An overall reading plan covering three critical reading years. The texts and stories increase in vocabulary and reading interest level with each year. The imbedded reading and writing skills ideas also develop with each toolbox.
Red Toolbox
- Books and Stories
- Bravery
- Imagination
Green Toolbox
- Being developed from materials created during our lockdown learning project.
Blue Toolbox
- Imagine the world
- Africa Life
- Early people
- Tankwa
- San
What does a toolbox look like?
We tested different ideas – bearing in mind that the Book Toolboxes must stand up to years of use. They provide handy storage space in a way that makes finding a book or a story easy and keeps the collection together.
Inside each toolbox are a number of bookbags containing the books we have suggested for each theme. There is also a special bookbag for activities and ideas and a bag with the 125-page handbook that goes with the theme.
Spreading the word(s)
It has always been our intention to spread our methods and materials to reach as great a number of children as possible. Our Reading Toolboxes are the result of years of planning and dreaming. There are three of them:
Red Toolbox
Aimed at 10-year-olds. This box contains three book-bags with material on three themes – Books and Stories, Bravery, and Imagination. (25 of these toolboxes have already been donated to organizations working in under-resourced areas.)
Green Toolbox
For 11-year-olds, the environment is the topic, with four linked themes. During the pandemic, we distributed 100 files of reading material each week for 17 weeks. This forms the core material for this Green Toolbox.
Blue Toolbox
For 12-year-olds and older, this toolbox challenges with ideas of Time and Landscape. It is currently being trialed and a pilot project developed for rural children in the Tankwa Karoo. There are 5 book bags in this toolbox.
