needs to be prioritised within the broader educational roadmap. ECD done well and holistically within a community lays the best foundations possible creating learners with curiosity and confidence.
“Do not merely transmit knowledge, but take care of his life which has the possibility of bettering all life. It is a great thing to do, yet so simple.”
Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures
Learning In Reach provides an inclusive solution to the challenges faced by traditional Early Childhood Development incorporating:
- Infrastructure
- Educational Resources
- Facility registration
- Entrepreneurial co-operative
- Parent Outreach
- Training of Teachers
- Health and Nutrition
- Trauma Counselling
ECD Centre Partnerships
Parents
Global as well as local studies indicate that the most cost effective stage in the education process is realised through professional Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs in order to achieve optimal long term outcomes. Studies regularly show an 8:1 benefit ratio in investment.
In order to get better senior level results for South African learners, this earlier stage needs to be prioritised within the broader educational roadmap. ECD done well and holistically within a community lays the best foundations possible creating learners with curiosity and confidence.
Community
“It takes a village to raise a child” and we cannot disrupt the Early Childhood Development process without addressing the supporting structures, the main one being the child’s parents , as role models and leaders of these young children. We see the need for intervention into the unsustainable lifestyles of marginalised communities in order to provide education, hope and opportunity to the next generation.
Problem Stated:
Our national unemployment rate is 25%. Low Skilled Wages in South Africa averaged 2833.33 ZAR/Month from 2015. Apart from equipping people with the right skills to be employable, we desperately need to see more entrepreneurship to drive the country out of economic gloom. The results of Adult Education endeavours are often not sufficient for potential employers to consider potential employees as fit for their work.
The Solution within the School:
Effective ECD interventions provide economic opportunities for the principals and teachers by creating jobs opportunities and socio-economic development and growth. Through training, ECD interventions give beneficiaries the chance to become self-sufficient principals and teachers, as well as entrepreneurs in their own right, managing their own small social enterprises. Since 1994, 24 000 ECD centres have been established in South Africa without Government support or financial assistance.
More than just providing this form of socio-economic empowerment, ECD interventions provide a foundation of learning for the children involved, creating a solid foundation for the work-force of the future.
The School within the Community:
Learning In Reach proposes to extend this entrepreneurial opportunity to encompass a socio-economic co-operative. The parents of the children attending the facilities often face unemployment or low-wage employment. Since our goal is to offer an education to their children of equal value to more affluent suburbs, we will offer an “in-kind” payment option engaging the parents who cannot pay the higher school fees. We will do this through training and community service providing essential services and support to the ECD centre, manufacturing educational resources and materials, and creating a lifestyle product range for online or physical stores, helping in the sustainability of the proposed eco-system.
Since the ECD is only utilised during the day, there is an opportunity to use the facility for additional evening and weekend adult education classes, providing parents with the further skills needed to improve their lives, and those of their children. This entrepreneurial hub will be created through hands on mentorship and providing a supportive, creative environment.
Primary children roaming the streets in the afternoons can find refuge in a safe space and take part in the constructive activity run by the co-operative including gardening, art, woodworking and computer skills.
