Ripple Reading | The power of reading

Imagine a world where you cannot read – where simple daily activities become enormous challenges, and you’re forced to rely on others. This sadly is a reality for nearly five million South Africans. But Ripple Reading is helping change that statistic, by supporting children to read on grade level with understanding.

More than half of all children in Grade 3 don’t have age-appropriate reading skills, which means their chances of dropping out are four times more likely. Ripple Reading helps foundation-phase pupils, who struggle to read with comprehension, through a tested intervention programme.

Since its inception in 2013, Ripple Reading NPC has been implementing a curriculum designed and refined by South African educational psychologists, which is based on neuro-scientific research. “We believe that South Africa’s future leaders have the intrinsic right to a bright future,” says Ripple Reading Founder, Riana Robinson. “We realise that a multitude of skills are necessary for a child to read with comprehension, and these skills and their application need to be taught to the learners before they are considered being literate in any language.”
The core of Ripple Reading’s intervention is focused on foundation phase pupils (Grades 1-3). It invites learners to positively engage with their learning material in an interactive and exciting way. Working in partnership with schools, Ripple Reading is based at schools in a separate classroom with regular access to the children. All resources and books needed for these lessons are supplied at no cost to the school or learners.
By employing specialist, retired teachers and pairing them with trainee student teachers, the programme is run with groups of six children during school hours. Many learners have successfully moved through the foundation phase, and Ripple Reading is working on translating its curriculum into Setswana and Afrikaans to help many more learners on their paths to literacy.

Visit our website ripplereading.co.za or plan a visit to a Ripple Reading Centre for an insightful and meaningful experience!