Rota confab stresses role of parents as teachers

Traditionally, Pacific Islanders handed down cultural knowledge orally, and children listened and memorized. In today’s world, it is important that children become good readers.

New U.S. federal government legislation, called No Child Left Behind, requires that students become proficient readers by the end of third grade. But teaching reading is difficult if children come to school without pre-literacy skills, such as knowing which is the front and which is the back of a book.

Teachers at the Pacific Educational Conference, being held this week in Rota, learned how important it is to work with parents, not just students. Fathers and mothers are the first and most important teachers.

Clark Graham is part of a team from Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) that is developing children’s books in the Chuukese language. “Parents don’t have to wait until their children start school,” he said. “They can help them get ready to learn to read from the time they are small babies.”

He suggested that parents do the following every day:

· Sing lullabies or talk to your babies and toddlers to help them learn and understand words and their meanings. Make time to play with them. Describe and name the objects or toys you use while playing with them.

· Read and tell stories to your babies and toddlers every day for at least 20 minutes, and longer if possible. Listening to stories enables them to understand and become familiar with words. Reading and telling stories is one of the best ways to help them learn.

· Talk to your children. It is better for babies to listen to and interact with a person than for them to listen to television. Television is simply noise to a young child.

· Whenever you do your daily chores such as cleaning the house, going to the store, or planting trees, be sure to include your children. You can show them how to do things as well as naming different objects.

· Make a special place, such as a basket or a box, in which to keep writing materials for your children. Give them paper, crayons, pencils, scissors, or paints and encourage them to draw pictures, cut out designs, or learn to write their own name.

“If parents spend time with their children doing these activities,” said Graham, “their children will enjoy and do well in school. Their children will be ready to learn to read.”

More information about reading aloud to children is available on the PREL website at http://www.prel.org/products/pc_/read-aloud.htm. (Nancy Lane)