Reading and writing.

I still remember the good old days when, every Saturday, my parents sent my two sisters and I to the municipal council library to borrow books to read for the week. I read a lot and often, the following Saturday seemed so far away. Reading was and still is a source of great pleasure for me. 

I wanted since long to develop the same love in my three children at home. My husband and I had collected so many books for our children to read. But it seems that they read only when it suits them to do so and it is not the marvelous stories that we have so carefully gathered for them. We buy tons of new literature: their choices. They read, but they spend more time on the web, surfing and gaming.

I try as far as possible to inculcate this love and respect for reading in my students of lower levels. Out of 36 pupils, I can get about 6 or 7 who read a lot. The others will read because they are forced to do so and still some will tell you that they have read because they do not want to be bothered further.

Imagine now that we combine both reading and the web. This is what I learned this week. Why not make our kids rediscover the pleasures of reading through a tool that they are most comfortable with. Once they read, and they read for pleasure, they are going to gain so much and in the long run acquire the proficiency that we so long to see them developing. 

I hope I am not going to sound selfish here, but I am going to start using the materials with my three children at home first. I will try it at school when we resume next year of course. I have found enough materials to cater for the needs of my three kids who are on holidays with me at home. My daughter is 13 and is in lower secondary- she reads but is adamant on reading only when it pleases her. My son will be in his final year in primary school next year and he is extremely comfortable with the web. My youngest son is nearly four, so why not teach him the basics through the several wonderful sites for kids provided. 

The new methods of teaching reading and writing will help me redefine my ways of teaching. I am so keen to start the next school year with new tools in hand and see how my pupils respond to the changes that I will try to bring in class. I firmly believe that teaching is also learning. We never cease to learn so I am going to seize this wonderful opportunity to learn further and bring the required changes in my teaching methods; I am also going to share what I learned to my colleagues so that together we can work out a plan for the sake of those we teach.