I was a life-skills volunteer teacher for a World Bank project for 5 years (2010-2015) in a project called Eko Project, coaching over 60,000 children in about 80 schools during this period. I discovered that almost all the schools use rote learning which kills a child's thinking, does not equip children with skills (tangible and soft) and makes them see education as not fun and uninteresting.
We came up with the idea of designing fun Board Games that teach core subjects such as English, Maths and STEM and improves learning outcomes in these subjects, but most importantly, these Board Games develop and improve success skills in children at same time. When children use these games, they use their thinking to come up with solutions to problems, strategise and lead while having fun. Within 2 years, CHEWA WORD BOX and MINDO NUMBERS BOX were tested on over 600 children between ages 5 and 18. Results from schools showed that children who used the tools at least 3 times a week had 80% improved scores in their subjects and developed strong problem solving skills and solution oriented thinking. We also tested the Educative Boards on 2 children that required urgent intervention in English, Maths and attitude to learning over a 3 month period. Both children showed a 60% improvement in scores and a drastic transformation of attitude towards learning. 97% of users had fun playing them.
Our Board Games are used in 120 Schools and over 17,000 children. It was 70 Schools and about 14,000 children by early 2022.
We have just launched the CHEWA School and Chewa Children's Club for easy and faster access to schools and children. In 2 to 3 years we hope to recruit 200 to 300 schools and 15,000 to 20,000 Children into the club. This is to foster Success Skills Development and Lifeskills Mentoring in children using fun Educative Board Games.
We have requests from Schools and Parents to turn the Boards to Apps versíons too. We hope to achieve that in 1 to 2 years time.
All they need to do is to contact Our Whatsapp line or make an order on Facebook or Instagram, or call our line to order a box. Alternatively they can get them in learning tools centres. They check the rules in the box and start playing. They can also get any of the links on YouTube on how to play. It takes an average child 3 to 5 minutes to understand the rules and flow of the Educative Boards.
