Teaching Resources
The Year Programme
43 themed weeks across the four school terms. Today falls in Week 25 — Small Creatures - Insects and Bugs. Every week gives you the ring time, the words, one activity per learning area, a story, a song, an outdoor game, what to watch for, and a message to send parents.
SELECTED WEEK
My Body
26 Jan – 30 Jan 2026
Week 3
Body awareness and naming parts builds motor vocabulary and lays the base for health and body-safety talk.
Well-being
Body-safety role-play: practise saying 'No, I don't like that!' loudly and naming two trusted adults to tell.
Identity & Belonging
Life-size body outlines - child lies on old newsprint or flattened boxes, a friend traces them, then they add their own face and clothes.
Communication
'Simon says touch your...' played in English and home language so every child hears body words in both.
Exploring Mathematics
Count body parts: 2 eyes, 1 nose, 10 fingers; make a fingerprint counting strip from 1 to 5 with paint or mud.
Creativity
Build bottle-top-and-stick body puppets - assemble a whole person from scrap materials and name the parts.
Physical & the World
Obstacle course naming the moving part: crawl (knees), hop (one leg), clap (hands), stamp (feet).
⏰ Morning ring
- Name and touch: head, shoulders, tummy, knees, feet
- What does each part do? Eyes see, legs run, hands help
- Big parts and small parts - compare a knee and a fingernail
- My body belongs to me - the gentle 'private parts stay private' rule
📖 Story
'The Quarrel of the Body Parts' (folk fable) - the hands refuse to feed the mouth and the whole body grows weak; all parts must work together. Children act the different parts.
🎵 Song
'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' (traditional) - first line: 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes'.
🏃 Outdoor
Body-part freeze dance - when the drum stops the teacher calls 'Elbow on the ground!' or 'Back against a friend!'
💬 Words this week
head eyes hands feet tummy legs nose mouth
umzimba (isiZulu - body)
miri (Xitsonga - body)
inhloko (siSwati - head)
mavoko (Xitsonga - hands)
emehlo (siSwati - eyes)
👁 Watch and record
Body-part vocabulary in both languages; left/right confusion in Grade R children; any child unsettled by the body-safety talk - follow up gently and privately.
🎓 Grade R stretch
Label a body drawing with initial sounds (h for hand, f for foot); count fingers in twos: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
📱 Message home to parents
Theme: My Body. At bath time, ask your child to name each body part as they wash it - in your home language and in English.
The whole year
14 January - 27 March 2026 (11 weeks, 53 school days; unified national calendar - no separate inland/coastal clusters in 2026)
Myself and My World: settling in, separation security, my body, senses, family and home. Colours red/blue/yellow/green, shapes circle/square/triangle, numbers 1-5.
8 April - 26 June 2026 (12 weeks, 54 school days; public holidays: Freedom Day Mon 27 Apr, Workers' Day Fri 1 May, special holiday Mon 15 Jun, Youth Day Tue 16 Jun)
My Community and the Working World: the people, places, helpers and transport around us, farm life, and winter. Numbers to 10, shape consolidation, positional language.
21 July - 23 September 2026 (10 weeks, 46 school days; National Women's Day observed Mon 10 Aug; Heritage Day 24 Sep falls in the holiday)
The Natural World and Our Heritage: wild animals, small creatures, water, plants, spring, birds, and Heritage Month. Numbers to 10 and beyond, patterns, measurement.
6 October - 9 December 2026 (10 weeks, 47 school days; learners close 9 Dec, educators 11 Dec)
The Wider World, Big Dreams and Celebration: life cycles, storms, sky, sea, money, aspirations, summer safety and the year-end concert. School readiness consolidation for Grade R.
