ECD SOLUTIONS
A NOT-FOR-PROFIT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
BrainBoosters had to close their doors due to the covid lockdown and will regrettably not reopen again. Please contact Eureka if you are interested in the toys, books, and posters previously sold by BrainBoosters. Queries can be sent to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We had an exciting 2020 following our pilot project in 2019 and are supporting 700 daycares throughout Soweto, Alexandra and Olievenhoutbosch.
Click on the map below to view how many daycares have been impacted
Teachers of the 2-year-old classes have been trained at their daycares every two weeks and supplied with developmental material, including books to use in class.
BrainBoosters assistants revisit every two weeks to swap material and provide training for the following two weeks. The frightening high failure rate of SA Gr 1’s is proof of the national need for early cognitive development. Children who learn colour, shape and number concepts earlier, tend to do better at school and this is why we focus mainly on the 2-year-old age group. We also include themes such as big & small, position, my body and written words.
However, principals requested us to include all age groups when they saw the remarkable results of the 2-year-olds. At the beginning of this year we invited the principals to our offices and supplied them with free training and posters for all other age groups to help with their cognitive development.
Results and feedback were overwhelmingly positive with hundreds of daycares requesting to become part of the BrainBoosters Cluster Programme.
Innovative Cognitive Programmes for
Teachers, Children & Parents
(Birth to Grade 2)
South Africa ranks 148/148 in the Global Competitive Index for Primary Education (2014), clearly illustrating the need for an innovative, cognitive intervention plan for early childhood development in order to change the future of our human potential.
We believe it is critical to rethink learning and teaching in Early Childhood Development and to train existing and new teachers in methods that can show remarkable results in a short period of time.
BrainBoosters has pinpointed a critical problem in the current South African education system.
Many children enter Grade R and Grade 1 without a proper foundation and therefore struggle to successfully climb the ladder of learning.
The majority of ECD programs in South Africa were written for children with adequate vocabulary and very involved parents. Advantaged children hear 30 million more words at age 3. How do we close the gap that uninvolved parenting has left on our country?
Most existing programmes were never adapted for the majority of children in our country. Therefore many children struggle to engage with the curriculums offered because their parents aren’t teaching them the basic foundations that are necessary for literacy & numeracy before they even set foot in a Daycare Centre.
Complicated overseas ECD programmes which require highly skilled teachers will most probably not work in South Africa because the majority of caregivers are poorly skilled.
South Africans should come up with their own solutions for our unique situation.
BrainBoosters has been developing and testing their programmes since 2013 in Daycare Centres and Primary Schools. This is a programme designed specifically for South African children.
Two of our programmes were accepted on the WISE platform (World Innovation Summit for Education in 2014 in Qatar). Please view BrainBoosters on their website.
Our cognitive programmes are not only aimed at improving numeracy and literacy but also parent involvement. We provide parent packs in all our programmes and have transformed parent evenings at schools.
Please view ‘The Blue Plate Methodology’
BrainBoosters offers innovative, cognitive developmental programmes that include easy-to-use products and training.
- Daycare: Play & Learn
We provide 6 non-academic training workshops for caregivers looking after children between the ages of 1-5. We provide carefully selected toys, books and posters in six themes for the teacher, as well as six themed parent packs.
- Daycare: Play & Learn Lite
We would like to offer a more affordable version of our successful Play & Learn programme to impact cognitive development in Daycare centres throughout South Africa. This programme consists of colour, shape and numbers and we provide non-academic training for caregivers in 2 workshops. - Grade R, 1 & 2: Mathematics LTSM
The BrainBoosters Mathematics LTSM consists of a unique methodology that utilizes a concrete interactive teaching method, which involves all learners, not just one child at a time. This method provides instant feedback to teachers and learners in a non-threatening way, making learning easy, fast and fun. - Grade R 1 & 2: Reading Booster
This is an interactive 12-week reading programme using embedded phonics. - Parenting Programme
A programme for parents and grandparents with children (0-6 years):
This programme includes products that can be bought online.