Many South African classrooms are under-resourced, but an innovative workshop on early childhood development has shown how communities can expand the minds of young children.
According to Georgie McCall and Peter Hadebe, who facilitated a workshop last week in Cape Town: "If you see the outdoors as a second classroom, you can't go wrong. Even the smallest back yard can provide a home for plants and creatures.
"However, we are conditioned to believe that soccer is for outside, and learning happens inside."
McCall encouraged teachers and parents to open the minds of young people in a country where science and maths often fall off the agenda as hope of success is lost.
Even with pre-school pupils, teachers, parents and caregivers can get children to engage with the outdoors for activities by asking simple questions.
"When you ask them to look up at the clouds and describe what they see, it opens up their imagination," McCall said.
Also of concern was that many teachers and parents, who are role models to children, stamp on insects.
She said that adults often pulled spider webs apart instead of getting children to observe the patterns.
The two-day seminar was hosted by the Department of Higher Education , Unicef, and various local NGO s.
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