AmazingBrainz
Investing in early childhood development to initiate deep social change in southern Africa. www.amazingbrainz.org
AmazingBrainz is a South African registered non-profit company (NPC) founded in 2008. Our AmazingBrainz early childhood development programmes have been specifically designed for the unique southern African context, particularly for marginalised communities. The programmes were developed by a multi-disciplinary team under the guidance of neuro-scientist, Dr Etienne van der Walt and are grounded in
ESSENTIALS FOR EDUCATION
Lorraine Kuun (Secondary Education specialist) on the need for financial resources for education, and the importance of citizens taking hands to make the difference.
www.amazingbrainz.org
13/08/2024
STAGES OF MEMORY
2. ATTENTION: sorts out what goes into the system.
To keep the brain from being continually overwhelmed, a selection process must be perfected.
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Cynthia Sani (Ikusasalethu Educare, Delft, and AmazingBrainz Assistant Trainer) advocating for resources to enable the implementation of solutions from within the community, for the community.
www.amazingbrainz.org
06/08/2024
STAGES OF MEMORY
1. SENSORY MEMORY: registers input for a fraction of a second.
The only part of the memory system that operates as efficiently in young children as it does in adults.
www.amazingbrainz.org
braindevelopment
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Sunette le Roux (Procare Psychosocial Services) advocates for psycho-social interventions to support communities in need, and for raising up community workers to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of a severely overloaded social worker system.
www.amazingbrainz.org
30/07/2024
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
Motor control refers to the ability to regulate and direct movement. Motor control in children can be enhanced by dancing to music. Dancing improves coordination, balance, and rhythm, while strengthening muscles and refining motor skills.
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Nosisa Njiksi (Elohim Educare, Delft) represents many others in her community doing great things in spite of huge challenges. Barriers to registration of ECD centres in SA are immense, and this essentially blocks access to government subsidies for those that need them most. We need Real Reform for ECD .
www.amazingbrainz.org
23/07/2024
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
Cross lateral movement (midline crossing) refers to movement from one side of the body to the other. Tapping bells on the left foot with the right hand and vice-versa will enhance the development of cross lateral movement.
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Dr Etienne van der Walt (Neurologist and AmazingBrainz Founder) on the power of HOPE as a key ingredient in healthy brain development.
www.amazingbrainz.org
AmazingBrainz was founded by Dr Etienne van der Walt, a neurologist and an authority in applied behavioural neuroscience. This is how we got from there to here.
www.amazingbrainz.org
16/07/2024
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
Bilateral movement means exercising and strengthening the muscles on both sides of the body. Clapping along with the rhythm of music stimulates bilateral movement.
www.amazingbrainz.org
09/07/2024
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
Unilateral movement means movement of body parts on one side of the body. Shaking a shaker up and down enhances the development of unilateral movement.
www.amazingbrainz.org
02/07/2024
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
The vestibular system is responsible for nearly all our motor functions and some of our sensory functions. The ear, brain and balance are connected through this system. Rocking, swinging and swaying movements while listening to lullabies provide stimulation to the vestibular system.
www.amazingbrainz.org
28/06/2024
Very proud of our AmazingBrainz Academy team! They have been working very hard behind the scenes to support our pilot group of students as they progress through our accredited Level 4 ECD practitioner online training. 23 students have now completed 5 modules out of 17 modules. Keep on keeping on!
www.amazingbrainz.org
25/06/2024
EXCERCISE
"According to research, parents who start their kids out on a vigorous exercise schedule are up to 1½ times more likely to have children for whom exercise becomes a steady, even lifelong, habit, AND fit kids score higher on executive function tests."
Dr John Medina, 'Brain Rules for Baby: How to raise a smart and happy child from zero to five', 2010.
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Dr Steve Minnaar (ABAX Investments) on the power of the compounding effect of investing in early childhood development.
www.amazingbrainz.org
21/06/2024
The 2-3- year-olds at Pathways in Johannesburg were doing an AmazingBrainz PictureSmart activity on birds; looking for eggs in nests and then building their own nests with playdough, and leaves and twigs they collected outdoors. Wonderful creative exploration and play!
www.amazingbrainz.org
18/06/2024
EXCERCISE
"The brain loves exercise. Exercise, especially aerobic exercise, is fantastic for the brain, increasing executive function scores anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent. This is true across the life span."
Dr John Medina, 'Brain Rules for Baby: How to raise a smart and happy child from zero to five', 2010.
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Loren Erasmus (Outside the Bowl, Africa) on their important focus on supplying reliable nutrition for under-resourced pre-schools. A multi-disciplinary approach to early intervention is essential to long-term success.
www.amazingbrainz.org
Outside the Bowl Africa
14/06/2024
On-site visits by AmazingBrainz Trainer Margaret Williams to pre-schools in our Paarl project. Mentoring and coaching is an essential element of our approach.
www.amazingbrainz.org
11/06/2024
TODDLER PLAY
UNPACKING: Favourite toys for toddlers are usually objects found in the home. A parent could allow the toddler to play in the plastic cupboard, unpacking all the plastic containers and then climbing into the cupboard.
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
Cynthia Sani (Ikusasalethu Educare, Delft and AmazingBrainz Assistant Trainer) on the immense challenges facing families in under-resourced communities. As Sunette le Roux (Registered Social Worker and CEO, Procare Psychosocial Services) says, "We need to acknowledge the impact of all the psychosocial challenges on the educational sector."
www.amazingbrainz.org
07/06/2024
Teachers at Patroontjies in Kimberley receiving training in the use of the AmazingBrainz app. Specially developed for us by Gatekeeper Technologies, this tremendous tool digitizes our daily observation protocols and enables teachers to record children's progress in 2 or 3 milestones for each AmazingBrainz activity each day, and provides teachers with free-play ideas to practice specific milestones.
www.amazingbrainz.org
04/06/2024
TODDLER FINGER PLAY
TEARING: Typically, toddlers are more interested in the wrapping of a gift than the actual present inside. Tearing and feeling soft wrapping paper, Christmas tinsel or tissues is a great sensory activity. (They just should not eat the paper due to the ink and dyes, which could be harmful.)
www.amazingbrainz.org
ESSENTIALS FOR EDUCATION
Lorraine Kuun (Secondary Education specialist) on the tendencies she observes in education over the last ten years in South Africa.
www.amazingbrainz.org
31/05/2024
Sorting everyday objects by shape at Byekorf in McGregor!
www.amazingbrainz.org
15/05/2024
TODDLER PLAY
UNPACKING: Toddlers love to unpack a mother's bag and purse!
This may be uncomfortable for a mother, so she may like to create a 'play bag' for unpacking. Include old plastic credit cards to slide into a purse, etc.
www.amazingbrainz.org
10/05/2024
FREE PLAY in action at Hoogland, near Ceres.
www.amazingbrainz.org
07/05/2024
TODDLER FINGER PLAY
POSTING: Toddlers love to 'post' toys into a container and hear the sound it makes as it drops to the bottom!
Keep the games playful and fun, with the focus on the feel of the objects and exploring how the mechanics work.
Here are some ideas:
♦ Small stones into a narrow milk-bottle opening
♦ Ice-cream sticks into a plastic bottle with a hole in the lid
♦ Straws into a tall tin with a round hole in the lid (such as a Pringles tin)
♦ Clean money into a piggy-bank
www.amazingbrainz.org
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Our Story
AmazingBrainz is a South African registered non-profit company (NPC) formally registered in 2008.
Our AmazingBrainz early childhood development programmes have been specifically designed for the unique southern African context, particularly for marginalised communities. The programmes have been developed by a multi-disciplinary team under the guidance of neuro-scientist, Dr Etienne van der Walt and are grounded in the latest understanding of human brain development.
Programmes are age-specific, with a carefully mapped out day programme for each age-group from 3 months- to 5 years-old. The approach also aims to catch up lags in developmental milestones often found in children growing up in poor socio-economic conditions and maximises school readiness and learning capacity of children before they turn six.
We believe in an integrated approach to whole child development that incorporates aspects of health and social development with education. We do this by partnering with other entities where possible. We like to talk about whole child development where pre-school stimulation and development of children impacts individuals in a sustained, holistic manner.
Investment in Early Childhood Development has been shown to yield the highest rate of return on investment in human development. This is the focus of AmazingBrainz - working with teachers and children in preschools and informal playgroups to have a sustained impact on the community at large.
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Contact the organization
Website
Address
7 Pastorie Avenue
Paarl
7646
Opening Hours
| Monday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Tuesday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Thursday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
| Friday | 08:00 - 17:00 |
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