Curro’s Lego man

What started out as colourful building blocks for children to play with, has become a powerful educational tool and Curro Mount Richmore is leading the pack on Lego learning.

“Out of the 48 Curro schools, two teachers were selected to go for the workshop in Billund, Denmark, known as “The Capital of Children” and the home of Lego. The course focused on playful learning, specifically with robotics. I guess I was just available, so they chose me,” said the humble maths and science teacher, Jurie de Jager, who later reveals that he is a science specialist for all Curro schools in the country and helps to develop and modify the curriculum.

“It was an incredible experience. We played a lot! The mentality of the people there is so positive. They are totally committed, invested and passionate about the product, which is contagious. It is not about selling it, they truly believe in what they do.”

He said the big buzz word is STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – learning.

“All of their educational products have STEM incorporated, meaning these four subjects overlap and all four skills can be developed through one action. It is about getting the child to think about the design and construction – what happens when you build a structure a certain way? How does the design effect the outcome? I have sleepless nights working out Lego.”

He said the most fascinating part about Lego learning is that it is such a creative medium offering endless possibilities.

“A real eye opener for me was learning that one can combine six standard blocks of the same colour 915 million different ways. You can do and build anything with Lego, it is all up to you and your imagination. It is a fantastic way for both the children and me to explore together and to stimulate their curiosity through learning through play, igniting enthusiastic and effective learning. It is not just about memorising information, regurgitating it in a test and forgetting about it afterwards.”

He said teachers’ lives have changed dramatically with the invention of the internet and they have to keep up or get caught out.

“You cannot stand in front of a class and just read a book anymore. You have to be progressive, forward thinking and you cannot be afraid of making mistakes. You have to leave your pride outside the classroom and show the children that it is ok to make mistakes, otherwise you do not learn. Failing forward is my motto.”

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