Teaching the Kids to Read

I have been working really hard to teach the kids at House of Hope how to read. I’m learning that with most things involving education there is a learning curve. Zambia changed their curriculum last year so kids learn reading in their local languages first and don’t tackle English reading until 5th grade. I decided to give that a try with my first graders, so I taught them Tonga reading. In hind’s sight I think this was a mistake, and in fact the changes in the curriculum will only hurt Zambian children. For one thing if you can read English you can read Tonga, but knowing how to read Tonga doesn’t mean you could read English. Also vowel sounds make sense in English- A says A, E says E etc. In Tonga E says A and I says E. This is really confusing for the kids. Finally Tonga words are extremely long, some times 7 syllables. English words are often short and, with its Germanic roots, coarse and choppy, making it easier to recognize the sounds and breaks between words than Tonga.

Linety has trouble learning. I’m not sure exactly what her problem is, but she has to work a lot harder than the other kids to learn. She has particularly struggled to learn how to read Tonga. Since I started teaching her English reading she has been breezing though it! When it comes to rhyming and writing down the words that rhyme she is better than all the other kids. I’ve decided that if Linety fails Tonga at school it doesn’t bother me so long as she can read English. English will take her anywhere she wants to go in Zambia whereas, after grade 5, no one will care if she can read Tonga or not. I am confident that she will be able to read Tonga eventually, but for now I only want her to focus on reading English.

English reading is a fantastic way to build the kids English vocabulary. It is so much more challenging for the House of Hope kids to read than it was for me as a child, because I spoke fluent English. There are so many exceptions to the rules in English. When I was learning how to read I could sound out a word, and then recognize it didn’t sound right, and figure out which word it was. The House of Hope kids are sounding out words they have never heard before so they can’t just figure out what word it is. All that being said they are learning how to read English and I am extremely proud of them.

So many of the books we have talk about ice cream. The kids kept asking me what it was, so I finally bought some and let the kids try it. Needless to say it was a huge hit with the kids! We also learn some really fun words like “wink”. I have included a video of Tecra and Faith trying their hardest to wink. I hope it makes you laugh!

Sherri