Monday, July 28th Service Learning – Amsteholf Primary School

Monday, July 28th Service Learning – Amsteholf Primary School
We are in Paarl, a beautiful mountainous valley. In a wine country!
Our group has been divided into 6 groups and I will be with Nina, Diane and Chris in Amstelhof Primary School.

The expectations and procedures for us seem quite unclear. As far as I can see we will travel to different teachers of different grade levels and go with the flow of what the classroom teachers ask of us.

Some Afrikans (although according to my phonetic spelling):
Tot since = good bye
Huja mora = good morning
Huja medach = good afternoon
Huja naught = good night
There would be a different dialect/ pronunciation between J’burg and Cape town.
The kids were great and so willing to be our teachers as well!

The curriculum was bilingual. Students/learners were instructed in both English and Afrikans (more heavy on the Afrikans!). The learners in most public schools in South Africa had the following subjects: EMS (Economics Service Management), Technology, Social Science, Home Language (Afrikans or English or both), Math, Bible study, Physics, Biology, Art and Culture.

Something I had a hard time understanding and agreeing with = I was very surprised how some principals were adamant about the learners being instructed in Afrikans. I wonder: how is that going to benefit them in the long run? What professions/fields are the kids being prepared for? Are they getting ready to communicate with the world community (keeping in mind that Afrikans is really only spoken in South Africa!)?