Phoenix Alexandra took a group of local learners out of the classroom on October 18 for a day of reading, spelling, dancing, and horse-riding in Linbro Park Agricultural Holdings.

According to founder Nkateko Mabasa, the outing was meant to tap into the excitement and wonder of a new setting to strengthen the pupils’ literacy skills, which she stressed matter given the low literacy rates among Grade 4 learners in the country.

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Mabasa said some learners spend their primary school years believing they cannot read or write, not because they are incapable, but because their environment does little to challenge that belief. A change of scenery, she said, helps children learn better.

Having gone to camps as a child, she knows first-hand how they shaped her understanding of concepts she might never have grasped in a normal classroom. “I thought, why can’t I do the same for children, and introduce them to that element of play? Playing is a way of learning,” she said.

Mabasa believes children learn best when teachers build on the things that excite them. “When we are reading and learning how to write, we always add an element of fun, something different from what they are used to. We add a bit of colour to the black and white we are used to,” she said.

Some of the children struggled to read, but this is where the teamwork among the learners stood out most. When a learner could not spell a word, another would volunteer to help, not mock. That sense of family has created a safe environment that promotes learning and gives children the freedom to be wrong without fear of criticism.

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“Some of these children learn through helping each other. They have that thing that when somebody is struggling, I can help because I understand this better. They are learning together,” she said.

Their understanding is also deepened by the variety of methods used, including poetry and dance.

Parent Kenueoe Posholi said children benefit from multisensory, hands-on learning. Horse-riding, for instance, taught them more about horses than a classroom lesson ever could.

They saw, smelt, heard, touched, and rode the animals, which will help them retain what they have learnt. “In Nkateko’s book, there is a story about horses. In a classroom, I would just try to make sounds and show a picture, but now, they are seeing these things.

They ride and hear the sounds the horse is making, so it is something they will never forget,” said Posholi.

Posholi said the day proved that experience is the better teacher.

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