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- Nine Cape Town children have started their own company to help other children increase their vocabulary.
- The product - a pack of word cards - was launched two months ago.
- Each card features a word, its definition and two examples of how it can be used in everyday conversations.
A group of Cape Town children have started their own company by launching a word card product to help schoolchildren increase their vocabulary.
The ambitious youngsters launched their company, Better and Brighter, to help fellow pupils "create a better and brighter future for themselves".
Isla Stewart, Sam Stewart, Didi Dodo, Sakho Liwani, Lola Oldroyd, Clara Minnaar, Mia Ballantyne, Asteria Suzman and Sophie Hugo - all between 7 and 13 years old - developed a product that enables children to know and use a wider range of words so that they can understand more complex and challenging subjects, concepts and ideas.
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The initiative started when Isla's father, Jason Stewart, helped her learn one new word a day to help grow her vocabulary and comprehension, communication ability and critical thinking, which she really enjoyed.
"Other parents heard what we were doing and wanted to do the same, however, it was a tiresome process looking for new words, finding their definitions and figuring out sentence examples. So, we decided to make it easy and to start a business. Isla pitched the idea to her classmates, and a few wanted to join in the experience," said Jason.
"The product is a pack of word cards. Each card features a word, its definition and two examples of how it can be used in everyday conversations. The idea is that the child learns and uses one new word a day, which means that their language skills are quickly boosted, helping them to understand more of the world they engage with," he added.
Other benefits include:
- Improved reading, comprehension and spelling
- Improved communication that includes writing and verbal expression
- Understanding and explaining more advanced and complex concepts
- Deeper thinking and mental processing
- More curiosity and interest in a broader spectrum of life
"I hope it will make their lives much easier and better and also give the children education that they can use later in their life," said an eager Sakho.
"I hope that it will make the children more excited about learning, and I hope that it really helps them in life and of course make them happy," Clara added.
Lola said she hoped the cards would give the children a "good education and help them as they get older because they will have a bigger vocabulary".
The 300 word cards were launched in just under two months.
"These were then allocated per child, who then work to find out their definition and come up with the sentence examples. We used a Canva template which we found on the internet, and the whole team had access to the same template where they would input their work live," said Jason.
The children did their research in their bedrooms and on their home couches.
Creating the product
The children said most of the hard work revolved around generating the words, definitions and sentences accurately. Once that was done it was relatively easy.
Jason said:
"I feel very proud of myself because it gives a sense of feeling that I am changing the lives of kids and truly making a difference in their lives," said Sakho.
Isla said she felt proud about their hard work.
The children first started selling the word cards to family, friends and neighbours. They have just launched accounts on TikTok to reach children and Instagram to reach parents.
"We took a very long time to decide whether we wanted to allow the kids onto social media but have done so in a way that hopefully still protects them. They are able to create the content," added Elzanna, Isla's mother.
The packs are currently selling on Takealot.com for R250 a pack.
