Smart Star Remedial Program (Afrikaans home language and English home language) grades 1-3

From my teaching experience I realised that there is a need for more activities and exercises to develop spelling, reading and numeracy skills. A large proportion of learners in South Africa are taught through a language that is not their home-language. Due to this fact it is important that learners obtain more opportunities to practice and consolidate these skills.

The content of the program includes mainly the following:

Home language/additional language:        

• * Various pictures with word puzzles
• * Activities (26) to develop auditory, visual, spatial, fine motor and foreground/background skills.
• * A remedial activity book for every phonic sound and spelling rule to consolidate the above-mentioned skills
• * A reader for every phonic sound/spelling rule
• * A reading with understanding /reading technique book for every reader
• * Books to practice sentences in grade 1, grade 2 and 3 also write stories and practice grammar

(The National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) guidelines are incorporated in the program)

Maths

Books with daily lessons for teachers/parents – explaining how to present the different concepts from a concrete level to an abstract level:

eight books, 2 for each term.(1 with lessons and 1 workbook)

For school use there are six books extra to assist with implementing group work so that the teacher can spend time with each group and learn to know the learners and the problems they encounter, to intervene immediately.

Math games to enhance mental arithmetic for combinations 5- 20.

Dot cards for the combinations to help with number concepts.

Resources the teacher/parent can use on the carpet.

Advantages of the program for learners:

• The learners get exposed to activities to develop all skills necessary for reading and spelling and numeracy.
• The readers assist learners to reading with understanding and insight and enhances logic and critical thinking.
• The readers are aligned with the phonics/spelling words for the week to enhance reading and lead to learners enjoying reading.
• The reading technique exercises enhance reading with understanding as they learn to take in mind the punctuation, learn to read fluently, keep their place whilst reading, read faster, read with expression and practice eye-span.

I found in my class that the games for Math inspired them to learn their mental arithmetic as we did a game every day.

Advantages for schools/teachers

Discipline in class

• The hyperactive learners or very busy learners benefit a lot as there is a lot of movement and variation of activities throughout the day, they don’t need to sit still and write all the time. They work on the carpet with the teacher, then they do a game in the group, winners indicated on a graph for a prize at the end of the term and then they do a task in their workbook. This is for both learning areas HL and Math’s.
• This system helps a lot with discipline in the class if the teacher works in rotating ability groups to do the different activities.

The program assists the teacher/parent in her/his daily planning in the following ways:

The necessary resources and games that takes a lot of time to make while doing preparation are included so the teacher doesn’t need to make them.

No additional lesson planning, as the teacher just has to read through the guidelines/instructions and ensure she/he has all the resources needed.

All the questions she/he needs to ask, is already written out.

In case of a crisis like a “total lockdown” that was recently experienced or where a learner is absent, the teacher can send the workbooks home and send the parents a photo via WhatsApp of the written out lesson in both math’s the HL books she can send home and let the parents know which pages should be done as every activity is explained in the book.

Advantages for parents

• The instructions are user friendly so that parents can assist learners at home.
• The parents and teachers are using the same method of presenting the lesson/concept to avoid confusing the learner.
• Teacher and parents have evidence of the learner’s progress.