Step Up Nursery School

Name of the Village: Majengo
Ward: Msaranga
District: Moshi Municipality
Contact Person: Mrs. Naseem Makange.
Cell phone 0754- 851688.

Alumni references: Stacey Fisk: sfisk87@brandeis.edu
Angela Clegg: angela.clegg@hotmail.com
Lindsay Dashefsky: lindsay.dashefsky@huskymail.uconn.edu
Lisa LeRoy: lisa.leroy@sympatico.ca


Mama Makange founded this school with the intent of preparing the children from the village to be able to read, count and write, and join full primary school after Nursery School.

Mama Makange is not a teacher by trade; she felt drawn to teaching later in life. When her husband was transferred to Norway, she wanted to put her many talents to use in her new environment.

Having studied English and British Literature in school, she was very fluent in English. Mama Makange volunteered in a school, and she did so well that she was offered a 2-year course in Early Childhood Education. After her course was finished, she worked with UNICEF in Norway and taught African drumming to young Norwegian kids.

Mama Makange operates the school in her home and she has 4 teachers besides her who teach the kids. There is one large class that holds about 30 students and 3 small classrooms where teachers can work with the students in small groups. There is also a mini library where students and teachers can borrow books. Nursery school is in session from 8 am to 11:30 am.

This nursery school is located in Moshi Municipality. Kids of this school come from poor families living under the poverty line.

The school has two departments:

 Nursery Section: This section has 30 pupils. The ages of the kids are between 4-6 years. The pupils are taught basic alphabet both in English and Swahili, simple Arithmetic, nursery rhymes and songs. Volunteers have also enjoyed teaching the days of the week, months, parts of the body, colors and short words in English and Swahili

 Tuition (Remedial class): Children above 6-14 years attend extra remedial classes after school. This takes place from 3:00 pm until 6 pm. Most of the children who come for remedial classes are mostly from government schools (primary one to primary seven). The language used during these remedial classes is mainly Swahili. This is because Swahili language is used as a medium of instruction in government primary schools. The tuition section is comprised of 20 pupils. The pupils pay 200 Tanzanian shillings which is equivalent to about $0.20. There is a sliding scale for students.

Duration: Teaching takes place from throughout the year except during Easter and Christmas. The teachers take 2 weeks off on a rotational basis, and the school stays open year-round.

Staffing: Step Up Centre has four teachers and a domestic helper who acts as a matron.

Activities:
• To assist resident teachers in teaching basic literacy (i.e. writing, reading, counting, shapes, colors)
• Providing physical activities to a group of children.
• Playing games with the children and have fun
• Work hand-in-hand with the Tanzanian teachers to develop pre-school activities and materials that can be used.
• Providing personal presentation and experience to the children and teachers for cultural and educational exchange.

Useful supplies
• Readily designed group activities with facilitator instructions, ready for review and implementation.
• Supplies for physical education activities, music for different activities
• Toys/things to be used for teaching different activities
• Materials for painting

Attributes: Love of children and creativity.
• Love of children and a flair for teaching
• Patience with children and ability to provide effective classroom management
• ESL teaching skills are important and ability to adjust your speech to a very low of annunciation
• Creativity in the design of learning activities with very little supplies or modern equipment

Extra Notes
The volunteer should speak slowly and not take it for granted that the pupils understand what they’re saying. Find new and creative ways of teaching English. The kids really thrive on positive feedback to build their confidence.

Some of the teachers do not smile or show affection to the kids, and they are able to keep the children disciplined. It is important to balance maintaining control in the class and reinforcing the children’s learning.

The children have memorized songs about ABC and colors, but they do not really understand what they are singing. It would be good to reinforce these topics.

It is good to take the children into a small group and teach them. When the kids are all in one room it is difficult to teach and maintain order. In the beginning, the work is challenging, but you will love the kids and you will get a lot of pleasure from seeing the kids learn.

Volunteers have also found that the kids are curious about volunteer’s skin and hair and may like to touch you! It is a good way to bond and also give them exposure to people of different cultures.