About

kirsten Friedericksen on the birth of learning mates

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I am a Designer and Illustrator, I have a BA Honours Degree in Graphic Design and worked for many years in the Design and Advertising Industry.
 
I then became a mom to 2 gorgeous boys. When my oldest son began Grade R he struggled learning his phonics.
I wanted to create visually striking tools to help him learn and remember his letter sounds. I worked with the school’s speech therapist and teachers and created a phonic alphabet which he instantly could remember.
 
That is how Learning Mates came about.
 
From there more and more tools were created helping children with their early reading, writing and languages. It has become my passion to create learning tools that work for a modern South African child and use images they can relate to. Each product is created and illustrated by me along with help from leading teachers and professionals in this field.


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Kirsten Friedericksen