Welcome to our March Newsletter! We hope you have had a great start to 2023! We are very excited to work with you as we continue to travel along this learning journey. We have many exciting opportunities for you to engage with us and each other over the next few months, and we can’t wait to see where the rest of this year will take us.

As we kick off a new month (and almost a new term!), we want to remind you about the power of ITERATION. That’s right, it’s all about making mistakes, learning from them, and improving! Whether you’re working on a project or trying out a new teaching method (we’re looking at you, ‘Introduction to Project-Based Learning!’), remember to embrace the process of iteration and see the magic that comes with it.

Speaking of exciting opportunities, we’re thrilled to announce that our new 👉 TeacherConnectcommunity space has launched! Hooray! This is an excellent chance for you to engage with us and each other, share your experiences, and learn together. We look forward to engaging with you! You can join us 👉 here.

By now, PYEI-BEEI Assistants have been welcomed into schools. Would you like to know more? Head over to our 👉 PYEI-BEEI FAQs, check out 👉 our training content, or send the keyword “PYEI” to our 👉 TeacherConnectchat WhatsApp bot for more!

As you know, teaching is a constantly evolving process, and that’s where iteration comes in! If you’re looking for a teaching method to add to your toolbox, we highly recommend completing our 👉 ‘Introduction to Project-Based Learning’ course to prepare you for the third term projects! By starting now, you’ll be giving yourself plenty of time to iterate and perfect your approach, and you’ll be prepared to use this powerful method throughout the rest of the year! PLUS, teachers can also earn 10 SACE points (type 3) after completing the course! Want to know more? You can enrol 👉 here.

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Even more importantly, you can also use this way of teaching in your classroom throughout the year to create change and bring learning to life for South Africa’s youth! We would love for you to see what a difference this can make to your teaching life!  To add to your toolbox, we have three suggested options below (External links, data rates may apply): 

1. One of the easiest ways for anyone to learn how to iterate is through practical projects, and one way to do that is with DIY projects. With DIY, anyone, anywhere, can learn any skill. Think gaming, cooking, painting and even mechanical engineering. You can explore DIY’s collection of super-fun challenges for children of all ages by visiting 👉 https://bit.ly/38FwF95. The challenges are grouped per “skill”. For example, there are 65 ‘Chemistry’ challenges and 14 ‘Astronomy’ challenges. View the skills here and get started: 👉 https://bit.ly/3kvrnz4  and choose the one that best suits your grade and learning area.
2. Language skills are crucial for learner success, so our second suggestion concerns this important subject. Wordworks is a South African non-profit organisation that focuses on early language and literacy development in the first eight years of children’s lives. They offer a number of data-free resources.


Early literacy at home: 👉 www.homeliteracy.org.za

An app with free content for young children: 👉 www.wordworks.org.za/wordworks-app

Story-based resources: 👉 www.wordworks.org.za/story-based-resources

Games: 👉 www.wordworks.org.za/games-2

Info sheets & booklets: 👉 www.wordworks.org.za/#anchor


3. Our third suggestion is around science learning. You can try Science Snacks for ideas on how to make science fun for learners. The “Snacks” are hands-on, teacher-tested activities that bring entertaining explorations of natural phenomena into the classroom. Each activity uses inexpensive, easily available materials and is adaptable to a range of curricula, content areas, grade levels, and settings.
   Find out more: 👉 https://bit.ly/3kxXFcJ. Find Science Snacks by subject here: 👉 https://bit.ly/36wBEq2


Here’s to another month full of learning, growth, and iteration! Let’s do this!