Storytelling Workshop presented by the Department of Library Services and Mamelodi Campus

On September 27, the annual flagship event of the Community Outreach and Development Focus Group took place. The focus group hosted an interactive workshop. This workshop was aimed at shedding light on crucial aspects of nurturing young minds regarding reading, hearing, and sensory aspects related to Early Childhood Education. Various role players presented at the event. 

Our aim with this practical workshop was to present a hands-on learning and networking opportunity with the following focus areas:

• Storytelling promotes imagination and communication skills.
• Sensory gardens offer multisensory learning experiences.
• Effective hearing and speaking skills are crucial for Early Childhood Development (ECD).
• Collaboration and networking are essential for professional growth.

Audience members attending the workshop in the Conference Hall.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) encompasses the critical years of a child's development and reaching out to ECD practitioners in Mamelodi marked a remarkable event for the Department of Library Services. This workshop took place at the Mamelodi Campus, where our reading corner is located within the newly opened STEM Sensory Garden.

The first part of the workshop focused on hearing. The Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology emphasized the importance of hearing abilities, which are crucial when listening to stories, especially for early childhood development and language acquisition. The significance of hearing was emphasized, along with its role in the development of pre-literacy skills. Johan Maasz from the department emphasized that strong listening and speaking abilities are fundamental precursors to reading and writing skills. A solid foundation in oral language is essential for successful literacy development, as it forms the basis for understanding written language.

The second part of the workshop focused on the importance of Sensory Gardens as a multisensory learning environment and was presented by Dr. Martina Jordaan, who does groundbreaking work in the community. She informed ECD practitioners about how sensory gardens provide children with a rich multisensory experience that stimulates their senses of touch, smell, and sight. The benefits of sensory gardens in developing fine and gross motor skills, fostering creativity, and enhancing overall cognitive development in young children were emphasised.

The third part of the workshop, presented by the Department of Library Services and Righardt le Roux from Nal'ibali, concentrated on how to read stories and create engaging stories integrating movement, facts, and emotion. This part of the workshop was presented as a powerful way to enhance the ECD experience for young learners. By blending these elements, stories can be created that lay the foundation for a lifelong love of learning in ECD learners. Using words and integrating them with movement and simple facts can create a story to maximize the educational benefits.

During the event, participants worked in groups to create their own stories, with group leaders pulling an insect out of a bag. Age-appropriate stories were created and these unique stories were presented afterwards and recorded by Andre from Education Innovation Creative Studios. The recordings will be used to refer back to the stories when they are identified and refined further in a series of workshops to make them "publication-ready."

All in all, the workshop made the day more creative and fun and from it came many innovative, sometimes very humorous, stories such as:

• Busy, buzzy bee
• Diverse friends (Ladybug and Caterpillar)
• Friendship in the Garden
• The big green fly
• The grasshopper who could not fly
• The snail
• Two little bees

The Busy, Buzzy Bees story with a beautiful illustration.

Thank you to everyone who made the event so successful. We look forward to the future workshops to make these stories “publication ready” and cannot wait to read them all. Deputy Director and coach of focus group Mr. Modisa Khosie said of the event: "The workshop sought to empower the ECD practitioners with the necessary skills for storytelling and writing. The expected outcome is to instill the love of reading and learning from an early age. Children are the future of the country, they need to be nurtured from an early age. The ECD practitioners play a very critical role in this process."