FREE: GIVING UNDERPRIVILEGED KIDS A FUTURE

One of South Africa's most concerning troubles is our failed education system.
The Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS) recently found that 80% of South African 5th Graders cannot read properly in English or any language.
If South Africa's kids cannot read, then South Africa has a dark future.

LIGHTING A CANDLE

I returned to South Africa after 14 years and was immediately saddened by the darkness. Kids beg at traffic lights, many government schools are a mess, and the matric pass score has been lowered to 30%!
What can we do? We can curse the darkness or light a candle!

STARFALL.COM

When we lived overseas, I had to find a way to teach our young daughter to read. We discovered Starfall.com. 
Starfall.com is a free reading resource that utilizes animation, sound effects and bright colours. Kids have so much fun that they do not realize they are learning! In very little time, my daughter was reading!
Starfall.com can take a child from zero literacy to a 5th grade level at the child's pace.

Starfall.com is 20 years old, and yes, there are other systems. Starfall.com has these three outstanding benefits though:
> It requires no internet connection.
> It works.
> Starfall.com is free!

HOW IT WORKS

What we do is let individual children play alone on Starfall.com using Android tablets. Each child wears earphones and plays for 30 minutes per day, 5 days a week.
Guides oversee and assess the children, thereby helping them progress towards literacy. As each child plays for 30 minutes per day they naturally progress towards being able to read.
 
By dividing learning time into 30 minute sessions, one Android tablet can be used by at least twelve children per day. Specifically, in a typical 7 hour school day, 12-14 children could learn per tablet, per day.

1 tablet can be used to teach 12-14 children per day.
2 tablets can be used to teach 24-28 children per day.
4 tablets can be used to teach 48-56 children per day.

If cared for properly, each tablet should work effectively for 2-3 years, providing 2,800 training sessions per year, according to the government school calendar.

Furthermore, the tablets can be used out of regular school hours to teach adults to read. Many South African adults are unable to read English.

OUR TWO METHODS

FREE: One-month Program

This FREE option is for those who may not be sure if the program is for them.

WE PROVIDE

• This option is for those who may not be sure if the program is for them.
• We send one of our trained facilitators to run the program in your location for one month. The facilitators will run the program.
• You can learn how to run your own future program by observing and asking questions. 
• The facilitator will bring two tablets and will work with the children you select. We recommend you first work with children who are about to enter grade one.
• One facilitator will run 2 tablets, and can, therefore, help 24-28 children per day.
• These 24-28 children will have a 30 minute session per school day for the 30 days the facilitator is there.

WHAT WE REQUIRE
We require that you commit to this program for 30 days.

• This means parents understand that children should not be absent unnecessarily.
• This means you will make sure children are available for their 30-minute training slot each day.
• We also require a quiet place with electricity outlet and tables and chairs for the facilitator and two children.
• We provide a salary for the facilitator, but ask that you provide lunch.
• If your school is more than an hour from our offices, we may ask that you provide the facilitator with accommodation.

​Once the 30-days are up, we encourage schools to move to option 2.

FREE: Your Own Program

This FREE option is for those who understand the program's potential and want to run it themselves.

WE PROVIDE

• Training
• Assessment sheets
• Tablet set-up
• ​Advice & support

WE DO NOT SUPPLY TABLETS

• Important: you need to purchase your own tablets. We recommend Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 lite. 
• We do not recommend other Android tablets, because they often have their own Play Stores that prevent us installing the required software.

ONLINE SAFETY

We take children's safety very seriously, and so have taken the following steps:
> All our facilitators have police clearance certificates.
> The tablets are locked and so can only run Starfall.com apps.
> Tablets have no WIFI or network access. This is permanently shut off.

The only danger is that the tablets may be stolen, so precautions must be taken against this happening.

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