An illiterate child @ Grade 3 likely to be a school dropout- Mrs H. Lynden Smith
“We need to feed the child’s brains not with the bottle…. If you don’t feed the brain and you wait too late the brain will die.”
Mrs Smith, who reiterated her unquestionable passion of reading, noted that the earlier you begin to help children the surer you will be that, as long as there is not a medical challenge that impairs the ability to read, the child will do well in school.
The press conference was called to highlight, among other things, the club’s initiative to push literacy through a number of programmes.
The panel of presenters included President of the Rotary Club of Road Town Mr Ryan Geluk, Co-President of the BVI Reading Council Mrs H. Lynden Smith, Lion’s Club District Governor Marvin O. Grant, Principal of the Enis Adams Primary School Mrs Carleen Parsons, and Representative from the Department of Disaster Management Ms Evangeline Inniss-Springer.
Parents/children reading time compromised due to work
Mrs Smith did not fail to underscore the fact that many parents are caught between a rock and a hard place of having to work one and more jobs in order to earn a decent income to maintain their families and as such their time to dedicate to teaching or reading with their children is usually heavily compromised.
“But we need, we really need to make sure we help them, get it done and if parents can’t do it well grandparents, uncles and aunts or older siblings should, but it should be done,” the stalwart educator said.
All subject areas suffer without literacy
Principal of the Enis Adams Primary School, Mrs Carleen Parsons said without literacy all subject areas suffer.
Mrs Parsons' presentation focused on the upcoming Enis Adams Reading Theatre, now in its second year, to be presented on Sunday October 11, 2015.
She said that once Rotary got on board, other organisations and companies were more motivated to participate. Mrs Parsons also stated that the Reading Theatre is a key example of the Ministry of Education’s theme “Instructing Every Child through Inclusive Education” and that the students and parents love the activity.
This year, the school has gone bi-lingual, promoting literacy in Spanish, and one of the stories at the Reading Theatre is to be done in Spanish.
DDM’s involvement
DDM’s Ms Evangeline Inniss-Springer said the Enis Adams Primary is aiming to be one of the S.M.A.R.T. Schools within the territory by July 2016. She went on to say that literacy is multi-faceted, and partnerships are at the core of tackling literacy. Other challenges issued were to include a segment on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Reading Theatre and to launch a Rotary poster competition for children to express their understanding of Disaster Risk Reduction.
S.M.A.R.T., which stands for ‘Sustained Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience Techniques’, is at the core of DDM’s initiative to create Safe, Healthy, and Green Communities and Community and Business Emergency Response Teams.
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10 Responses to “An illiterate child @ Grade 3 likely to be a school dropout- Mrs H. Lynden Smith”
Tr. Lynden's passion for Reading is what has made her so committed to the little ones at the East End Community Centre, she dedicates her time to these children and we appreciate her . We Love you Tr Lynden......
Start teaching parenting skills up the hospital maternity ward. This will do more for literacy than anything else.
Also, any child that can't read at grade 3 needs to be assessed for learning disability.