5th & 6th classes from Scoil Bhride have purchased a ‘The CharChar Chest’ reading programme for Matandani School. They put considerable effort into fundraising which was well worth while as the programme has just been launched. The 84 students in Standard 8 are now on the third book in the scheme and they really love it.
Many of the children here have no books, none at all! They don’t even have a class text book or a copy book to write in. These books are a real treasure. Whilst their English reading is very good the children are not given the opportunity to practice reading the language. They are super enthusiastic about having one to one reading time each day and ask each morning as to when it is their turn to read. Due to a lack of space, this reading time currently happens outside under the welcome shade of a mango tree.
The CharChar Chest is a collection of over 100 stories, 
with 10 copies of each story. There are 5 levels in the scheme, with 1 Chichewa book at each level. The learners have the joy of learning English through a scheme based in African culture and traditions. The stories are designed to capture the interest of the reader by relating to their daily lives. These books are colourful with lovely pictures. Other books, of which there are few, that are available to the children are of western origin and not really suitable for African schools. Reading these stories, or looking at the pictures or topics within them make little sense to the children here as it is not part of their lives, as it would at home.
One of the things that I have noticed is that the children are able to read fluently. However, one area that needs a little work is comprehension or understanding of what is read. To help with this we have come up with “word ladders” and inserted them inside their books, just like we do at home.
The children’s grammar is of a high standard also, but it came as a surprise to hear that the Standard 8 children had never used a dictionary before. There is great excitement and enthusiasm over learning this new skill. There are 10 dictionaries included in the scheme which give explanation in both English and Chichewa, their local language. These are the first English-Chichewa dictionaries produced for primary schools in Malawi. Additional to the vocab that the children have come across in the CharChar books, the children are now seeking explanations for other English words they come across whether in class or otherwise. Their keenness to learn is also reflected in the fact that they are willing to stay on after school to gain more dictionary practice.
