Our educational system nowadays is beset with numerous problems – how to achieve quality education, lack of funds, meeting room/building deficiencies, lack of textbooks, etc. One could go on and on and there would never be an end. It’s like opening Pandora’s Box. But, at the root of it all, is the problem that most teachers face nowadays, especially the rookies – the teaching of reading.
As a teacher it is important that we realize that reading serves as the key in understanding all the other subjects a student has to learn. A non educator might think of reading as a component of the English and Filipino subjects, but we in the field know that reading paves the way to understanding all the other subjects. However, as the year pass by as studies have shown the Filipino youth nowadays seem to develop into two categories: illiterates and alliterates. An illiterate is a person who does not know how to read or decode. He cannot collate that the groups of letters make up sounds that produce the word. While an alliterate is a person who knows how to read but does not want to read.
So how does a teacher do about in developing her pupils into good teachers?
Grade 1 is the entry level of most pupils into education although most children nowadays have access to pre-elementary education; in general, most children start at Grade 1. Grade 1 teachers need a lot of patience and a few tricks up her sleeve to ensure that! All her pupils will be able to read by the end the school year. Proper training and a lot of sensibility also needed. One of the most basic requirements for a grade one teacher is the ability to “model” the sounds each letter represent.
However, it is not the sole responsibility of the teacher to introduce and prepare a child to read. Studies show that pupils who have been prepped at home become better readers than those who do not. So it is not the sole responsibility of the teacher alone to ensure that a child’s reading progress. Teachers and parents must help each other and give regular feedback to monitor the child.
By: Mrs. Agnes B. Pedroche | TIII-Pablo Roman National High School | Orion, Bataan
