Student plows back knowledge

Lucy Calcott believes that the parents of young children and early learning educators are the “brain builders’’ of our young generation. The facts support her opinion as 80% of a person’s brain is developed by the age of four and 90% by the age of five. This means the way parents and educators respond to babies and young children has a profound effect on their brain development and their future ability to learn, plan, moderate their emotions, and function as competent and constructive adults.

Calcott, a sixth-generation Waterberg resident, was educated from Grade 000 to Grade 12 at the Waterberg Academy in Vaalwater. She has always been passionate about the well-being of young children. She has just completed her second year at Yale University, studying Global Affairs and Education. When she realized that there was a way that she could share some of the latest research into early child learning and brain development from Harvard and Yale and create a space for a community conversation about children’s rights and development, she jumped at the opportunity.

After receiving backing from the Davis Projects for Peace Awards panel, which supports a select cohort of projects each year from those submitted by students across the US, Calcott was able to partner with the Modimolle-Mookgophong Municipality and the Department of Education. With the support of former Mayor Marlene van Staden, she ran a pilot project in January. The response she received was very positive with 71 educators in the OR Tambo Hall providing positive feedback and requesting follow-up conferences and facilitation of educator-parent dialogue.

This July, during her “summer break’’, Calcott ran workshops in Modimolle and in Vaalwater for educators. She was ably assisted by Olga Manamela and Janine Botha in Modimolle and by Penkie Ditsela in Vaalwater.

Martin Dlamini, a guest speaker on nutrition and healthcare, taught the Modimolle conference attendees how to detect and prevent malnutrition. Nurse Grace Ismail discussed practical ways of implementing educating and care techniques supporting healthy development, as well as how to identify and prevent abuse and other causes of ‘’toxic stress’’ with the Vaalwater-educators.

Educators shared the common causes of trauma among their students, how to respond to and report it, and how to develop abuse prevention protocols in crèches.

These meetings were followed up by an invitation to parents of children at the early childhood education centers to attend a half-day “Bright Future Parent-Educator Unity Conference’’ where educators would get the chance to share their insights and parents the opportunity to give their perspectives.

Many participants passed on the knowledge they had discussed at the previous conferences, and there were animated conversations, note-taking, high levels of participation, and willingness to engage with the material presented.

The conferences were structured as an opportunity for mentorship between early childhood educators, and teamwork between parents and educators to stem high levels of abuse, support healthy brain development, and provide children with the best possible foundation.

“This has given me hope for the future,’’ one educator shared on an anonymous feedback form. “Together we can build a better future for the next generation.’’