When COLT children arrive at the Educare each morning they know that they are in a safe, nurturing environment with a predictable routine, where learning is fun!
This term two 4th year Social Workers and two 3rd year Occupational Therapists from the University of the Western Cape are spending time with our children and parents, working closely with COLT teachers.
The Occupational Therapists assess the children and run gross motor groups for them giving them the opportunity for movement to develop bones, muscles and co-ordination. Each group walks to the field where the students engage them in games with the emphasis on fun so that the children don’t feel that they are being tested. The students facilitate the whole activity ensuring that everyone gets a chance to take part.
The Social Workers are working with four COLT families developing a parent education programme that our teachers can use. The Educare bus is not only used for transport, but also as an office while they conduct interviews in the communities. In cases where a mother is not the primary caregiver a granny, father or relative may be interviewed. We heard that when one of our fathers was first interviewed he was very quiet, but was more open and shared more information with the social workers in the second interview. A grandmother on the other hand provided lots of information about the pressure on her grandson to participate in smoking with his parents. These interviews help the social workers to understand family dynamics and identify problems in the home. They are then well equipped to develop parent education programmes for these families.
