Meet Alfred
April 1, 2015
Every morning, Alfred and his sister Flavia walk 3 kilometres together to nursery school, where classes are held between 8am-12pm. Alfred, impeccably dressed in the school’s uniform of a red-checked shirt and blue shorts, looks the part for a productive day of learning. At the beginning of the academic year, Alfred’s mother bought him shiny new blue wellington boots which serve him well on his long walks to school, particularly during the wet season.
Like his sister, Alfred is in K3 where he is beginning to learn some English, through singing songs with his classmates and teacher. Although Alfred is a shy (but polite) young man, when he is joining in with singing and dancing in the classroom, his shyness is soon forgotten as he exuberantly copies his teacher’s actions and chants. Indeed, Alfred tells us that one of the things he likes most about school is being taught by his teacher, Irene, who Alfred says is very kind to him. You may recall that we sponsored Irene to attend an ECD teaching course several weeks ago, and it is encouraging to see how Irene has applied her new knowledge to really help her students – including Alfred – in their learning through creating an encouraging and supportive atmosphere within her classroom.
Aside from music, Alfred is also learning how to read and write – activities which he is really enjoying, although he says that they can be difficult. Thankfully, Irene tries to make the subject as engaging as possible to help students acquire strong literacy skills. This will allow students’ to progress to primary school with good reading and writing abilities which will serve them well in their subsequent studies. We hope that Alfred continues to enjoy learning and remains motivated, so that many possibilities may be opened up to him as he grows older. Currently, Alfred loves cars and would one day like to become a driver in the city for a big organization.
