Reading via the spoken word needs no decoding. Information is easily and instantly comprehended.
Sharing its gift of the 'spoken word' and its volunteer resources and infrastructure, built up over the past 60 years from donations by civil society, Tape Aids is paying it forward in education through its outreach programmes.
Our Hear-to-Read early childhood development initiative supplies disadvantaged pre-school children with bookcases stocked with both audio and printed books as well as playback machines. Providing them with simple lessons and stories accompanied by music and sound effects to encourage left and right brain thinking. Gogo stories in mother tongue languages sharing cultural traditions and values. Essential oral cognitive building blocks upon which their later formal schooling can be structured whilst at the same time developing values and skills to last a lifetime.
The spoken word delivers a deep comfort for a child, electrifying their relationship with literature and cultivating critical thinking. There is an urgent need to invest in such education in South Africa today.
Civilizations were built on oral traditions passed down through the generations.
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Our Talking e-Books initiative provides spoken word audio versions of school text books, overcoming comprehension and literacy dilemmas for millions of disadvantaged scholars from Grade R to Grade 12. Through our work on the ICT Chamber we are engaging with the Department of Basic Education. Their 'Cloud 2' integrated ICT roadmap could potentially incorporate new digital radio technologies to broadcast Talking e-Books to remote and under-resourced rural schools.
Our future digital radio e-learning story needs an angel donor to swoop in so that we can increase our volunteer school teacher narrator base, supply more 'home-reader' microphone kits and software, employ retired school teachers and supply job opportunities and training for out-of-work young graduates with multi-lingual skills.
Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.
- Margaret Fuller