Read For Africa is running its 1.5 day Phono-Graphix Certification course in Johannesburg and Cape Town in May.
Please share the information with any interested friends or colleagues.
Johannesburg
Saturday 16 May (full day) and Saturday 30 May (half day) At the German School in Parktown
Cape Town
Saturday 23 May (full day) and Sunday 24 May (half day) At Vista Nova School in Rondebosch
Durban
Dates are being finalised for a weekend in June
Click here to download the information sheet and registration form.
Teachers at one of our member schools, please share the dates with any new teachers or colleagues who have not attended the course. Member schools have special arrangements with Read For Africa and attend these courses at very subsidised rates. Teachers who have attended the initial training at their school are also welcome to attend the half day assessment course on 30 May and pursue the certification as a Phono-Graphix Reading Therapist. Please contact the Phono-Graphix co-ordinator at your school or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.
Please contact us if you have trained in Phono-Graphix previously, but would like to attend as a refresher or if you would like to complete your internship or need any assistance
Membership to Read For Africa Online
We have launched READ FOR AFRICA ONLINE and if you are not already a member you can register for R150 per person per year at http://www.readforafrica.com/index.php/members .
If you are a teacher or parent at one of our member schools – there is no charge to gain access to this Member Area and you can also register at this link.
If you are a certified Reading Therapist, your membership will include a listing on the site as an Accredited Phono-Graphix Reading Therapist for you to refer potential clients to. You will be issued an accreditation number, an updated electronic version of your certificate and the use of the endorsement logo to put on your advertising materials. Go to http://www.readforafrica.com/index.php/therapists to see how your details would appear on the site.
CALLING all Reading Therapists, Interns and others to be a “Buddy Reader” and
“Find your 70” (in the way of minutes)
We need help to teach a group of Grade 5 learners in Diepsloot to read before the end of the year … this is an appeal for any of you in the Johannesburg area to “Find your 70” (in the way of minutes) each week and contribute to teaching Africa to read as part of our “Finding your 70” campaign. We run a 70 minute literacy programme on Tuesdays from 1 pm to 2:10 pm at a school north of Fourways (literally 7.7 kilometres from the Indaba Hotel and 2 minutes off the extension of William Nicol Drive).
We work with a group of close on 60 learners in one group at varying ability levels and whilst we’re making good progress, these children could really benefit more if they worked with a volunteer/intern or reading therapist in a small group or one to one setting. This is a great opportunity for you to gain more experience if you are already a reading therapist, for you to have access to learners if you’re doing your internship or will be doing it in the near future or if you are interested in literacy and would like to learn more about the programme whilst volunteering. We will train anyone who has not done one of our courses to be Phono-Graphix buddy readers.
Here are some samples of the work that we’ve been doing with the learners …..
These learners are already in Grade 5 and in some cases cannot write their own names, identify sounds or read 3 sound words. As teaching of reading is not formally part of the curriculum from the Intermediate Phase onwards, this programme is the only hope that these children have to bridge the gap and “catch up”. Due to other curriculum demands as well as transport, this is the only time that these learners can attend lessons. They are giving up their one hour of sport each week and are so eager to learn!
Please contact us if you would like to get involved in anyway and we will discuss further training, meeting in Fourways to travel through together initially. It would be amazing if we could get a group of regular volunteers on a weekly basis, but even if you can attend one Tuesday a month – that would be amazing!
Read For Africa launched its “FIND YOUR 70 and help teach Africa to read” campaign last year and has been inspired to teach Africa to using a very simple formula. If you are new to our mailing list and would like to find out more about this campaign and how the vision of “Read For Africa came about”, please download the comprehensive and personal account here.
We would love to hear from you as you find your 70. Please join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/166538845748/ if you haven’t already and/or “like” our Read For Africa page at https://www.facebook.com/readforafrica