Grade R to Grade 7

South African schooling is divided into four phases: the Foundation Phase (Grade R to Grade 3), the Intermediate Phase (Grades 4 to 6), the Senior Phase (Grades 7 to 9) and the Further Education and Training phase (Grades 10 to 12). A child in primary school passes through the first two and starts the third, and in those years learns the reading and writing skills used in every later subject.

The Foundation Phase: learning to read

In Grades R to 3 the central task is learning to read and write. Children learn to connect sounds with letters, blend them into words, read with increasing fluency and begin to write their own sentences. Most children manage this without difficulty. Some do not. Difficulties that are noticed and addressed in these years are generally easier to resolve than those found in later grades.

Signs worth paying attention to include persistent confusion of letters and sounds, very slow or effortful reading, spelling that does not improve with practice, and a child who avoids reading altogether.

The Intermediate Phase

From Grade 4, children use reading to learn other subjects, such as Natural Sciences and Social Sciences, and are expected to do more written work on their own. Some children who coped in the Foundation Phase find this harder, for example because they can read the words but do not fully understand the text, or find it hard to organise their ideas in writing.

The additional language also becomes more demanding. For many children in English-medium schools in KwaZulu-Natal, that language is Afrikaans.

How Amanda works with younger learners

Amanda is qualified to teach all subjects at junior and senior primary level, and has worked with primary school learners for decades. From 1998 she provided English and Afrikaans academic support and remediation to learners at Highbury, a preparatory school in Hillcrest, and she still teaches Highbury learners who need private tuition. She has also taught younger children in her private practice since 2007.

Lessons for younger learners are paced to the child’s attention span. Lesson length is set by age, competence and concentration rather than a fixed timetable. Where a child has a specific difficulty, Amanda designs an individual learning programme, as described on the remedial therapy page. Where a child needs consolidation, extension, or help with the move from one phase to the next, lessons follow the school curriculum closely.

Groups and individual lessons

Younger learners with specific difficulties usually do best one-to-one. Children in the senior primary years who are working on the same material, for example a group of Grade 6 learners revising Afrikaans grammar before examinations, can work well together in a group.

Keeping parents involved

Parents are encouraged to be closely involved in their child’s learning, and Amanda is available to discuss progress by telephone, by email or in person. Small, regular routines at home, such as reading aloud together and practising spelling words, help at this age. Amanda will suggest ones suited to each child.