SOUNS Like… “Sesi Nyeleti! Sesi Nyeleti!” All of the Grade R learners shout my name, and jump up and down in unison as I walk from the staff room across the school yard to the Grade R classroom. They are all very excited, because they know that when I come to Grade R it is time for SOUNS. As we walk (or they sprint) over to the spot where we practice our SOUNS, they animatedly yell the most recent sound we have mastered. SOUNS, a literacy program that was introduced during my PST, has become a major part of my day at both primary schools where I teach. On my days at both primary schools, in between my other classes and helping the teachers at the school, I wedge in time to take three groups of about eight Grade R learners per group to work with them on SOUNS.

I had trouble implementing the program. I wanted to make it fun for the kids I was working with, but at the same time effective and educational. After all, learning is the major goal. Literacy is what this program is after. I found myself a tad frustrated, using the same activities day after day and making it far too tedious for the learners. Luckily, at a meeting with my fellow PCVs we had the chance to swap stories and ideas on how to better implement the program. Since returning to site after the meeting, SOUNS has been going wonderfully. Activities like drawing the letter (woops, sound!) on the learners’ hands, having the learners run to the sound, and having the learners sing in unison what sound you have just pulled out of the blue SOUNS bag all make this program very enjoyable for the kids.

What’s more is that they are actually learning. They are connecting the shape/visual of the letter to its sound. A few weeks back, as I was walking with one of the women I am friends with in my village and her son (Grade R), my friend asked her son what he was learning in school. Her son stopped right there, leaned down, and drew the shape of the sound “t” in the ground, voicing the “t” sound. I felt successful, even if it meant I had only reached one learner.

Since starting SOUNS, more PCVs have jumped on the SOUNS bandwagon. From hearing the positive effects it has had on the learners we work with, other PCVs hope to obtain a SOUNS set for their school. In the future and in an effort to make this a sustainable resource, I plan to work with the Foundation Phase Educators on how to implement this program into everyday teaching or as a remediation tool. For now, however, I am quite content as the learners skip back to class after our SOUNS session, happily chanting “mmmmm” and “ssssss.”