Nurture seedlings and they grow into fine plants...

For the first few weeks here at KCS Giles and I diligently followed our assigned timetable. We prepared and delivered imaginative lessons and invested time in getting the teachers onside. But last week the remit widened as the deputy head approached me about Nursery: 'Miss Shiera, I am worried about the crying from the nursery, can you investigate?'.

So I did, and what I discovered was pretty sad. No stimulation, no colour, no learning, just a waiting room for 3-year olds. If they were lucky a teacher was present, but rather than interacting with these primed young minds they'd be marking books from another class. The only real interaction we have seen is children literally being forced to write the alphabet line after line. They don't need to say it, nor speak, nor identify anything beginning with 'a', just write seemingly pointless symbols time and time again in their books. How do they achieve it? By a teacher physically holding a pen in hand and repeating the motions. When I quizzed the teachers on the logic of the order of learning they simply shrugged and said 'they must write'.

Watching this made us realise just how crucial this stage of education is. Encourage them, develop their creativity, and longer term you're making for much more inquisitive and engaging students. Force them to write, make them sit as if on punishment, and you've lost them at just age 3...

I've got a real job to do. With the school's permission I'm re-writing the syllabus for the 3-6 year olds. It's only a basic outline but I'm hoping to initiate a more logical order to what children learn, when and how.

If ever there was a brilliant illustration of what children can achieve it was in our project coordinator's child last weekend. Sperse, Santa's daughter, is not even 3 and already she counts, reads and writes the alphabet, speaks beautifully and draws pictures that actually bare a resemblance to what she's planned! How can she do this? She's no super child, just one who's been loved and encouraged by her father.

I've got to find a way to get the nursery teachers onside in a similar way. The children deserve their full attention, energy and enthusiasm so this is a big project for the rest of our time here.

Fortunately we had some amazing donations from friends and family prior to arriving in Pedong. Lloydy and LJ's children, along with the Sherringtons provided a stash of 3-year old stimulation in the form of toys, building blocks and picture books, all of which are going a long way to transforming the nursery. Their little faces light up when the toys come out and some now identify the hedgehog after a valuable 10 mins I spent with them the other morning. The building blocks are a real hit with the boys, although our next task is to encourage sharing! (Giles is definitely the worst culprit and I have had to ration his play time!) Likewise the use of 'please ' and 'thank you' is quite rare out here, but I'm hoping that in breaking my own rule, a bit of say and repeat won't do them any harm when it comes to learning the 2 magic words!

Watch this space for nursery progress, and if any primary teachers out there have any good tips then do let us know! Tomorrow we're playing hopscotch and using an abacus for the first time...

Pics: The building blocks are a huge success; A teacher holds a child's hand and forces writing.