South Africa Grade 3 Life Skills

This course is designed to develop the whole learner, focusing on their physical, social, personal, emotional, and cognitive growth. The curriculum is organized into four study areas: Beginning Knowledge, Personal and Social Well-being, Creative Arts, and Physical Education. These areas are integrated through various topics and activities throughout the year.

Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Well-being

This integrated study area covers a range of topics designed to build foundational knowledge and promote well-being.

Term 1:

• About Me: Learners explore their personal history through timelines and share significant objects from their past.
• Feelings: Learners identify and express a range of emotions, learning healthy ways to manage and communicate their feelings, including apologizing.
• Health Protection: Introduction to basic first aid and hygiene practices.
• Keeping My Body Safe: Focuses on personal safety rules, recognizing and responding to unsafe situations, and understanding abuse prevention and reporting.
• Rights and Responsibilities: Learners explore their rights and responsibilities at home, school, in the community, and towards the environment.
• Religious Days and Other Special Days: Discussion and exploration of relevant cultural and religious observances.

Term 2:

• Healthy Eating: Learners learn about different food groups, the importance of a balanced diet, and making healthy food choices.
• Insects: Learners explore the characteristics of insects, identify different types, and learn about their roles in the environment.
• Life Cycles: Learners study the life cycles of mammals, insects, amphibians, and birds.
• Recycling: Learners understand the importance of reducing waste, reusing materials, and recycling. They explore composting and water conservation.
• Religious Days and Other Special Days: Continued exploration of cultural and religious observances.

Term 3:

• Public Safety: Learners identify dangerous places, learn about safety on public transport, and understand the dangers of electricity and poisonous substances.
• Pollution: Learners explore different types of pollution and their impact on people and the environment. They participate in a survey and clean-up activity.
• How People Lived Long Ago: Learners explore the past through stories, objects, and pictures, comparing and contrasting life then and now.
• Space: Learners learn about Earth, stars, planets, space travel, and satellites.
• Religious Days and Other Special Days: Continued exploration of cultural and religious observances.

Term 4:

• Products and Processes: Learners investigate how products are made from natural resources, focusing on examples from plants and the earth.
• Disasters and What We Should Do: Learners learn about different types of disasters and how to respond to them.
• Animals and Creatures That Help Us: Learners explore animals that provide food, clothing, and work, including bees, chickens, cows, sheep, dogs, donkeys, and horses.
• Religious Days and Other Special Days: Continued exploration of cultural and religious observances.
• Consolidation of Topics and Preparation for Transition to Grade 4: Review of key concepts and skills learned throughout the year.

Creative Arts

This study area focuses on developing learners' creativity and appreciation for the arts through dance, drama, music, and visual arts. Each term covers creative games and skills, improvisation and interpretation, 2D and 3D creation, and visual literacy. The specific content for each term is detailed in the CAPS document.

Physical Education

This study area emphasizes the development of gross and fine motor skills, perceptual development, rhythm, balance, and laterality through play, movement, games, and sports. Each term includes activities related to locomotor skills, perceptual motor skills, rhythm, coordination, balance, spatial orientation, laterality, and sports and games. The specific content for each term is detailed in the CAPS document.

Assessment

Assessment in Life Skills is ongoing and largely informal, with a focus on observation during routine, structured, and free play activities. Formal assessment is conducted at least once per term in each study area, using age-appropriate methods such as discussion, role-play, demonstration, and written recording.