PARENTS are their children’s first teachers, so it is important that they get a bit of training.
SmartStart is an early learning social franchise that is teaching parents how to teach their kids.
Grace Matlhape, CEO of SmartStart, said: “We use a model developed in 2015.
“It uses a national network of partners to train parents how to handle children of the ages three years or older, which includes helping their learning.
“In our first three years we successfully developed our model and reached thousands of children.
“From the start the programme was built from the ground up on strong partnerships.
“Over the years we refined each level of the franchise system.
“We currently have 14 franchisers. These include some of the most established early childhood development organisations from all over South Africa.”
SmartStart screens and recruits unemployed people, who are then trained to run their own facility in their own community. To date there are more than 3 800 SmartStart facilities in Mzansi.
Each facility is a micro-enterprise opportunity for those who are passionate about working with children, who can offer quality learning as well as encourage parents and care-givers to promote learning at home.
Parents who want to learn more about how to empower their children and give them the best early education they can should visit smartstart.org.za/en/ or contact *134*48333# for more information.
Next year’s training course for parents starts in February.
